Yearn and Celebrate The last four portions of the Book of Genesis tell the incredible story of Joseph. From the position of his father's favored son, he was sold as a slave to Egypt, then put in prison before ascending to lead the world's superpower. It is a story of dramatic change, pain, challenges, and hope. It is also the story of each one of us. Our soul, which originates in a spiritually comfortable environment in heaven, is thrust into the material world, where the soul is challenged at every moment. When the soul overcomes the challenges of the physical world it, like Joseph, achieves far greater spiritual heights than before it descended into the physical world. Joseph's sons Menashe and Ephraim represent the two different perspectives he cultivated in order to survive and thrive in the challenging environment of Egypt. The Torah relates: And Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, for "G-d has caused me to forget all my toil and all my father's house." And the second one he named Ephraim, for "G-d has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." (41:51-52) The name Menashe, which means "to forget," evoked within Joseph a sense of yearning and longing for his father's home; it reminded him that Egypt was a spiritually hostile environment that sought to tear him away from the values of his father's home. That awareness intensified his longing for his father's home and reminded him never to become complacent in his effort to remain connected to his past. The name Ephraim, derived from "fruitful," expressed a very different awareness. "G-d has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction," is the realization that specifically in the land of Egypt, Joseph was able to achieve tremendous success, despite, or more accurately, because of the difficulties within the "land of my affliction." To be successful in the journey of life, we too must cultivate the divergent perspectives of Menashe and Ephraim. We must yearn for and create moments to connect to our "father's home"; we begin each day by reconnecting to G-d by devoting time for prayer and study. Only once we are rooted in our own spiritual identity can we reach the next step, becoming fruitful in the land of our affliction, intensifying our bond with G-d far more passionately than when our soul was still in heaven. Only when anchored in our spiritual source can we achieve the purpose of creation, transforming the material world into a home for the Divine. Adapted from Lekutei Sichos 15 Vayechi 2
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