Veyasheiv (GEN 37:1 - 40:23)  Previous page,  Torah Lesson Plan, or YHVH Homepage

The parshah starts out with the verse; "Yaacov dwelled in the land of his father's sojourning, in the land of Canaan." The Lubavitcher Rebbe gives us a sichah on this verse, as taught by the Maggid. The phrase, megurey aviv, is an idiom for a pasuk in Proverbs which states; "oger bakayitz", the gathering or harvest of the summer. "Yaacov tarried about for the gathering of his father [Divine Father]".

Even though Yaacov worked with Laban, and purified, or rectified, by way of birur, elevation and extraction of the holiness within the darkness, he still had work to complete. The Creation was not ready for completion, Hashem still has plans. So, what is this summer harvest to which the Maggid is referring?

The gathering to which the Maggid is referring is the avodah of Israel. The purpose of Israel. The performance of mitzvot in order to liberate the Life Force, the creative Design sparks of Creation from within its crude kalipah, husks of material obstruction.  This is the task of "gatherings of his Father."

Now such a task is obviously a degradation, it's a lowliness and there is great danger of becoming contaminated, or worse still, becoming completely submerged within the kalipah, or darkness, so that one no longer sees the light himself. However, as we learned before, Yaacov "garti" Rebbe the numerical value of 613, as to say, Rashi tells us, I have sojourned in the house of Laban, and it has not affected my Torah. I have not been brought down by it. Every descent is for the sake of an ascent.

The sichah continues by explaining the last part of our verse; "in the land of Canaan." Canaan is also referred by the Torah to trading, or trafficking, as we see in other pasukim, and trading or trafficking always involves the spending of money for a profit: cultivation and refinement of an object for greater wealth.

Yaacov tarried in order to gather in what his Father requested, the avodah (The Divine service), in order to bring about a profit, an ascent in value. It is the Jews task to seek out and purified, refine the raw, almost apparent dead material physical matter within this world, and elevate it to a higher realm. He should do this for the sake of his Father in  Heaven.  Anything Israel does, should be for the sake of Divine will, or Father in Heaven, not for the material reward, or ulterior motives on a personal level. If a king of flesh and blood sends one out on a mission, we do not say to the king; "why, what your purpose, what good can possibly come from this." How much more so for the Divine King of kings? If we look for reasons other than the commandment itself, we will ultimately end up within the deep world of self righteousness, and self worth. This is akin to idolatry, because at that moment we are assuming that our own intellect may be par to, or greater than He who commands.

The true meaning of kabalas ol, a total submission, is receiving the yoke of heaven upon us. The ox receives his yoke, and he goes without question. He is not a greater entity that the farmer who knows all there is to know about the field which he is plowing. He does not swerve to the left, nor to the right. If the ox was to start rationalizing, or intellectualize the work at hand, the work would cease.

This is a deeper meaning of our verse, that Yaacov Avinu (our forefather) tarried in order to do this bidding of Divine will, for the simple sake of his Father in heaven. He did birurim, he purified the creation, the material and mundane. He did so with great effort, as we read last week, "By day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes." This indicates that it is no easy task. One must excert oneself, and this may mean physical hardship.

Halachah states that no man may bring harm to himself, to his body. The body does not belong to him, it belongs to Hashem. The Alter Rebbe uses this verse to indicate that it is permissible to cause hardship to the body for the sake of personal need, such as labor for income. Since everything material cannot exist without a spiritual counterpart, the very issue of earning a living, and receiving parnasah, sustenance, can allude to spiritual growth and profit as well. All who exercise, lift weights, etc. can confirm that in order to burn fat, and build muscle, the physical hardship is felt. The old saying, "no pain no gain."

Yaacov served properly, and he always knew his purpose. He was steadfast in his Divine service and he did so with joy. As the verse states; "Yaacov lifted his feet." In other words, he forced himself to do the tasks, he drove himself with his own will. His joy and success which came about by his pure and simple service, is alluded to in the end of our verse; "in the land of Canaan." In other words, in the land of trafficking. Yaacov actually gained, he made a profit, as is the normal when one traffics or trades in merchandise. He not only caused success to arise to heaven, his service, on a physical level, also caused great profit, and a manifestation of good within darkness. This can be seen through his brother Esav the wicked one. When Yaacov approached his brother Esav, it states that he bowed down to the ground, artzah, seven times, also alluding to a gathering of the sparks of Divinity from the ground, from the material, and the verse says; "Esav ran toward him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him wholeheartedly." Indicating that even the wicked Esav had good within him, which at that split moment came out, leaving all evil behind.

This is an example of what one can achieve to his surroundings by simply focusing on the service at hand. On one' s avodah. His surroundings will then automatically elevate and run to him. Because it is the natural tendency of every created thing to recognize and come close to it's creator. He no longer thinks about I want, or I desire, but rather, it becomes second nature to think, speak and act as Torah, thus as Divine will. In doing such, the entire creation will fight to become part of him. All goodness will shine forth.

So, our verse, Veyasheiv Yaacov be'eretz megurey aviv, and Yaacov tarried within the land of his Father, will lead to be'eretz Canaan, the land of profit. By way of descending, one is capable of elevating. This is difficult and painful. As the Tanya states, when one wrestles with a dirty person, he is bound to get soiled. We must remain strong within our knowledge, our mitzvot, and we must learn our halachah, then we will survive, like Yaacov. Because halachah, is for this world, it is the way we interact with the mundane, dark and lowly places. This descent is only for the sake of an ascent. If our avodah is pure it will effect messianic redemption, a culmination of Creation, within the individual as well as his surroundings.

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