Parshat Vayechi 5777
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week's parsha that Yaakov gives a blessing to Yosef and his children. The Medrash Rabbah (97, 3) compares two phrases Yaakov employs (Chapter 48, Pasukim 15-16); Ha'Elokim Ha'Roeh Osi and Ha'Malach Ha'Goel Osi. The Medrash teaches that we learn from here a comparison between Parnasah and Geulah. Ha'Elokim Ha'Roeh Osi suggests Parnasah, like a shepherd caring for his flock, while Ha'Malach Ha'Goel Osi indicates Geulah. What message is the Medrash conveying by making a comparison between Parnasah and Geulah?
One of the ways the Medrash compares these two (see also the Medrash Rabbah on parshat Bereishis, 20, 9) is that both Parnasah and Geulah come about as a result of Pela'im. Pela'im means miracles. Both the ultimate redemption and being physically sustained in the world are not natural events but rather miraculous ones engineered by Hashem. We should not think that making a living is a simple matter. Without Divine intervention we would not be able to be sustained in the world, just as we need the hand of Gd in order to be redeemed.
The Sfas Emes teaches this comparison on a deeper level. When Gd changes the course of nature in this world we view this as a miracle. Our world is the natural one and any change in the world as we know it is called a miracle, or a Peleh. But our world is an Alma T'Shikra, a world of illusions and lies. In actuality, Hashem limiting Himself into the natural world and providing for us is a greater miracle. Having Divine influence and sustenance even though we live a mundane existence in a physical world is also a miracle. This is the true comparison of the Medrash in referring to both the Geulah and Parnasah as Pela'im.
The same Medrash also makes a comparison between Parnasah and childbirth. It says that Parnasah is even more difficult than childbirth. When Adam and Chava sin, Hashem punishes Chava with the words (Bereishis, Chapter 3, Pasuk 16), B'Etzev Taldi Banim, you shall give birth in pain. And when He punishes Adam in the very next pasuk it says, B'Itzavon Tochlena, you shall eat in suffering and pain. The Medrash learns that the extra letters of the word B'Itzavonindicates a higher level of pain than the word B'Etzev. Once again the Medrash is stressing the difficulty of Parnasah. How are we to understand this and why is Parnasah more difficult than childbirth?
The Sfas Emes explains this comparison in a similar manner. As we mentioned above, receiving Divine influence in the physical world is a miraculous event. We receive our sustenance in a physical form even though it comes from Hashem. But before the sin of Adam and Chava in Gan Eden, their sustenance from Hashem was totally on a spiritual level. It didn't come to them enveloped in the physical.
This changed after eating from the Eitz HaDa'as and the mixture of good and evil into the world. Adam is told that from now on his food will be painful; it will be through physical means and not through the spiritual. He will have to sense the miracle and realize that everything comes from Hashem even though it appears as if it's from his own hard work. The presence of Hashem in his life will be hidden and much harder to appreciate.
But childbirth, though painful, is not as painful as Parnasah. This is because when a child is born a new Neshamah comes into the world. This Neshamah has a direct link to Hashem. When we relate to our Neshamah, to our spiritual side, we feel the presence of Hashem in our lives. Though we live in a physical world, we have within us elements of the higher sphere and feel the Divine connection. And we sense a lack of satisfaction when we feed our Neshamah with the food of the physical world. This is why the experience of childbirth is not as painful as Parnasah. Parnasah obligates us to see the hand of Gd in everything in our life and see the miracle in being physically sustained.
Good Shabbos
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