Parashas Va ' Eira

Our Parsha this Shabbos HaChodesh on Rosh Chodesh Shevat is Parashas Va'Eira.
In this Parsha, HaShem makes Himself known to the World as the True and Only G-D , showing that only He, HaShem , Ha Kadosh Baruch Hu , The Holy One Blessed Be He , is the True G-D , Who Created Creation , by showing that only He is in control of the forces of nature, to use at His Will, in bringing about the Plagues on Egypt . 
It is here , that HaShem Reveals Himself to Egypt , who now cannot deny that HaShem is the Only and True G-D . It is here, that HaShem 'Va ' Eira ,' 'Appears' through His Works .
When Moshe and Aharon first approached Pharoah, to ask Pharoah in the Name of G-D Almighty , to free the Children of Israel , Pharoah called his advisers to bring in the book of all the world's false deities to find if G-D was written in there and of course, G-D was not in there for this was a book of falsity and false deities . G-D IS TRUE . So Pharoah said ,'Why should I let the people go, for I know not his (Moshe's) G-D .'
By the end of the plagues, Pharoah couldn't deny that G-D was G-D . 
Thus, HaShem 'Va ' Eira' 'Appeared,' to the World through His Works . 
But to Moshe and to the Children of Israel, HaShem 'Va' Eira,' ' Appeared,' not just as 'El Shaddai,' the Almighty Who has Control and orders the Universe and His Creation, but as ' AD-Nai,' HaShem Who Gives Mercy to his beloved people Israel, for the time had come to free the Children of Israel .
Just before this, Moshe had gotten upset that HaShem had sent him and Pharaoh had just made the burden of the people more harsh, by having us search for straw and punishing the overseers who tried to watch over their-our people.
It may have looked to Moshe that when HaShem Had Sent him , the people got punished more. Yet, what we see, is nothing of the full picture, for only HaShem Sees all, for Egypt too, was also HaShem's Child and HaShem in all fairness gives each of his children, the opportunity to make good or sadly to reach their quota of negativity before HaShem acts in totality. This last decree of cruelty by Pharoah, took Egypt to its limit of quota of as far as they were allowed to prove themselves and to the limit of how much negativity they perform before facing HaShem's total Judgement and so, HaShem , in His Mercy, set about their punishment. 
The beginning of the Parsha,refers to HaShem 'Va'Eira,' - 'Appearing,' to our Fore-Fathers as 'El Shaddai,' but now, HaShem Will Appear as 'Ad-nai,' - in reference to HaShem's Attribute of Mercy.Now, the Children of Israel will be freed.
Here in this Parsha, HaShem sends the Plagues against Egypt. These miracles were set up at the beginning of Creation to become a part of Creation and its continuance should Egypt choose its cruelty. All nations have free choice, though the more evil they perform and the worse they behave, the harder their heart becomes and the harder it is for them to choose righteousness.
Pharoah, told the people he was a deity and when HaShem made war on Egypt, Pharoah was proved wrong.HaShem is the One and Only True G-D, Who Makes Creation , which includes human beings.
In fact, the reason Moshe and Aharon met Pharoah down by the water at the beginning of the plagues, was because Pharoah was trying to hide the fact that he was human and needed to respond to the calls of nature at the water and so HaShem told Moshe and Aharon to meet him there, showing how HaShem , The True G-D Knows all .
HaShem shows Himself to us in the very nature HaShem Creates,if only we would just look a little closer. 
The Sweetness of HaShem is in the sweet fragrance of the flowers and flower petals that beautify the land. The Warmth of HaShem is in the energy of the Sun that shines down upon us and is there faithfully every morning at HaShem's Command.The Beauty of HaShem is in the beautiful landscapes that make up HaShem's World .The freshness of life that HaShem Gives, is in the angelic faces of the new born babies that enter this World every day. 
Life from HaShem is all around us in the myriad life-forms that adorn HaShem's Earth and Universe , showing the beautiful Imagination that HaShem has to Paint His World sweet every morning.The Vastness of HaShem's Creation, is in the magnificence of the myriad Stars all around us, all filled with HaShem's Energy.
The word 'Va-Eira ,' in Gematria comes to 208 which, added up , comes to 10 , which is the same as the Ten Pronouncements that HaShem Spoke to Create Creation , thus First Appearing to His Creation , within every part of it that HaShem Made. This is also the same Number as the Ten Commandments that HaShem gave us at Har Sinai,that will make this World Righteous and bring it to the point that comes close to HaShem. So , within the Appearance of HaShem , is the Creation of the World and the pathway to come to Him . 
HaShem is all around us , in Almightiness and Mercy , ready and waiting for us to just come to Him and follow His Mitzvahs . 
HaShem 'Va 'Eira ,' - ' Appears ,' to all of us all the time if only we would just turn to Him and Follow Him and Seek Him .
With love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with love,a beautiful Shabbos Kodesh and Chodesh Tov Shevat with love and to all , a beautiful Shabbos Kodesh and Chodesh Tov Shevat with love.

Parashas Shemos

Our Parsha this Shabbos is called Shemos and begins the second book of the Torah called Shemos - Exodus, that sees our people Israel in bondage in Egypt under a new King,different from the Hyksos King that was in Yosef's time.
This new king Seti had a deep down hatred of Jews, that old hatred that permeates through the ages.
The word 'Shemos,' means 'Names,' and here in this Sedra refers to the sons of Jacob Israel who had come to Egypt.It was here, in a foreign exile land, that our people were to keep their Jewish names , making a name for themselves , a Shemos among others, keeping to their Jewish Names and Ways .By oneself alone away from temptation, it is easy to remain loyal, but near the temptations of other nations and their physical ways, the test becomes greater and so,it was here in Egypt that our people kept their Jewish names and modest ways of dress.Yosef had proven before, that he and his sons could live in the lowest moral place on Earth filled with debauchery and yet still keep to the ways and Laws of our Forefathers,Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov.
It was here in Egypt, Mitzrayim, whose word means 'Borders,' that this land that locked away its residents within its immoral borders and ways,that this holy moral family of Jacob Israel ,that wanted to remain faithful to G-D , found itself.
As Jews have proven throughout the centuries, we are known to care for those around us and offer our Tzeddakah and assistance to the greater cause,so did this new Pharoah know this too and plotted a plan for our destruction,using our good known ways of volunteering to help the state in which we live, so at first, he issued a voluntary invitation to us to help build the new cities for Pharoah and Egypt. Of course our people volunteered among others. Day after day, the 'others' kept dwindling until it was only Jews who worked at it. Suddenly, our people came out one morning to find big strong dark Egyptian men with Egyptian snake armbands holding their whips and this was the start of the slavery in Egypt.From now on,our people were under the taskmaster's whip to built cities for Pharoah. The excuse that Pharoah said about us possibly joining his enemies was proven so false by the very faithful act of our people going out in the first place, to volunteer for the country's new building projects, yet Pharoah still continued his cruelty. His instructions to the Jewish midwives to kill all Jewish boys, went unheeded by the midwives,who would not kill their fellow Jews. Pharoah posted his people secretly in houses in the Jewish area of Goshen, pretending to be Jewish so they could spy on us, yet HaShem still Blessed our people with fruitfulness.
Pharoah issued a new decree, to throw the Jewish boys into the. Nile alive , for his astrologers told of a deliverer that would be destroyed by water ,yet this too proved wrong for him , for HaShem had already planned the coming of our deliverer.
It was into the home of Amram and Yocheved, the Tribe of Levites, that the new child Moshe would be born. Amram had separated himself from his wife previously , feeling their being no point to bring another male child into this World, that might end up being thrown into a river,yet his daughter Miriam persuaded him to return to his wife and now, Miriam and Aharon had a new brother who was called Avigdor.Moshe was hidden in a basket on the Nile so Pharoah's astrologers would think the new deliverer was thrown into the Nile and would no longer kill Jewish children. This worked and the basket got sighted by the elder Pharoah's daughter who was actually planning to convert to Judaism. Her name thus was called Batya (daugher of G-D ).Avigdor was named 'Moshe,' which comes from the ancient Egyptian Arabic word 'Masha,' which meant 'To Draw Out,' for Moshe was drawn out of the water and it was this new name by which Moshe was called also in honor of the righteous Batya who saved him. 
Moshe was originally raised by his true Mother Yocheved (who was born just as Jacob and the family entered into Egypt many years ago) and then brought to the Palace of Pharoah where he grew up, yet he knew his Jewish background and never shunned it.
It was one day when little Moshe walked into the Palace, that he walked up to Pharoah's thrown, sat on it and put Pharoah's crown on his head.Pharoah called his three advisers Bilaam, Yitro and Iyov (Job) to ask what should be done to Moshe.Yitro (who was to become Moshe's Father-In-Law) advised to let the child go.Bilaam advised to kill the child and Iyov decided not to say anything either way,even though a 'no,' from him could have saved the child the test that was to come and so, HaShem saw to testing Iyov with hardships that are read ,in the book of Iyov Job .The Egyptian high ranking men and astrologers felt this action cannot go unnoticed and so Moshe was tested,as advised , with a shiny gem and piece of hot coal to see if he would know which was the more valuable,for should he choose the gem, Moshe was to be killed Chas Ve Shalom. As Moshe was about to reach out for the gem, the Angel Gavriel came and pushed his hand toward the hot coal, which Moshe put into his mouth causing his speech impediment but saving his life.
Moshe grew up in Egypt and one day when he went out , he noticed an Egyptian man about to kill a fellow Jew,Dasan , for the Egyptian had entered Dasan's home, wanting his wife Shelomith and defiling her.
Moshe looked this way and that - in other words, looked into this Egyptian's future and saw that 'no worthy man' would come from him but evil and so he slew the Egyptian. The following day, Moshe went out and saw Dasan fighting with his brother in law Aviram, over an issue of divorce and Dasan was about to strike Aviram. Again Moshe showed his high morals and tried to intervene, whereupon the matter of what Moshe had done to the Egyptian the day before ,was reported to Pharoah and Moshe was arrested.After trying unsuccessfully to Execute Moshe, with HaShem's Help and Miracles , Moshe escaped and ended up in Kush for many years (over forty years) where he ruled there . It was only after this, that Moshe ended up in Midyan,saving Tzipporah from the other Shepherds. Yitro, her father had unmarried daughters for no one wanted to marry them, as Yitro had gone away from their false religion and tried many others, till he settled on the One Truth of G-D .
It was here that Moshe found rest and had children. 
One day, Moshe was shepherding, that he saw a thorn-bush that burnt but was not consumed.It was at this place in the region of Sinai on the very mountain that the Children of Israel would be brought to receive the Torah ,after being freed from Egypt, that Moshe spent seven full days,humbly arguing with HaShem that he was not worthy of the task of helping to deliver Israel and was given signs to perform and told to return to Egypt for a new King had arisen, Raamses II ,who had just bathed in the blood of Jewish children for the leprosy that was his punishment and the cry of these souls came before G-D and Moshe was told to meet Aharon and return to Pharoah and ask Pharoah to release the people and 'Let Our People Go.'
The Jewish people in Egypt believed in Moshe and accepted Him, with the words they were told by Yosef, the redeemer would use,' Pakod Pakadti' - 'I HaShem Will Surely Remember You,' and so, Moshe and Aharon prepared to go and face Pharoah.
Our Beloved Moshe Rabbeinu became our greatest holiest prophet, holy enough to go up and fetch our precious Torah from the realms of 'On High,' and bring it down to our World, having to prove our people worthy of receiving it by debating with the Angels.
Never was there ever such a holy man as Moshe. 
Our Parsha Shemos, is a shining reminder that wherever a Jew finds himself among other inhabitants of this World, he or she is to keep our Jewishness and never stray, keeping our Jewish Shemos - Names and Ways and remaining pure and holy to G-D always . Within the name Yehudi, are the names 'Yad' Shel Mi,' which means from HaShem's Point of View, 'My (HaShem's ) Hand .' We are, as HaShem Chose to be the hand and representative of HaShem to teach the light and bring HaShem's Ways to all four corners of the Earth. It is for us, to work at making sure all around us 'Hear' the Words of G-D and not follow other false deities that are simply the works of men. 
Within the word 'Shemos,' is the word 'Shema' which means , to hear, for as we hear our Jewish Names and Jewish ways and stick to who we are, so are we to teach those around us to 'Shema' 'Hear' the Words of the One and Only True Living G-D , HaShem .
All are equal to G-D and all deserve to be brought to G-D and hear HaShem's Message. This is for all . It is our task by HaShem , as Jews , to bring HaShem's Light to all , so all may share equally in It and finally, making the Only True Name, HaShem ,' to be acknowledged as our Only One and True Creator .
Never again will there ever be a prophet like Moshe, who sought to have HaShem's Name heard and followed by all . 
So make every day and every moment , a moment in time, to fulfill making HaShem's Name The Only Name and live by the holy Jewishness that HaShem Blessed us with and to become a guiding light-house to all around us, so that all may share in HaShem's Light and that the Name of HaShem can fill His Creation with His Love and Blessings.
With love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with love, a beautiful sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all , a beautiful sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love.

Parashas Vayechi

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayechi and this Parsha ends the book of Bereishis.
In this Parsha,Yaakov Yisrael passes on and before that, he blesses his children with Blessings appropriate to each tribe,including Yosef's two sons Manasseh and Ephraim,whom he takes like his own children.
It is in this Parsha that Yaakov Yisrael passes on and he is taken home to the Cave of Machpelah in Mamre in Chevron and put with his Father and Grandfather ,with Adam and Chavah and Avraham and Sarah and Yitzchak and Rivka and Leah . This Parsha ends with the passing of Yosef,who assures us that HaShem Will Remember us and take us out of Egyptian bondage when the time comes.
So it seems that this Parsha is one of ending and sadness,yet even though Yaakov passes on, this Pasha starts with the words, 'Vayechi Yaakov,' - ' And Jacob lived.' It sounds strange that a Sedra about Yaakov's passing, should be introduced with the words,' And Jacob lived.' To understand why this is, one needs to understand what it means to be a truly holy person spending their life at every instant coming closer to G-D .
Yaakov started out his life as a quiet man 'abiding in tents,' meaning that he spent his days and nights close to Torah and HaShem and Learning HaShem's Holy Laws . This he did his entire life till his last breath, so even at his last breath, it was as though he wasn't passing away, but rather he was passing to a higher form of spiritual existence in his next step closer to G-D into the spiritual closeness of HaShem .Thus, in his passing, he wasn't 'passing away,' but rather passing on to the next stage of true living, that which is closer to G-D , for the only true living every day , is one that brings us closer to HaShem at each step taken . A life without HaShem , is a life without true living and purpose .
So though Yisrael Yaakov was passing on, he wasn't 'passing away' but rather passing onto true living.And such a Tzaddik , even when he 'passes on,' still remains with us,spiritually and remains also within his generations, in each and every Jew .Thus also, does Yaakov Yisrael live within us and every holy action we do.
Thus , even though Yaakov Yisrael is 'passing on,' he is 'Vayechi,' still going to continue to live, within our people who are all his children and descend from him and also within the holy spirituality that he leaves of himself in this World .
We see this also within the word 'Vayechi,' that he continues to be and will be still, for within the word 'Vayechi,' is the word 'Vayehi,' which means ' And he will be,' so putting this into the verse, we have 'Vayehi Yaakov,' which means 'And Yaakov still will be.' 
What an important lesson this really and truly is, for human beings have often looked for the elixir of eternal life and here, Yaakov Yisrael shows us what it is. The true elixir for continued living, even after 'passing on,' is to follow a life of Torah , in the pathway with no deviation , that HaShem Commands , so we can gain true eternity in the Loving Arms of HaShem. 
To truly 'Vayechi,' live, is to live a life emulating HaShem and following HaShem Only and no other and following HaShem's Holy Laws and Ways .
Within the word 'Vayechi,' are the words ' Ve' and 'Yah' (the Yud) and 'Chi / Chai' which means 'And G-D Dwells and Lives within,' showing that HaShem Comes to also Dwell within a Holy person and such a person gains eternity and is a representative of Ha Kadosh Baruch Hu, The Holy One Blessed Be He . Where the verse says, 'Vayechi Yaakov,' it thus can also show that , HaShem Chose to Dwell within Yaakov Yisrael and the very fact that Yaakov Yisrael lived his entire life with HaShem Dwelling closely within Him , shows that Yaakov Yisrael truly spent a life filled with 'True Living .'
Taking the Hebrew word 'Vayechi,' and adding up its Gematriah, we get 6 + 10 + 8 +10 = 34 and 3 + 4 = 7 which is the number equivalent to the Gematriah of the word 'Mashiach,' showing that in the Time of Mashiach, we will have True Living close to G-D , where HaShem Will Come to also Dwell within us and that the World will live eternally in Mashiach's time and also that living a life that is one of Torah and following HaShem Only will bring on Mashiach . 
It is about time the World stopped trying to live yet really not living at all and started truly living the real true 'Vayechi' - the true path of eternal living HaShem's Way , with HaShem , for eternity .
May we and all the World reach the true 'Vayechi ,' and live with HaShem as HaShem Wants us to live , His Way , with the sweetness of HaShem Dwelling within us all . 
With love to HaShem, I wish HaShem with love a Special Sweet and Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all, a sweet , special and beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love.

Parashas Vayigash

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayigash.
In this Parsha, Yehudah. steps forward to plead the case for his Father Yaakov's love for Binyamin and to plead the case for his brother Binyamin,unlike he did twenty two years ago, when he didn't step forward to save Yosef.
By now, Yehudah had learnt the right thing to do and showed he was a Tzaddik that could see, in life,it's twists and turns and how things that happen,are related to things done before. The brothers saw the hand of punishment being brought upon them, in their ordeal with the viceroy of Egypt,relating to the punishment they felt they deserved, for what they did to Yosef when he was but a youth. By their actions to the viceroy, they showed that they had changed and were filled with remorse.Yehudah was prepared to do anything to save Binyamin, even if it meant his own life.
The word , 'Vayigash,' is used here to denote 'Approaching,' even though the word that is more often used is the word 'Karov.' So what is HaShem trying to show here,by using the word 'Vayigash.'
'Vayigash,' means 'And He Approached.' This can have deeper connotations, for it can also mean,'And Yehudah Approached HaShem, in remorse and repentance ,' as well as it can also deeply mean,' And He, HaShem Approached,' Yehudah and came close, for they (the brothers) were repenting and trying to correct their wrongs.Within the word 'Vayigash,' - 'And he approached,' is the word 'Gashmi,' which means ,'material/physical,' and also the word 'Gasher,' which means 'to bridge,' as well as the word 'Geshem,' which means 'Rain.' So Torah could be trying to teach us that this approach from Yehudah to Yosef, was one of trying 'to bridge' the physical gap between two men by appealing to the rain within the other man, in other words the water,the emotions within the other man. This , Yehudah tried to do, by stepping closer to the viceroy and speaking and appealing to him via physical emotional feelings and heart that every man basically has. This, Yehudah did, by 'approaching' the viceroy as a fellow human being with physical and emotional feelings to bridge the gap. This Yehudah did, by stepping closer to the viceroy and appealing to his common feelings of humaneness.This could only take place if Yehudah 'Vayigash,' - 'came closer' to the viceroy, as a fellow human being, trying to form a closeness with him emotionally. For all people are, within and deep down, human beings that can relate to each other's hurts.But this is only if a closeness is allowed to form and only by stepping 'Vayigash,' - ' Closer,' can two people , even from opposite ends of the Earth, see each other as equals and human beings. 
This is how hatred festers, when one stays far apart from another and refuses to learn that one person too is also a human being , just as the other is.Only,as Rashi says, when people take a closer approach to others and realize that we are all humans, then can the lines of understanding take place. 
This is the way to peace in the World. When people start to see each other as equals and having parts of the same human emotions within them and most importantly, that HaShem Resides within us all. The closer we come to others, the better we see the part of G-D within them.,as we have .
But first,we ourselves need to 'Vayigash,' - take that first step and 'Approach,' each other with understanding hearts and minds.To form a peaceful world, one needs to look beyond oneself and see, that all people, all creatures have feelings and all living things need love and respect,whether king or pauper,all are the same.
When the lines of like understanding are opened, then the World can work as one and 'Vayigash' come closer to HaShem .
The same is with HaShem . To have a relationship and understanding with our Creator, we need to 'Vayigash,' - 'Come Closer' to Him by taking that first step towards Him, as Yehudah did by approaching not just Yosef, but HaShem as well, in repentance, for past errors, for therein lies salvation. 
Doing this right step, can bring Mashiach who will come and as Yosef said when he made himself known to his brothers, by saying 'Ani Yosef,' so will we hear Mashiach say ,' Ani Moshiach.' All we need to do, is come close to HaShem and His Creation and all those in His Creation and make peace and realize, that the heart of love and emotions beat within us all.
It is then, that HaShem will return to us once more and the End Of Days can be ushered in, for by doing the right thing, we bring about the days of Mashiach, just as , when Yaakov and the family were coming to Mitzrayim - Egypt,already, HaShem was putting into play, the Mother of the redeemer of Israel from Egyptian bondage, for it was just as the seventy souls of Yaakov's family entered into Egypt, that Yocheved, the Mother of Moshe, Aharon and Miriam, was born, as they walked into Egypt. It was now, that Yaakov could settle his emotions, with the knowledge of knowing that his beloved Yosef still lived, not just physically but spiritually too, for Yosef had still kept the Laws of Yiddishkeit,even in a foreign land.
Wherever we are, we can always 'Vayigash,' - 'Come Close to HaShem.' At every moment of our life and breath, HaShem is there always. All we need to do is come 'Vayigash ' - 'Close to ' Him . We need to take that first step. No matter how we feel or what we want, it is what HaShem Requests, that is to be done. Even if we don't always understand what HaShem Asks, if we truly love Him above ourselves, then the reason should never be a condition to our obedience.A true show of love for HaShem, is to do what HaShem Asks without question, in total Faith in Him . We don't always need to know the 'Why's'. It is enough to know that He is G-D , Who Knows all and so, Knows what is needed to get to where we need to go .It is enough that G-D Asks, for us to listen and do . As our Jewish people said, when offered the Torah ,'Na'aseh Ve Nishma,' - ' We will do and then we will listen ,' - first we will do, before we need to know the why's.True love of G-D , starts with doing His Will and not ours,without question . 
This is the way to gain 'Vayigash,' - ' Approaching Closeness ' to G-D .This gets tested constantly and we need to know that always, must we follow G-D 's Will and not our own. 
One cannot expect closeness with G-D, if one doesn't follow His Torah. Each Torah Law is a pathway to closeness with HaShem and in His Love, He Gave us the Torah so we can know how to come 'Vayigash' - ' Close ' to Him . The choice is ours. One can either live a life of no purpose and fulfillment, or one can truly live and follow G-D and His Torah and come close to Him . 
He Desires our closeness and deep down within us all, so do the souls he gave us within us,desire closeness with HaShem . So allow the gift of His life-force and the soul within each one of us, to fulfill the purpose of closeness with G-D and help Creation to become One.
With love to HaShem , I wish Hashem with love a sweet precious Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all, a sweet precious Shabbos with love.