Vayigash: Why Yaakov Recited Shema at His Reunion with Yosef—Ahavas Hashem and Gam Zu L’Tovah

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. This week's parsha, Parshas Vayigash, Yaakov Avinu is reunited with his son Yosef. A shishi, perek mem-vav, pasuk chaf-ches, speaks about the introduction of Yaakov's going down to Mitzrayim. He sends Yehuda. V'es Yehuda shalach lefanav el Yosef, l'horos lefanav Goshnah, to tread the way, to tread the way. And of course, Chazal, famous, Yehuda was sent to make a yeshiva, Beis Talmud. Why did it—was there a need for Yaakov Avinu to send Yehuda to make a yeshiva? You'll come there, you'll settle, you'll see the terrain, the area, you'll assess where, what, when, who, and you'll make a yeshiva. Why was it necessary for Yaakov Avinu to make the yeshiva even before he even went there? Lastly, Beis Talmud, he set up a yeshiva before he even begins his journey down to Mitzrayim. This had to be before he even went, that it was arranged that there was a yeshiva. Why? If you look further in the pasuk, the pasuk says, Vayeser Yosef markafto, vayaal kras Yisrael aviv Goshnah. Yosef goes to Goshen to greet his father. Vayera eilav, and Yosef is seen to him. Vayipol al tzavaro, and he falls on his neck. Vayebk al tzavaro od, and they cry. So Chazal tell us, Vayebk al tzavaro, who did the crying? So Rashi says that actually Yaakov Avinu did not fall on Yosef. Yosef fell on his father and cried. Rashi says, Aval Yaakov lo nafal al tzavarei Yosef v'lo nashkoi. He didn't kiss him. Can you imagine a father? He longed for his son for so many years, and he finally has the opportunity to meet, to see. The next pasuk says clearly, Vayomer Yisrael el Yosef, amusah hapa'am. Now I could die, pass away. I reached the moment I saw you, the moment I've been looking, longing for for so many years. Yet, the greeting was very cold. Hidden hug, hidden kisses. Who doesn't hug and kiss his son after so many years of not seeing and longing and missing a child? So Chazal say, V'amru Raboseinu shehaya kore es Shema. He was reading the Shema. Kore es Shema. He was reading the Shema, which means Yaakov Avinu was reading the Shema. Yosef, he did fall on his father's neck, embracing his father, kissing him. What about his Kriyas Shema? Why is Yosef not reading Kriyas Shema? If it's the time to read Kriyas Shema, and that because of this Yaakov Avinu doesn't greet his son with a hug and a kiss, but Yosef doesn't have to read Kriyas Shema? He's patur from Kriyas Shema. It's a good question, huh? The truth is that there's a lot of talk, halachically, why Yaakov reads Kriyas Shema, and—

Yosef is not reading Kriyas Shema. Reb Chaim Brisker says a beautiful pshat. Yaakov was told to go down to Mitzrayim, the tzivui of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. It was a mitzvah. So as long as he didn't reach Mitzrayim to see his son, as the Torah, as the mitzvah commanded him to go down to see his son, so he was osek b'mitzvah. He was being involved in a mitzvah. Ha'osek b'mitzvah is patur min hamitzvah. It's patur. Someone who is involved in a mitzvah is patur min hamitzvah. So he didn't have to read Kriyas Shema. Yosef, Yosef, on the other hand, he was in Mitzrayim. So he was able to read Kriyas Shema before. He didn't have to wait till the last moment when he greets his father to read Kriyas Shema. He could have read Kriyas Shema an hour before. So therefore it's only Yaakov who now must read Kriyas Shema, while Yosef was able to do it before, and therefore it's only Yaakov who was reading Kriyas Shema. It's interesting. It says, Vayeasar Yosef merkavto, vayaal likras Yisrael aviv Goshnah. So Yosef was also traveling. Yosef was also traveling. He's going towards his father. Now, when a person travels, you could still read Kriyas Shema. People who travel are not patur from Kriyas Shema. But there was a mitzvah of kibbud av va'em involved. What happened to the mitzvah of kibud av va'em? He's going to greet his father. That's kibud av va'em. It says, just like Yaakov Avinu did not have to read Kriyas Shema till this moment, because he was osek b'mitzvah, the mitzvah of going down to Mitzrayim on the command of the Eibishter, Yosef also had a mitzvah of kibud av va'em. Why is it that only Yaakov's mitzvah patters him from Kriyas Shema till now, and Yosef's mitzvah does not pater him from Kriyas Shema till now? I saw the Steipler says a meiridike pshat. He wants to say, hagufa, the opposite you could say, that actually Yosef didn't read Kriyas Shema because, what? He was osek b'mitzvah of kibud av va'em, so he couldn't read Kriyas Shema, while Yaakov didn't have the mitzvah when he saw Yosef. There's no mitzvah, there's no mitzvah for a father to see a child. So at this moment he became a chayev in Kriyas Shema. I'm going to repeat this, rabosai, because the truth is this is the pshat in halacha of the issue of the reading of Kriyas Shema of Yaakov Avinu. And then we'll soon see that there must be a deeper understanding and meaning why Yaakov Avinu was reading Kriyas Shema here and now. So again, Chazal are telling us. That at this historic, emotional, amazing reunification between a father and a child, Yaakov and Yosef, after so many years, something interesting happens. It's a one-sided emotional greeting. Yosef greets his father emotionally, while Yaakov stands still, almost cold to the whole meeting of his son. Chazal don't understand why. Why? Why is there no response from Yaakov? Why is Yosef falling on his father while Yaakov remains stoic? So Chazal say, because he was reading Kriyas Shema. He couldn't find a better time to read Kriyas Shema, Yaakov Avinu? Couldn't you find a better— No. Look, let's give you a scenario that you can identify with. You're waiting at the airport with a big sign, Welcome, my son, my long-lost son that I haven't seen, and he comes running through the terminal, and he reaches you and you go, Stop. Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Kriyas Shema. He looks at his clock. It's time for Kriyas Shema.

Why couldn't you read Kriyas Shema five minutes before? Why? He couldn't figure out a different time to read Kriyas Shema. So then the mefarshim tried to understand, maybe it was the last minute, it was time to read Kriyas Shema, there was no choice. Or maybe it wasn't the last minute, but maybe it was the beginning of the time when the zman of chiyuv Kriyas Shema comes. We don't know if this is morning, night. We don't know the pasuk. It's not clear if it's morning or night. But either way, the simple first glance answer would be, zman Kriyas Shema. Bnei Teirah are very makpid on this. No, zman Kriyas Shema, zman Kriyas Shema. The guy in the Magen Avraham, the guy in the Magen Avraham. Okay, we won't get into the guy in the Magen Avraham in the pasuk, okay? He had to read Kriyas Shema, it was zman Kriyas Shema, which automatically beckons to ask, what am I to Yosef? If it was zman Kriyas Shema, it doesn't explain Yaakov. If there was a must to read Kriyas Shema, and that explains that there was no interreaction by the meeting, by the reunification, so why Yosef? So the mefarshim tried to understand, well, wait a second, maybe Yosef was able to read Kriyas Shema before, while Yaakov Avinu had a mitzvah of going down to Mitzrayim to see his son. Ratzivui, the Ribbono Shel Olam sent him down. Ribbono Shel Olam said, Go down. See, he was oisek b'mitzvah. So therefore he wasn't mechuyiv till the last minute when he sees Yosef. And okay, now that he sees Yosef, he becomes mechuyiv in Kriyas Shema, Reb Chaim Brisker. Yeah, no, you like it, it's a nice teretz. You don't like the teretz, you like the beautiful teretz, halacha. You know, not strong enough for you. Now, Reb Yerucham Levovitz speaks about the simple pshat in the pasuk and the lesson that's learned from it, and that is how the avos, Yaakov Avinu, was able to overcome his emotion. The love, a mitzvah is a mitzvah. You got to do it right, and if it's Kriyas Shema, it's Kriyas Shema. And if there's a chiyuv kavanah during Kriyas Shema, he stands still and he doesn't respond because he's mevrin Kriyas Shema. On the most basic pshat of the pasuk, that it's about mitzvah of Kriyas Shema, oisek b'mitzvah is patur, or oisek b'mitzvah means that while I'm doing a mitzvah, nothing else exists. Take a look how the emotion and the feeling and the want, the ratzon, doesn't overpower the chiyuv and the mitzvah, and how Yaakov Avinu keeps the chiyuv of Kriyas Shema. Interesting. So what you call not so strong, I think is very strong. I think it's a beautiful thing. Rabbi Yerucham says we learn a tremendous lesson from here. And of course the mussar is, when we read Kriyas Shema, it's not about being distracted because of love of a child that we haven't seen for so many years. What's our excuse? What's our excuse? If Yaakov Avinu, if Yaakov Avinu, if Yaakov Avinu was able to overcome his feelings and his thoughts and his emotions, Kriyas Shema is Kriyas Shema. The mitzvah is the mitzvah. There's an expression, man, a man na'eh basrei. What are we going to say? There's a very interesting Gemara. If someone who reads Kriyas Shema and he's not careful to be mechaven, and he's not zahir not to be mafsik in the Kriyas Shema, on him the pasuk says, V'lo osi karasa Yaakov. It's Gemara in Brachos. V'lo osi karasa Yaakov. You can't call that—Yaakov doesn't do that. Says the Maharsha, yeah, of course, that this is the pshat from this Gemara, from this story in the Torah, in the pasuk, and that is Yaakov Avinu didn't read Kriyas Shema this way. V'lo—

That's not how Yaakov read Kriyas Shema. Look how Yaakov—take an example from Yaakov Avinu. V'lo hoysi koroso Yaakov. This is not how Yaakov called my name and read my Kriyas Shema, Kabbolas Ol Malchus Shamayim. But again, there's a lot more in the mefarshim to explain deeper meaning and understanding in Yaakov's Kriyas Shema. Because then why did Yosef not read Kriyas Shema? Why is Yosef, yes, emotionally moved and involved in the reunification with his father, and what's with his Kriyas Shema? So the Steipler, in Bechas Peretz, is a nice teretz, because he was also osek b'mitzvah patur min hamitzvah of kibbud av va'em. So the minute Yaakov's mitzvah ended, because now he sees Yosef, he came down to Mitzrayim, but now Yosef, in reverse, has what? Has the ptur that he's being mekayem kibbud av va'em by being with his father. Namely, he was patur min hamitzvah, and therefore he did not read Kriyas Shema. Okay? Halacha. The Maharal says a different pshat, rabosai. Maharal says that the reading of Kriyas Shema here is not halachic, but the reading of Kriyas Shema here is symbolic. It's not the halacha was mechayev that he should read Kriyas Shema here and now. It was a siman, it was a sign. It was a symbolic thing that he read Kriyas Shema. He sees his son. He sees his son. Yosef, he reads Kriyas Shema. It's not the chiyuv Kriyas Shema, the halachic chiyuv of Kriyas Shema, but it's the Kriyas Shema that we find that people say at different situations. There's a beautiful pshat from the Chark of the Rebbe. He says that Yaakov Avinu sees Yosef, and he realizes that he's going to stay in Mitzrayim. You know about Mitzrayim, the fear that Yaakov Avinu had to live in Mitzrayim. He didn't want to go. Hashem told him to go, because Mitzrayim is tamei. Mitzrayim is not pure. It's a bad, it's a bad svivah. When someone is confronted with a sakana of doing an aveirah, what are the three things he has to do? The Gemara says three things which are a solution and eitzah. The first thing is, yikra Kriyas Shema. If someone is paga boi menuval, the yetzer hara is trying to get you, the first, ah, now you like it better. Beautiful pshat. You have to read what? You have to read Kriyas Shema. The second thing you have to do is learn Torah. And the third thing is what? Think of the day of death. Let's read the pesukim inside. Let's read. Yom HaMaves says the pasuk, Ves Yehuda shalach lefanav. The first thing he did was what? Set up a yeshiva. Before he even goes down, remember I asked you, why did he have to set the yeshiva? He'll go there, he'll put up a yeshiva. The Torah says he put up a protection, a method of protection before he went down to Mitzrayim, not to be mushpa from Mitzrayim. He had a whole system to protect him. What's the system? First, the yeshiva. And then when he comes down to Mitzrayim, he reads Kriyat Shema. What's the next pasuk? Vayomer Yisrael el Yosef, amusah hapa. Huh? Yishrak. Beautiful, beautiful. Pshat. Amusah hapa. Amusah hapa means, ready to die. He was maskir the yom hamisah, all three. Because otherwise the question is great. You see your son, so you have to mention the fact that you're going to die now. You're ready to die. That's the first thing that comes out of your mouth: Vayomer, amusah. Now I could die. He wants to say he was being maskir, starting off the entry to Mitzrayim with the three things that protect you from all the tumah, from all the aveiros from around. But the Maharal says it's a little bit deeper.

The Maharal says that actually, the Kriyas Shema that he read had to do with the love that he now has and is now re-experiencing with his son. You know, there's an interesting Taz which I'd like to point out. What part of Kriyas Shema did he read? So if you take a look, the lashon of the Rashi, the Chazal, it says that he was what? Reading Shema. He was reading Shema. Pashut, simply, it means he was reading the entire Shema. There's an interesting Taz. The Taz says in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman samach-vav, sif katan aleph, he asks a question. According to the Rosh, that holds that you're allowed to stop in middle of Kriyas Shema for respect of someone who deserves respect, for example, a rebbe, for example, a father, you're allowed to stop, bein ha-perakim. You're allowed to stop in the middle of Kriyas Shema. So Yaakov Avinu was mechuyav in kavod of Yosef as the melech, as we see later in Parshas Vayechi that he gets up and he stands in respect for the king, the melech, because malchus is mechayev that you should be mechabed, kavod of the malchus. So why is he not stopping in the middle of Kriyas Shema? You're supposed to stop, bein ha-kavod, for someone who you're supposed to honor, you're supposed to stop. So why is Yaakov not stopping? He's not even talking. He didn't have to say anything. He could have hugged him and kissed him. So the Taz says a teretz that he actually was not saying the entire Kriyas Shema. At this juncture that Rashi is talking about, that he said Kriyas Shema, he's talking about pasuk rishon. He was talking about the middle of the first pasuk: Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu Hashem... and there you don't stop. There you don't stop. L'choira, it would imply that he was not really reading the entire Kriyas Shema, unless you say he happened to be in the first pasuk. That's why he didn't stop. And as soon as he finishes that first pasuk, maybe he did stop. Maybe he did stop to kiss Yosef. The only thing is, that first pasuk took quite a while, mistama. Yaakov Avinu, mistama, was a heilige tzaddik. The first pasuk of Kriyas Shema took a very long time. I mean, otherwise he could have taken a second, right? He could have said, Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad, all right, and then kiss his son. The fact that he was oisek in the first pasuk and he didn't kiss his son, maybe it took a very long time here, and that's why he doesn't kiss his son. We could come and say that maybe he didn't say the first pasuk because of the chiyuv of Kriyas Shema, but he said it because of what? He said it because of the chiyuv of saying Shema at certain times during a person's life. I even saw the mefarshim that say an interesting thing, that Yaakov Avinu was afraid, amus hapa'am, that right now he might pass away from so much simcha. Sometimes when a person's overwhelmed, his heart can't take it. Mameila he said Kriyas Shema. Huh? Interesting. You hear, rabosai? Very interesting. Amus al poam. So he was ... So that's why he was saying Kriyas Shema. I saw many, many Acharonim say like this. It wasn't the Kriyas Shema chiyuv that he said Shema Yisrael. He said Shema Yisrael because Shema Yisrael, at this particular moment, there was something that moved him to say Shema Yisrael. This is where the Maharal comes in and says that when he saw his son, the love that he had for his son moved him to say Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Maharal explains that there are many times that a person forgets the Ribono Shel Olam because he's taken up completely with his own feelings and emotions, personal. Yaakov said, At this moment, I don't want to forget the Ribono Shel Olam. I don't want to forget HaKadosh Baruch Hu. A person can be so involved. You know, when we have a simcha, make a chasunah, always think about it.

What do we say in משכך חירושלים, תשכח ימיני, אם לא אעלה את ירושלים על ראש שמחתי. What does ראש שמחתי mean, rosh? A person makes a simcha. He can forget that Yerushalayim is charev. He can forget that he's not with the Eibishter. A person can feel it's a great moment. Is it really a great moment? You know, when a person makes a chasunah, and, chas v'shalom, the parents are not there, or a very close relative to the family passed away, the simcha is not fully complete because you always remember who. You remember the person. At the back of your mind, it's not complete. Yerushalayim, which represents, of course, the Eibishter, also has to be al rosh simchasi. When I begin my simcha, I can't get completely invoked in my simcha without remembering. Im lo a'aleh es Yerushalayim, it's not complete. Yaakov Avinu was afraid that his complete love and happiness, he would forget for a second the Ribono Shel Olam. So it would be as if it would say that he read Kriyas Shema al rosh simchasi. That's what I think the Maharal means, al rosh simchasi, at the peak. The peak of his happiness. I don't want to forget the Eibishter. It's a tremendous madreiga, tremendous madreiga. The Kotzker Rebbe, zecher tzaddik livracha, said it a little bit deeper. And I understood what the Kotzker Rebbe said with the story of the Chafetz Chaim, which I'll tell you in a moment. The Kotzker Rebbe said that Yaakov experienced the ultimate moment of love, of kesher. You know, today, rabosai, we have kesher with our children, but we don't fully experience that kesher, because we have it every day. There's a time and a place where you can feel the kesher to a child, that love, and that's when you don't have it and you're missing it. And for so many years, it was not by you, this kesher. You know, I remember once reading somewhere that there was a mother who told other mothers, as well as fathers, that when you say goodbye to your children for the day, that you're going to work, you say, Have a nice day, tell it to them as if it would be your last goodbye. What did they mean by that? V'chas v'shalom, it's not your last goodbye. It's not. Baruch Hashem, you'll come home. That's not what the mother was. The mother wasn't cursing the people that they're not going to come home after work. What the mother was saying is, every moment that you're with your child, it should be as if it's the last. Could you imagine the love and the feeling? That's what you should feel always. But because we overlook, we take for granted, we expect to come home, we expect later, tomorrow, every moment should be full love. Yaakov Avinu felt the ultimate love to his son at this particular moment. So he experienced what it means to really love. So he said, you know what? Let me think that same love to the Eibishter. Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu. He grasped. He understood now what the unlimited love a person could have. And he said, you know what? Let me take that love and also apply it to the Ribono Shel Olam.

It's an unbelievable pshat, rabosai. A person is capable of tremendous love, love for a son. And Yaakov says, now I understand that I could use that same love for my father, my father in Shamayim, the Ribono Shel Olam. I think that's the depth of the meaning of the understanding of what the Kotzker Rebbe said. The Maharal is telling us that the Shema Yisrael was a symbolic Shema Yisrael. It wasn't the Shema, the chiyuv Kriyas Shema. So what was it? So the Maharal seems to say that he didn't want to forget the Eibishter when he was completely invoked in love of his son. The Kotzker Rebbe is saying a little bit deeper. The Kotzker Rebbe is saying is that he experienced true, boundless love. And he said, wow, if this is the love that my neshama, my heart could have, I want to apply it also, Ribono Shel Olam, I love You too. And that's Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Jews are capable of boundless love to the Ribono Shel Olam, boundless. They're capable of applying the love that they have for a child, and that same love to apply it to the Ribono Shel Olam. And that's because we are the banim of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We are the children of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We are so connected to the Eibishter. We've spoken about this last week, the Chanukah was the ultimate mesiras nefesh. And it was based on the love, the chibah, v'achar kach bo bonecho. It was tremendous love for the Eibishter, love for his Torah. There's a beautiful story from the Chofetz Chaim. The Chofetz Chaim, of course, famous, wrote the Mishnah Berurah. In the middle of the writing of the Mishnah Berurah, his son of late passed away, his older son, the dayan in Radin, the kesher, the relationship between him and the Chofetz Chaim was so great. And of course, the Chofetz Chaim had to deal with the pain and the anguish of losing such a great son. And this is how the Chofetz Chaim expressed himself. He went to the bimah, the bimah in the shul, and he gave a patch. And the world knows one version of what he said, but my zeide zatzal used to say over a different version, meaning that he added that there was more to what he said than what's quoted commonly that the Chofetz Chaim said. The Chofetz Chaim said, Yeitzer hara, yeitzer hara, you're going to try to stop me from writing the Mishnah Berurah. I know what this is all about. I know what your master plan in taking away my son. This is atzas hayeitzer, to hold me back and keep me from writing the rest of the Mishnah Berurah, to break me and I shouldn't be able to finish the project. You won't win. I will finish the Mishnah Berurah. I will finish the Mishnah Berurah. I will continue writing and I will complete the work. But there's another part to what the Chofetz Chaim said. My zeide, zatzal, used to say over, and maybe today already it's already printed also in the sefarim. He said over, you know, the love that a person has for a child is complete. It takes up all his emotions and feelings. But he has to work on dividing that love with the love of the Ribono Shel Olam, the love of his Ribono Shel Olam's Torah, the love of Klal Yisrael. How do you take undivided love and divide it? It's interesting. There's a beautiful story that is said over from the Alter from Slabodka. They once came to ask the Alter from Slabodka for a shidduch for one of the talmidim in the yeshiva. The Alter said, That? Oh, that's my ben yachid. I love him. He's my son, my ben yachid. So they asked the Alter from Slabodka, He's your ben yachid? It's interesting.

Last week, some other person came to the yeshiva, and he wanted a different boy for a different shidduch, and you said that that boy was your ben yachid. So which? And then the third guy says, Yeah, but you said about that guy he's your ben yachid. And the Alter said an unbelievable thing. He said, Every student in my yeshiva is my ben yachid. What is the Alter saying? Love. When you love, there's so much in love that it can be undivided, that each one gets full love, complete love. This is the mashal I was trying to tell you, rabosai. The mother is telling advice that when you kiss your child, it shouldn't be divided love. It should be undivided, complete, as if it would be the last goodbye. And that's how it always has to be. L'chafetz Chaim was discussing, I have to love HaKadosh Baruch Hu, but all my love goes to my children, so how do you work that? And the Chofetz Chaim said something so unique, and he said, Now that my son is not here, now that my son passed away, I could take all my love and give it straight to You. I don't have to divide it anymore. The Chofetz Chaim understood that the ahavah, the love... The person could have for a son, and realize that at this particular moment that he's not here anymore. That's the pshat. He started to realize the love that he had for his son. He says, Ribbono Shel Olam, that love was an undivided love. I could take that level, that undivided love, and give it all to You. And the Chofetz Chaim said, Where did I learn this from? He says, I heard that in the Spanish Inquisition there was a mother who laid over her dying child that was killed, over her dying child that was killed, and she said these words. She said, My child now leaves me. Hashem, Ribbono Shel Olam, I could take all my love and I could give it to You. Said the Chofetz Chaim, if a Jewish mother, a mother, a simple Jewish mother, has these feelings, I, the Chofetz Chaim, for sure, I learned and I davened, and I've done so much avodas Hashem in my life that I for surely could reach that level of devotion and love. This is what I believe is the pshat in Yaakov Avinu, according to the Kotzker Rebbe's understanding. Yaakov Avinu understood now a level of love that was so huge and so great that he said, Now that I reached that level, I want to take that love and say, Ribbono Shel Olam. I have that love for you too. That's kara kriyashma. He didn't read all three parshiyos, but he read Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Every Jew, every Yid, before he goes al Kiddush Hashem, dies with these words on his mouth: Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Where do we have the capability? Where do we get the power, the strength, the feeling, devotion to HaKadosh Baruch Hu at the last moments of breath? It's possible, I believe, that it's from Yaakov Avinu who instilled it here at this juncture when he meets Yosef. That the greatest love is the love of a father to a child. And yet, at that moment, he's able to think about, Ribono Shel Olam, I love you. Yaakov Avinu instilled in the DNA, so to speak, just like it's brought down from Chaim Volozhin, that Yaakov Avinu—I'm sorry, that Avraham Avinu.

Excuse me. Avraham Avinu instilled in Klal Yisroel a keidah, that one could sacrifice a child, and that Yitzchak instilled in Klal Yisroel mesiras nefesh, that one could give up his life for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. I believe that this Shema Yisroel that Yaakov Avinu said at this particular moment instilled that the greatest love that a person could have, that that greatest love could be directed to the Ribono Shel Olam. He instilled it at this Kriyas Shema that he said. It's interesting, the Rambam brings down that actually Shema Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad, we say today afterwards, Baruch shem kevod malchuso l'olam va'ed. Why do we say the Baruch shem kevod malchuso l'olam va'ed? It's because Yaakov Avinu said it. Kriyas Shema is min haTorah, but actually the Shema Yisroel, which follows by Baruch shem kevod malchuso l'olam va'ed, was instilled, was started by Yaakov Avinu. The Rambam Hilchos Kriyas Shema, perek aleph, halacha daled. The Rambam says, Hakorei Kriyas Shema k'shegomer pasuk rishon, omer belachash, Baruch shem kevod malchuso l'olam va'ed. V'chozer v'korei k'darko, v'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha ad sofah. V'lamah korin kein? The Rambam interestingly says, Why? Why do we say Baruch shem kevod malchuso l'olam va'ed? Misoires hi b'yadeinu. שבשעה שקיבץ יעקב אבינו את בניו במצרים בשעת מיתתו, ציוום וזרזם על ייחוד השם ועל דרך השם. שהלה באברהם ויצחק אביו, ושאלו אותם, בני, שמא יש בכם פסלות, מי שאינו מאמין בייחוד השם? Is it possible among you there is someone who doesn't have this strong belief in HaKadosh Baruch Hu? To which the children answered, כולם ואמרו, שמע ישראל. ישראל is Yaakov Avinu. שמע ישראל, ה' אלוקינו, ה' אחד. כלומר, שמע ממנו אבינו ישראל, ה' אלוקינו, ה' אחד, פתח הזקן ואמר, ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד. לפיכך נהגו כל ישראל לומר שבח ששבח בו ישראל הזקן אחר פסוק זה. Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuso was also introduced, installed, to Klal Yisrael from Yaakov Avinu. It's important, rabosai, to speak another part of the Kriyas Shema here. It's interesting, he said, שמע ישראל, ה' אלוקינו, ה' אחד. Yaakov Avinu looks and he sees Yosef in Mitzrayim. Many mefarshim say that even when he was told that Yosef was alive, lo he'emin, he didn't believe it. Why did he believe it? It's so pashut. When a person gets news that's so bizarre, so to speak, it's so strange, he didn't believe it. Lo he'emin. He didn't believe it. The mefarshim say that wasn't the issue. Lo he'emin means he didn't believe that Yosef was a Mitzri, oy Yosef bni chai. It wasn't about Yosef; it was Yosef bni, that he remained a religious Jewish and honest Yid in Mitzrayim, an ehrlich Yid in Mitzrayim. That he didn't believe. So Yosef is alive, but how do I know that Yosef bni is alive? Yaakov Avinu comes down to Mitzrayim, and the pasuk says, Vaye'eser Yosef markavto vayaal likras Yisrael aviv Goshnah, vayera eilav. I mean, if Yosef went to see him, so it's vayera eilav; he was seen. Rashi explains, vayera eilav, Yosef nir'eh l'aviv.

Yosef was seen to his father. The pasuk is redundant. What does Rashi want? Something is missing here, right? If Yosef went to see his father, so Yosef was seen to his father. Ramban explains that it's a technical issue here. Yosef looked like a king in Mitzrayim. He was wearing a special turban and everything. Yaakov Avinu wasn't accustomed to seeing... He thought he was one of the kings of Mitzrayim. So then, when it was Vayeira eilav, when he recognized him, that's pshat. Yosef nirah elav, it means he recognized him. He sees him, he says, Oh, now it's Yosef. It's so important, rabosai. Is it so important to know that first he didn't recognize him because he was wearing Egyptian royal clothing, and then he recognized... I have to know every... and he fell on him, and Yaakov was reading Kriyas Shema. Why the emphasis? Talmudic... hear, rabosai, why the emphasis, Yosef nirah elav? Chazal used to say over from Baalei Mussar, I think from Rav Tali Trop, and they say over from Chaim Shmulevitz and other gedolei Mussar, that Yosef was on such a great level that when he came to see his father, it also wasn't personal. See, Yaakov took it, and he said, I'm taking out the, so to speak, the personal, humanly emotion from it. Yosef also, he did it only to be nireh el aviv. It's not that he was excited. No person—why do you ask a guy, Well, what are you so...? I'm excited to see my father. Yosef didn't say that. I'm excited my father should be able to see me. Huh? You ever see anyone talk like that? Here. Someone didn't see somebody for so long. Yeah? I'm excited to see the person. No, no. I'm excited that that person should see me. That's hameicha tikun madrega, but that's what many baalei mussar say, that's what... Yosef nira, vayera elav. Yosef went that he should be able to be seen by his father. I would say a different pshat, rabosai, and I think that's what the Ramban is maybe meaning. Yosef, outwardly, externally, he was dressed like a king, like an Egyptian almost, right? Almost not like what you would call a Yid mita mita bord, mita hamburger, right? You know, mita kapoteh. He was dressed like an Egyptian king. Yaakov was searching to see the Yosef. He didn't want—the external was not his issue. That part he wasn't excited. Yosef nira, the Yosef was nireh el aviv. Oh, that's all of a sudden when Yaakov says, Now it's time to read Kriyas Shema. Now it's time to thank the Eibishter. And let me explain to you. Many mefarshim explain that he didn't just say Shema Yisrael. He said, Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. It's not Shema Yisrael, even though it says the word Shema. It's Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. What does that mean, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad? If you look at the sefarim, the Rishonim, the Acharonim that explain the nusach of the Kriyas Shema, Hashem is midas ha-rachamim. Elokeinu is midas ha-din. Sometimes we see midas ha-rachamim, and sometimes we see midas ha-din. Eventually, you know what we end up seeing? That the rachamim and the din is all the same. There is no such a thing as midas ha-din. Hashem Echad. It's all one Hashem. Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. At the end of life, we look back and we start to understand that what we thought was midas ha-din was actually so much midas ha-rachamim. Yaakov Avinu sees Yosef now, and he says, Now I understand what it means, Shema Yisrael.

Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. That it's all one Hashem. What I thought was din was actually all rachamim. The Chofetz Chaim, zechus yagen aleinu, used to say, man before he exits the journey in this world will have a chance to look back and get an insight on everything that happened in his life, to see how actually it was all l'tovah. He says the Gemara says that Nachum Ish Gamzu, he was called Gamzu because gam zu l'tovah. What was the gam zu l'tovah? The story with the rooster, and the ganavim came and stole the rooster and the fire, right? The next day, right, he realized that this, that everything was stolen from him, was l'tovah. Why? Because had there been the rooster, it would have made the noise, the light would have given him away. Now he realizes the chesed of the Eibishter. He says Nachum Ish Gamzu was zocheh to see it right away. Everyone will eventually see it. The problem is we don't have patience. That's how the Chofetz Chaim used to say, we don't have the patience in life to wait. We want quick results. We want right now to understand, right now to give us a good understanding. It's very possible, rabosai, and I believe I heard this nusach either from my zeide or from different Rosh Yeshivas, I don't remember exactly now where I heard it, but that the Chofetz Chaim actually said one more point. That those that say Gam zu l'tovah will be zocheh to see it right away. Nachum Ish Gamzu was zocheh the next day because he believed and exclaimed to the today is gam zu l'tovah. And therefore it didn't have to take a long journey of life to see the tovah. It's a lesson, rabosai. Every day when we say Kriyas Shema, Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad, to be able to see the tovah. I want to give you advice, rabosai. We get wrapped up, wrapped up with the situation: this is not good and that's not good. And there's a lot of chesed in every situation between the lines. Between all the—there's a lot of things that if we would focus on it, we would see, maybe the Ribono Shel Olam is doing a chesed with me. I might have to go through this situation. It's possible that this is the way for many reasons. But if you pay attention, you'll realize the chesed, the chesed of the Eibishter to go through that. And if a person says Gam zu l'tovah and he realizes Hashem Elokeinu is really Hashem Echad, then he'll be able to be zocheh to see the chesed of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. You know, Yosef, we read it as if it's a beautiful story, the story of Yosef. Think about all the yissurim, all the yissurim that Yaakov Avinu had the entire time. I once thought about, you know, the Shechina left Yaakov Avinu all the years that he was misabel, all the years he wasn't zoche that the Ribono Shel Olam should be with him because he was ba'aveilus. Now that he sees his son, all of a sudden there's hashra'as haShechina. Could be Yaakov Avinu says, Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu. He started to see the Ribono Shel Olam, the Shechina, more because he was mitoch simcha. At this moment, he recognized that the Ribono Shel Olam is here. Shema Yisrael. The Shema Yisrael that he said, he was moved. By now all of a sudden he sees Yosef, so the Shechina comes back. Rabosai, there's no question that if a person is in a very difficult situation, and if he works on himself to be b'simcha, he will see.

The Rabbeinu Shloilam. He will see the Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Ein haShechinah shruyah lo mitoch atzvus. When a person's atzev. Now, of course, I'm not giving mussar, so to speak, for people go through very difficult things in life. But the daily things that we go through that bring us down, overpower, that feeling. Say to yourself, Rabbeinu Shloilam, I want to see your yad, your hand. I want to see what You, through this whole situation, are holding my hand. You will see it. There's an interesting Chiddah with this ayin. The Chiddah says that there's a parsha called Eglah Arufah. Parsha called Eglah Arufah. What was the story of Eglah Arufah? The story of Eglah Arufah was that he went from one town to another and he got killed. Eglah Arufah, what were they able to do for him to protect him? It seems like the chachamim of the town, they're responsible. It's their fault. So Rashi brings down, shelo patru, that we didn't feed him, we let him go without mazon, without food. Yes, therefore what? That's why he got killed or he didn't get killed? I mean, what does it have to do with anything? Rabosai, think of the pashut pshat, no? Rabosai, prach pshat, yeah. There's the story of Eglah Arufah. So the Chachamim are responsible because they didn't feed him, and therefore what? If they fed him, what, he wouldn't get killed? Says the Chidah, chidush nifla, that if they fed him and they cared for him and they showed him a little warmth, he'd be b'simcha. And if he'd be b'simcha, he wouldn't have the bad mazal to get killed on the road. It would have protected him. Huh? Unbelievable. Let's talk. What did Yosef send back to his father? He sent back the parsha of Eglah Arufah, right? He sent agalos. Chazal say, what were the agalos? That that was the last thing they were learning was the sugya of Eglah Arufah. So the mefarshim ask, why did he send back the last thing that he was learning, Eglah Arufah? And they say he was trying to tell his father he's still holding in learning. He's still holding in learning. Tell me, you know how many years? Twenty-something years, he's still in the same sugya? Unbelievable. Could you imagine, you're still in the same sugya after 22 years? So there's a lot of terutzim, a lot of explanations, but I always thought to myself something interesting. Many mefarshim learn that he was meramez that there was a problem, that Yaakov sent Yosef without leviah, without protection. He sent him to the brothers, and look what happened. It's the story of Eglah Arufah. It's mamish the story of Eglah Arufah. There was no Levi. He didn't escort. He let him go in the field by himself, and look what happened. Maybe, Rabosai, he was sending a tremendous lesson, and that is, Yosef is telling his father, for so many years, for so many years, I was lost, but I was protected. Why? Because I was mekabel it b'simcha. Baruch Hashem, I learned from the sugya of Eglah Arufah that if I took the nisayones and I grew from it, and I didn't fall, there's a protection from that itself. The only time was Yisra mazlei, that the mazel is no good, that's only if it's when a person falls and he's depressed and he's down. Eglah Arufah was a lesson. I'm still kept the lesson of Eglah Arufah, and meilai I was protected in Mitzrayim, an unbelievable protection. Yosef babor. Yosef babor. He was in the pit. He was in—another person would have been broken.

Another person would have been. What does Yosef take it all? The kim shlachani, the Eibishter was with me the entire time. And this becomes the lesson of Eglah Arufah, that he was sending back to his father Yaakov. Rabosai, let's learn from the parsha. Difficulties, difficulties. There's a tremendous love that a Yid has for the Ribono Shel Olam, and that love overrides every difficult situation in life. How come people, the more yisurim they get, the more they love HaKadosh Baruch Hu? It's an interesting phenomenon. I thought about it. The Gemara says that Klal Yisroel is like a zayis. The more you squeeze them, the more you koitish, the more you crush them, right, the bigger and better they become. I know it's Zos Chanukah, so I just want to end with this nekudah, rabosai, if you don't mind, a thought that I had. What was the nes Chanukah? The nes Chanukah was, no, about the oil. What took eight days? Tell me, how long does it take to make oil? Go to the store and buy oil. Or if you have to make the oil, I'm sure you can make oil in an hour. It took eight days to make new oil? It says for eight days they were lighting. Why? Why? Why eight days? So it's stated in the mefarshim, they had to squeeze it, and they had to get that special, the pure, the pure oil. Okay. Klal Yisrael is doimeh l'zayis. The more you squeeze it, and the more you crush it, the better oil comes out. The more pure is the oil. By nes Chanukah, they did tremendous yisurim to us. Lachtzum lachatz gadol, the Rambam brings down, they made us suffer. But the more they made us suffer, the closer we became to the Eibishter. That was part of the nes of Chanukah. They thought that if you make the Yid suffer, it makes him want to become more and more like the goy, and let go of his Torah and let go of his religion and let go of the Eibishter. The opposite. It brings out more and more the love. V'ach kach bou bonecha l'dvir beisecha. The Yid's love to the Eibishter is so strong that the more it gets tested, the more it overrides the test and becomes stronger. Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, is the words of every dying Jew, because the love of the Eibishter overrides any difficulty. A person has difficulty in life. Tap into that tremendous ability that a person is able. To love the Ribono Shel Olam, and I part with a story. Everybody loves a good story. I part with a story. Ready for a beautiful story? My shadchan is a great tzaddik, Rabbi Yaakov Tolidano, zecher tzaddik kadosh livracha. He was the Rosh Yeshiva in Marseille, in Paris. He was a tremendous personality. His capability of giving shiurim and davening, such a tremendous ability, koiches. He unfortunately got a disease, ALS, and little by little he deteriorated. He couldn't move. I went to visit him when I went to Paris. They took him down the steps, had to carry him. They sat him down. They fed him a coffee, and I just broke down when I saw it. I couldn't... the beauty, the beauty of a person. Look what happened. So he asks me, ‘A vos veinstu? Why are you crying?’

So he told him, Al hai shufra d'bala ba'ara. The beauty was a person, a personality, strong, capable, his drashas. Look what they disintegrated into. So he tells me, You're a ben Torah. You're a ben Torah. You shouldn't cry. Veinish, don't cry. I want to tell you something. My sister, she was not religious. My sister's not religious. In Morocco, they had like haskalah, like they had in Europe, they had haskalah. So in Morocco also they had like a type of, you know, they got influenced. And the boys left Morocco, went to yeshivas in England and in Eretz Yisrael, so they remained religious. But the girls who remained back home, they went off. So his sister went off. And don't forget, the sister was daughter of the great Rav Chalfon Baruch Tolidano, the one of the greats, the one that wrote the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch for the Moroccan Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. So he tells me that his sister came to visit him, and she sees him in this state of health, and she asks him, Zu Torah v'zu scharah? This is—you gave up your life for Torah, and look at the reward you got. He says, I answered her. I answered her. She probably didn't fully comprehend the answer, but you as a ben Torah, you should comprehend the answer. Learn it, accept it, and live with it. The love that I feel for the Rabbeinu Shloilam through my disease is so strong that if Hashem would offer me, do I want it or I don't want, I would have accepted the disease. That's how much love I experienced. That's how much connection I gained through these yisurim, through the machla, that I would have accepted it lechatchila. Ben Torah veinish, don't cry. That's what he told me. I'm sorry that I'm crying. I learned a tremendous lesson from it. He is able to overlook all the physical and be attached to the love of the Rabbeinu Shloilam. He has it in his neshama, and this is what Yaakov was teaching us. All the yisurim that he went through, he realized, Rabbeinu Shloilam, I thank you for those yisurim. Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu. Why? Because Hashem Echad. I realized and I understood that you were behind it all. There's something called tziduk hadin. What does tziduk hadin mean? I thank you for tziduk hadin. You know, when you say tziduk hadin, lo aleinu, on a meis, baruch Hashem, it's not only for a meis. Tziduk hadin can be for anything. We don't just say that the Rabbeinu Shloilam is right. We give a bracha. Baruch Atah Hashem. It's a bracha, huh? Why? Because it's not just that the Ribono Shel Olam is right. But once we realize how right He is, and how right, tzedek is a lashon of tzedek, we realize it's baruch. We realize a Jew is able to thank and bless and appreciate the Eibishter for that. The Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad, was not just recognition that Hashem is Hashem Echad, that all the middos hadin was rachamim. But actually, what was it? It was a shevach, a hoda'ah: Baruch, shem kevod malchuso l'olam va'ed. Yaakov instilled that everything that he went through in his life, in conclusion of it, he thanks the Eibishter that he went through it. And where did that come from? At the moment where he overrode his feeling, his emotion to his son, and said, You know what, Ribono Shel Olam, Shema Yisrael, my love to You, the Ribono Shel Olam. At that moment, he instilled in the Klal Yisrael this koach, life.

And the Eibishter, the Eibishter is the Father, and we are able to love Him in every situation. V'acha kach, bo'u bonecha l'dvir beisecha. That's the Shem in Zayis, and that's the beauty. And every day when we say Kriyas Shema, we should mekabel the love of the Ribono Shel Olam. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.