Yaakov’s Legacy and Our Responsibility

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Yaakov Avinu had a rough life. In last week’s parsha, we learned how he was tormented even prior to his birth, by his twin brother Eisov, who would go on to serve as a persistent adversary, continually striving toward Yaakov’s downfall. After Yaakov received Yitzchok’s brachos, he was compelled to flee into exile to avoid his brother’s lethal intentions.

The posuk (Bereishis 28:11) relates that when darkness fell as he trekked from Beer Sheva to safety with his mother’s family, he laid on the ground to go to sleep. The Medrash (partially quoted in Rashi) relates that he slept that night, but did not sleep during the fourteen years he spent learning Torah at the yeshiva of Sheim and Eiver. He slept that night at that place, but did not lie down to sleep during the twenty years that he lived in the home of Lovon.

On that fateful night, as Yaakov slept, Hashem promised that He would be with him as he wandered from place to place and would protect him and bless him. Though alone and penniless, Yaakov was strengthened (Rashi, ibid. 29:1) by his faith that when he would finally return home, it would be with a family and many possessions.

The parsha goes through Yaakov’s experiences as he lived with Lovon. Despite Lovon’s best attempts to hamper him, Yaakov married, had several children, and gained much wealth. Finally, at the end of the parsha, we read that Hashem told Yaakov that he should return home. We see how Yaakov returned with the same emunah, bitachon, and dveykus in Hashem that he had when he was on the run, alone and poor. After all he was put through, Yaakov remained the same strong believer he was when he left the home of Yitzchok. Despite all the many blessings heaped upon him, and despite his wealth, Yaakov remained as humble as he was when he fled to escape the wrath of his brother Eisov.

Thus, at the beginning of next week’s parsha, Yaakov Avinu declares, “Katonti mikol hachassodim umikol ha’emes asher asisa es avdecha – I have become small because of all the kindness and truth that You have performed with me…”

Yaakov, the av of golus, reminds us that when living in a time of plenty such as ours, we must not become arrogant, happy with ourselves, and apathetic to the problems of others. We should always remember that we have what we have because we have been blessed by Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We need to be appreciative of the blessings granted us and thank Hashem for His kindness to us, just as our forefather Yaakov was.

In a world of darkness, with Eisov as a brother and Lovon as a father-in-law, there was subterfuge at every turn. Yaakov invested considerable time and effort throughout his life navigating the treacherous web of deception, all in pursuit of forging a path rooted in truth and success.

After being in golus for so many years, Yaakov was thankful that his faith was not misplaced. Hashem watched over him and protected him from the evil plots of those who sought his demise. Yaakov was able to marry and raise fine children even as he was far from the idyllic home of Yitzchok and Rivkah.

We have been blessed with the strong foundations that the avos and imahos set for us. In a world of decadence, they followed the light of truth. Ever since the time of the avos and imahos, we have been mocked, vilified, accused of every crime, blamed for catastrophes, and hated throughout the ages.

Through it all, we have survived, and today Hashem has caused us to prosper spiritually and financially as never before. We must take advantage of the blessings, recognize them, and be appreciative of all that we have achieved. Like our forefather Yaakov, we should collectively proclaim, “Katonti mikol hachassodim umikol ha’emes,” recognizing the source of our wealth and the obligations we have because of it.

All we do must be consistent with the truth. Our Torah is a Toras Emes, our foundation is emes, and our lives must be all about emes.

Too often, we sense danger yet fail to address our concerns adequately, as we lack honesty in assessing the situation. While we may perceive troubling signs, without a truthful examination of their origins and causes, we cannot hope to defend or strengthen ourselves effectively.

Our community faces a range of pressing challenges, including issues related to shidduchim, abuse, dropouts, children being rejected by schools, overcrowded educational institutions, rising tuition costs, inadequate incomes, and the high cost of living, among others. To find effective solutions, we must engage in an honest and open examination of these problems, free from the constraints of narrow perspectives and political correctness. Without clear-eyed introspection, we risk being overwhelmed by the complexities and dynamics of our situation.

People who seek the truth are not afraid of it. The truth is what strengthens them. The more the facts emerge, the clearer their focus is, and the stronger their convictions are.

Contrast this approach with philosophies built on self-deception and lies. Think of those whose way of life is fraught with duplicity. These people are threatened by the truth. They are scared of the facts. They hide from reality. They crumble when confronted by it.

President Joe Biden and his spokespeople for over a year repeatedly promised that he would not pardon his son Hunter, who was convicted of several tax and gun-related charges. But on Sunday night, he shamelessly announced that he would pardon him after all. Not only that, but after condemning Donald Trump for not respecting the rule of law and the integrity of the Justice Department, in announcing the pardon, Biden committed the very crime he accused Trump of.

In his Trumpian statement, he said that his son was singled out, unfairly treated and “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”

Biden and the Democrats have been lying all through his presidency, beginning with his campaign and the reason he gave for running for president. What was important to them was to create a fallacious image of a man and a party that was in line with the wishes of the American people, but in truth was anything but. They lied about Biden’s health, they lied about the border, inflation, the economy, crime statistics, the pardon and much else. They lied about Trump; they lied about pushing out Biden and they lied about Kamala Harris, and she lied about everything. They claimed that were the party of truth and fidelity to justice and maintaining an independent, nonpolitical justice department. It was all a lie, a façade created to fool you and everyone else.

Rep. James Comer, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in response, “Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities. Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden.

“The charges Hunter faced were just the tip of the iceberg in the blatant corruption that President Biden and the Biden Crime Family have lied about to the American people. It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability.”

This is all happening as the Justice Department’s lawfare campaigns against Trump had the opposite effect of contributing to Trump’s reelection as president, and as Democrat politicians and apologists go through convulsions to explain why their candidate and platform were dramatically defeated.

People who are confident in their beliefs do not need to rely on convoluted rationalizations to communicate or defend their views. When confronted with an issue, they can approach it with honesty and clarity, enabling them to reach sound, well-reasoned solutions

Hypocritical leaders constantly feed their people a stream of falsehoods, aiming to indoctrinate them with the supposed greatness of their government and the idealized life they claim to have created. These leaders understand the importance of keeping the masses in the dark, ensuring they remain unaware of the truth. Similarly, duplicitous individuals—particularly politicians—dishonestly present their intentions and policies, and when their deception unravels, they resort to obfuscation.

As descendants of Avrohom, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, we inherit a noble legacy of unwavering commitment to truth. We understand our place in the world and cherish the blessings we have received. Even in times of success, we must remain humble, ethical, and honorable. We recognize that when we stray from principles and truth, we diminish ourselves.

We lose our way when we weaken from our emunah and bitachon and fail to confront challenges with honesty. By not following the paths of our forefathers, we risk severing our bond to them and straying from the foundations that have sustained us.

Yaakov Avinu merited to grow, prosper, and receive Hashem’s chesed and emes because he was all about emes. If we want to succeed as a people, as a community, and as individuals, we must do the same.

Those who maintain their faith in Hashem, despite the challenges and obstacles they encounter in life, do not descend to dishonesty, for they know and appreciate that what they have and what they will earn is from Hashem and there is nothing to be gained from evading and deviating from the truth.

In the latest edition of Yeshurun, which I obtained this week at the wedding of the daughter of my good friend, Rav Shlomo Gottesman, who is the editor of the iconic Torah publication, I saw an idea from Rav Dovid Feinstein. He ties the upcoming Yom Tov of Chanukah to the parsha of Mikeitz, as it usually falls on the Shabbos when that parsha is read. He says that the Chashmonaim’s defeat of the evil Yevonim seemingly didn’t contain fantastic miracles that would have proven that the victory was supernatural. For this reason, Hashem brought about the miracle involving the small crucible of holy oil, which burned for eight days until new oil could be crushed and brought to the newly consecrated Bais Hamikdosh. This showed that the war, like everything that occurs in this world, is performed under Hashem’s direction and supervision.

This lesson is evident in Parshas Mikeitz, where the faith of the shevotim is evident. When they were accused of being spies by Egypt’s viceroy, who demanded that they bring their brother Binyomin to him, they said, “Aval asheimim anachnu…al kein ba’ah oleinu hatzorah hazos” (Bereishis 42:21). Instead of discussing the wickedness of the Egyptian or that they should not have entered the country through ten different entranceways, they immediately concluded that this problem was happening to them because they had sinned with their brother.

When the Egyptian leader told them that he had found stolen money in their bags, they didn’t discuss the fallacy of his complaint or blame it on something or someone. Right away, they said, “Mah zos osoh Hashem lonu.” They knew that this happened because Hashem caused it to happen and not for any other reason.

Says Rav Feinstein, just as the shevotim knew instinctively that whatever happened to them was from Hashem, so too, the Jews in the time of the Chanukah story should have known that the only reason they were victorious in their war against the evil forces of darkness was because Hashem had caused and directed their victory. However, because they weren’t on the same level as the shevotim, Hashem performed the miracle with the small jug of olive oil so they would understand that there was nothing natural about their war.

Therefore, we read Mikeitz during Chanukah to remind us of this message: that everything we experience is brought to us by Hashem.

In this period, when the Jewish land is at war against bitter enemies who would love nothing more than killing every one of us, we need to remember that everything that happens is from Hashem. He brought the war upon Israel, and He will bring them victory. He is now rearranging the players on the board in the region, bringing down some and building up others. Nothing about what is happening is natural. We need to know that, and that it is being done to prepare the world for Moshiach.

If we want the wars to end and the resultant peace to be the one that is brought about with the coming of Moshiach, we need to deepen our belief, our commitment to the truth like our father Yaakov, and our devotion to the observance and study of Torah.

If we want to be blessed as our forefather Yaakov was, if we want to be protected from evil like Yaakov and the Jews in the time of the Chashmonaim were, we need to strengthen our emunah and bitachon and make ourselves worthy of the brachos bequeathed to us by Yaakov, his father Yitzchok, and his grandfather Avrohom.

May it happen very soon. Amein.