Parshas Vayigash
Vov Teves 5766
Volume 2
Issue 11
The Connections people
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Mr. Mrs.
Zalman & Raizy Cousin
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Dabrushy Pink
Aydla Vechter
Connections
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Rabbi B. Levertov
Rabbi Y. Shemtov
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PARSHAS VAYIGASH
Aryeh was very excited. His older brother Shmuel had been studying for a year in the Yeshivah Gedolah in Australia. He was now home for the yeshivah's short summer break. "I hope he'll wear his blue down coat so that I'll be able to pick him out in the crowd," said Aryeh to his sister Shira on the way to the airport.
"Of course he'll wear it - it's snowing outside," said Shira.
"But Shira, it's summer in Australia. He may not have realized how cold it is here now!"
As it turned out, Shmuel was wearing his blue down coat, but it didn't help much - Aryeh hardly recognized his older brother.
"Have I changed that much?" asked Shmuel, giving Aryeh a hearty hug.
Aryeh reached up to his brother's face. "Shmuel, you look very different. When you left for yeshivah, you hardly had a hair on your chin. Now you have a full beard!"
Shmuel laughed. "Oh, this?" he asked stroking his beard. "Well, I guess that's what happens when you get older and wiser."
"And when you stay away from home for a long time," added Shira. "Hey, that reminds me of parshah class this week. When Yosef's brothers stood before him in Pharaoh's palace, he recognized them but they did not recognize him. Rashi explains that when they sold him as a slave he was a teenager. Now he had a full beard which made him look much different."
"A beard does make a person look different," agreed Aryeh. He thought for a moment. "But still, I'm surprised that he changed so much that Yosef's brothers could not recognize him, even after meeting and talking to him again and again."
"Chassidus can explain that," explained Shmuel. "You see, it was hard for you to recognize me because of my beard, but you still knew I would look like a yeshivah bachur. But when the brothers came to Egypt and met a governor who was supplying food to all the hungry people and who was running the economic affairs of the country, it never occurred to them that he could possibly be Yosef. They thought Yosef would be concerned only with spiritual things. they could never imagine him being so involved with business. That's why they didn't recognize him.
"But Yosef was on a higher level than his brothers. Yaakov Avinu had taught Yosef all of the Torah he knew. This helped Yosef live like a Torah Jew even though he lived among people who were far from Hashem and the Torah. Even when he was involved in buying and selling, he knew that the Torah is what is most valuable."
Hashem wants a Jew to be involved in this world, and to make it a place where Hashem's presence is felt. We should follow Yosef's example. Even when Yosef was involved in business matters, his life was not separate from Hashem and the Torah.‘Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said’
(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. III)
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1 gave 10—1, 1 gave 1—5. Last weeks’ brain buster: Because they rested on 2 X 12 plus 1, I got my name. Answer: חנוכה |
Congratulations to Laivy Mochkin from Rochester, NY |
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This is a letter I received in the mail one day – out of the blue. It really wasn’t out of the blue, it was more like out of the white since it was snowing outside and everything was white. Anyway I have permission to share it with you
Dear Dr. Getzel,I had this beautiful dream that Moshiach came and we were all living in Eretz Yisroel. People were nice and friendly. The Goyim didn’t bother us. Everyone was learning Torah. They were so happy too. I saw children. They were all learning Torah. Children who used to complain that school is boring were now eagerly begging their teachers to teach them more. There were even children who convinced their teacher to have a sleepover. Most of the night they sat and learned together.
I was having so much nachas watching this take place before my very eyes. I began to cry. But I was so happy. I guess they were tears of joy. Then I saw your house with the green roof. It was right near the Beis Hamikdosh. Thousands of children were gathered around. They were the Tzeirei Hashluchim from around the world. They all came to meet you in person and to thank you for writing to them every week. I saw my email pals from Venezuela and Alaska. My brother met his email friend from Hong Kong.
Somehow we all managed to squeeze into your little green-roofed house. It must have expanded to make room for all of us to fit inside. We said pesukim together and sang and danced. You told us that our Shlichus isn’t over yet. We now have a big job to help teach all those children who haven’t been to a Jewish school. We organized ourselves to walk around the entire Yerusholayim. It was a much bigger than it used to be. We went to find all the children from Texas and Alabama, Wyoming and Saskatchewan and all the rest of the world. We even found children from Iowa!
When all the children came together we had a big rally. Everyone enrolled in a Jewish school. It was amazing to see how motivated everyone was. Teachers didn’t need to discipline at all. Everyone just cooperated and learned. They were so interested in catching up on all the knowledge they had missed learning in Golus. I felt so proud to be part of all of this.
When I woke up the next day I knew I had to change. I became an excellent student in school. I met Fred from my swimming group and told him about coming to my school. I invited Sammy over for a Shabbaton. He brought his friends Michael and Moshe. They had a wonderful time and learned a lot as well. Now they all come to learn in my school. They are proud to be part of a Jewish school. My sister invited her friends for another Shabbaton. She arranged it for seven girls she knew from day camp. My mother helped her too. Now they are all lighting their own Shabbos candles at home and next year some of them will be in her class.
See you in Yerusholayim,
Your friend Chaim – a young Shliach in the United StatesThank you Chaim for sharing this beautiful letter with all of us. I can’t wait for your dream to become true! Did you also help bring children in your city closer to Yiddishkeit? Did you teach them to do more Mitzvos? Please tell me about them so I can print it in ‘Connections’ too.
Sincerely,
Dr. Getzel
Zalman Butman, age 7
Purchase, NYHI! My name is Zalman Butman. I live in Purchase, New York. It looks like the country here. There are horses on my block, and sometimes we see deer in our backyard! We have a great tree house in our backyard, and I love to play in it with my brother! My parents and my family are on Shlichus here, and we do many different programs. Some of the programs are Chai Kids, Friendship Circle, Hebrew School, Preschool, Bas Mitzvah Club, Bar Mitzvah Club, camp, shul, menorahs and more. My favorite program is Chai Kids, because it's for kids! We eat pizza, we make Jewish crafts, we hear stories, and we bake challah. Our shul is next door to our house, and the teachers for our school live there. Our Hebrew School and our Preschool are in White Plains, which is around fifteen minutes from our house. My job at Hebrew School is to be assistant teacher for the kindergarten class. I usually get paper to give the kids, and I help the kids with the projects. Sometimes, I help with a big mailing, like for camp. I put labels in the middle of the brochures and I also help with closing envelopes. Once I did five pages of labels! When people come to our shul, I help get yarmulkes for everyone, and when the shul is at the hotel, I help take out machzorim. I go to school at Cheder Lubavitch of Stamford, Connecticut, which is a half hour from my house, but sometimes we have to drop off my younger sister at her school first, and I come a little late!
I love being on shlichus, because the Rebbe sent us to be shluchim to bring Moshiach now!!!!!!!!!!!!
עשרה בטבת
This Tuesday is עשרה בטבת . עשרה בטבת means the ‘10th of טבת ’. We fast on עשרה בטבת . It is the only fast that can fall on a Friday. The fast begins when the sun rises in the morning.
עשרה בטבת is considered the ‘Beginning of the End’. This is because in the BEGINNING, on עשרה בטבת , the king of בבל , named נבוכדנצר , took all his soldiers and surrounded the walls of ירושלים . This led to the END when the בית המקדש was destroyed. This was called a siege. A siege is when an army surrounds the walls of a city and doesn’t allow any food to go into the city. This siege began on עשרה בטבת and did not end until 2 1/2 years later! Then, the army of בבל broke through the walls of ירושלים and destroyed the בית המקדש . נבוכדנצר killed many אידן and led the rest of the אידן into גלות . The אידן were forced to live in בבל and were ruled by the people from בבל .
So, עשרה בטבת is a very sad day because it was the day that the siege began around ירושלים and this led to the destruction of the בית המקדש .
יעקב would always mention ה‘ 's name when he spoke. He would say, "ברוך ה‘ " or "אם ירצה ה‘ ," and give ה‘ credit for everything. יעקב also taught יוסף to speak the same way.
When יוסף spoke to his brothers he said: מהרו ועלו אל אבי ואמרתם אליו כה אמר בנך יוסף שמני אלקים לאדון לכל מצרים - "Hurry, go to my father and say to him 'So says your son יוסף : ה‘ made me a ruler over מצרים .' " But, when the brothers returned they told יעקב that יוסף told them to tell him that עוד יוסף חי וכי הוא משל בכל ארץ מצרים - "יוסף is alive and he rules over the entire מצרים ." יעקב listened carefully and could not believe that יוסף was alive because this was not יוסף 's way of speaking.
Afterwards, when they said to himאת כל דברי יוסף אשר דבר אלהם - "all the words of יוסף exactly the way he spoke to them," that ה‘ made him ruler, then יעקב recognized יוסף 's style of speaking and believed that יוסף was alive.
(Adapted from ‘Vedibarta Bam’)
תרגום שבעים
King Talmai was a Greek King who ruled over the Jews following Alexander the Great. He decided that he wanted a translation of the תורה in the Greek language, the language of his empire. The Greeks in general were very into their own language and culture, and wished to prove that there was nothing holy, special, or different about the original Hebrew.
Is it possible that Talmai simply wanted to learn the תורה , and wished for a version in his own language that he could understand? If this were the case, he would have gathered all of the חכמים into one room and had them discuss among themselves, until they concluded on the most correct version. Talmai did not want a final product of the best translation possible; he wanted to confuse the חכמים and cause them to make mistakes.
Talmai gathered 72 of the top חכמים of the time. He did not tell them the purpose of gathering them. He placed each one in a separate room with writing materials, and told each one separately to translate the תורה . Not one knew what the other was doing.
Although many words in the תורה can be translated in various ways, each one chose the exact same words for their translations. There are certain phrases in the תורה which may be misinterpreted or misunderstood by somebody who wishes to, and so the scholars made slight changes in these phrases. It was a big נס that each one chose to make the exact same changes.
Talmai was unable to find any differences in the 72 translations.
Here are a few examples of the changes that were made, and the reasons for them.
Torah: ”בראשית ברא אלקים” “In the beginning created ה‘ ” (בראשית א:א )
Translation: “ה‘ created in the beginning”
Reason: No one should say that “in the beginning” was the creator.
Torah: “And ה finished on the seventh day” (בראשית ב:ב )
Translation: “And ה‘ finished on the sixth day."
Reason: No one should say that ה‘ worked on שבת .
הלל ran an inn, which he rented from the rich Poretz. His customers, the local peasants, appreciated הלל 's service and honesty. Only one peasant showed that he really hated the Jewish inn keeper. Stefan, a rude, rough peasant who was almost always drunk, didn’t like the fact that הל‘קה , as he was known affectionately, refused to serve him whiskey when he had drunk too much.
Stefan decided to take revenge on the Jew. And so, he decided to involve הל‘קה in a made up crime. Stefan went to the government authorities and told them that הל‘קה was not paying the proper tax on the whiskey he sold. To show that what he was saying was true, he gave the names of several of his fellow Jew-hating peasants willing to swear that הל‘קה sold them "illegal" whiskey.
An investigation was started. The false witnesses appeared and swore their false statements. הל‘קה , of course, denied that he did anything wrong. With tears in his eyes he cried that this was a mean, made-up plot. Many of his customers came and said what a nice man he was, and even the Poretz himself spoke warmly of "his" איד . The investigators saw that הל‘קה was indeed not guilty, but what could they do? They couldn't simply ignore the sworn testimony of Stefan's friends. The case went on and on for almost a year and הל‘קה became depressed and broken, staying in his house much of the time saying תהילים .
הל‘קה 's wife, דבורה לאה , watched as her husband became more and more upset. Her father had been a חסיד of the צמח צדק . She asked her husband to travel to Lubavitch to get advice and a ברכה from the Rebbe.
הל‘קה , however, did not come from a family of חיסדים . He had never visited a Rebbe, and wasn't too excited to do so now. But, as the date of the court case came nearer, he decided to listen to his wife and set off for Lubavitch.
In Lubavitch, הל‘קה saw many people waiting for days to see the Rebbe in יחידות , so many that הל‘קה was discouraged and almost went home. It was only after he explained how urgent his situation was to the Rebbe's secretary that he managed to get an appointment for יחידות for the next day.
When he entered the Rebbe's room, הל‘קה suddenly didn’t know what to say. He began to cry as he poured out his heart to the Rebbe, explaining the terrible plot which had been brought against him.
The Rebbe listened patiently, and then said, "Don't cry, הל‘קה . ה‘ will surely help you. Everything in the world, every single creature, was created for a particular purpose. Even mice sometimes benefit man. Go home, הל‘קה , and have בטחון in ה‘ ."
הל‘קה left the Rebbe encouraged, though he did not exactly understand the Rebbe's words. הל‘קה 's wife also didn’t understand, but she trusted that ה‘ would fulfill the ברכה of the צדיק .
The final day of the trial arrived, and הל‘קה and דבורה לאה traveled to the courthouse which was packed with people eager to hear the verdict. הל‘קה sat on the bench, pale, saying תהילים with such כוונה that he didn’t realise where he was.
Each side started their final summing up. Stefan was brought in and he repeated all his false accusations but when he was questioned by the lawyers, he became confused and said things that contradicted what he had said before. He wasn't worried, though, since he was sure that when his friends would tell their stories, הל‘קה would definitely be found guilty.
But when the names of the next witnesses were announced, there was a long silence. Not one of Stefan's gang had shown up; it seemed that something had happened to each one of them to prevent them from appearing.
Things were going well for הל‘קה , but the prosecutor wouldn't give up. He asked that the original documents be brought in, and so, the judge sent his secretary to bring the papers from storage. Everyone waited impatiently for the secretary to return, but when he did, he was empty-handed. He whispered something to the judge, who roared back, "Bring whatever there is!"
"But Judge," said the secretary, "There is nothing left. Mice have eaten up the whole file!"
"That's impossible," roared the judge. "Go and bring me the whole drawer." The clerk soon returned with a large, heavy drawer filled with shredded bits of paper.
And so it was that although every other document in the drawer was in perfect condition, only the file of הל‘קה had been completely destroyed by the mice.
הל‘קה was saying תהילים with such כוונה , that he had no idea what had happened, and was surprised by the crowd of friends and relatives who ran to him wishing a מזל טוב . When he learned that the charges had been dropped, he thanked ה‘ for having saved him from this terrible plot. As they returned home, his wife told him all the details of what had happened in the courtroom, and only then did הל‘קה begin to understand the words of the Rebbe.
See the printable version of Connections for incredible fun pages!
Last Week’s Winners:
Level 1:
Mendel Muller, age 7 from Ilford, England
Level 2:
Rochie Krinsky, age 11 from Manchester, New Hampshire
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