10. Vayigash 5780: The Art Of Receiving -Learning How To Give

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/avrohom.lipszyc/videos/10157629535063257/ SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/hachaim/10-vayigash-5780-the-art-of-receiving-learning-how-to-give Written: https://www.dropbox.com/s/igqynho6vx0xvyt/10.%20Vayigash%205780%20-The%20Art%20of%20Receiving.pdf?dl=0 YouTube: https://youtu.be/j9LknbwX618 -- For our modern-day issue in this lecture let us first understand the commandment of prayer. The definition of this commandment is, “Bakoshat Tzrochov -Asking for YOUR needs.” So much so, that one opinion states that from a biblical standpoint one doesn’t need to pray every day, but only when one has a need. The other opinion states that the biblical commandment is to pray once a day for our needs. The logical reason of the second opinion is that every day we have basic needs for survival. While the first opinion is maybe saying that only when we feel the lack of having our sustenance are we obligated to pray for them, and not if we are already feeling healthy, have a roof over our heads, and have money in the bank. The point I would like to emphasize here is that praying for someone else, if it isn’t fulfilling our own personal need that the other person be helped, is not the fulfillment of the commandment of prayer! It is a form of charity to pray for others, but the commandment of prayer mandates that we ask for our own needs. So, what lies at the heart of this commandment? The commandment of prayer is all about the Art of Receiving. So many of us, thank G-d, are good at the art of giving. However, our ego struggles with the art of receiving. In addiction recovery, this is the hardest step to recovery. Learning to ask for help, and then being willing to receive the help, is the hugest struggle for the addict. This is why there is the need for an addict to hit “Rock Bottom,” completely smashing the addict’s belief that he, on his own, can control his acting out. In the rooms of recovery the first three fundamental steps of the Twelve Steps are loosely translated as, “Step One: I can’t. Step Two: You (G-d) can. Step Three: So, I think that I am going to let You.” Prayer demands the humility of, “G-d, yes, You want me to do the work, however, without You, I cannot achieve anything.” Thus, does King Solomon say, (-Psalms 127:1-2), “If G-d will not build a house, its builders have toiled at it in vain; if G-d will not guard a city, [its] watcher keeps his vigil in vain. It is futile for you who arise early, who sit late, who eat the bread of toil, so will G-d give to one who banishes sleep from himself.” In this lecture we will explore the healthy art of receiving, and from there, the healthy art of serving. This lecture is based primarily on a maamor the Rebbe delivered on this Shabbat, in 1969, exploring the mystical teachings of Judah’s approaching Joseph.