"And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed". (Gen. 42:9)
Rabbi Chiya opened with: "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles". (Proverbs 24:17) Come and see: G‑d created man, so that he would be worthy of His glory, serve Him always, and be occupied with the Torah day and night, because G‑d is constantly delighting in the Torah.
When G‑d created Adam, He put the Torah before him and taught him how to know its ways. How do we know this? From the words: "Then he saw it [G‑d looked into the Torah with chochma], and declared it [with bina]; he established it [with tiferet], yea, and searched it out [with malchut]" which is followed by: "And to man he said: Behold, the fear of G‑d that is wisdom [of the Torah] and to depart from evil is understanding". (Job 28:27-28) Because he looked into the Torah, but did not keep its commands, he transgressed against the command of his Master and was caught for his sin [not as punishment but as a natural result of not following the instructions in the “user manual”].All of those who fail to follow even one thing written in the Torah are caught up in the negative result that follows.
All those who transgress one precept of the Torah are caught for it. King Solomon, who was wisest among all the people in the world, transgressed only one precept of the Torah [exceeding the number of wives allowed a King] and this caused his kingdom to be transferred from him and to be divided from the time of his sons. This is even truer for those who transgress [more than one precept of] the Torah.
Joseph knew the Torah. Why then, when his brothers fell into his hands, did he bring upon them all these things, when he knew the Torah his father had taught him? Heaven forbid that Joseph took revenge upon them. He did it only to bring his brother Benjamin to him, for he longed for him. He did not leave his brothers wanting, as it is written: "Then Joseph gave orders to fill their sacks with grain" (Gen. 42:25) [without payment or measuring], so they would not be impoverished.
BeRahamim LeHayyim: Why did the Ari and Chida include this section? What do they want us to learn?
What is THE purpose in life? The above Zohar seems to indicate that one's purpose is: (1) to study Torah day and night, or (2) to give charity, or (3) to till and to keep the Garden.
THE purpose in life is to learn one's name. No, not the name of your body, the name your parents with the vested prophecy named you. Rather, the name of your soul.
The Name of your soul transcends your body: it was here before you came; it dwelt in your vessel for this lifetime; and it will be proverbially "out of here" once you pass too.
The Name of your soul. Return to who you are, return to what you are,
return to where you are, born and reborn again.
The Name of your soul. To learn one's name means to learn one's portion of
G‑dliness, your mission in life, your tikun, your repair, rectification,
your healing. Ees' your job, mon! We all need to immerse
in the waters of Torah but perhaps one digs learning Gemara the most? We all
need to "serve", but perhaps one is best suited to making sure that the
sidurim
in the synagogue are all standing up properly? We all need to be involved in
gemilut chasadim, but perhaps one is most suited to generously bestow
charity?
What is your own particular "thing"? And now for the BIG questions: are you doing it, and are you doing it well, and if not now, when?
What does the above mean to you, and why is it revealed to you now?
Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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