Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Parshas Vayeshev, Shishi - 25 Kislev


Read Akiva's most recent posting, and then tell me if you have any insights on what my connection is to this.

posted by A Simple Jew @ 4:44 AM   10 comments

10 Comments:

At October 16, 2007 at 9:47:00 AM EDT, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

While this is just certainly a guess, I would venture to say that there is more a connection to the date than to the parsha. The 25th letter in the Torah is the word אור (light), the first day of Chanuka -the festival of light - is the 25th of Kislev, and also the word אור also shares a gematria with this

 
At October 16, 2007 at 11:09:00 AM EDT, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

Whoops! After seeing this, I changed the parsha from Miketz to Vayeishev. From the shishi linked above, it would appear to say that this is what my tikkun is.

 
At October 16, 2007 at 11:15:00 AM EDT, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

As a funny aside, I looked up my mother-in-law's birthday and wouldn't you know....

Tisha B'Av

 
At October 16, 2007 at 9:05:00 PM EDT, Blogger Gandalin said...

Simple,

Vayeishev shishi is one of the most awesome aliyos I could imagine. Every pasuk just drips with the most powerful concepts possible. You could do a post on each one. As translated at the site you linked: "In this house there is no one greater than I," this means the mensch on Earth. "The Master" means Hashem. "So Joseph's master took him and put him into prison, the place where the king's prisoners were imprisoned, and he was there in the prison." This means the soul was sent down to the world, and put into the body. "The Lord was with Joseph, and He extended charisma to him, and He gave him favor in the eyes of the warden of the prison." Even in the material world, the soul is still favored, and has everything it needs to be elevated. "The warden of the prison did not inspect anything [that was] in his (Joseph's) hand, for the Lord was with him, and whatever he did the Lord made prosper." Wow! "Whatever he did Hashem made prosper." What a brocho!

 
At October 17, 2007 at 3:59:00 AM EDT, Blogger yitz said...

first off, that's the basis of everyone's tikkun, I just learned last night in the Tzava'at haRivash that the Baal Shem Tov and Maggid of Mezritch both taught that this particular ta'avah is the shoresh of all other sins, that is why it also leads to the creation of a new being, who has 365 gidim, ie. which need to be fixed through the negative commandments.

personally for you, i think your tikkun is more directly what you are accomplishing with your blog-- that you are in the prison of the USA, of galut, and you are still given a free hand to connect to Judaism and HaShem and connect others as well. Ie. you weren't put there for yourself (just as yosef wasn't put in mitzrayim for himself) rather to create a reshimu for everyone else..

but more to the point, i think only you can unravel your tikkun from your parashah, from my own parashah i see how many intimate subtle points there are that all apply to me that otherwise would be missed.. and no i still don't know exactly what my tikkun is..

pps. when re-reading your parashah i wonder why yosef wasn't killed. from the text it actually seems like his master didn't really believe his wife but his hand was forced.

 
At October 17, 2007 at 4:02:00 AM EDT, Blogger yitz said...

more to the point though.. do the cupcakes make anyone else hungry? perhaps that's my tikkun--- or it could be that i skipped breakfast again :)

 
At October 17, 2007 at 6:21:00 AM EDT, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

Gandalin and Yitz: I really appreciate your thoughts on this! I am actually planning to ask the Sudilkover Rebbe about this whole issue and to see what insight he has on it as well.

 
At October 17, 2007 at 2:48:00 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

ASJ:

I am the person who wrote Nava, who was kind enough to pass my question to Akiva, who posted for the benefit of all. The issue of gilgulim and tikkun had been in the back of my mind after corresponding with Rav Winston several months ago following an article he published. Our correspondence focused on the importance of treating one's children--and others for that matter--in a manner that was considerate of their tikkunim. This is to say that we cannot expect the same from each of our children despite their genetic and environmental similartiy due to spiritual factors. How does one approach this other than through lovingkindness and understanding?

Months later, Nava posted her excellent piece about tikkunim, citing the Ari and GRA. This prompted my question until I could obtain and study the seforim. It poses an interesting dilemma. Should we learn the tikkunim of others--our children for example--in order to understand them at a spiritual level and should we help them with their tikkun, if we can? You can see the implications.

I look forward to your post after you speak with the Sudilkover Rebbe. A respectful suggestion: Some parshat are more obviously instructive than others. May I suggest that you ask him how does one learn his or her tikkun if his/her aliyah is composed entirely of toladot--genealogy or if it teaches about treatment of captive beautiful women...

Best,
HaSefaradi

 
At October 18, 2007 at 6:37:00 AM EDT, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

HaSefaradi: I can certainly see how it would be difficult to interpret these situations and it raises an interesting question.

The Sudilkover Rebbe told me that the issue of one's tikkun and its connection to the parsha is an extremely complex issue and he said he wanted to speak with me in depth about the connection of my birthday and Parshas Vayeshev, shishi before he could give me his opinion. He seemed to indicate that there may indeed be a connection and pointed to the fact that the Arizal said this taiva (that Yosef was tested with) is the nisoyon of our generation.

 
At October 18, 2007 at 3:14:00 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

ASJ:

You are zoche to have a Rebbe with whom to discuss this. Think of the the Jews who could benefit from this counsel, nay, absolutely NEED this counsel, but have no one to consult.

I realize, as I'm sure you and certainly the Rebbe does, that this process can become trivialized to an extent approaching secular astrology, G-d forbid. Nothwithstanding,
if the Sudilkover Rebbe is willing to answer questions about the correct approach to understanding one's purpose in life/tikkun, please consider asking and writing about them.

HaSefaradi

 

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