bs"d. Wednesday, Mar-Cheshvan 26, 5765 / November 10, 2004 In this week's Parsha, Toldot, we read about the blessings which Yitzchak (Isaac) gave to his son Yaakov (Jacob). The blessings begin, "May G-d give you of the dew of the heaven and of the fat of the earth..." Our sages explain that the blessing to Yaakov, patriarch of the Jewish people, was that "heavenly matters" should come first. The purpose and goal for material success should be to perform Mitzvot and good deeds. "The fat of the earth," should be a means to achieve the spiritual goal. Also, to attain true success in material matters ("the fat of the earth") which will result in fulfillment and happiness, one must first realize that it all comes from G-d ("dew of the heaven"). In Pirkei Avot our sages teach us the following, "Ben Zoma said, Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot." "Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot" - "Rich" in Hebrew is "Ashir." The four letters of the Hebrew word Ashir (Ayen, Shin, Yud, Reish) can serve as an acronym for the words, Ainayim (eyes), Shinayim (teeth), Yadayim (hands), Raglayim (feet). In this context, one is rich when his/her body is in working order. This in itself should make a person feel wealthy even if one lacks in monetary wealth and possessions. There is a saying in Yiddish, "altz in aynem is nito ba keinem" - "All in one... there is by none." True happiness is measured not in how much we have but in the quality of life we have. A simple Jewish farmer, who lived in a village, hired a rabbi to teach his child. The teacher spent much of his free time in the forest outside the village. The farmer always wanted to know what the learned man was doing in the forest, but he refused to tell. One day the farmer insisted that he tell him. He told the farmer, "I spend my time in the forest studying the language of the birds and listening to what they are saying." The farmer was impressed. He asked the teacher to teach him to understand what the birds were saying. The teacher initially refused, telling him that it was not to his benefit to know this. But, knowing that his job was at stake, he eventually relented and taught him. One day, as the farmer was traveling through the forest, he heard one bird telling another bird, "Tonight thieves will steal this farmer's cow." Upon hearing this he immediately returned home and was able to save his cow. A week later, he again overheard a bird saying, "This farmer will have a financial loss due to fire." As a result, he again was able to save his fortune. Some time later, as he was again traveling through the forest, and heard one bird telling the other that soon this farmer will die. He immediately went back home and approached the holy man and told him what he heard. "Twice, thanks to you, I understood what the birds were saying and saved my possessions. What can I do now?" The teacher said to him, "I warned you that it was not good to know everything! Originally, it was decreed in heaven that you shall die, but then it was decided to spare your life in exchange for the loss of your possessions. Now that you have saved your possessions, the original decree was reinstated!" The lesson of the farmer can apply to us all. "Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot" - Although one may be lacking in some areas, perhaps it is precisely this lacking that spared them from something far worse! HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY ********************** Leilu Nishmas Reb David ben Asher Lemil HaKohen, z"l. ********************** ************************************ Rabbi Zalmen Marozov Mailing address: TorahFax Box 373 Station Snowdon. Montreal, Quebec. H3X 3T6 Canada PayPal: torahfax@netaxis.qc.ca TorahFax Web Page at: www.torahfax.net Refuah Shleimah page at: www.torahfax.net/refuah.html