This week my family did a quick getaway to Austin to spend time with cousins and after three enjoyable days packed into our van and headed west. Four hours into the drive it started snowing and by the time we reached the I-10 & I-20 Junction we found ourselves in standstill traffic.
We reached a gas station four miles ahead after eight hours of slowly and carefully inching forward, until the freeway opened up a bit and we were able to continue our trip at a normal pace. Thank G-d we are all safe and sound and enjoyed our trip very much.
Inching forward in wee hours of Thursday morning I cannot describe to you how gratifying every yard forward felt. Slogging through one mile of snow and ice was a monumental accomplishment and felt infinitely better than covering 600 miles at 80 MPH.
This week’s parsha opens with the words “Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt for 17 years.” After learning that his missing son Yosef was very much alive and the viceroy of Egypt, Yaakov moved there together with his entire family, ending the painful 22 year period of mourning and separation.
The opening word “Vayechi” which means “and he lived” also communicates to us that those 17 years in Egpyt were the best ones of Yaakov’s life.
Over 200 years ago, the Alter Rebbe (the founder of Chabad) was asked by his grandson, (who later became the third Rebbe of Chabad) how can one suggest that Yaakov’s best years were spent in Egypt, the epicenter of moral depravity and corruption? While they were certainly peaceful years, the geographical location of Egypt represents the exact opposite of what Yaakov stood for.
The Hebrew name for Egypt “Mitzrayim” is etymologically linked to the Hebrew word for limitations and boundaries. Yaakov was the third link in the glorious legacy of Avraham, the first Jew, who promoted G-dliness to a heathen civilization; an ideology that transcends all the limitations and boundaries of the physical and material world. How could Yaakov thrive in the “Mitzrayim” environment more than he did in the Holy Land, to the point that his best years of life were in Egypt?
The Alter Rebbe answered that before Yaakov arrived he established a Yeshiva and his descendants continued studying Torah even while living in Egypt. While Torah study in the Holy Land is like cruising down the I-10 at 80 MPH, continuing to study Torah in the challenging and limiting environment of Egypt is like inching through a mile in standstill traffic during a snowstorm: the achievement is incomparable.
That’s why Yaakov lived it up specifically in Egypt and we learn from him that while we certainly don’t seek out challenges, overcoming them provides the context for us to thrive with even greater capacity.
I get the feeling that most of us experienced 2020 like slogging through a few miles in a snowstorm. It was certainly a challenging year, but let’s focus on the things we did manage to do despite all of this and look back at this time with a sense of purpose and accomplishment.