Nutkeh (Part 2)

After the wedding, Rav Zundel agreed to support Nutkeh so he would be able to learn. Support in those days was one meal a day, known as kest. Every day R’ Nutkeh would come home to his meal, but his wife would never eat with him. She always had a different excuse why she wasn’t …

Nutkeh (Part 1)

Rav Zundel Salant was Rav Yisrael Salnter’s rebbi. He was know for his tremendous bitachon. Every year he would change the source of his livelihood in order to remind himself that parnassah comes only from Hashem. R’ Aharon Kotler told over the following story: Rav Zundel had a daughter who needed a shidduch. At that …

Stop Chasing

The more a person worries about what’s going to be and the more hishtadlus one does, the harder it is to get what you want. The Gemorah in Eiruvin (13a) tells us, “The more a chases after stature, the more it runs away from him. The more a person runs away from stature, the more …

It Was Worth It

Part 3 So why was Yosef punished? The first possibility is because he was destined to be the ruler of Egypt. A leader is always held to a higher standard. Even though some immoral actions are overlooked when done by ordinary people, when they’re done by presidents or prime ministers they become unacceptable scandals. Everyone …

Sin the Right Way

Part 2 We find two types of people who sin. The first is “Sheva yipol tzaddik v’kam” (Mishlei 24:16) – Someone who falls into sin, but keeps getting up and trying again. The second is, “Avar vishana, nasis lo k’heter.” (Kiddushin 20) A person who does the same sin twice, and now it starts to …

Remember Me

Part 1 After years in jail, Yosef had finally had the opportunity to attempt getting freed. All he had to do was ask the Sar Hamashkim to tell Pharaoh about him. But the Medrash (Yalkut Miketz 41:147) tells us that Yosef made a mistake. He asked the Sar Hamashkim twice to remeber him. Because of …

There’s No Tomorrow

Continued from previous articles. After we discussed how great Yaakov Avinu’s bitachon was, there is one area Chazal point out where Yaakov had the slightest lapse in bitachon. After making arrangements with Lavan, Yaakov tells him, “V’ansah bi tzidkasi b’yom machar.” – “My righteousness will speak for me tomorrow.” (Bereshis 3:33) Yaakov wanted to make …

What’s With the Sticks?

Continued from previous article. Now that we saw how great Yaakov Avinu’s bitachon was, we have to answer a seeming contradiction. After Yaakov worked out his payment with Lavan, Lavan separated all the striped and spotted sheep do differentiate which ones belonged to him and which would belong to Yaakov. After this, Yaakov begins placing …

Lavan Was No Fool

Continued from previous article. When Yaakov and Lavan arranged Yaakov’s pay, Lavan kept trying to gain the upper hand. They made an arrangement that only animals born with certain patterns would go to Yaakov. Lavan knew that no matter what pattern they agreed on, Hashem would always make the animals be born with the pattern …

You Can Be Like Yaakov

Yaakov Avinu’s level of bitachon was tremendous. Even nature would bend itself for his needs. When Yaakov dealt with Lavan, everything always worked out in his favor even though it was clearly against nature. (As we shall discuss in later articles.) But still, Chazal tell us something incredible. The passuk (Bereishis 31:11) says, “Vayomer elai …