This week’s Dvar Torah is dedicated for a full recovery of Daniel Moshiach Ben Tamar
Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Shemuel Akhamzadeh
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He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 28:11
Rashi quotes from the Midrash that this is the first time Yaakov Avinu lies down to sleep in 14 years as he was busy learning in the Yeshiva of Ever. In modern times the longest recorded period without sleep is 264 hours. Prolonged lack of sleep may cause various cognitive disorders and ultimately death. So how do we explain 14 years without sleep? Many simply fall back on the explanation that it was a miracle. However, Rav Chaim Shmulevits gives a different and insightful answer. He explains that we all have heard and may have seen firsthand heroic acts in circumstances that may be borderline miraculous and naturally cannot be explained ( i.e. a mom saving a child’s life from death etc…). This is possible through gathering one’s full strength and focus. That’s when the impossible and miraculous is achieved. Yaakov Avinu too was able to focus all his strength for 14 years of unstoppable Torah study and was able to do what we would consider a miracle.
Whatever the cause, we live in a very distracted generation. To be able to achieve what is important to us we need to be able to gather our energies and focus on them.
Shabbat Shalom