This class, given to women at the Beis Midrash L&#39;Nashim, explores the Haftorah of the portion of Vaeira, Yechezkel chapters 28-29. G-d tells the prophet that He will reward Nevuchadnetzar, the Babylonian king, for defeating Tyre, by giving him all of Egypt. Hashem promises the prophet that his authenticity will be proven by these events.

But why did Hashem reward the Babylonian monarch so handsomely, when he did&nbsp;it solely for his own ego!&nbsp;And what is the connection to the Torah portion of Vaeira?&nbsp;And why do we read the section of the Hafoteah aabout Yechezkel&#39;s integrity vindicated?

Why should you give gratitude to your parents for what they did for you, when they were doing it for their own pleasure? And why do we owe anything to G-d for giving us life, when He created us for His own desire and pleasure?

The class is based on a talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Shabbos Vaeira 5727-1967 (Likkutei Sichos vol. 21 Vaeira; Vol. 36 Vaeira).

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20_kjklhjlj.pdf

19_trd.mp3

yechezkel

ezekiel

Why We Need G-d to Create An Ethical Society

Women's Vaeira Haftorah Class

The World Turning Over to Inspire a Few Jews

This class was&nbsp;presented on Tuesday, Parshas Va&#39;eira, 24 Teves, 5783, January 17, 2023, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

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22_ac_women_veira_5783_r02.ee9a.pdf

21_8857_women_class_vaera_5783.e073.mp4

21_8857_women_class_vaera_5783.e073.mp3

Freedom Comes in Two Forms: Escape and Transformation

Women's Class Va'eira

Why the Need to Lie to Pharaoh?

This weekly women&#39;s class was presented on Tuesday, Parshas Bo, 2 Shevat, 5782, January 4, 2022, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY. It explores how free choice works, and do we really even have it?

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22_women_class_bo_5782_added_diagram.35f6.pdf

21_8369_women_class_bo_5782.f139.mp4

21_8369_women_class_bo_5782.f139.mp3

pharaoh

exile

daas

self-awareness

free choice

Did Pharaoh Have Freewill? Understanding Your Brain Can Help You Acquire the Gift of Choice

Women's Vaeira/Bo Class

Do I Have Free Choice? It Depends

This weekly women&#39;s class was&nbsp;presented on Tuesday, Parshas Vaera, 24 Teves, 5782, December 28, 2021, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

The class explores an incredible discourse by the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the author of the Tanya, on how at the end of history before the coming of Moshiach, the most acute crass and filth mixed into the &quot;wine&quot; and the &quot;silver&quot; gets exposed, hence allowing the soul of Israel to shite in its pristine goodness and glory. The class explores the cover-up of child abusers in our communities for decades, claiming so many untold victims. This is the age of healing and transformation, which includes exposing the evil and putting an end to a culture of lies and cover-ups. Truth prevails.

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22_women_class_vaera_2.9341.pdf

21_8361_womens_class_vaera_5782.f8b3.mp4

21_8361_womens_class_vaera_5782.f8b3.mp3

ten plagues

nile river

egypt

child abuse

blood

egyptian exile

chaim walder

The Lie of the Nile River -- and the Lies We Tell Ourselves and Others

Women's Vaeira Class

Chaim Walder & the Cover-Ups in Our Communities

In the opening of this week&rsquo;s portion, Vaeira, G-d tells Moses: "I, too, have heard the moans of the children of Israel, from the slavery that the Egyptians are enslaving them, and I remembered My covenant.&rdquo;
The verse is raddled with questions. First, what is the meaning of the words &ldquo;And I too have heard the moans?&rdquo; Second, the words &ldquo;from the slavery that the Egyptians are enslaving them&rdquo; seem superfluous. Finally, we are puzzled by the final words of the verse, &ldquo;and I remembered My covenant,&rdquo; as though to say that if not for the outcry of the children of Israel He might have not remembered His covenant.
Today we will share an incredible insight by one of the greatest Kabbalists of all time, Rabbi Shimson of Astropole, murdered by the Cossacks in 1648.
Rabbi Yochanan, compiler of the Jerusalem Talmud, was one of the greatest teachers of the Talmudic era. Living an extraordinary long life, from 180 CE till 279 CE, one century after the destruction of the second Temple, his teachings are studied in depth to this very day, His life was also filled with enormous pain. His father died before his birth, and he was orphaned of his mother soon after. Tragedy would mark the rest of his years with the death of each of his ten children in his lifetime. And yet this great man never lost his equilibrium, his faith, optimism, joy and focus. He was a master, a teacher, a leader and a spiritual giant.
In one place in Talmud, Rabbi Yochanan discussed pain. And when such a man discusses pain, we ought to listen. Pain, he taught, elevated a human being to a unique plateau. People in pain live in a different realm. Their perspectives on life, death, love, meaning, truth, faith profess a depth and sensitivity of different proportions than the rest of humanity.
Yet, while Reb Yochanan compared pain to the tooth and eye of the slave, Reish Lakish compared pain to salt. The disagreement is profound. Pain transforms people forever. It takes them to places the rest of us never visit. But does this demand of them that the pain has a purpose? This was the great argument between the two Talmudic sages. In Egypt, G-d embraced one opinion.&nbsp;
We often look at our generation and wonder how can Moshiach come to our generation, seemingly so lowly and distant? We fail to recognize, the incredible holiness embedded in our people as a result of all the pain our people has endured. We are ready and worthy of Moshiach.

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22_ac.pdf

21_rabbi_yy_jacobson_sunday_class_01032016.mp4

21_rabbi_yy_jacobson_sunday_class_01032016.mp3

vaeira

slavery

pain

reb yochanan

reish lakish

Two Sages Debate the Meaning of Pain--and G-d's Verdict

Welcome to the Holiest Generation of Jews

This weekly women&#39;s class was presented on Tuesday, Parshas Vaera, 28&nbsp;Tevet, 5781, January 12, 2021, live from Rabbi Jacobson&#39;s home in Monsey, NY.

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22_7901_womens_class_vaera_5781.913e.pdf

21_7901_women_class_vaera_5781_r02.0469.mp4

21_7901_women_class_vaera_5781_r02.0469.mp3

solomon

reuven

aharon

moshe/moses

boaz

The Error of King Shlomo: Not Grasping the Infinity of Our Actions

Women's Class Sefas Emes Va'era

If You'd Only Know Who You Are

This women&rsquo;s class was presented on Tuesday, 22 Teves, 5778, January 9, 2018, at Ohr Chaim, Monsey, NY

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22_women_class_va_era_5778.0f2b.pdf

21_womens_shiur_vayaira_1_9_18.3977.mp4

21_womens_shiur_vayaira_1_9_18.3977.mp3

fllexibility

ceder

reeds

stubborness

As a storm Hits, Flexibility is the Key for Survival

Vaeira Women’s Class

How Stubbornness Can Destroy Your Life 

This weekly women&#39;s class&nbsp;was&nbsp;presented on Tuesday, Parshas Shemos, 21&nbsp;Tevet, 5781, January 5, 2021, live from Rabbi Jacobson&#39;s home in Monsey, NY. It explores the three signs Moshe made for the Jewish people and their inner meaning and significance. What was the point of having the stick turn into a snake? Moshe&#39;s hand become white like snow? and the water turning into blood?

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21_7891_womens_class_shemos_5781.b65e.mp4

21_7891_womens_class_shemos_5781.b65e.mp3

Uncovering the Lie of the Nile

Women's Shemos/Vaeira Class

Three Signs to Confront Moshe's Three Fears

Ten Ways to Destroy Your Life - The Inner Story of the Ten Plagues

877_10_makos.jpg

22_toldos_5770-1.pdf

pesach

passover

egyptians

ten sefiros

ten makos

egypty

The Inner Story of the Ten Plagues

Ten Ways to Destroy Your Life

Moses’ Early Years

It is one of the most intriguing components of the Exodus story. As we pointed out in a previous essay, the first leader of the Jewish people, who would set them free and mold them into a nation, grew up not among his own people, but in the palace of the man who wished to destroy them.

Why did Providence have it that Moses was raised not in a Jewish home, but among non-Jews, in the Egyptian palace?

Liberation from Tolerance

The English translations of the Torah rarely capture the multi-dimensional underpinnings behind many words. One example in this week's portion (Vaera): "Therefore," G-d speaks to Moses, "Say to the Children of Israel: I am G-d, and I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you from their slavery; I shall redeem you."<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref1')" id="_edn1" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> 
 
The Hebrew word for "burdens," sivlos, can also be translated as "tolerance" (as in “lesbol,” to bear, or “savlanut,” which means patience).<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref2')" id="_edn2" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a> Tolerance is a form of burden carrying, of accepting a challenge. If this is correct, then G-d is communicating a potent&nbsp;message: "Say to the Children of Israel: I am G-d, and I shall take you out from tolerating Egypt." I will liberate you from your patience, from tolerating the Egyptian horrors.<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref3')" id="_edn3" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref3">[3]</a>

The Genesis of Redemption

This is a critical moment because it is the genesis of redemption—physical, emotional, or spiritual. 
 
Many of us, after being subjected to dysfunctional conditions, learn to acclimate ourselves to the bleak reality. This can be worse than the condition itself since it keeps me stuck in my prison. 
 
The beginning of the Exodus could only occur when the Hebrew slaves refused to tolerate the horrors they were enduring. If I am not fed up with being weak and bullied, with being a victim of addiction or fear, my journey of redemption cannot commence. 
 
It is not easy. Learned helplessness runs deep. Denying or repressing the depth of the dysfunction is a way of numbing myself to the suffering. I must be able to feel the pain of my alienation from self to be able to begin the voyage toward liberation.<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref4')" id="_edn4" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref4">[4]</a>

Abuse In Our Communities

The events this week in Israel have once again accentuated this truth.

Sadly, many people, including some in leadership positions, are ill-informed of the detrimental effects of child molestation and sexual abuse of all ages. The average person who has not suffered through this calamity doesn’t realize how so many of the abused suffer for years or decades from feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, shame, guilt, and pain. Many of the victims—due to their profound pain and skewed sense of self—find temporary relief in all forms of destructive behavior. Many of them fall prey to terrible addictions in order to escape their agony. Untold numbers of these innocent souls are haunted by unbearable nightmares that won’t allow them to lead a normal life internally. Most of them struggle to maintain functional marriages since their sexual boundaries have been brutally violated. Some of them, in their own disrupted sexuality, end up hurting other children.&nbsp;

Though recovery is surely possible—for the soul is more powerful than all else, and the Divine infinite power within each of us can overcome all darkness—the pain they must endure is heart-wrenching.

Many people are equally ill-informed of how rampant the problem is, and of the great number of our youth that has been victimized over the years. Many researchers claim that one in five children experience some form of sexual abuse or trauma, affecting them on different levels.&nbsp;

We can't tolerate this any longer.&nbsp;Just as we would do anything to stop a gunman from walking our streets and taking lives, heaven forbid (what Jewish law calls a “rodef”), so must we do anything and everything to stop the people who are murdering the psyches and emotional innocence of our children.&nbsp;

We must also begin educating every single one of our young adults about two critical factors: 1) If they have been molested, help is available. They must know that if they will break the silence and reveal their story, they will be embraced rather than shunned, and will be guided with loving care towards a life of wholesomeness and happiness. We must give all of them the names and contact information of approved professionals, so they can reach out to them if necessary. 2) Preventive medicine: If they might ever be prone to engage in these terrible acts themselves, they must know: A) the horrific impact of such actions;&nbsp;and B) that there are things they can do to help them avoid becoming potential monsters who will surely destroy lives. They must all know that&nbsp;help is readily available for people with an inclination toward touching children inappropriately.

Parents and educators must discuss these dangers with their children and students—both the danger of becoming a victim, as well as the danger of becoming an abuser. Every—and I mean every—Yeshiva student must be educated about these two items.

We must also educate the community—both children and adults—on how important it is to talk to someone if they are privy to any sort of abuse being perpetrated in the community. To withhold this kind of information is essentially akin to being an accomplice and an enabler of the unthinkable crime of destroying lives in this vicious cycle. Most victims are too afraid or ashamed to speak up—and surely it is not their fault. They are terrified of being shunned, not believed, and of the possibility of being rejected forever. That is where our community stands today. We must change that and teach all of our youngsters that they will be heard, listened to, believed, and embraced with a loving heart and open arms. They will not be judged or ridiculed. We will treat their pain with the deepest respect and empathy.

The Outsider

Free people, G-s is telling Moses,&nbsp;are people who know how to stop tolerating lies, dysfunction, cover-ups, and abuse. A&nbsp;free nation is one that has the courage to face its skeletons&nbsp;and cast a light on them.

This is why the redeemer of Israel needed to grow up in the Egyptian palace, not among his own people. To quote Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (12th-century&nbsp;Spanish philosopher, poet, and biblical commentator): <a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref5')" id="_edn5" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref5">[5]</a>

Perhaps G-d caused Moses to grow up in the home of royalty so that his soul would be accustomed to a higher sense of learning and behavior, and he would not feel lowly and accustomed to a house of slavery. You see that he killed an Egyptian who did a criminal act [beating an innocent Hebrew to death], and he saved the Midianite girls from the criminal shepherds who were irrigating their own flock from the water the girls have drawn.

Had Moses grown up among the Hebrew slaves, he too might&nbsp;have suffered from a slave-mentality lacking the courage to fight injustice and devoid of the ability to mold an enslaved tribe into a great people with a vision of transforming the world into a place worthy of the divine presence. He would not find within himself the strength to dream of liberty and confront the greatest tyrant of the time. Only because he grew up in a royal ambiance, did Moses have a clear sense of the horrific injustice and feel the power to fight it.

It was Dr. Martin Luther King’s ability not to embrace the status quo which turned him into a great leader, inspiring a new era of liberty in the United States. As our own country faces today such divisiveness and extremism on the Left and the Right, we need to ask ourselves if we have not reverted to our “reptilian brains,” and cannot see anything larger than what we are being indoctrinated with by people driven by hate and bias? Can we stop tolerating being told all the time what to think, and labeling people in extreme ways just because they do not fit into the narrow paradigms that we created to define morality and justice? &nbsp;&nbsp;

Moshiach

Just as this was true in Egypt, it is also true today. We have been in exile for close to two millennia. But the greatest danger is when we come to tolerate it, when it is seen as normal.

The beginning of our redemption is in our awareness that our exile is unnatural and cruel. Can we learn to begin thinking with the broadness of a redemptive model? Can we cry out sincerely about our individual and collective pain of alienation?

Standards Determine Destiny

&nbsp;A little story.<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref6')" id="_edn6" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref6">[6]</a> 
 
In the 1950s, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, walking on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, encountered two administrators of a local yeshiva (Jewish day school) gazing at a yellow school bus parked on the road. 
 
When the Rebbe asked them what they were looking at, they said that the bus was on sale and they were thinking of purchasing it for the yeshiva. "We desperately need our own bus," they told the Rebbe. 
 
"But this bus looks like an old shmateh," the Rebbe said. "It seems like it's on the verge of retirement. Why not purchase a brand-new bus for the children?" 
 
"If we could only afford that type of money!" they exclaimed. "The price of this old bus is something we could maybe fit into our budget." 
 
"Let me tell you something," the Rebbe responded. "You know why you can't afford the money for a new bus? Because in your mind, the old and run-down bus will suffice for your yeshiva. If it would be clear to you that the children need a new and beautiful bus, you would have the money to purchase it." 
 
What the Rebbe was saying is that in many cases, your standards are often what ultimately define the quality and destiny of your life.<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref7')" id="_edn7" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref7">[7]</a>

___________________

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn1')" id="_ednref1" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Exodus 6:6.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn2')" id="_ednref2" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> Sefas Emea Vaera 1871, 1876, in the name of his grandfather.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn3')" id="_ednref3" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> This interpretation also explains the apparent redundancy in the verse: "I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt" followed by, "I shall rescue you from their slavery." The two statements seem to be repetitive. According to the above translation, the first statement discusses an exodus from tolerating Egypt, while the second alludes to the liberation from slavery and forced labor in Egypt.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn4')" id="_ednref4" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn4">[4]</a> Thus, the Torah, in last week's portion (Shemos), commences the story of G-d choosing Moses to lead the Jewish people out of slavery with the following words: "The children of Israel groaned because of their subjugation and they cried out. Their outcry because of their slavery went up to G-d. G-d heard their cries and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." The curse of the Egyptian exile consisted not only of the oppression of the Hebrews; it also inculcated within many an enslaved mindset. The abuse was so profound that many of them learned to see their misery as innate.

This may be one of the reasons why when Moses presented the promise of redemption to the Jewish people, "They did not heed Moses, because of shortness of breath and hard work" (Exodus 6:9). The hard work was not only a physical impediment; it also created a slave mentality.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn5')" id="_ednref5" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn5">[5]</a> Ibn Ezra Exodus 2:3. Though Moses was a Levi, and the tribe of Levi was not subject to hard labor, they were nonetheless still enslaved, they were part of a nation of slaves to one degree or another. The decree to murder the Jewish male infants applied to the tribe of Levi too. Prisoners who are not subject to slave labor, are still in prison.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn6')" id="_ednref6" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn6">[6]</a> My thanks to Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Hadakov (New Haven, Conn.) for sharing this lovely story with me.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn7')" id="_ednref7" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn7">[7]</a> This essay is based on Sefas Emes Parshas Veira, authored by the second Rebbe of the Chassidic dynasty of Gur, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter (1847-1905). This explanation in the word "sivlos," as well as the concept conveyed in this essay, is quoted by him in the name of his grandfather, the first Rebbe of Gur, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Rottenberg Alter, known as the Chedushei Harim (1799-1866).

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freedom

Redemption Begins When I Stop Making Peace with the Lies

Essay Vaeira

Stop Tolerating Abuse

This women&#39;s class was presented on Tuesday Parshas Vaeira, 24&nbsp;Teves, 5780, January 21, 2020, at the Ohr Chaim Shul, Monsey, NY&nbsp;

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22_ac_women_monsey_5780_edited.cc0d.pdf

21_7316_rabbi_yy_jacobson_emunah_series_32_women_vaera_class_5780.8800.mp4

21_7316_rabbi_yy_jacobson_emunah_series_32_women_vaera_class_5780.8800.mp3

faith and reason

faith

questioning g-d

emunah

pain and suffering

shemos

How Does the Greatest Prophet Protest G-d's Behavior? Can Faith & Reason Coexist?

Women's Vaeira Class/The Emunah Series 

Basics of Emunah #32: My Grandmother Believed and Moshe Did Not?!

Rabbi YY Jacobson delivers the Keynote address at &ldquo;Mevakshei Hashem&rdquo; School Banquet on Monday night, 24 Teves, 5783, January 16, 2023 at The W Loft, Brooklyn, NY

Your Guide for Torah Education in 2023

What Every Child Needs to Hear and Feel

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