Weekly Davar - Vayishlach Everything is just right – as long as we see it that way
Vayishlach
(Genesis 32:4 – 36:43)
8th December 2011
12th of Kislev, 5772
GOOD AFTERNOON!! This is my once a year appeal for Tikun, my organisation. I want to give you the opportunity to contribute if you wish and we could certainly do with the support. I am appreciative of everything and anything that people might want to give. My davar is one of the many services that we are able to provide free of charge because of the generous support that people give to us. It will only take a minute if you follow this link - Click Here; it will also tell you a little more about what Tikun does. Thank you in advance for those of you who are able. And if you are not, that’s fine and dandy. And thank you to those of you who do already give!
Our conference this week was just incredible. We had well almost 350 people attending over the 3 days. People flew in from America, Canada, Israel, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, South Africa and even New Zealand. And we had people watching live online from all over the world including Brazil and Japan. Those of you who were there will know how special the feeling was, those who were not should get signed up for next year already!
Torah Portion
Jacob returns to Canaan and Esau comes to meet him with 400 armed men – and it’s no welcoming committee. Jacob manages to appease his brother, bearing more gifts than the Three Kings. He fights with the angel and his name is changed to Israel.
His daughter Dina is raped and his two sons Shimon and Levi wipe out the whole city in revenge. While Jacob doesn’t definitively condemn them at the time, he rebukes them in the form of a curse just before he dies when he feels they will be more open to listening. The portion concludes with the respective lineages of Esau and Jacob.
Davar Torah
Everything is just right – as long as we see it that way
I want to share with you an idea that isn’t necessarily related to the weekly portion (I know, what kind of Rabbi am I? I suppose you can always unsubscribe and find yourself a more authentic Rabbi if you like!) rather it’s a small insight that occurred to me in the wake of our conference this week.
Imagine the opportunity in a busy day to take a genuine break. You can sit in a comfortable chair in a cosy room with no distractions – there’s nothing for you to do and nowhere for you to go. And the room has 360 degree windows to see out into the world. Maybe you will have someone you love to sit there with you and there’s nothing to do but chat. Sounds great, yes? Bring it on. Well, in our modern world, we get the opportunity quite often. It’s called sitting in traffic.
I was returning from taking my kids to school yesterday and there was some traffic on the road. Normally, I would take all sorts of evasive action to try to avoid it. Take a back road; switch back and forth between lanes; check on the GPS for alternatives – most of which take a lot of my time and attention and get me to my destination no more than seconds before I might have arrived had I simply sat in the traffic. In this particular instance, I was early for work and the traffic would take me no more than 2 minutes out of my way. So I drove into the lane with the traffic and took a lovely break. I noticed how beautiful the world around me was. I noticed that people sitting in other cars are special beings created in God’s image. And I deepened my realisation that my own happiness comes from within, not from my circumstances. It was actually a lovely experience. And then the traffic cleared up and off I went – still getting to work in plenty of time, but feeling much better for the experience of sitting in some traffic.
Now I know there are times that we are genuinely late for something and the traffic seems so frustrating (although ‘frustrated’ is never a natural consequence of ‘frustrating’), but in my experience, most of the time that I am frustrated by traffic, it’s not making me late for anything. I'm simply frustrated out of habit. And even when it is making me late, my getting upset never seems to contribute to arriving at my destination more quickly. Now isn’t that a strange thing?
Traffic is just one example of many things in life. We judge a circumstance very quickly and find ourselves missing opportunities as a result. And then we get used to seeing a circumstance in a certain way and so we are never open to different ways of seeing it.
Hold on, don’t hit the unsubscribe button just yet! I just realised that there IS a connection. In the portion, Jacob, the wise man, says, ‘I have everything’. Esau, the confused man, says, ‘I have a lot’. Both were incredibly wealthy, but for Jacob it was all that he needed. For Esau, it was not enough. Life is always how we see it. And in everything, even traffic jams, there is so much opportunity and potential if we would but allow ourselves to notice.
When I shared this thought with my wife, she asked if I would like to do her rota also so that I can sit in the traffic and enjoy the world every day. No prizes for guessing what my answer was!
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Shaul Rosenblatt
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