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A refreshing and clear review of each Parsha in the Torah presented by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe
00:01 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Parsha Review Podcast.
00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody to the weekly Parsha review. We are in the Parsha of Mikeitz. What a special Parsha, again, like every single Parsha on the Torah. I urge each and every one of you sitting here, those of you who are online, those of you listening on podcasts, please take a few minutes. Read through the Parsha. You won't regret it. It is incredible. The stories, the lessons, everything that we learn from the Torah is just perfection. It's the message of Hashem and the more we can embrace and learn the Torah, the greater the gift and the privilege.
00:54
So this week's Parsha has the incredible tale of Yosef Yosef in Egypt, and it begins that it was after two years, two more years. We know that Yosef stayed in for two more years because he said two words to the baker after sorry, the cup beer, after he interpreted his dreams and he was released from prison. So he tells the cup beer, remember me two words. Those two words costed him two years. Why? And Yosef? Yosef accepted that with love because he knew this was the punishment. And we don't see Yosef complain about it. We see Yosef embracing it, realizing that this is part of his mission in life. Hashem wants him there and we don't know how Hashem is going to orchestrate it. We look right now at anything going on in our lives, whether it's the great things, whether it's the worst things ever experienced in our entire lives, whether it be tragedy, whether it be the war in Israel, and we're like how in the world is this going to end? How is this going to end? That script has already been written. Hashem has the exact plan all set in order, which is the topic we're going to talk about today.
02:18
So just to lead up to the story. So what's going on? So Pharaoh has dreams. He has the dreams with the seven fat cows that are by the water side and they're eaten by seven weak cows. And then he has seven flailing sheaves that eat up seven robust and thick sheaves of grain, and Pharaoh's disturbed by what's going on here. He's asking for all the interpreters, all the dream understanders, those who can reveal the secrets, and nobody has an answer. Nobody has an answer. And then the cup beer he remembers. Ah, when I was in prison, there was a Jewish boy who was able to answer my dreams and explain it, and maybe you should call him up for us. So Pharaoh calls him, and that's what I want to find out. And then we see that Pharaoh calls up Joseph. Joseph interprets the dreams, and not only he interprets the dreams, he is immediately placed as viceroy of Egypt. Such a smart, young, clever man, amazing. Okay.
03:40
So I want to focus on two verses here. We dreamt he's talking about the baker and the and the butler. He says we dreamt a dream on the same night, I and he, each man according to the interpretation of his dream did we dream? We all had. We had different dreams. We shan't be torn on our ivory. And there with us a youth, a Hebrew. He was a slave to the chief of the butchers and we told him our dreams and he interpreted each of our dreams accurately. He says exactly how he said I was placed back into my position and he was hung by Yishlach.
04:36
Listen to this verse, verse number 14 in chapter 41. Vayishlach Paro, vayikra Esyosiv. Immediately, pharaoh sent and called for Joseph. Vayaritsu minabor, and they rushed him from the pit. Vayigalach Vayikhalif Simlosov, and they shaved him, they gave him a haircut and they showered him, they bathed him. Vayachlif Simlosov, and they changed this cult. They gave him cults of royalty, vayyavol Paro, and he stood in front of Pharaoh.
05:09
How fast was that? From being a prisoner in the dungeon to being in the palace in front of Pharaoh. One verse Now. Obviously the verse is condensed, but imagine what is going on here, right In Yosiv's mind. What is he he's like I'm gonna sit in prison till till whenever, till Hashem decides that it's the exact moment that it needs to happen.
05:46
Our sages tell us Yeshua, hashem, kherifahin. The assistance from Hashem comes at the bed of an eyelash. How fast does your, does your, do you blink? It's so quick you can't even tell. We don't even tell. We look and we blink. It doesn't like refresh, no, it just. It's a constant, because we don't even realize how fast that is when Hashem is there to save us and to help us, it's at the bed of an eyelash. We can't even discern how fast that it is.
06:21
So what's really going on here? What's really going on is we're introduced to an idea, the idea that Hashem has control of every single thing that goes on in this world, and the timing of each incident that happens in our lives is at an exact moment. To us it seems sudden, but to Hashem it's on the schedule, it's going to be on that schedule and this is when it's gonna happen. And at that moment, boom, it happens. But what happens when we don't see it? This many times it happens that things gone in our lives. We don't realize what an amazing miracle it was till years later, when we realize one second. When I lost that job, it was actually the best thing that happened to me. When that thing happened to me, it put me on a whole new trajectory. I didn't even know it existed. How many times in our lives, when we look back, do we see one second? Wow, that's what happened. That's why it happened.
07:29
Hashem was pre-orchestrating everything so that at the given moment, that's exactly when you needed the salvation and that's when it came. And that's when it came. So we ask in our prayers, we ask Hashem give us assistance With this and Hashem give us assistance with that. If everything is pre-orchestrated, then what role do I play in it? And why am I even bothering to pray? It's gonna happen when it happens. Why am I even praying? Why do I need to pray for something that Hashem already predestined at the beginning of my life, or perhaps the beginning of the year Rosh Hashanah, that this is going to happen. That business deal was going to go through or was not going to go through. So what? What difference does it make for me to pray for it? What difference does it make for me to even request Hashem help me with this or help me with that?
08:32
So there's a number of pieces here that need to be understood. Number one we're asking for clarity to be able to see the goodness of Hashem. The goodness of Hashem is always there. Call the Ovid Rachman al-Itab of it. Everything the Almighty does is good. There's nothing that the Almighty does that isn't spectacular for you. Everything that Hashem does is done for your benefit. That's the first foundation when we understand that everything again. So I'm gonna repeat that, because it's important for us to remember this Call Ma'adah Ovid Rachman al-Itab. This is a term from the Talmud. Everything the Almighty does, everything the merciful does, lethav of it. He does for good. Hashem is all goodness. Hashem only does things for us that is good for us. Okay, got this. Hashem only does things for us that are good for us.
09:30
So why do bad things happen to me? Why did I have to be in that accident? Why do I have this ache? Why do I have this illness. Why do young people deal with challenges? Old people deal with challenges. Why does this person have a crisis? Why does this company go bankrupt? Why does this person lose their job? Hashem is guiding us to connect with him, sometimes doing everything for good. Everything that Hashem does is for the good. Part number one. Part number two Hashem wants. Hashem is communicating with us. I want to tell you something. Rabbi laser Brody May live and be well from Ashdod was here in the torch center Many months ago, and he said a phrase that I think is so critical for us to repeat every single day, and that is Hashem does not come uninvited.
10:43
You don't show up to your friend's house for dinner uninvited. Hashem doesn't either. If you don't invite Hashem into your life, he's not going to be apparent to you, he's not going to be visible to you, it's gonna be hidden. Hashem doesn't show up uninvited. You want Hashem in your life. Invite him in.
11:09
Say Hashem, I want to see your glory, hashem, I want to. When we say, in our prayer to this morning, in our hallel, in our praise that we're saying for all eight days of Hanukkah, we're singing praise Anah Hashem, hoshi Anah Hashem, please save us. Anah Hashem, atzlihanah, please, hashem, succeed our way. What do we need to pray for that? Because we want to see, we want to be living and feeling the goodness. We don't want it to be. Later on We'll say, oh yeah, it turns out it was really for my good. No, right now I want to feel, I want to experience that goodness right now, not one day. Hashem, help me see that this is your salvation, right now, that I can experience it, that I can know right here in front of me. Oh, I can see with clarity. This relates very much to Hanukkah as well.
12:15
Hanukkah, what are we doing? We're lighting our menorah. The light, a little bit of light, removes all the darkness. You know, it's an amazing thing. Right now in my hand, you know, what's in my hand right now? Right now in my hand, is darkness. Right now, in my hand is complete, total darkness. My hand is sealed. It's darkness. What happened to the rest of the room? Nothing. It didn't get dark from it. The whole room wasn't influenced from this darkness. But what happens when the room is dark and you light one light? The whole room gets filled with light. It removes the darkness.
12:57
What we're asking is we're living in a world which has darkness. We have our little little darkness, but then we have the whole world which is dark, the whole world which doesn't understand what's going on, what's right, what's wrong. Look at the world 2023, a year where the world failed, where the world was ready to stand up for murderous terrorists instead of standing up for kidnapped children. That is the world we're living in today. In 2023, the world showed we are a failure. We have everything wrong. We don't know what's right. We don't know what's wrong.
13:41
In what world do we need a menorah, a light to dispel the darkness, more than our generation? How can the world be so crazy, how can the world be so wrong to not understand that kidnapping eight-month-old children is not right, murdering innocent people in their beds, in their homes, in their cars, that this is just wrong. It's not so complicated. No, but even that is the world's just like. It's part of this culture of the big thinkers. Look at Harvard, look at Yale, look at all these places. It's unbelievable, just this is. It all depends on context.
14:39
Now, what world do we live in? But there's a plan. We don't always see the plan, and that salvation that we pray for every day, that salvation that we add to our prayer, is in Hanukkah, hashem. Let's dispel that darkness. Let's bring light to this world. Show us right from wrong so we can have clarity.
15:08
Darkness means confusion. When it's dark in the room, you don't know where you're walking. You're afraid you're walking into a wall, you're walking into this, you're walking into that. You can't see anything. You have confusion. Light is clarity. This is what we're asking for. We're asking look at the story of Yoseph To us as people standing on the side. What do we see? Total clarity. Look at this picture. This is unbelievable. The hand of Hashem. It has to be the hand of Hashem.
15:39
The synchronicity that is required for this to happen, for him to be in the prison with this guy and interpret the dreams, and then, two years later, he remembers that. What happened for two years that he didn't remember what happened for two years? For two years he was free. He couldn't say something to the king. Oh, by the way, a buddy, a Jewish guy, you know, back in prison. He's a good guy, you know he can help you in your kingdom. Nope, hashem brings it about just at the right time. He paid his two-year extra punishment. Now, here we go. Now he remembers. How many times did you want to remember something. You only remembered it after. We have it all the time right.
16:21
There's a reason for it. What we need to constantly redeclare in our lives everything Hashem does for us is for the good, and at the exact moment that Hashem reveals it to us is when it's when it's we're asking Hashem. Reveal it sooner, hashem, we want to have live coverage of your miracles, and now we should be able to see, right now, with clarity, exactly what's going on in your world. And we'll never understand it completely. We're not God, we're just human. We're limited. We're limited to our body. Right, our soul is limitless, but it's locked up in a body, so we have a godly component that's limited in a physical existence. We're limited, but we want to have a glimpse into it, and that's what we're asking for.
17:24
So when we look at this week's PowerShell, we see this incredible miracle that happens to Joseph, which seems. Maybe it's just a coincidence. It's possible. Someone can look at this and say it just happened to be, but with Godly eyes, we understand that everything that Hashem does is for the good. Hashem orchestrates everything. There is no such thing as synchronicity. It's Hashem putting the pieces in the right place at the right time. Hashem should bless us all, that we should have an amazing Shabbos and that we should merit to be able to always see the ways of Hashem in everything that transpires in our lives, and we should know and remember every day that Hashem only does good for us. Amen.