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ב"ה

Vayechi 5763 - December 20, 2002

Six Kinds of Perfection

Adam was so perfect that he went looking for imperfection. Noah went by the book, Abraham by love, Isaac honed himself to nothingness, Jacob was a whole of infinite parts and Joseph found perfection in challenge
Parshah
Vayechi in a Nutshell
Jacob blesses each of his sons before his passing. He is buried in the Cave of Machpelah in the Holy Land. Joseph dies at age 110, and asks his descendants to bury his remains in the Holy Land. This comes to pass only years later, upon the exodus from Egypt.
Story
Menasheh the Informer

Suddenly the knob of the Rebbe's door turned. The Chassidim ran for cover. Only crazy Beryl didn't run away.
Living
Unknown Variables

Finding life's solutions is a lot like 10th grade math. You need to: a) take it one step at a time; b) isolate the "unknown variable"; c) be big enough to ask Mommy for help
Above the Fray

To successfully escape from prison, you need someone on the outside pulling for you. Take it from Jacob, who wouldn’t be found dead in Egypt.
A shepherd went out to feed the king's flock, and the flock was abducted. When the shepherd sought to enter the royal palace, the king said to him: "If you come in now, what will people say? That it was you who have caused the flock to be carried off!" In the same way, G-d said to Moses: "Your greatness is that you have taken the 600,000 out of bondage. But you have buried them in the desert and you wish to bring into the Land a different generation! This being so, people will think that the generation of the desert have no share in the World to Come! No, better be beside them, and you shall in the time to come enter with them."
— Midrash Rabbah