CHASSIDC PEARLS 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?