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https://youtu.be/d_UC21oGvR8 The concept of forgiveness has intrigued me for years. There are a lot of reasons for this, but the main reason is that I never quite understood what it was. Probably like most people, I held the popular definition of forgiveness to be letting someone off the hook. It seemed like forgiveness was all about someone apologizes, or sometimes they don’t, and you decide that it was OK. If one were to search the word “forgive” on Google, one would see the definition of “stop feeling angry or resentful towards someone”, cancel a debt, and as a “request to excuse or regard indulgently ones’ foibles, ignorance or impoliteness”. Forgiving is used a lot in religion. The concept centers around how people are not perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. This is a common conception and deserves more attention. Forgiveness is also an important concept in Psychology. Many people are dealing with situations that left them in various stages of emotional trauma from people who hurt, demeaned or berated their self-esteem. Counselors and therapists will say that we forgive those that hurt us so that we can move on with our lives and not be burdened by the emotional trauma that interferes with our happiness and contentment. In Judaism, in order to forgive or be forgiven, one must first repent. This is borne out in our weekday Tefillah, or Amidah. In the weekday version, the prayer for repenting precedes the prayer for forgiveness. Most Jews know that there for our daily obligation, there are three prayer services: Evening, Morning and Afternoon. This is, however, a fourth prayer service. It is called the bedtime Shema. As per its name, it is the prayers that we say right before going to bed. It is arranged to bring a certain peace so that one can retire and sleep peacefully. In one of the prayer books (Artscroll Mesorah), the very first prayer is one of forgiveness. It starts off by stating, “I hereby forgive anyone who angered or antagonized me or who sinned against me”. Later, it states, “May no [one] be punished because of me”. Noble, yes, but what does that really do for us? Consider that the point of this “forgiveness” is to bring us to peace. How do we achieve peace knowing that people have hurt us? How do we settle into a peaceful sleep knowing that people have sought to injure us emotionally by demeaning and denigrating us? Perhaps the best answer to these questions is that these people hurt us because that’s who they are. These people engaged in negative behavior because it’s a function of their character. They hurt us because we were there, and we hadn’t been there, it would have been someone else or other people would have tried to demean us. In other words, it was about them, not us. They just needed a scapegoat. In the Torah, we are seeing how Moshe Rabbeinu appealed to Pharaoh to “Let our people go”. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. He was who he was, a dictator that would do as he saw fit ignoring the plagues and majesty and power of Hashem. Rather than be a mensch and say, OK, you people have served us long enough, you deserve your freedom, he clung to his perception of power. He would not relent; this is who he was, and he was going to die before deferring to a greater power and a humane cause. Pharaoh would rather destroy his country and see his people die before doing the right thing and free an enslaved people. That’s really the main point. We forgive people because they are at the mercy of their own emotions. King Solomon, in his Book of Proverbs, said, “Who is strong? One who controls their emotions.” These people are not strong; they are weak. Otherwise, they would be looking to build up their self-worth by making someone else look bad. Probably the biggest issue when someone is the target of people (yes, it’s usually in the plural, mob rule) is how the victims internalize the abuse. They think that since they are the target, they must somehow deserve it. The problem is that no human is perfect it is more than easy to find fault with anyone. Some people just prey on people and you were just there by chance. The important point to all this is that if it wasn’t you, it’d be someone else. And it will be someone else because people who hurt people spend their lives looking for targets and since they’ve devoted so much time and effort, they’re very good at it. The most important takeaway is that it’s not you, it’s them. No one has the right to abuse another person because of who they are. You don’t like that person? Stay away from them. If you have an issue with someone? Talk it out. That takes character and integrity. Remember: it’s easy to sink into the depths of depravity by demeaning another human being. It takes backbone to work to resolve differences. And that’s what Judaism is all about: going for the higher road. Finally, as we say three times each day at the end of the Tefillah: Oh, L-rd, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully. And to those who curse, let my soul be silent. Good advice indeed. #FridayNightSermon #Forgiveness

https://youtu.be/Mzb0wOSmKqs Shabbat services this week: Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, January 11, 2019 @ 7:00pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, January 12 @ 9:30am Parshas Bo Shabbat Services the following week: Join us for a Pot Luck, Friday evening, January 18 @ 6pm Ma'ariv Family Services Friday evening, January 18 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, January 19 @ 9:30am Services #DvarTorah #TorahCommentary #ParshasBo #ParashatBo

Watch: https://youtu.be/vMaYZ2ZHNsk Read: A friend of mine is a business coach. Lately, she’s been sending out daily affirmations over a period of forty days, one for each day. Although each is different, there are probably three main themes to the group. One of what may be considered one of the most important is that prosperity comes from within, not from without. Consider how we live our lives. We spend most of our waking hours working to please someone: our boss, co-workers, family. The latter is mostly an act of joy and consideration, a responsibility that we all take on willingly. The formers, however, can leave much to be desired. How many times do we lay awake wondering if we’re doing a good or at least satisfactory job, enough that will allow us to remain gainfully employed without the further stress of wondering how we’re going to support ourselves and our family. Usually, it’s not so cut-and-dried; we’re oftentimes at the mercy of another human who is themselves dealing with issues of esteem and security and sometimes we just don’t know how they feel towards us. If we’re in business for ourselves, then we have a coterie of clients about which to worry; are they happy with our performance or are they being courted by a rival about which we’ll find out only too late? Moses approached Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go”. Pharaoh, like many kings and people in charge, didn’t like the idea that there was another Being that had the ability and maybe, yes, the authority, to override his dictums and decrees. His heart was hard, he was stubborn, and he refused to yield. Moses and Aaron, and to a large extent the elders and people of Israel put their faith in Hashem. What they were doing, in allying with Hashem, was right and just so Hashem basically fought their battle for them. The contest between Hashem and Pharaoh ended badly for Pharaoh. Hashem wrought plague after plague against Pharaoh and the Egyptians and still they clung to their wills. For the Israelites’ part, they just let G-d do His work. They acquiesced and did what Moses told them to do. In the end, they won their freedom and they prospered. While we are not going to expect G-d to hit anyone who harasses us with plagues, there is an interesting lesson here. If we do what is right in the eyes of Hashem, ultimately, we will triumph. Now, this doesn’t mean sitting around and waiting for G-d to act. We study Torah, act as righteously as we can, and go on with our lives. We also want to know that we are in G-d’s hands, so to speak. As G-d set up the reward for the newly freed Israelites as the Egyptians gladly paid them for over one hundred years of servitude—working for free—so do we expect that things will ultimately pay off. After all, we are created in G-d’s image and He loves us, so why wouldn’t He want us to prosper, right? In fact, during our daily Morning Blessings, we thank G-d for providing for our daily needs. There is also an insertion in our weekday Tefillah—the Amidah—that speaks to prosperity. During the prayer of asking Hashem to hear our prayers, we ask Him to provide us more than our daily bread in a righteous but not forbidden manner, that we may be prosperous and do Torah. Consider an extreme way of looking at this situation. The second commandment states that we shall have no other gods before us. If we are kowtowing to a boss, landlord, friend, are we not, in a sense worshipping a foreign god? Yes, it’s a stretch to consider it in this light, but the lengths that some people go through to appease these people, you’d really have to wonder. We have to look within if we want to succeed and feel content, not from without. Consider, again, the Hashem watches us and watches out for us. It may not happen when we want or when we think it ought to but try opening yourself up to letting G-d help you. Approach your challenges to do the right thing and take comfort in knowing that Hashem is on your side and ultimately you will prevail in a righteous, but not forbidden manner. #FridayNightSermon #RelyingonHashem

https://youtu.be/8yj-Bjen5BU Upcoming Services: Shabbat services this week: Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, January 4 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, January 5 @ 9:30am Parshas Vaera / פרשת וארא Shabbat Services the following week: Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, January 11, 2019 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, January 12 @ 9:30am Parshas Bo Mid-Year General Membership Meeting, Sunday, January 13, 2019 @ 10:00am #ParashatVaera5779 #DvarTorah #TorahCommentary

https://youtu.be/j_JHcgXLi7k It is written that “there is none else beside Him”, meaning that there is no other power in the world with the ability to do anything against Him. And what man sees, namely, that there are things in the world, which deny the household of above, is because He wills it so. And it is deemed a correction, called “the left rejects and the right adducts, meaning that that which the left rejects is considered correction. This means that there are things in the world, which from the beginning aim to divert a person from the right way, and they reject him from holiness. And the benefit from these rejections is that through them a person receives a need and a complete desire for God to help him, since he sees that otherwise he is lost. Not only does he not progress in his work, but he sees that he regresses, and he lacks the strength to observe Torah and Mitzvoth even if not for Her name. That only by genuinely overcoming all the obstacles, above reason, he can observe Torah and Mitzvoth. But he does not always have the strength to overcome above reason, that otherwise he is forced to deviate, God forbid, from the way of the Creator, and even from not for Her name. And he, who always feels that the shattered is greater than the whole, meaning that there are a lot more descents than ascents, and he does not see an end to these predicaments, and he will forever remain outside of holiness, for he sees that it is difficult for him to observe even as little as a jot, unless through overcoming above reason, but he is not always able to overcome. And what shall be the end of it all? Then he reaches the decision that no one can help him, but God Himself. This causes him to make a heartfelt demand of the Creator to open his eyes and heart, to bring him nearer to eternal adhesion with God. It follows than, that all the rejections he had experienced had come from the Creator. That means that the rejections he had experienced were not because he was at fault, for not having the ability to overcome, but because these rejections are for those who truly want to draw nearer to God. And in order for such a person not to be satisfied with only a little, namely, not to remain as a little child without knowledge, he receives help from above so that he will not be able to say that Thank God, he observes Torah and performs good deeds and what else could he ask for? And only if that person has a true desire, he will receive help from Above. And he is constantly shown how his faults in his present state; that is, he is sent thoughts and views, which work against his efforts. This is in order for him to see that he is not one with the Lord. And as much as he overcomes, he always sees how he is found in a position farther from holiness than others, who feel one with the Lord. But he, on the other hand, always has his complaints and demands, and he cannot justify the behavior of the Creator, and how he behaves toward him. And it pains him that he is not one with the Lord, until he comes to feel that he has no part in holiness whatsoever. And although he is occasionally awakened from above, which momentarily revives him, but soon he falls into an abyss. However, this is what causes him to come to realize that only God can help and really draw him closer. A man must always try and cleave to the Creator, namely, that all his thoughts will be about Him. That is to say, that even if he is in the worst state, from which there cannot be a greater descent, he should not leave His domain, namely, think that there is another authority which prevents him from entering into holiness, and which has the power to either benefit or harm. That is, he must not think that there is a matter of the power of the Other Side (sitra achrah), which does not allow man to do good deeds and follow God’s ways; but he should think that all is done by the Creator. The Ba’al Shem Tov said, that he who says that there is another power in the world. Namely shells, is in a state of “serving other gods”, that it is not necessarily the thought of heresy that is the sin, but if he thinks that there is another authority and force apart from the Creator, by that he is committing a sin. Furthermore, he who says that man has his own authority, meaning that he says that yesterday he himself did not want to follow God’s ways, that too is considered to be committing the sin of heresy. Meaning that he does not believe that only the Creator leads the world. But when he has committed a sin, and he must certainly regret it and be sorry for having committed it, but here too we should place the pain and sorrow in the right order: where does he place the cause of the sin, that it is that point he should be sorry for. And a man should then feel sorry and say: “I committed that sin because the Creator hurled me down from holiness to a place of filth, to the lavatory, where the filth is”. That is to say that God gave him a desire and a craving to amuse himself and breath air in a place of stench. (And you might say, as it says in the books, that sometimes a man incarnates in the body of a pig, that he receives a desire and craving to take livelihood from things he had already determined were litter, but now he again wants to revive himself in them). And also when a man feels he’s in a state of ascent, and tastes some good flavor in the work, he must not say: “Now I am in a state where I understand that it is worthwhile to worship God. Rather he should know that now the Lord has fancied him, and for that reason He draws him near, which is the reason why he tastes a good flavor in the work. And he should be careful never to leave the domain of holiness, and say that there is another operating force besides the Creator. (But this means that the matter of finding favor in the eyes of the Lord, or the opposite, does not depend on man himself, but everything depends on God. And man, with his external mind, cannot comprehend why now the Lord likes him and after that He does not.) And likewise when he regrets that the Creator does not draw him near, he should also be careful not to be sorry for himself, for having been distanced from the Creator, for by so doing he becomes a recipient for his own benefit, and he who receives is separated from the Creator. Rather he should regret the exile of the Divine Presence, meaning, for inflicting sorrow upon the Divine Presence. One should take as an example when some small organ of a person is sore. The pain is still felt mainly in the heart and mind, which are the generality of man. And certainly the sensation of a single organ cannot resemble the sensation of a person’s full stature, where most of the pain is felt. Likewise is the pain that a person feels when he is detached from the Lord, since man is but a single organ of the Divine Presence, for the Divine Presence is the soul of Israel in general. Therefore the sensation of a single organ does not resemble the sensation of the pain in general. That is to say that the Divine Presence regrets that there are parts of it that are detached from it, which she cannot provide for. (And that might be the meaning of the words: “When a man regrets, the Divine Presence says: “It is lighter than my head”). And if man does not relate the sorrow at being distant from God to himself, he is saved from falling into the trap of the desire to receive for himself, which is the separation from holiness. The same applies when one feels somewhat closer to holiness, when he is happy at having merited favor in the eyes of the Lord, he must say that the core of his joy is that now there is joy in the Divine Presence, from having being able to bring her private organ near her, and not send it away. And man rejoices at having been endowed with the ability to please the Divine Presence. And this goes by the same token, because joy that an individual feels, is but a part of the joy that the whole feels. And through these calculations he loses his individuality and avoids being trapped by the Other Side, which is the will to receive for himself. Although, the will to receive is necessary, since that constitutes a person, since anything which exists in a person apart from the desire to receive is attributed to the Creator. Nevertheless, the will to receive pleasure should be corrected to a form of bestowal. That is to say, that the pleasure and joy, taken by the will to receive, should be intended to bring contentment above, because there is pleasure below. For that was the purpose of creation, to benefit His creations. And this is called the joy of the Divine Presence above. For this reason, man must seek advice as to how he can cause contentment above. And certainly, if he receives pleasure, contentment shall be felt above. Therefore, he should long to always be in the King’s palace, and to have the ability to play with the King’s treasures. And that will certainly cause contentment above. It follows that his entire longing should be for the sake of the Creator. Author: Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag #FridayNightSermon

https://youtu.be/awxMROt9WlA Shabbat services this week: Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, December 28 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, December 29 @ 9:30am Parshas Shemos / פרשת שמות Shabbat Services the following week: Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, January 4, 2019 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, January 5 @ 9:30am Parshas Vaera / פרשת וארא #ParashatShmot5779 #TorahCommentary #TorahPortion #10MinuteTorah

https://youtu.be/G0k1DbNUXwE This week’s portion, Vayechi—He lived—closes out the book of Genesis. Next up, the book of Exodus introduces us to Moshe Rabbeinu, who is the main character of the rest of the Torah. It is Moses who has the strongest and most profound relationship with Hashem and has been chosen to deliver His message. Hence the name of the Chumash as the Five Books of Moses. Genesis served as a lead up to the last four books. How? First of all, let’s understand what Torah is. The word “Torah” has been both translated and interpreted as “Law” and “Teaching”. It is the fundamentals of life that G-d transmitted through Moses. It is here, in these subsequent books, that Moses receives the primary, Ten Commandments, and then the rest of G-d’s teachings in the form of commandments. What is really Torah and the commandments? Laws, Teachings, yes, but really, let’s face it, they’re rules, 613 dos and don’ts. Up to now, there hadn’t been any codified system of behaving, of regulating how society interacts with each other. Up to now, yes, there may have been some systems of justice, as in Noah’s time, but for the most part, people did what they wanted to do. The people of Noah’s time saw just how ineffectual courts and justice were and stole from each other as they saw fit. They were destroyed. The people of Abraham’s time—Sodom and Gemorrah—didn’t like strangers and mistreated and persecuted them. They, too, were the recipients of G-d’s wrath. What made our Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—stand out and be pleasing in the eyes of Hashem, was their intuitive grasp of these divine ideals. Their integrity and character stood out as they treated their fellows as the children of Hashem, with respect. They always strove to do the just and humane thing. It was after the great enslavement of our ancestors in Egypt that G-d decided to codify his Law. It was necessary that we all had a playbook that told us how to act and behave. In fact, one of our great sages, in the Talmud tractate of Shabbat, remarked that had the Hebrews not received Torah, we would have destroyed the world. Why? Because we’re a stiff-necked people that apparently needs limits. The paragraphs of the Shema are very poignant on this point. The first paragraph, commonly known as the “V’Ahavta”, states that individually we should not follow eyes or our heart, but only follow the Commandments. The next paragraph expands this commandment in the plural. So we are not only responsible for our own behavior, but we are only responsible for each other’s behavior. We do for ourselves and then serve as a check on our fellows. As further reminders, we put tzitzit on our garments and mezuzot on our doorposts and gates. You see, G-d knows we are willful and have a tendency to do what we want, make up the rules or interpret the rules as we go along. But we need rules in order to get along. In order for society to function efficiently, we must have a frame of reference and have faith that we will be able to conduct business confidently and with security that everyone will live up to their part of the deal. Otherwise, business doesn’t get done and no one prospers. We need those parameters in order to know how to engage. It’s like baseball. You get three strikes or four balls. That’s it. No more and no less. On the other hand, if the last strike is a foul ball, it doesn’t count as a strike. You may not like that, but that’s the rule and it applies to everyone equally. You can hit foul balls until the cows come home; you’re still up. I once watched a player hit foul balls for 15 minutes until he finally hit a home run. Naturally the other team wasn’t happy, but again, those are the rules and they apply to everyone. So deal with it, right? And by the way, the same rule can help you. Still, some people just want to do their own thing. They either interpret rules as they see fit, cherry picking to suit their own agenda. If one were to Google “Toxic Work Place”, there would be articles from business psychologists and coaches in places such as Forbes magazines. A classic example of an environment in which people do according to their hearts or eyes. In Toxic Work Environments, we see managers applying rules unfairly, like where one person is rewarded while another is punished for doing the same thing. This is why they have long meetings where nothing gets done, because they just don’t want to face reality or work in the real world. Too hard. And of course, they’re never to blame, it’s always one specific scapegoat. And when that scapegoat decides they’ve had enough and leaves, they simply find another because after all, it’s not them. Such environments and situations can be very frustrating and trying. How do we deal with this? Just like our ancestors. We stick to our principles. We find strength in our integrity and character. Abraham welcomed the stranger while Sodom and Gemorrah persecuted those not like them. Jacob honored his arrangement with Laban who changed the terms “hundreds of times”. In the end, both of them thrived and lived to see happy days. This is because while things may seem tough and unfair, in the end, goodness wins out because reality is reality. It takes a lot of inner strength to be moral while others are taking shortcuts. And it is specifically that strength that gives you the resolve to succeed and overcome.

https://youtu.be/q4njeMR_sWg Please join us for SERVICES: Shabbat services this week: Prayers & Torah Class , Fri December 21 6:15pm-to 6:45pm (PST) Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, December 21 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, December 22 @ 9:30am Services Parshas Vayechi / פרשת ויחי Shabbat Services next week: Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, December 28 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, December 29 @ 9:30am Parshas Shemos / פרשת שמות

https://youtu.be/96pPDjIw95A #ParashatVayegash #DvarTorah #TorahCommentary

This week is Hanukkah. Many Jews observe Hanukkah as if it was the main, most important, holiday of our people. This is certainly a fun festival of eating oil-imbued foods like potato latkes and sugoniyot or jelly donuts. We spin the dreidel, light the Hanukkiah and generally have a fun time. Hanukkah is actually a minor festival because it commemorates a battle. Nevertheless, we should remember that there is an important lesson here. At the risk of being glib: They tried to destroy us, Hashem intervened, let’s eat. While this is a joke we Jews like to tell, there is a lot of truth to it. During the Amidah or Tefillah, we add a prayer during Hanukkah. It is inserted in the first of the last three prayers that are ubiquitous throughout all versions and adaptations of the silent, standing prayer. We say “Modim anuhnu lak”—we gratefully thank you, Hashem…for all the miracles you grant us every day. This lead in is appropriate placement for this particular miracle. This, by the way, is also the placement of the particular prayer for Purim, another miraculous save by Hashem. These two holidays have this in common, that enemies tried to destroy us but in different manners. The Seleucids tried to destroy and violate our Temple and Haman tried to kill the Jewish people, respectively. Both attempts failed. Thus the festivals. With current events, consider that this holiday becomes more important. As the Greek-Assyrian Seleucids tried to destroy our Temple, we have had attacks on synagogues and Jews recently. We have had a gun man attack a synagogue during Shabbat Shachrit, we’ve had someone attack two people leaving their shul after Shabbat services, and a college professor have her office defaced with anti-Semitic symbols. In Europe, attacks are also rampant. Not only are Jews randomly attacked on the streets of various cities, but there are government parties that are hostile to Jews. Many elected government officials in various countries are making known their enmity towards Israel for oppressing a people who make it a weekly practice, on our sacred day of Shabbat, to launch explosive and inflammatory devices at innocent and civilian Israelis, and then launch missiles at Israel while declaring a truce. Many of these same governments are also defaming our holiest rites in order to make it hard, if not eliminate, Jewish practices and Judaism. They are making it illegal for Jewish parents to circumcise their sons, a procedure of the covenant so important that Hashem allows this even of Shabbat. These same governments are also preventing us from engaging in ritual slaughter—Schitta—to kosher an animal for consumption; this is an interesting declaration since the sole purpose is to kill the animal in the most humane and painless manner. The situation is so dire in England that one of their most prominent citizens made world headlines by immigrating to Israel citing how hostile the environment is to Jews. All of this is reminiscent of other such enactments in our history. Reading of the Haftorah originated because the state governments made it illegal for us to read the Torah. Our sages got around this by selecting an appropriate portion from the Prophets that captured the theme of the respective portion. In our daily liturgy, the Shema is said at the beginning of the service during the Morning Blessings because, again, the state governments prohibited us from saying it during the service. Finally, the United States ambassador to the United Nations recently tried to hold the Gazan terrorist group, Hamas, accountable for the wonton attacks of the recent launching of over 400 missiles at Israel by introducing a resolution at a recent meeting of that body. It did not get the two-thirds majority it needed to pass. But there is hope. While the resolution didn’t get the required two-thirds, it did get a majority vote. While many anti-Semitic actions are in play in Europe, the European Union recently started a process of clamping down on anti-Semitic acts. As the Democratic party in the United States is now set to take control of the House of Representatives come January, the new Speaker of the House and Minority Leader of the Senate has reaffirmed their party’s support for Jews and Israel and rebuked some in-coming freshmen Representatives for their condemnation. For us, we must stick together. We are probably the most conspicuous and well-known minority in the world. #StandUpforShabbat and support your local synagogue. We must keep our culture and heritage alive and doing things together is important. Keeping the faith is important for future generations. Our people have survived because we’ve adhered (the meaning of the word “religion”) to the principles of our people and observed. As we state every week, “[E]ven though evil seems to flourish, their doom is sure to come because Yours is the ultimate triumph”. And we will continue to take precautions to keep our people safe. Hanukkah has borne this out. It has shown that if we are resolute, we will prevail. So observe this holiday and enjoy it. While all of the above seems pessimistic and dire, remember that by sticking to our practices we have survived and thrived for 3500 years. And we will continue. #FridayNightSermon #Hanukkah5779

https://youtu.be/qmkgAMfXAQU SERVICES Shabbat services this week: Ma'ariv Services Friday evening, December 7 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, December 8 @ 9:30am Parshas Miketz / פרשת מקץ The one time of the year (not all years!) that we take out three Torahs. Please join us. School Hanukkah Party after school @ 1:00pm Shabbat Services the following week: Ma'ariv Family Services Friday evening, December 14 @ 7pm. Shachrit Saturday morning, December 15 @ 9:30am Services Parshas Vayigash / פרשת ויגש #ParashatMiketz #TorahCommentary #DvarTorah

One the unique things about Judaism is how we portray our Patriarchs, Matriarchs, prophets and sages. Each one of them is human, each one of them had frailties and thus challenges. Each one of them was human, imperfect and addressing challenges not always successfully. Consider a couple or reasons why this is so. We humans need inspiration. We need role models upon whom we can emulate. We need people to serve as examples. On the other hand, how do you relate to a Being who is perfect, as there are in some other cultures? You’re always going to fall short, so what’s the point? The example of our ancestors demonstrates that we, too, can rise above our imperfections. It shows us that even though making mistakes is a certainty, it does not doom us to eternal damnation. It shows us that the purpose of life is to succeed despite those imperfections, to rise above and do great things in spite of them. This week’s portion, Vayeishev, demonstrates that. We see two different situations in which two progenitors of our tribes, Joseph and Judah, achieved greatness in spite of their human imperfections. Both of them overcame their human imperfection. Most of the rest of Genesis is devoted to Joseph. Here is someone who is seen by some sages to be an immature, spoiled kid who lords his favoritism over his other, older brothers. While his older brothers are out in the fields working for a living, he is at home with daddy studying. He is given the task of checking up on the latter to make sure they are not sloughing off. This, of course, creates contention and discord among this large, blended family. He even uses his gifts of prophecy to denigrate them. Yes, he has dreams that portend future events of his brothers appeasing him, but he presents them in an immature manner that infuriates his brothers to the point of planning on killing him. It is only the mercy of his oldest half-brothers that spares him. For his arrogance, though, he is sold into slavery ending up in Egypt. Chapter 38 takes a sidebar into a piece of the life of Judah. Wanting to strike out on his own, he forms an alliance with a local merchant. He gets married and has three sons. His oldest dies prematurely without an heir, so it is up to the next son to marry the widow and father an heir. This is according to the customs of the time, and according to Kabbalah this would be the reincarnation of his deceased older brother. He fails to carry out the task and ends up with an early demise himself. Judah is concerned that his daughter-in-law is too much of a risk and uses the pretense that the surviving brother is too young to save his life. He has now failed to bear his responsibility for “yibum”, or the levirate that gives the widow an heir. His daughter-in-law, Tamar, sees instinctively that she needs an heir because her son’s lineage will lead to the Davidic reign and ultimately the Messiah. She tricks Judah into carrying out yibum by posing as a prostitute thus ensuring he carry out his responsibility. She has done a great job of disguising herself because when she is three months pregnant, she is accused of adultery and puts Judah into a situation in which he would pronounce the death penalty. Still, she is silent rather than embarrass Judah. Very complicated and trying situations. The mettle of both men are being tested; their character is being pushed to the limit. Now they have to rise up to the occasion. We see that Judah is dealing with a life-or-death situation and Joseph has to use his gifts of prophecy to intervene in life in Egypt. We see the Judah eventually admits that it was he who is the father of Tamar’s child and praises her for doing the right thing. Joseph, pursued by his benefactor and master’s wife, avoid her even as he is put in prison for what ends up being the next twelve years. Both accept the consequences with grace, acknowledging as the result of their own actions. Both, however, end up being great men. It is their lofty superior character that resolves their respective situations in the most efficacious way and results in advancing our heritage. Both are able to overcome their basest temptations and character flaws, rise above them and go down in our history as role models, revered by later generations as the epitome of Jewish character. Yes, we can all gain by seeing their examples. We must emulate their resolve that doing the right thing in the eyes of Hashem is more important than any ephemeral and worldly ego elevation. We learn that doing the right thing may not be the most esteem-building direction, but in the end it is always the right way to go. #FridayNightSermon #FridaysSermon