 | The Politics of Hope
The essence of the Jewish mission in the world was called by Rabbi Sacks zt"l "The Politics of Hope". Judaism is, perhaps, about hope more than anything else.
And this concept is nowhere clearer than in this week's Parasha where the concept of hope is mentioned to one of Ya'akov's children, Dan. Dan had only one child, Chushim, who was deaf-mute according to the Sages. Yet, Ya'akov says to Dan, "for your salvation I hope for, G-d." Indeed, his prayers were answered – the tribe of Dan became one of the largest as we see in the counting in the Book of Numbers.
No situation is hopeless. Everything needs hope.
The anthem of the State of Israel, HaTikva, "The Hope," is based on a verse in Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 37 where the dry bones say they have "no hope." The anthem responds by saying "we have still not lost our hope." In spite of the ups and downs of life, we continually hope for a better and brighter future. | | | We are heartbroken for our friends and alumni Rabbi Doron and Gila Chitiz, on the devastating loss in battle of their brother and brother-in-law, Lt. Yaron Eliezer Chitiz hy"d.
Gila and Rabbi Doron are alumni of Mizrachi's Shalhevet shlichut training program and were on shlichut in Johannesburg, South Africa, before returning to Israel two years ago.
Sending our deepest condolences to the entire Chitiz family, and our hearts are with them and their kehillah and friends in Ra'anana at this difficult time. | | This week, two groups were welcomed into the Mizrachi headquarters in Jerusalem to hear a keynote address from our Executive Chairman Rabbi Doron Perez:
 A mission from the The Jewish Center of Manhattan
 An Englewood mission from Kehillat Kesher and East Hill Synagogue, led by Rabbi Block and Rabbi Reichman
If you are planning a mission, or would like to plan a mission, please contact Ilan Frydman at ilan@mizrachi.org for more information. | |  | "Yesterday morning Roi was killed by terrorists… How did we close our eyes, and fail to see the reality clearly? Did we forget that this group of youths living in Nachal Oz, bears the responsibility of facing Gaza, from which hundreds of thousands of people are praying for us to be weak, so they can tear us to pieces? To remove their hope of destroying us, we have to be armed and ready, day and night.
On the other side of the fence, there is a sea of hatred towards us, waiting for the day that we will listen to the foreign officials telling us to put down our weapons.
This is our fate – we must be strong, armed and ready at all times to defend ourselves."
These were the powerful words of the IDF Chief of Staff said at the funeral of Roi, a 21-year-old man from Nachal Oz who was killed by infiltrating terrorists from Gaza.
What is staggering is that the Chief of Staff speaking is Moshe Dayan at the funeral of Roi Rotberg in April 1956. Reading about the Egyptian lead fedayun attacks in 1955–6, in which Egypt trained and sent groups of terrorists to kill, kidnap and terrorize Israel, one realizes how while so much has changed, so little has changed too.
~ From a Facebook post by Rabbi Aron White, Managing Editor, HaMizrachi magazine | |  Schools for Schools!  Mizrachi's Schools Department is launching an initiative to show solidarity and support Jews around the world to schools in Israel. In the spirit of achdut and true empathy that world Jewry has shown, you can make a meaningful contribution to their resilience.
 Letters/Videos of chizuk
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To support the campaign go here  jgive.com/new/en/usd/donation-targets/114919 | | 🇮🇱 WANT TO BRING A SOLIDARITY MISSION TO ISRAEL?
🌍 World Mizrachi is the global leader in organizing over 40 delegations from 8 countries over the past month!
📩 For more information, contact Ilan Frydman: ilan@mizrachi.org | | | New WhatsApp group for families of Israeli soldiers!
If you or anyone you know has a family member currently serving in the IDF join our new group | | | The Spirit of Our Nation
Add inspiration to your day by receiving uplifting messages from leaders around the world! | | 📣 The Youth materials for Parshat Vayechi are now online!
📰 HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly Youth Edition, a Parsha sheet designed for youth
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🌐 Now Available in Spanish and Portuguese!
👉 To download, print, and register: mizrachi.org/youth | | Thousands of Israeli families cannot return to their homes in the coming months, and you can help them! Do you own an apartment that is currently vacant? 🏠 The World Zionist Organization undertakes responsibility for your apartment for 3️⃣ months, pays the water, electricity and gas bills, insures the apartment and commits to returning it clean and in good condition at the end of the period. If you open your heart and your home 💙 we will furnish it if necessary and make all the necessary arrangements to house families of evacuees from the south and the north. By doing so we will provide them with a home for 3️⃣ months, and we will give them the opportunity to sleep peacefully at night, 🙏 and everything is under the responsibility of the World Zionist Organization. To date, we have housed more than 250 families in homes donated to us by Israelis and Jews worldwide, but hundreds more families are still waiting. For more information and to leave details about apartments that you would like to donate to the "My Home - Your Home" project, please visit https://tinyurl.com/emyhomeisyourhome Or send an email to arielc@wzo.org.il Please share 💪 🇮🇱 Together we will win this war! | |  Unite with Israel
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mizrachi.org/unitewithisrael | | Looking for speakers from Israel? World Mizrachi can connect you with leading speakers on a variety of topics related to the current situation:
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Torat Eretz Yisrael
 For more information, email jacqui@mizrachi.org | | HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly
The Parshat Vayechi edition of HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly is now available!
You can find it in 2 formats:
1️⃣ Economic Printing (7 double sided pages)
2️⃣ Full Printing (14 double sided pages) | |  | Tzurba Hilchot Shabbat Program has begun!
Weekly shiur by Rabbi Shalom Rosner is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, as well as OU Torah and YU Torah websites.
Tzurba M'Rabanan is a groundbreaking learning program that makes the learning of Halacha clear, relevant and interesting.
To date, the Lax Family Tzurba M'Rabanan English Series consists of 16 volumes, covering over one hundred and fifty topics in Halacha.
For more information and to purchase volumes of Tzurba M'Rabanan, go to tzurbaolami.com | | 📖 "The Jewish State" Available to Purchase
Following the book launch at Mizrachi's World Orthodox Israel Congress, "The Jewish State" by Rabbi Doron Perez is available to buy online for delivery to Israel, Australia, Canada, UK, and USA, as well as for collection at the Mizrachi offices in Israel and South Africa.
For some of the approbations, see the flyer above.
To purchase, click here: mizrachi.org/the-jewish-state-order-form | | VAYECHI
Feeling Your Oaths
By Rabbi Stewart Weiss I swear – this isn't so simple! Before Ya'akov dies, he makes Yosef swear that he will not bury him in Egypt, but will return him to Eretz Yisrael. Strangely enough, this comes after Yosef has already agreed to his father's request. But apparently, that's not good enough for Ya'akov; Yosef must take an official oath!
Later, in Ya'akov's last moments, he is careful to tell all of his sons that he must be buried in Me'arat HaMachpelah. The Torah frames this request, too, in command form: "Vaychal Ya'akov l'tzavot et banav." Again we might ask, why is it necessary to use such strong language?
Still later, it is Yosef's turn, as his life draws to an end, to administer an oath to his own siblings to eventually carry him out of Egypt: "G-d will take you from here to the Land sworn to Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov; and Yosef made them swear, saying, take my bones out of here!" Where is the trust, I ask you? Isn't a dying man's request sufficient? Why must it be bound up by an official oath?
Some commentators suggest that everyone feared that Paro might invoke "executive privilege" and try to keep the Hebrew family from leaving Egypt; after all, they were celebrated, national heroes – at least at this stage.
But I suggest that there is something else going on here. Ya'akov and Yosef were much more afraid of human nature – Jewish human nature – than of Paro. They understood all too well the pervasive grip of the galut, the enchanting enticement of the Exile, the seductive draw of the Diaspora. They knew it would not be a simple thing for their family to accept having to leave their homes and make the momentous move to Israel.
And so they wisely insisted on invoking a sacred promise from their family, an immutable vow to pick up and come to Israel.
As it was then, so it remains to this day: Jews grow accustomed to their place – wherever it may be – and then must be literally dragged out of the nations in which we find ourselves. This is true when the sojourn is pleasant – like in America or Australia – but equally true when the signs of doom are everywhere, such as they were in pre-war Poland – which the Jews whimsically called "Poh-Lan-Ya" ("Here G-d dwells") – or even in Germany, where Jews refused to believe that such a "civilized" country could turn on its own citizens and preside over a Holocaust.
No wonder, in describing the attractive Jewish life in Egypt, the pasuk in last week's parasha says: "Vayay-achazu vah," Bnei Yisrael were grabbed by life in Goshen, i.e. they were held fast in a Venus fly-trap-like grasp. Once inside, it took a miracle to extricate them!
Ya'akov and Yosef were incredibly smart; they knew how hard it would be to extricate the Jews when the time came for them to leave. So they resorted to the power of Jewish law and invoked a sacred, binding oath: "Take me back to Israel, our home." Period, end of story.
Now how does THAT grab you?
Rabbi Stewart Weiss is director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra'anana and a member of Mizrachi's Speakers Bureau (mizrachi.org/speakers). | | | Besorot Tovot and Shabbat Shalom! | | | | |
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