Parshat Vayeshev - Miketz
Weekly Parsha Commentary by Rav Binyamin Zev Kahane | Translated by Lenny Goldberg | published by Yekutiel Ben Yaakov
The Exile Self-Destructs For the "Comfortable" Jew (1994)
The Egyptian exile which is
defined by our sages as the
first exile, begins in Parshat Vayigash.
Yaakov and sons make "yireda" to
Egypt, and from this point onward,
the arduous and torturous road from
"galut" (exile) to "geula" (redemption)
begins. Since the sages tell us that the
first redemption from Egypt is a symbol
of the final redemption, we will tackle
one point concerning the Egyptian
exile and derive a crucial lesson for our
generation.
It is interesting that in every exile a
definite pattern develops. Each exile
that the Jews encountered began as a
result of terrible affliction suffered by
the Jews in the Land of Israel. First, it
was the suffering of Yaakov and his lost
son and the heavy famine prevailing
in the Land of Canaan that brought
on a departure to the first exile called
Egypt. Afterwards, it was the second
exile of the dispersion of the ten tribes
until the destruction of the first Temple
and the massive spilling of blood in
Jerusalem. Finally- the last exile which
began with the brutal war against the
Romans on Jerusalem and culminated
in the destruction of the second Temple
and the killing of millions of Jews in
Jerusalem.
What is astonishing is that in all of the
above exiles, after a very short period
of adaptation, Jews discovered that
life in the galut wasn't so bad. All the
troubles they experienced in Eretz
Yisrael suddenly ended, and they
started to thrive and prosper...at least
in the beginning.
This is exactly what happened in
Egypt, and on this point, the great
commentator, the "Kli Hayakar"
elaborates. On the final verse in our
parsha, "And Israel dwelt in the land of
Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and THEY
GRIPPED ONTO IT, and were fruitful
and multiplied exceedingly", the "Kli
Hayakar", brings down the following
on the phrase "they gripped onto it":
Editor's Note:
"The children of Israel are entirely to
Rav Binyamin's words ring as true today as when
blame for this verse. Because the Lord
they were written 13 years ago. One would need
decreed on them that a 'stranger your
to be completely brain dead and blind to ignore
seed will be' (that is, temporary), and
global developments that all point to the great
they wanted to be inhabitants (that potential that the Jew will once again turn into the
is, permanent) in a place where it was
resident scapegoat. Can anyone ignore the new
decreed upon them to be transient ...
appeasement policy being ushered in by a congress
this verse comes to place blame on this
and senate now dominated by those who seek to
settling in, since they gripped onto a
land that wasn't theirs." replace "the war on terror" with a policy based on
befriending Muslim and Arab states, at the expense
What happened here? The children of Israel and the Jews, who are being blamed more
of Yaakov were forced to go down to and more for Islamic terror.
Egypt, and none of them were thrilled
about the idea despite the hardships in Instability in Pakistan, and the weakness of all of
Canaan, because they knew that Egypt the so called moderate Arab states would or should
is, after all, the exile. However, in a short wake the world up to the stupidity of placing one's
time they had a change of heart. Joseph faith in "moderate" Arab and Islamic regimes.
placed at their disposal the land of However, logic is not the strong side of frightened
Goshen, which was the most fertile area people who are looking to vent out their anger,
of Egypt, and the brothers suddenly frustrations and worst fears. There is never a more
began to feel that "it's not as bad as we
convenient target than the "rich Jew" who controls
thought". One can even settle down in
peace and tranquility and learn Torah Hollywood, the economy, the media and whatever,
here. What is so bad about it? So they to blame all of the world's ills upon. In the end, the
"gripped" and clung to Egypt, and by Arab and Islamic masses who are dominated by
this very doing so, were automatically lunatic and fanatical extremists will continue to set
rejecting the Holy Land of Israel. This the tone, and the U.S. and Europe will continue to
"seizing" or "gripping" of the exile, the play into their hands, with a readiness to sacrifice
settling in and feeling good there, the Israel as they reach out to placate the "good
acquiring of the mentality that "there Arabs".
is life for the Jews in the Diaspora" (a
mealy-mouthed word for "galut" or Eventually, Israel will have her back against the
exile), expresses in itself a rejection or wall. Then, even the most left-wing, self-hating
"despising of the good land" (a verse Israel will have no choice but to reject international
in Psalms depicting the ten spies who dictates. At such time Israel will be blamed for her
spoke evil report about the land of intransigence and for all of the "Binladian" style
Israel and prevented "Aliyah"). In their
terror that will continue to intensify and to plague
hearts, and all the more so in the hearts
of their offspring, crept in the feeling America "because of Israel". We already see this
that it is a good life here in exile and happening.
one can build Jerusalem here, and the
dream of returning to Zion can wait Jew hatred is on the rise worldwide. The frightening
for the next generation (if at all), but surge in oil prices will be further fueled by the
in the meantime, it remains strictly a two emerging giants - China and India - who
"dream"... will continue to pump up the price of oil and will
further endanger the global economy. All of the
This is the crime of all exiles. Our wishful thinkers and their creative manipulations
sages told us long ago about this of interest rates and other clever maneuvering
phenomenon in a midrash on a verse in the U.S. have had very short-lived and limited
in the "tochacha" of Parshat Ki-Tavo impact on a stock market that is pulling back and
where it is written, "you will find no suffering mini-crashes in America and around the
resting place for the soul of your foot". world. The dollar continues to plummet. You know
MISHALOT YISRAEL | P.O. BOX 6592 JERUSALEM ISRAEL
<<< The Exile Self-Destructs For the "Comfortable" Jew (1994) | continuation
The sages comment, "if they would find a resting place, they would
not come back." In other words, if the Jews could stay in galut, they
would do so without any intention of returning to Eretz Yisrael, all the
while building for themselves all kinds of theories why it is "kosher"
to do so.
But the gentile never allowed the Jew to remain in the galut. On the
contrary, the more that the exile initially seemed to be full of promise,
and the more the Jew was able to attain "equal rights" to the gentile,
so, too, in direct proportion, was the tragedy of the exile that much
more severe. Every exile turned into a bigger graveyard than the one
before it.
This is exactly what happened to our forefathers in Egypt. The
aforementioned "Kli Hayaker" continues: "And they immersed
themselves to such an extent that they did not want to leave Egypt,
until G-d had to take them out of there with a strong hand. And
those who did not want to leave, died in the three days of darkness".
The "Kli Hayakar" touches here upon what is mentioned in Parshat
"Beshallach", where four-fifths of the children of Israel were wiped
out before the departure from Egypt, because they refused to leave.
It is a divine decree that the exile, each and every one of them, has
no future. This is an iron-clad law in Judaism. For this reason we find
that in the poverty stricken lands which the Jews did not or could not
"grip onto" as much, their exile was terminated in a more merciful
and lenient fashion. This, of course, in contrast to the "lands of the
fleshpots", whose ends were woefully tragic. This article was not
written to give a history lesson. We are simply coming to say that this
particular exile has come to an end. The doors of many exiles have
been opened, including those whose doors became symbols like
Russia and Syria. Every Jew has now been given the chance to get
out. We have reached the final stage in the elimination of the exile.
He who refuses to seize the moment and leave quickly will find his
fate as those who refused to leave Egypt.
Many may think that all this is not relevant for us who live here in
Israel. After all, don't we have our own problems here? This is un-
Jewish thinking, for we are guarantors for our brothers in the exile.
And despite the fact that we here, too, stand before terrible tragedy,
we have a responsibility to our brothers abroad who face, G-d forbid,
much greater catastrophe than what will occur in Israel. Ultimately,
our destiny is wrapped up in theirs, and we must wake up to this
fast, for we are now in the "End of Days" - days in which our prophets
warned us can come the way of "Bi-Eta" (in its time), which is the way
of awesome suffering and labor pains of redemption, worse than
anything we have experienced in exile. And if this is true, how can
one sit by quietly?
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Editor's Note:
things are bad when the Israeli shekel is considered strong in
comparison to the U.S. dollar.
It seems as if it is all coming together from every angle. "Global
warming" is not just an issue of climate and atmospheric
temperature, it is truly getting hot on all fronts around the globe.
Any of these issues, alone, or combined can trigger an explosive
rash of anti-Semitism, unprecedented in Jewish history. The
problem with Jew hatred and Holocausts, small and large, is that
Jews usually wake up too late. Once the fire is torched, and the
wind is blowing fast, even the quickest runner can't dash out to
safety. The time to come home to Israel is now.
We will help you, with God's help. All you need to do is to get
on a plane and we will meet you at the airport and set you up
until you can file your aliya paperwork. We don't promise you
the most perfect rose-garden, but the thorns will be your own
thorns that guarantee a future for you and yours. You can study
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You can study Torah and Hebrew with us on our new hill and
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family. One thing is for certain: There is no future for the Jew in
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 News from the perspective of the Jewish Idea
(from www.voiceofjudea.com)

Israel Scared of Russian Reaction Israel refuses to demand the release of

The weekend edition of Israel's Maariv Nov. 15,07 reports
that Israeli officials are reluctant to respond favorably to
an official request recently made by Ukrainian leaders,
requesting that Israel allocate land in Jerusalem for
the building of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Israel is
reportedly concerned about the affect that such a move
could have on Israeli Russian relations.
Voice of Judea Commentary:
Israel is frightened to allocate land and church-site to the
Ukrainians. Hmm. They are not frightened of incurring
the wrath of God by bringing more churches in Judaism's
holiest city. They are not frightened to upset religious
Jews. They are frightened, once again, "what will the goy
say?" What else is new?
Pollard
According to Yaniv Hallili, a correspondent for Yediot
Achronot who recently interviewed Israeli spy Jonathan
Pollard and countless U.S. officials, the Americans are no
longer obsessed with the further detention of Jonathan
Pollard. Hallili insists that the Americans claim that Pollard
could have been free long ago but Israel has never yet
made any serious attempt to release Pollard, who has
already been languishing in an American prison for 22
years.
Voice of Judea Commentary:
And then Israeli politicians wonder why Israeli soldiers
lack the motivation that they once had.

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