THE SOURCE OF CONFIDENCE AND JOY

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well.

Mazal Tov to Perry on his birthday today! Wishing you a wonderful year and hope that things are progressing from the last time we met at Sara's wedding!

And staying in Sharon, Boston, one day later is Reuven's birthday. Mazal Tov Reuven! Missing you. Wishing you a happy year with many more simchas in your Family.

I saw a short but important dvar Torah from this weeks parsha Vayetzei, drawn from the teachings of The Rebbe, as follows:

It is based on the posuk 'Light of foot, Yaakov set out for the land of the people who lived in the East.'

Yaakov was running away from his brother Esav, and in addition he knew he was heading towards a spiritually dangerous place. Ie a mundane place full of trickery and no spirituality.

Nevertheless he went out with a spirit of JOY AND TRUST which permeated his entire being, all the way down to his feet, to fulfil his Divine mission.

Similarly, when we go out each day to our mundane activities, (and often where there are additional difficulties), we can adopt the same JOYFUL AND CONFIDENT attitude as did Yaakov.

The key is to make sure beforehand, that like Yaakov,

1. We are properly nourished (from the study of Torah),
2. Properly clothed (observing mitzvot), and
3. Properly focused on our goal of making the world a suitable dwelling place for Hashem. (each in our own small areas of influence)

Gut Shabbos to all.