Monday, January 18, 2016

יציאת מצרים! Take us out already!

So a few weeks ago I mentioned the idea that we find in many of our ספרים הקדושים, that each and every one of our lives runs parallel or better yet correlates with the weekly Torah portion. One of the people listening was blown away, not in the positive sense, saying to the people around him "have you ever heard such a ridiculous thing?" So that goes into my mind and I start thinking, maybe he's right, maybe it's only on an esoteric level but not on an actual day to day level, after all i'm doing great, i'm in the clouds not in the depths of slavery and exile;  and then boom! I am thrust deeper into my very own personal מצרים! Or maybe not necessarily deeper, but thanks to that guy (b/c we know that we never hear anything that we weren't meant to hear) my eyes were opened more to my personal גלות. No, sorry, I'm not going to indulge you in the details and there's no need. My saga may sound trivial to you and vice versa. The point is that we all have our struggles on all different levels and if we want we can pick up survival tools from the Torah. The more we look and the more we pray for understanding and direction the more Hashem will connect us to and show us our own lives in the Torah. So what's the message of hope for today? That it's all for us and that its all for the best. The slavery, the trials and tribulations, the apparent suffering, are all for our benefit. To make us better fit and ready for the redemption and blessings that are about to come our way. The other important lesson is to not get stuck in the here and now. Sometimes when we go through tough times it seems like they will las t forever and that this is our lot in life. Don't get stuck, next week is another parasha and after that another one. There's a famous Hebrew saying " עברנו את פרוע נעבור גם את זה - We survived Paroh, we can survive this as well." When we connect more to the Torah, these sayings become less like catch lines and more like lifeline's, and we find our struggles to become somewhat easier. It attaches us more to the כלל so we feel even if just a little bit less on out own. 

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