VAYIGASH
Shabbat
Shabbat Candlelighting: 5:11 PM
Friday Mincha: 5:20 PM
Shachrit: 7:00 AM / 8:00 AM / 9:00
Minchah: 5:05 PM
Shabbat Ends: 6:08 PM
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When Paroh appoints Yosef to be viceroy in Egypt, he admonishes Yosef with the words, “Behold, I have given you to be over the whole land of Egypt.” The Sforno commented that Paroh’s point was to make sure that Yosef was doing the best job possible. One great Rabbi asserted that the deeper meaning of this is that no matter how good a job we think we’re doing, we can always do more. In other words, Paroh was telling Yosef that even though you are smart, talented and charismatic, don’t become complacent and don’t slacken off. I appoint you to be ruler only of you give it your all.
In this week’s Parsha, the Torah tells us that Paroh was happy when Yosef’s family came down to Egypt. Once again, the Sforno comments. He says that Paroh knew that Yosef would surely put maximum effort into ruling Egypt wisely and carefully, since his own family now depended upon it. How right Paroh was!
We all know that when someone has an emotional stake in a project, he goes about it with much more alacrity than if it’s just a job. Paroh’s wish to see Yosef give more than 100 percent was realized when Yosef’s family came.
This is a lesson for all of us. If we want to succeed in our service of HaShem, we must treat it as a passion, not just a job. If we truly understood the benefits of leading a Torah life, we would go at it with all our heart and soul.
Have a beautiful and meaningful Shabbos.