It states (43:6) לְה ַגִּיד לִי הֲר ֵעֹתֶם לָמָה יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אָח לָכֶם הַעוֹד לָא ִישׁ, "Yisrael said [to his children], "Why have you harmed me, by telling the man that you have another brother?" Yaakov was upset with his children for telling the ruler that they had another brother, because now the ruler was asking for Binyamin. Yaakov's children explained that the "ruler" of Mitzrayim knew everything about them. He even knew what type of wood they used for cribs. So, when he asked them whether they had another brother, they felt obliged to tell him the truth.
Rashi (43:7) writes, לנו גילה עריסותינו עצי אפילו, "He even revealed to us the wood of our cribs." With these words, Yaakov Avinu's children explained to their father that the ruler of Mitzrayim knew everything about them.
What was unique about the cribs in their home? It certainly isn't a coincidence that this conversation took place, and that it is recorded in Rashi and in midrashim for all generations to know.
משה פני אור קרן (printed in 5546) quotes another Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 53:10) regarding cribs. It states, אברהם של בביתו אלא תחילה עריסה נדנדה לא אבינו, which means that the first rocking crib was in Avraham Avinu's home. We must understand the significance of this statement as well.
משה פני אור קרן explains that Avraham Avinu excelled in the trait of zrizus, as Chazal (Pesachim 4a) say, למצוות מקדימין זריזין, that the zrizim are quick to perform mitzvos. We learn this from Avraham Avinu, as it states (Bereishis 22:3) בַּבֹּקֶר א ַבְרָהָם וַיַּש ְׁכֵּם, "Avraham woke up early in the morning."
Avraham also excelled in the trait of chinuch, as it states (Bereishis 18:19) לְמַעַן יְדַעְת ִּיו כִּי בָּנָיו אֶת יְצ ַוֶּה ֶׁראֲש, "For I have loved him, because he commands his children..."
Zerizus has two primary benefits. One is that it helps people perform mitzvos. Mesilas Yesharim (ch.6) writes, "One needs to be very clever and have foresight to grasp mitzvos and to merit to perform them and not lose them. Because just as the yetzer hara tries with his tricks to cause people to fall into the trap of sin, he also tries to prevent people from performing mitzvos... If a person is lazy... he will end up being empty of mitzvos. This is certain. See that man's nature is to be very heavy... He doesn't want to work hard. But if a person desires to attain avodas Hashem, he has to be strong and go against his nature... and to act with zerizus."
Another benefit of zerizus is that it develops hislahavus in people’s hearts. Mesilas Yesharim (Zrizus 7) explains that it is human nature to rush to the matters that a person desires and yearns for. He adds that even if a person doesn't want something, if he rushes towards it, his external "rushing" will cause him to want it. He writes, "If a person doesn't have a fiery desire [for Torah and mitzvos], a good counsel is to act with zerizus. This will naturally arouse his desire."
For these reasons, Avraham taught his children and descendants the important trait of zerizus. The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabba 10:5) states, בזריזות צדיקים של מעשיה כל, "All deeds of the tzaddikim are with zerizus."
This is the reason Avraham developed the rocking crib. Before Avraham, cribs were stationary. But Avraham understood that a rocking crib will develop zerizus in his offspring, and zerizus will result in hislahavus.
The Maharal of Prague (Nesiv Zerizus, ch.1) explains the pasuk (Malachim 1, 2:2) והיית וחזקת לאיש, "Be strong and become a man," that if a person doesn't have zerizus, he isn't a man. He isn't a human being. The Maharal (ibid. ch.2) writes, "Someone lazy, it’s like he isn't in the world at all..."
The Sfas Emes said that Chazal learned zerizus from the pasuk (Bereishis 22:3) א ַבְרָהָם וַיַּש ְׁכֵּם בַּבֹּקֶר, "Avraham woke up early in the morning" because the important time for zerizus is in the morning, when one wakes up.
Rebbe Fishel of Stropkov zt'l said that sometimes the Satan will arrange for it to snow throughout an entire country, all so that one person will not awaken early in the morning. The Satan knows the great avodah of tzaddikim who wake up early to serve Hashem, and the Satan knows the immense nachas ruach this creates in heaven. So, he arranges tests in this area. When one understands this, he will fight with all his might to overcome this yetzer hara.
The very first halachah of Shulchan Aruch is: מְעוֹרֵר הוּא שׁ ֶיְּהֵא בּוֹרְאוֹ לַע ֲבוֹדַת בַּבֹּקֶר לַע ֲמֹד כַּא ֲרִי יִת ְגַּבֵּר ַּׁחַרהַש, "Be strong like a lion to get up in the morning to serve His creator. He should awaken the morning." Reb Elya Lopian zt'l (who placed a lot of effort to encourage the students of his yeshiva to awaken early) would often say that in the future, after 120 years, when a person will stand before the court in heaven, the court will open up a Shulchan Aruch before him, and read through the halachos to see whether he kept them or not. How great will the embarrassment be if it is discovered that he didn't even keep the first halachah (to awaken early)?
Origins and Importance of Zerizus
Later, the rocking crib became a universally accepted standard. משה פני אור קרן writes that many things became the custom of the goyim, without them knowing that their origin comes from kedushah. The goyim saw that Yidden rock a crib, they thought that this helps the child sleep, so they adapted this custom. But the real reason was to train children in the trait of zerizus.
The following are some sources: Beneyahu ben Yehodah is praised as being a חי איש בן (Shmuel 2, 23:20 ) and Rashi (Divrei HaYamim 1, 11:22) writes, חי כולו זה אומרים זריז אדם כשרואים האדם בני מנהג כן כי, "This is the custom of people. When they see a person with zrizus, they say, 'This person is fully alive.'" Benayahu was called חי איש בן, alive, because he had zerizus. Also, it states (Shmuel 1, 25:6) לֶחָי כֹּה וַאֲמ ַרְת ֶּם, "Say such for life," and Rashi writes, "This is a worthy portion for an חי איש, which means a person who is a zariz and is chashuv." Hashem told Noach to take into the teivah החי מכל live animals. Tosfos (Avodah Zarah 6, אלא ה"ד) writes that this means וזריז בריא כולו שיהא, the animals should be entirely healthy and with zrizus. From these sources, we see that people, and l'havdil, animals, when they have zrizus, are considered alive. Otherwise, they are not considered alive.
One morning, someone came to the home of Reb Boruch Yitzchak Freund zt'l and found him lying on the ground! Reb Boruch Yitzchak explained, "He (the yetzer hara) was here today, when I woke up. He told me that since I'm old and ill, I don't have to get up. He spoke with wisdom, and I considered accepting
