Daily Chidush: What Happens When We Forget Our Past?

0:26And as we always say, there's always a connection between what's happening in the world, either collectively for our nation or individually, and our weekly parasha. This week's parasha, Parashat Miketz, represents the second half of the story of Joseph and his brothers after they sold him. This week's parasha begins with Joseph's salvation. Hashem decides that Joseph has spent enough time in jail, 12 years in jail, and now he's being elevated. he's taking him from the absolute bottom of the barrel to becoming the Viceroy of Egypt in a matter of moments, literally a matter of moments. It even says in the beginning of the parasha that they hurried him, meaning they ran him all the way from the jail all the way to Pharaoh in order to translate the dream, and then after Pharaoh sees Joseph's divine wisdom that Hashem gave him is evident in chapter 41, verse 44. Pharaoh says to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you, no man may lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." Here, Pharaoh makes Joseph the viceroy, essentially granting him full authority over Egypt, with Pharaoh himself being the only one who can override him. However, Pharaoh expresses that he is not interested in managing the day-to-day affairs.

1:38Joseph, the viceroy, is made second-in-command, and in essence, Pharaoh is telling him, "Listen, now that you are here, now that you're going to be the viceroy, you have the complete job. In essence, you do everything; you run everything; you have the wisdom; you have everything to run the show. You essentially become king, and the only one that can override you is me, but I'm not really interested in doing anything anymore." So this is something extraordinary. This is something that we see ourselves sometimes where people today feel like little mini Yosefs, where they have a lot of success in life, their business is growing, their reputation is growing, their popularity is growing, and all of us get a big head. and we start developing partnerships with some people that are not necessarily the same type of partners we would have made at the beginning of our journey. We start making friends with some people that are not necessarily the type of friends we would have chosen at the beginning of our journey. Unfortunately, in today's world, there's so much confusion about what's happening.

2:41Sometimes you see things that are completely confusing, which, on one hand, are actually part of the prophecies about what will happen at the end of times. As it is stated in Gemara Masechet Sotah, page 49, it says there's going to be a lot of confusion, with things literally being the opposite of what they're supposed to be, where our leaders may work against us. At times, you might see strange articles in the news about so-called Orthodox rabbis making partnerships with the Christian world. Aside from the fact that many of the articles are fake, nonetheless, even the ones that are real are not necessarily what they seem to be. But regardless of that, whether people believe them, whether it's happening or not happening, this is something we all have to understand and what's connecting all of this to this week specifically. In the next short while, we're going to go to the book of Exodus, and the book of Exodus begins with Parashat Shemot. Parashat Shemot marks the beginning of our slavery, and we see in the beginning of Parashat Shemot, chapter 1, verse 8, and it says, "A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph."

3:54And Chazal says, what do you mean he didn't know Joseph? This is the same Joseph that built the country. When Joseph came there, before he was viceroy, okay, Egypt was like, you know, a nice place. It was like Florida. It was like maybe a part of New York. After Joseph came and built it, it became, you know, the United States. It became rich and prosperous. The whole world was bound to it and paying it taxes. It was the ruler of the world. How could you not remember Joseph? In fact, the Egyptians started idolizing Joseph and wouldn't let him be buried outside of Egypt. They actually placed his tomb inside the Nile River and would pray to the Nile River. After Joseph came and built it, it became, you know, the United States. It became rich, prosperous. The whole world was bound to it and paying it taxes. It was the ruler of the world. How could you not remember Joseph? As a matter of fact, the Egyptians started idolizing Joseph and wouldn't let him be buried outside of Egypt. They actually put his tomb inside the Nile River and they would pray to the Nile River. with Yosef being inside the river. So how could it be that he forgot Yosef? And Chazal say he didn't really forget Yosef in reality. He forgot him conveniently. It wasn't convenient for him anymore. To have a relationship with this Yosef, with the history of Yosef, whether it was the same Pharaoh or a different Pharaoh, it doesn't really make a difference because the reality is that neither one could have forgotten the same person that built the country. It's like an American, you know, at least in previous generations, you tell them you know who George Washington was, you know who Abraham Lincoln was, you know who Thomas Jefferson was, you know even who Bill Gates was, not that he necessarily built America, but just to give people understanding, I mean, these are people that you can't just forget. Even the most ignorant person would know who these people are. How could you forget the guy that built the country, put you on the map? Ah, it's not convenient to remember this relationship with the Jews anymore.

5:20how could you forget the guy that built the country, who put you on the map? Ah, it's not convenient to remember this relationship with the Jews anymore, because we already made our money, we already got what we want. Now, let's confuse them, let's turn them into slaves before they actually overcome us, before they become too powerful for us. Let's call their country a... Illegal state, an occupied state, like the mishigas (nonsense) from the United Nations this past week. They declared the nation of Israel, Eretz Yisrael, as illegal. Now it's not convenient for them. So, what does this have to do with everything? You see, my dear brothers and sisters, our story starts thousands of years ago. And halacha that Hashem Himself said, it starts already with Esav and Yaakov. And let's not be fooled. Esav and Yaakov were brothers. Yes, close. Born to the same mother. Born at the same time. Everything was wonderful. But in the end, halacha is Esav soneh Yaakov. Esav hates Yaakov.

6:41Esav could only tolerate Yaakov up to a certain point. As soon as that point is reached, as soon as there's no more need, then Esav no longer needs Yaakov and Esav can become very, very mean, very vicious. And the reason why we mention it is because this week we are about to end the secular year, 2016 and 2017, and many Jews have no idea what they're about to celebrate. As a matter of fact, in many places around the world, New Year's Eve is not called New Year's Eve, but rather Sylvester. If anyone spends even two minutes on the internet finding out who this Sylvester character is, they would see that if you travel back a couple thousand years and look at the history of those days, Sylvester was, in essence, one of the founders of Christianity in the sense that he elevated it to the next level by combining Christianity with the Romans. The Romans were pagans; they were idol worshipers, but they had the strength; they had the power.

7:50Sylvester the First convinced the Roman Caesar Constantinus to, in essence, become a Christian, to follow the New Testament. Part of that relationship also included completely wiping out the Torah, completely wiping out the Jews, and celebrating this day on a yearly basis. Which day did they choose to celebrate? They chose to celebrate the day that Sylvester died, in essence, his birthday or death day. Christian to follow the New Testament, but part of that relationship also included the aim to completely wipe out the Torah, to completely wipe out the Jews, and to celebrate this day on a yearly basis. What do they do? Which day do they choose to celebrate? They chose the day to celebrate the day that Sylvester died—in essence, his death day. They celebrate this day each year, called December 31st, as the day marking the new year's. However, over the last couple of thousand years, the New Year's date has changed multiple times because the Christian calendar is not really a precise calendar. Precise calendar. It's changed multiple times. It used to be celebrated in March and then at other times at different parts of the year and then eventually, about 500 years ago, it came back to being celebrated on New Year's Day, which became January 1st once again. But nonetheless, this whole celebration of New Year's has a foundation that's not only from a pagan root but also from an antisemitic root, and...

9:07to attack synagogues and different Jewish communities, so they could put them all into the synagogues and burn them alive. Why are we getting so graphic with this? Because it’s the only way we get the point. It's the only way we understand what we're about to do. You're gonna drink l'chaim like it's a good day, but in reality, if you look at your great-grandparents, they would be rolling in their graves in tears if they knew that we're celebrating this today. Synagogues and different Jewish communities, so they can put them all into the synagogues and burn them alive. Why are we getting so graphic with this? Because it is the only way we get the point. It's the only way we understand what we're about to do. You're gonna drink l'chaim like it's a good day, but in reality, if you look at your great-grandparents, they will be rolling in their graves in tears if they knew that we're celebrating this today. So now, my friends, the question is this: How do we tell everyone? Some people today think that you're not allowed to be a mokhiach, to be someone who rebukes people or tells them the truth. As a matter of fact, if you ask any Jew, even if they're the most secular person on earth, whether they're allowed to eat pig, every single Jew, even the one who is eating it, will tell you they're not allowed to eat pig. Some choose to eat it anyway, but everyone knows, according to the Torah, you're not allowed to eat it. It's just like not eating pig.

10:34A mitzvah in the Torah. It's one of the 613 mitzvot. It's also another mitzvah that's in the Book of Vayikra, Parashat Kedoshim, Chapter 19, Verse 17. It says, "You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely reprove your fellow and do not bear a sin because of him." Lashon hara (negative speech) about your brother in your heart is hating him. Keeping the truth away from him is hating him in your heart because sometimes, yes, listen, maybe he doesn't deserve to know the truth or he can't handle the truth. You are not allowed to do that. Aside from that, I want to discuss... Obviously, other types of hatred in your heart, like jealousy and so on, but aside from that, it says you must reprove your fellow. You must reprove your brother. If you see your brother violating Shabbat, you have to tell them. If you see your brother is stealing, you have to tell them. If you see your brother is cheating, you have to tell them. But most importantly, if you see your brother is about to go do a l'chaim on New Year's Eve, celebrating, in essence, the ancient tyrant from 2,000 years ago, you have to intervene because this is akin to celebrating those who destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. You must speak up and remind them of our historical truths.

11:47You have to tell them, hey, my friend, hey, my brother, hey, my fellow Jew, even hey, my fellow Christian who doesn't believe in the previous horror show that your ancestors had. You know you're about to celebrate the worst type of anti-Semitism the world has ever known. The one that was by the Romans and then the one that was by the Christians combined. The ones that destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. The ones that have put us in exile for the last 2,000 years, the ones that have burned tens of thousands of Jews on a yearly basis as a holiday, as a celebration. Do you know that that's what you're about to celebrate? No, no, I'm not connected to that. I'm just going to have some fun with my friends. Okay, so why don't you do it on Tuesday? Why don't you do it on Wednesday? Why don't you do it any other day? Why don't you do it on December 28th? Why don't you do it on January 15th? Why don't you do it on Rosh Hashanah? Why don't you do it any other day? Why do you have to go on that day? And this is where reality comes in. This is what we have to understand. You must rebuke your friends. You have to tell them the truth because, unfortunately, most of them don't know. And if you just send them this, they'll understand that even if they want to hang out, they can always do it on a different day. They don't have to do it on a day that their ancestors were murdered. And for those of us that are saying, "Hey, listen, maybe we're not supposed to," you know, it's crucial to remember the lessons from our heritage and the importance of maintaining our traditions and respect for our history.

13:12Rebuke people, there you go. This is a mitzvah, just like not eating pig is a mitzvah that you're not allowed to do. Now, rebuking is also... You must rebuke. It's one of the 613 mitzvot. There's no other way. This is not my creation. Hashem didn't ask me for permission on whether to write this or not. This is a mitzvah in the Torah. And just to give you an idea of what happens when you don't do it, you go to Parashat Balak, in Sefer Bamidbar (the Book of Numbers). And you go to Parashat Balak, which is the time when Am Yisrael unfortunately sinned with immodesty. Immodest women, they went with the immodest goyot, and they let them into the camp, and we all know the story of what happens there. And Hashem tells Moshe in Chapter 25, Verse 4, "Vayomer Hashem el Moshe kach et kol rashei ha'am vehokah otam." Hashem says to Moshe to take all the leaders of the people and hang them before Hashem against the sun. Why is it only the leaders when all the people sinned?

14:24Did anybody ever ask this question? Why is Hashem telling Moshe to go hang the leaders? The people are sinning. Thousands of people are sinning. Why doesn't He tell him to go kill the people, go punish the people, or go do something to the people? No, no, no, no, no. Hashem says, first, go take the leaders and hang them. Then we'll deal with the people. Why? Because the leaders knew the truth. And they didn't rebuke. They didn't fulfill the mitzvah. And as it says in the Gemara Masechet Shabbat, page 54, a person who does not rebuke his brother or sister, his fellow, takes upon themselves the responsibility for that person's shortcomings. When he knows the truth and takes the sin upon himself, it means that if you see someone violating Shabbat, you don't say anything to them about not being allowed to violate Shabbat. You become officially a Mechalel Shabbat, even if you are observing Shabbat L'mehadrin. If you see a woman who is not modest, it's not for men to tell her directly. This is obviously a matter for women to address with each other. Men cannot approach and tell women they are not modest unless their wife is with them and it's done in a modest way.

15:26But most importantly, a woman to another woman is a friend. If you're not modest, you and Shamayim will be judged as a not modest woman, Hashem yirachem. We know that our brothers and sisters might commit a giant sin of Chillul Hashem, by celebrating a holiday named after Hitler. Celebrating Hitler's birthday, a giant transgression, with just a different name. His name is "Sylvester." Celebrating his birthday with Lechaims and goyish festivities and all this foolishness. Because we don't know. So be a good leader. You don't have to be a leader of hundreds or thousands or millions. You can be a leader of two. You and your wife. You and your friend. You and your child. We don't all have to be Moshe Rabbeinu. But if you know a little bit of information, you know a little bit of truth, please share it. Our nation, our history, and our future depend on it. May Hashem continue to bless all of you to see the truth, to fulfill the truth, and to spread it. Kol Tuv.