The Death of Jacob, Like a Man Removing His Clothes and Hanging Them on the Wall | Emunah and Bitachon for Parshat Vayechi
Words of Strength and Emunah for Parshat Vayechi from the esteemed Rabbi Menachem Azoulay shlit"a – "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years" (Genesis 47:28)
"Our father Jacob did not die" – he did not taste the taste of death. For every death is a matter of change and transition from this world to the World to Come, but Jacob, all those years he lived in Egypt, Hashem gave him a taste of life akin to the World to Come, and in his death, he did not change. Jacob's death and burial are like a man removing his clothes and hanging them on the wall, to wear them again when needed (Sefer HaParshiyot).
"Praise Hashem, O my soul" (Psalms 146).
What is the blessing that Jacob blesses the tribes? "And he blessed them on that day." Jacob's blessing is that they should merit that day, to have that specific day, to live the present and not the past and future. That they should merit to see how many gifts Hashem sends us hour by hour, moment by moment, to see how everything we receive here in this world are gifts given to us by the Creator, blessed be He, out of His great love for us.
With a little humility and modesty, a person can see how everything he has and everything he succeeds in is all sent by Hashem. Thank you very much, Hashem, for what you have given me, and how wonderful it is that you have given me. Now that I have had a good prayer, from the mouth, without distractions within the prayer, and thoughts within the prayer, but truly I could focus in the prayer, thank you very much, Hashem. Thank you very much for having a good heart to open the door for the neighbor, or for the one who came to ask for charity, and that I did not close the door on him, and that I did not make a face, and thank you very much that I forgave and did not hold a grudge, and thank you very much for this and thank you very much for that because everything you gave me.
Hashem is the giver and man is the receiver. We must constantly remind ourselves of this. That any praise a person suddenly receives, any protest, or he himself gives himself a compliment, says how wonderful, Baruch Hashem I succeeded, he must remember the place from where he has it. Thank you very much, Hashem, thank you very much, it's from you, because from where did I have this knowledge, the talent to understand, to speak, to do, to act, it's all from the image of God you gave me.. After a minute he forgets again, he thought it was himself, and is constantly in these zigzags, it's me, it's not me. I am so nice, I don't make the mistakes that someone else makes because I am more refined, and I understand, and I don't hurt, and Baruch Hashem I have peace at home, and I succeed in this and I succeed in that but actually it's not me, it's Hashem, thank you very much, Hashem, you brought me the peace at home, you brought me the success with the children, everything I have is you and a minute later again, work for a lifetime.
We must thank, praise, and glorify Hashem without pause. The tzaddikim knew how to thank for every breath, for every step, for everything and even the smallest thing.
We have become so accustomed to the good, that only when there is suddenly some lack, some trouble God forbid, only then do we understand how much we need to thank all the time, not to wait for Hashem to take from us so that we begin to appreciate what we had. All the time to stop, to look up to the heavens, to say thank you Master of the Universe for everything. Like the story of a Jew who suddenly began to suffer from a terrible lack of appetite and severe nausea and of course these feelings were immediately accompanied by worry about the unknown. He suffered from such terrible weakness, that when he saw a Jew carrying his two-year-old child in his arms, he wanted to shout to him – do you know how to appreciate that you can lift a child? Did you say thank you to Hashem for that? Did you think that not everyone can do that? I, for example, he thought, am not even able to lift a book. And when he suffered from terrible nausea, and saw dozens of yeshiva students eating their meals, if he wasn't embarrassed he would take a megaphone and shout into their ears: hey, you, did you say thank you for having an appetite? That you have a desire to eat? For the first time, he says, this thought struck him that we don't know how to thank, everything seems simple, natural, taken for granted. Only when these wonderful gifts are taken from us God forbid do we understand what a loss it is to live here all these years and not know how to thank,,, by the grace of Hashem he recovered, and slowly returned to life but not to the same life. He simply began to thank for everything. For the desire to eat, for the ability to go every morning fresh and energetic to the yeshiva, and thus he felt endless gratitude and immense love for the Creator (appeared in "Kol Todah", a bulletin of "LeOlam Odecha", an organization for spreading gratitude).
Seventeen years our father Jacob lived in the land of Egypt and the Sages expound that these were the best years of all his life. And this is a great wonder. Of all his years of dwelling in Eretz Yisrael, Jacob our father did not have good and blessed years like the years he went down to Egypt, to the nakedness of the land? Was it there that he had good life? Rather, our Rebbe reveals to us that the essence of perfect simcha is when one overcomes to snatch the sorrow and sigh and turn it into simcha, "like sometimes when people are happy and dancing, they grab a person from outside, who is in sadness and melancholy, and forcibly bring him into the circle of dancers and force him to be happy with them too" (Likutei Moharan 23).
We must declare war on sadness. A person who is mainly accustomed to asking, always sees what he lacks but one who is mainly accustomed to thanking, sees what he receives. 23 hours a day a person should think and speak, with his wife, with his children, with his friends, how good we have it, how fortunate we are, how much we need to thank Hashem, Baruch Hashem, there is food to eat, there are clothes to wear, and even though many things are still missing, do not think all day about what you lack, but thank for what Hashem gives, and this will continue more and more kindnesses. And the same in spirituality. Baruch Hashem, I keep Torah and mitzvot, I pray in the synagogue, I learn Torah, and to thank and praise Hashem. To look only at the good, to think good, and then automatically it will be good. And for what is not right, for what is missing, for this there is the hour of Hitbodedut. Only after 23 hours that you thank Hashem for all the kindnesses, only then can you come to Hitbodedut and cry for what is not, for what is difficult.
Just as our father Jacob lived there in Egypt with simcha and tranquility, so can every Jew continue simcha and life even to places where he is forced to go. Our simcha rises above all pain, sorrow, and sigh. It is not connected to anything we have or lack, it is simcha in Hashem. Like the story our Rebbe tells about the simpleton, whose custom was always to be in simcha, happy with everything to the extent that he seemed foolish in the eyes of others. Happy with bread as if it were meat and with water as if it were wine and because of this he merited to feel in his food all the wonderful tastes in the world and not to stop praising and glorifying and exalting Hashem. There are many small things that bring joy, we need to discover them.
A person with a good eye will see all the kindnesses and say thank you. If a person looks to the sides, then he will always have an evil eye. Because if he has this, then he doesn't have that, he always lacks something that others have, there is always someone to envy, who succeeds more, who progresses more than him. But if a person looks to Hashem, not to the sides, then nothing is lacking for him and all the abundance he receives he can bestow on others. When a person looks all the time to Hashem, then he will look with a good eye at every person, because everyone is a child of Hashem. Each one with his uniqueness, every Jew has something that his fellow does not have and with this special thing he completes the people of Israel, no one can take care of his personal place. This uniqueness of each person is hard to see with a superficial look, sometimes it is not noticed even if you know the person for quite a long time. But there are special opportunities where you can grasp the special point of the person, be impressed by it, thank Hashem for this great mosaic that all of Israel are partners in.
We must thank in detail. Not to be satisfied with general words. "And for Your miracles that are with us every day", a person must search and find every day the miracles that Hashem does for him and thank for them. A person must educate himself, accustom himself to thank for every detail in life, every moment really. Nothing is taken for granted, everything is the kindness of Hashem, even the water that comes out of the tap, even the clean and folded clothes taken from the closet. Our holy Rebbe, when he was a child, did not suffice with the blessings said on food, he would thank in his own words for every food: Thank you, Hashem, for the cucumber, thank you, Hashem, for the tomato, etc.
There is nothing exaggerated to thank for, everything is the kindness of Hashem, everything happens with complete divine providence.
Gratitude is submission and humility, understanding that without Hashem we are nothing, we cannot achieve anything by our own strength. We thank Hashem and also acknowledge that without Hashem we are nothing.
Gratitude is recognition of the good, which is such a lofty trait, that it both brings us closer to Hashem and opens all the gates, as we see that when a person truly thanks you, you immediately have the desire to do more and more good for him, and when a person does not know how to recognize the good, then the heart closes and there is no desire to help him and give to him.
This world was created for only one thing, that every moment we remember Hashem and remind of Hashem. A person must constantly mutter, aloud or quietly, with Hashem's help, Baruch Hashem, God willing, blessed is His name. Everything that happens to him all day is only so that he will say Baruch Hashem. Hashem created the world so that we would know of Him. So that we would recognize Him. So that we would know that we cannot do without Him. That we would know that every moment we depend on Him. And that everything we have, everything is from Him, blessed be He. And the main thing is that we should be happy. You are now here alive, healthy, breathing, so be happy, be joyful, stop thinking all the time about what was and what will be. Live the moment. Connect to Hashem every moment, in everything you do. Rejoice in the good that Hashem gives you! This is your work, to be happy! Every mitzvah you do is a gift. Kiss it. Embrace it. It brings you closer to Hashem, it connects you to Him, and you are not happy? Say how fortunate we are, many times a day, that you merited to be part of Israel, in this itself make yourself happy.
Did you fail? Did you not succeed? This is also a reason to say thank you because only this way do you begin to understand that alone you cannot. As King David says "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes" (Psalms 119).
The past was and is no more, the future will be and it is also not here. What exists is only this moment before you, so connect to Hashem and be happy. A Jew rises in the morning, the Creator has given him back his neshamah (soul), he must first of all thank for that. This is how Jews have always been happy, this is how they had enthusiasm all their days, so that even before their death they rejoiced in every additional moment that they could do the will of Heaven.
To be like children who have so much happiness and simcha, because they are not troubled by the future, living and enjoying every existing moment, exploiting it to the fullest.
Every word of Torah, every word of prayer, every lesser thought, every small movement I make in turning from evil or doing good, it is worth everything. It is everything. It is the purpose. It is eternal eternity. You learn Torah for a minute, for this the world was created. You pray and make an effort to focus a little, for this Hashem created the world.
To rejoice in our portion and say thank you. Fortunate are you, Israel, that you merited the Torah, fortunate are you, Israel, that you merited the mitzvot, fortunate are you, Israel, that you love one another, and do kindness with one another, even if sometimes it has a price.