One of the big lessons we learn in the portion of the week is the preparation that Yakov did before he met with Esav. He prepared himself in 3 ways; He was ready to wage war, He sent Esav presents as a bribery, and most important he prayed to Hashem! we learn from this that when we have something important on the
horizon we must make a conscious effort (hishtadlut). We must do this In all 3 dimensions; the physical dimension the emotional dimension and the spiritual dimension. The balance between these three will be different depending on the person. However, we should remember that similar to our being we have these 3 dimensions also the reality around us is a combination of all 3 dimensions.
Lets give an example of a person who heaven forbid became ill. there are people that will just go to a Doctor follow his protocol, another person may look for emotional comforts with hope that by letting go of the stress the body will heal itself, and finally a third type of person prays to Hashem knowing that Hashem is the source of all that happens to us. The lesson we learn from Yakov Avinu in this
weeks portion is that all 3 are needed.
On the other hand in a few weeks from now we learn about Yosef that told Sar Hamashkim "remember me" and the sages tell us that because of the unnecessary hishtadlut that he did by asking the minister to help him, he stayed in prison for another 2 years.
The simple reason is that on the level of Righteous that Yosef was on the balance should have been more on praying, strengthening his faith and hope on Hashem and less in trust humans. How can a person know what is the right balance for him? this is a hard question to answer since there are no set rules every person is a unique case constantly changing through his life. Every situation then will be measured
differently.
The only way that we can find the answer for ourselves, is to go to a large Rabbi that you trust and knows him and ask him. The truth is it would be better if we could ask a prophet, but today were can you find?
Another way to understand the way of Hishtadlut in these 3 dimensions is like the words of Chazal, Tzdakah, Tefilla, and Teshuva Maavirim et roah hagezerah, that Tzdakah (charity), Tefilla (prayer), and Teshuva (repentance) annul the harshness of a decree. Tzdukah is the physical dimension, Teshuva is the emotional, and Tefilla is spiritual.
Each one of these needs to be explained in length even more that we did in our previous articles in Elul, but for now we will just mention the points as another way of understanding the right approach to deal with life's challenging situations. With this i would like to mention the Chanukah Package we have put in much preparations especially for our students to include a 3 dimensions, since we
understand that many of us are going through challenging times, and feel a strong urge and need of miracles and blessings in their lives. The Chanukah Package includes learning materials, instructional guided meditation videos, and the Tikkun of Zot Chanukah done on your behalf [ A great Opportunity to
recharge the abundance from above. that will manifest in the physical world with the help of the almighty. Especially in the areas of children, healthy life, and sustenance]
