A few Lubavitcher bachurim decided to go on shlichas over the summer to Alaska. They said, "It would be worth it even to help one Yid!" They went from town to town searching for a Yid, and came to a small school and asked a group of students, "did anyone ever see a Jew here?" A ten-year-old girl said, "Yes," and pointed to a teacher, who was her mother.
They went to the mother. She said her family never knew much about Yiddishkeit, and since she loved nature, she came to Alaska to see the beautiful land and sadly married a non-Jew. She got very emotional and asked them, "Please, teach my daughter something about Yiddishkeit!"
(Can you imagine, you have one chance to speak to someone about Judaism, what it means to be a Yid, what would you say?)
They said as follows, "We spoke earlier about Shabbos, all over the world, girls and women are the ones who welcome the Shabbos by lighting candles every Friday. The first place where the sun sets is New Zealand, where the mothers and girls are the first ones to welcome Shabbos into the world. From there, the sun moves on to Asia, Africa, Europe, and then America, where hundreds of thousands of women and girls welcome in the Shabbos. And then the sun comes to the very last 'time zone' in the world, Alaska. Hashem is waiting for you to light and bring in the Shabbos. You are the last one in the world, and you are the one who completes welcoming in the Shabbos! That's how important you are!"
What's The Lesson?
1) Every single person is special and important to Hashem. You complete Hashem's world. You make all the difference. 2) Do not compare yourself to others; you are important! And what you do is important!
This Connects To this Week's Parshah:
Esav didn't appreciate being the oldest and sold his rights to Yaakov. We must make sure to appreciate what Hashem gave us! Appreciate every mitzvah you do, how good you are, and how much you can accomplish! Don't think to yourself, 'I am just a regular person and nothing great!' This is from the yetzer hara! But as R' Yehuda Mandel Shlita always says, in this generation, we must mainly focus on the good we do; how great and holy we are! If you focus only on how bad we are, you will probably not grow, and this will only bring you down!
The daughter of a famous Rosh Yeshiva was killed in a car accident. Someone came to R' Mattisyahu Salomon ztl and said, "Did the mashgiach hear the crazy story?" R' Mattisyahu answered Yes, but I don't like the word you used. 'Crazy?" There is a master, Hashem, who does everything and knows exactly what he's doing! You can say "it's hard to understand," but 'crazy' is not the language of someone who lives with Hashem uses.
When something bad happens, R' Mattisyahu once said, “We should not call it a ‘tragedy,’ because it makes it sound like Hashem isn’t in the picture.” R' Mattisyahu said he learned this from his rabbi, Reb Elya Lopian ztl who once asked someone how he was doing, and he said "bad." Reb Elya said, 'Don't say bad, say it feels bitter, because then you are just saying how you feel about the situation.' But how do you know in the big picture what is actually bad and what is good?
What's the lesson?
Life can sometimes feel bitter, but we must remember that Hashem never left us even if it seems so. Chazal say we should always say "Whatever Hashem does is for the good!" Use positive holy language!
This Connects To this Week's Parshah:
Yaakov went to Yitzchak and “stole” the blessings from Esav. Yitzchak felt something was wrong; he said, “It feels like Esav’s skin, but sounds like Yaakov’s voice.” Yaakov would speak softly and respectfully.
Question:
Why didn’t Yaakov copy and speak disrespectfully like Esav?
Answer:
For a good Jew, it is not possible to speak badly! (R’ Moshe Feinstein zt”l)
Life can sometimes be tough - but our language should be words of emuna. (e.g. Hashem help me!)
This Weeks Geshmaka Question:
It seems Yitzchak loved Esev more than Yaakov. 1) Why? 2) Why didn't he want to give the blessings to Yaakov? Didn't he know that Yaakov learned all day and was a tzadik?
Sruly Sheingarten Answers:
The chofetz chaim in hilchos rechiles klal 9-you should say but make sure not to exaggerate. For Practical ruling ask your LOR (Local orthodox rabbi)
Hershy Hershko Answers:
My family reads "aderabah" from the CCHF by the shabbos meal And based on that I would say he should say the truth but only hint about it!
A Geshmaka Question & Readers Answers
Last week's Geshmake Question: If you are called for information, for a shidduch, and you're being asked specific questions (e.g. Does this person get angry? Learn daily? Pray with minyan, etc.), and you know the truth, should you say the truth? Or must you say the truth? Or none?
Don't be shy Text your answer in by Sunday to {347) 669 0369 or email to [email protected]
