SURRENDERING ONE'S EGO

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well.

Mazal Tov to Liora whose birthday is on Rosh Chodesh. Wishing you a wonderful year with much progress at School and all your other activities Liora. Love from all of us!

Wishing Claude and Joy long life on the yohrtzeit of Gregg. His neshamah should have an Aliyah, and wishing you only simchos in the future.

I saw an interesting editorial to this week's Sedra Mikeitz, and a connected story, which I would like to share.

The editorial was based on works of The Rebbe.

In last weeks Sedra, we see how Yosef moves twice from difficult situations and then rises to prominence in those very circumstances, in the house of Potiphar and in prison.

On each of these occasions, as he rose up and began to indulge in feelings of security, he was shown just how fragile that security was, by landing on his next low.

In this week's Sedra, Yosef is again promoted, and this time he moves from imprisonment to Second-in Charge of the whole of Egypt!!

In contrast to his previous promotions, Yosef now remains in this prominent post to the end of his life. He is granted not only full control over his own life, but over everyone else's lives as well.

YOSEF WAS ABLE TO EXTRICATE HIMSELF FROM THE DEPTHS AND SOAR TO GREAT HEIGHTS, BY LEARNING TO SURRENDER HIS EGO. As soon as he acknowledged G-d's presence and providence in his life, abandoning the illusion that his achievements were the result of his own prowess, true success followed. He let go of his ego.

In connection with starting the new learning cycle of Tanya by the Alte Rebbe, and linked to the above, I saw a short story recounted by Reb Aizel, who told over what he had heard from the Alte Rebbe at a farbreng, on the line in Tanya which says that, "One should humble oneself.. even before the lowliest of men mamash (absolutely)".

The Alte Rebbe related, that today, someone who had transgressed the whole Torah, had come to him. The Alte Rebbe had put his head down for 3 minutes, addressing the above thought, and said "I found 7 areas in which I was inferior to him! (If you think about it, this was a great Rebbe comparing himself to a less than ordinary Jew)

When Reb Aizel related this story, he pounded on the table and said "Only the Rebbe could do something like that!"

Wishing everyone a Gut Chanukah a Gut Shabbos, and a Gut Chodesh