CHASSIDIC PEARLS ON THE PARSHA BY RABBI LAZER BRODY PARSHAS VAYEITZEI

"Bread to eat and clothing to wear" (Bereishit 28:20). The above passage illustrates that our forefather Yaakov (Jacob) didn't want to request a thing from Hashem other than his minimal needs. Nevertheless, one might wonder if Yaakov lacked trust in Hashem; must he ask for the barest minimum, without which he cannot live and serve Hashem? A person who lacks a basic meal, a shirt on his back, or a roof over his head, is unable to function properly. Shouldn't these basic necessities come automatically, without our having to ask for them? A certain passage in the Gemorra is even more bewildering: "Mar Ukva says that the two daughters of Gehinnom yell hav hav!" (see tractate Avoda Zara, 17a). Mar Ukva, one of the Talmud's greatest scholars, employs a play on words: Hav in Aramaic means "give me", and hav hav is the barking of a dog. Mar Ukva teaches that one who asks for material possessions in this world, ends up barking like a dog in purgatory, heaven forbid. Apparently, according to his teaching, our forefather Yaakov would have been punished for requesting food and clothing. How could that possibly be? Rebbe Nachman of Breslev instructs us (Likutei Etzot, Tefilla, 25) that, "A person must accustom himself to praying for all his needs at all times, whether livelihood, or children, or if he has a sick person in his household, heaven forbid, and so forth. For each of his needs, the principal advice is only to pray to Hashem and to believe that Hashem is good for everything – for curing illness, for livelihood, and for every other need – and one's principal efforts should be in praying to Hashem, and not in chasing after so many contrivances."