Friday, 29 December 2017

Miller's Musings Parshas Vayechi: Prepare for the Battle!


בס''ד

As Yaakov’s life slips away and he realises he is on his final journey back to his Creator, he calls his children to deliver his parting messages to them.  At a moment such as this, with a person such as Yaakov Ovinu, every word must have been crucial, every nuance deliberate and vital.  So when he informs Yosef that he will be leaving him the city of Shechem, we may well wonder why Yaakov also feels the need to inform him about precisely how the city came into his hands, “which I took…with my sword and with my bow.”  Was this such an important detail to include at this time?  You will not be surprised to hear that the answer is a resounding yes!

If we were to encapsulate what the overarching theme of Yaakov’s final communication to his family would be, it would not come as a shock to see a focus on their spiritual goals, that which was at the centre of his life and the purpose of our creation.  Everything that Yaakov said was chosen to enhance their ability to achieve their potential and this was no exception.  You see, says the Lakewood Mashgiach, a person can be the wisest of individuals, and can have a natural leaning towards righteousness, but if they are not prepared to fight and battle and go to war with their own inclinations, they will never become what they are meant to be.  Yaakov wanted to pass this idea on to Yosef, to let him know that everything that he had achieved in his life, despite perhaps what it may have looked like from the outside, was attained only through a willingness to confront, grapple and ultimately defeat his evil inclination.  This was how he captured Shechem, but it was also the story of his greatest victory, against himself. 

Everyone wants an easy life these days.  No one is prepared to struggle unless they are left with no other option.  But if we look at those who have achieved the most in any walk of life, it is those who have battled for what they believe in and those who have fought to achieve their goals whose accomplishments have stood the test of time.  We must of course never look for a fight, but we must be cognizant of the fact that conflict is inbuilt into our composition, a divine soul at odds with an animalistic body.  And should the need arise we must be primed to engage in warfare with ourselves and on the side of that which is right in order to vanquish the enemy within and without.

*May Shabbos fortify us for the battles ahead*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 
לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

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