Rabbi Levin's Blog

  One of the things, our Sages said, that helped the Jews in Egypt merit the Exodus from Egypt, was Shabbat observance. This merit will also help bring the redemption from our current exile. In honor of the Parsha Vaera, where we read about the beginning of the process of redemption, I would like to reprint a story that was published today by Rabbi Mordechai Lipskier.  He wrote that he heard the story from Rabbi Moshe Raitport, who heard it first hand. A few years ago, a woman called the Shomrei Hadas Funeral Chapels in Brooklyn to arrange her husband’s funeral. “Before going ahead with the arrangements, I have a request to make. May I tell you a story?” This woman had gotten married in the early 1940s in Brooklyn. It was difficult for a Shabbat observer to hold down a job, so like many other Jews, her husband was pink-slipped from one job after the next. (They would often take a job on Monday, and when they refused to come on Shabbat, they were fired.) Their struggle worsened...

Our forefather, Jacob, passed away and was buried in Israel, as he had requested. Time passed, the Jews settled into Egypt, and then Yosef passed away. He did not get to be buried in Israel like his father. He was “placed in a coffin in Egypt.” This is the final verse in the Parsha Vayechi and the final verse in the book of Bereshit.  Not a very happy ending.  This is perplexing, especially in light of the teaching of our Sages that we should always end on a positive note.  The Parshiyot are divided so that we always end on a positive note, and if this is ever not the case, there has to be a good reason.  For example, when we read the Parsha of Ha’azinu. Some of the breaks are at a negative point, and there is a large discussion as to why that is.  Another example is when we read the Parsha of the “tochacha” – the curses that are foretold in the Torah, we don’t break in the middle.  We read all the way through with no break until the final, positive verse....