Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

73
Firstly, God tells Abraham:
בלה תובשחמ
--ם ָתֹא וּנּ ִע ְו ,םוּד ָב ֲע ַו ,ם ֶה ָל אלֹ ץ ֶר ֶא ְבּ ךָ ֲע ְר ַז ה ֶי ְה ִי ר ֵג-י ִכּ ע ַד ֵתּ ַעֹד ָי ,ם ָר ְב ַא ְל ר ֶמאֹיּ ַו
.לוֹד ָגּ שׁ ֻכ ְר ִבּ ,וּא ְצ ֵי ן ֵכ-י ֵר ֲח ַא ְו ;י ִכֹנ ָא ן ָדּ ,וּדֹב ֲע ַי ר ֶשׁ ֲא יוֹגּ ַה-ת ֶא ם ַג ְו .ה ָנ ָשׁ ,תוֹא ֵמ ע ַבּ ְר ַא
And He said to Abram, “Know with certainty that your offspring
shall be sojourners in a land not their own, they will enslave them,
and they will oppress them four hundred years. And also the nation
that will enslave them, I shall punish, and afterwards they shall leave
with great possessions.” (Gen. 15:13-14)
Similarly, in our parsha, Jacob is told: ה ָד ְר ֵמ א ָרי ִתּ-ל ַא ;ךָי ִב ָא י ֵהלֹ ֱא ל ֵא ָה י ִכֹנ ָא ,ר ֶמאֹיּ ַו
.ם ָשׁ ךָ ְמי ִשׂ ֲא לוֹד ָגּ יוֹג ְל-י ִכּ ,ה ָמ ְי ַר ְצ ִמ “And He said, “I am the God – God of your father.
Do you not be afraid of descending to Egypt, for I shall establish you as a great
nation there (Gen. 46:3). In both cases, God comforts the forefathers by promising
that, at the end, the nation would end up benefiting from the experience, and
would not stay in Egypt forever.
Secondly, God tells Abraham: ה ָבוֹט ה ָבי ֵשׂ ְבּ ,ר ֵב ָקּ ִתּ :םוֹל ָשׁ ְבּ ,ךָי ֶתֹב ֲא-ל ֶא אוֹב ָתּ ה ָתּ ַא ְו; “And
you shall come to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age
(Gen. 15:15).” We read similarly in our parsha: ךָ ְל ַע ַא ,י ִכֹנ ָא ְו ,ה ָמ ְי ַר ְצ ִמ ךָ ְמּ ִע ד ֵר ֵא ,י ִכֹנ ָא
.ךָי ֶני ֵע-ל ַע וֹד ָי תי ִשׁ ָי ,ף ֵסוֹי ְו ;הלֹ ָע-ם ַג; “I shall descend with you to Egypt, and I shall also
surely bring you up; and Joseph shall place his hand on your eyes” (Gen. 46:4.
On a personal level, the forefathers were promised that their lives would end
peacefully.
We can learn a lesson from here. The idea is that Hashem promised Abraham
our forefather, that there would be tzoros in the beginning, but at the end, things
worked out very well because everything else came true, and the same for Jacob.
Therefore, whenever things are not going so well for us, we should look forward
to the end and always stay happy, because if we are doing the right thing, Hashem
will reward us in the end for the hard work. Therefore, םימשבש וניבא ינפלמ ןוצר יהי
that we should all see the good in things and always be content and happy with
what we have, to notice all the miracles that Hashem does for us every single
second and that we are Jewish – ונ ֵת ׁשָּ ֻר ְי ה ָפ ָיּ ה ַמ ,וּנ ֵל ָרוֹגּ םי ִע ָנּ ה ַמ ,וּנ ֵק ְל ֶח בוֹטּ ה ַמ ,וּני ֵר ְשׁ ַא –
“We are fortunate, how good is our portion, how pleasant our lot, how beautiful
our heritage!”