Parshas Vayigash
17 maamarim of the tzaddikim on this week's reading, each in Hebrew and English with a takeaway.
Lehavas David
Rav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitz ›Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzThe Tzaddik's Teshuvah: Opening the Gate for AllWhen a tzaddik does teshuvah, as Yehudah did when he approached Yosef and Moshe did before Hashem, he opens a gate through which others can return too. But the gate does not carry…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzWhose Holiness Brings the Flow: Yosef and YaakovYosef kept his holiness in “the nakedness of the land,” and that holiness shone from his face and made him the channel of abundance for the whole world. Yosef credited the flow to…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzYour Eyes See: Mitzvos without Ulterior MotivesEven Dovid HaMelech, looking honestly at his mitzvos, saw himself “naked,” because a mitzvah done for our own pride or interest serves ourselves rather than our Creator. Our bris…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzGuarded Eyes, Holy Speech: Yosef's Proof through TorahYosef stood firm in holiness in the most corrupt land, and his strength came from the Torah he kept learning there. Holiness rests on guarding the eyes, and a guarded covenant…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzWalking in Torah: Yosef's Way and Yaakov's WayTo cleave to Hashem all day, so that every act becomes a kind of Torah, is the lofty way of tzaddikim, and Yosef lived it. Yet Yaakov recited the Shema, and Yosef told his…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzA Beis Midrash in Goshen: Sanctifying the PlaceA place keeps the imprint of what was done in it: scoffing and the books of the maskilim leave a residue that hinders avodas Hashem, while Torah and tzaddikim leave a holiness…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzYaakov's Shema: At the Sight of YosefOur acceptance of the yoke of Heaven in the Shema is only as whole as our holiness in Yesod; where that holiness is blemished, the forces of impurity draw even from our holiest…
Yismach Yisroel
Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok Dancyger ›Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerTorah, Shema and the Day of Death in ExileTorah is the first remedy against the yetzer hara, but a person too coarse to learn still has a road back: the Shema said with mesiras nefesh, and when even that is beyond him…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerEyes Opened to See the RedemptionThe way out of a trouble may already stand right before our eyes, yet it stays hidden until the moment Hashem has set for the salvation. When that moment comes, He opens our eyes…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerWhen the Land and Man Are Truly AliveEating, drinking and merely existing are not yet life. Just as a field of weeds is called dead if it yields no proper fruit, a person truly lives only when he fulfills the purpose…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerThe Shame of Rebuke and Shabbos's Opening of the EyesSin blinds a person to Hashem's greatness and to his own lowliness, so the true shame of the final rebuke is beyond what we can now imagine. Shabbos is the time to let that shame…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerEvery Concealment Is for the GoodHashem sometimes hides His goodness so that our reward for enduring the concealment will be greater, and even harsh judgment is a form of healing. Through Shabbos, whose mercy…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerKiddush, a Purified Mind, and True RemembranceTime lets a person forget his sins and imagine himself upright, and he will be judged by that very self-image. The Shabbos Kiddush, said in holiness, purifies the mind so that he…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerI Made Hashem Master: Prayer from the Divine WithinA true servant of Hashem credits all his power and success to Him alone, and knows that within him is a Divine portion. Even when sins weigh heavy and no human plan remains, he…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerGiving Thanks for One's Present Spiritual LevelSpiritual ambition and gratitude do not conflict. While longing to climb higher, a person must thank Hashem every day for the level he has already been given, knowing it could…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerWhy Yosef Risked Being Alone with His BrothersWhen Israel stands together in complete unity, a great light of kindness flows to the whole world. One might fear that such perfection provokes an equal force of opposition. But…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerWalking in Hashem's Ways: Living HalachahThe highest level is to cleave to Hashem so completely that every movement is itself halachah, as the tribes were restored to it when Yosef showed them that everything came from…