{"id":3940,"date":"2021-12-06T08:32:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T08:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/?p=3940"},"modified":"2025-01-07T15:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T15:37:21","slug":"parshas-vayigash-the-heart-of-the-jewish-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/parshas-vayigash-the-heart-of-the-jewish-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Parshas Vayigash: The Heart of the Jewish Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This week&#8217;s Torah reading, Parshas Vayigash, describes the migration of Jacob&#8217;s family to<br>Egypt. As the clan neared Egypt, the verse says (46:28) that Jacob sent his son<br>Judah ahead to arrange matters for them. What was it that Judah was sent to<br>arrange? Rashi tells us that Jacob had sent Judah to establish a Yeshivah, <br>nothing less than a place designated for Torah education. The fact that this was<br>the foremost matter on Jacob&#8217;s mind at this time is astounding. Here he was,<br>moving to a new country with a large household, and the first thing on his mind<br>is that there should be a Yeshivah ready for them when they come! This clearly<br>highlights for us the pivotal role Yeshivos hold in a Jew&#8217;s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>My wife&#8217;s grandfather grew up in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Portland,_Maine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Portland, Maine<\/a>, and he describes the<br>sad deterioration of its Jewish community. When he was born, the community<br>boasted about eight hundred Jewish families and two large, vibrant synagogues,<br>operating full time, plus an additional one which functioned on Sabbath. There<br>was a Talmud Torah, which offered minimal Torah education for the children a<br>couple of times a week, but no Yeshivah. Of the eight hundred Jewish families<br>residing there, only three sent their kids away to study in a Yeshivah. Sadly, none<br>of the children of the rest of the families ended up being too observant,<br>and their connection to Judaism was lost. Before long, almost no sign of Jewish<br>life remained in Portland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>When the Brisker Rov, Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveichik, was once<br>confronted with a quest to make a decision regarding Yeshivos, he made sure to<br>stress the gravity of the matter by stating, &#8220;The Yeshivos are the heart of the<br>Jewish Nation!&#8221; Torah study is not just a high priority. Torah education is what<br>the life of a Jew revolves around, and its institutions are what ensure our<br>continuity. A Jew is not just a member of a certain ethnic group. Nor is being<br>Jewish about eating bagels and lox. Merely following Jewish customs doesn&#8217;t cut<br>it either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Judaism is about living a life of higher standards as dictated by the<br>Torah, following its laws and pursuing Torah ideals. If we fail to build, support or<br>properly respect institutions of Torah education, where will we gain this crucial<br>knowledge from?! Without Torah institutions dedicated to educate the next<br>generation properly, before long, all of what a Jew stands for will be lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This ought to give us a new appreciation of our schools which instill Torah<br>lessons in our youth and the various classes or sessions offering further <a href=\"https:\/\/torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/torah-study-partners-of-haircuts-and-heroism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Torah<br>education for adults<\/a>. It&#8217;s easy to find criticism regarding any institution or<br>program. When a person once came to Rabbi Yisroel Belsky to voice his<br>complaints about Yeshivos, Rabbi Belsky told him, &#8220;I will listen to everything you<br>have to say. However, when you mention &#8216;Yeshivos,&#8217; I want you to say, &#8216;the holy<br>Yeshivos.'&#8221; Upon hearing this, the man stopped in his tracks, with nothing<br>further to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>We must never forget how precious our centers for Torah education are,<br>and we must always make certain that we hold them in high esteem. Already<br>since the days of our forefather Jacob, Yeshivos have been recognized as the top<br>priority of our people. For these holy institutions constitute the heart of the<br>Jewish Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parshas Vayigash by Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber (torah4every1@gmail.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button tm-cta\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/torahmates.org\/sign-up.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">want to further your own torah education? Sign up for a torahmate now!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week&#8217;s Torah reading, Parshas Vayigash, describes the migration of Jacob&#8217;s family toEgypt. As the clan neared Egypt, the verse says (46:28) that Jacob sent his sonJudah ahead to arrange [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,9],"tags":[46,45,287],"class_list":["post-3940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bereishis","category-weekly-torah-portion","tag-article","tag-parsha","tag-vayigash"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Parshas Vayigash: The Heart of the Jewish Nation - Jewish Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week&#039;s Torah reading, Parshas Vayigash, describes the migration of Jacob&#039;s family to Egypt. 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