Keep Going

How do we keep going when the going gets tough?

“And Jacob left Beer Sheba, and he went to Haran.”

In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Vayeitzei, we learned how Jacob left the land of Israel and traveled to Charan to get married and start a family.

The Torah tells us the reason for the name Charan: Charan refers to the Charon Af Shel Makom, “rage of G-d,” a place so devoid of goodness.

And yet, Charan is where Jacob was sent to start his family. Mind you, the Torah tells us that he was very successful there. Out of the three patriarchs, it was only him who raised a perfect family, with 12 perfect Tzadikim!

All incidents in the Torah are brought down to teach us a lesson. We live in this world and we know that it isn’t how it should be. It’s difficult to only think and do the right thing. How are we supposed to raise our children to grow up properly? How can we make sure that we, ourselves, are not influenced negatively, either?

The Rebbe tells us to look at the wording mentioned in the Torah. The Torah had previously informed us that Jacob left. Here, the Torah tells us from where he left, teaching us to always look back at our source. At our source, we are Divine souls. We come from G-d. It is G-d Who gives us our life, every single day. And every day, He gives us our mission. If we keep this in mind, we can definitely be successful in keeping strong and doing the right thing in our daily activities.

Shabbat Shalom!

Candle lighting time: 4:22 PM