I Am Ready to Die—So Long as Yaakov Will Be Happy • The Daily Lesson from Rabbi

Here is the complete daily lesson as delivered by The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, on Tuesday night, the eve of Wednesday, 4 Shevat, Parshas Bo, after the Ma’ariv prayer:

So Serach bas Asher, who was dancing all day, did not stop dancing—she just danced and danced and danced—and then she entered Gan Eden with her body. Because anyone who would say “Yosef is alive” would die on the spot [from Yaakov’s strictness]. Rachel stole the idols [and Yaakov said, “He shall not live,” even though he did not know that Rachel had taken them—and she died from Yaakov’s curse]. He [Lavan] said, “Why are you stealing the idols? You stole my god—my god!” [Yaakov answered him:] “Yes, we stole your god from you—so what is it, why are you getting upset, why are you so nervous like this…?” [Lavan said to him:] “Yes, this is my god—this is something important; he protects me.” [Yaakov asked him:] “If he protects you, then how did they steal him from you? Explain it to me—does he protect you or does he not protect you?” So he [Yaakov] says, “How did she steal him from you?” So there was a great trouble here: she stole the terafim, and in the end she died, the poor thing—within half a year.

So too, anyone who would say “Yosef is alive” would die on the spot. “What—are you deceiving me for twenty-two years?!” But Serach said, “No. For me, it doesn’t matter if I die. I am ready to die—so long as Yaakov—so long as Grandpa—will be happy.” In the merit of the fact that she made Grandpa rejoice, she danced without stopping: “Yosef is still alive, and he is king in Egypt, and he has two sons—Menashe and Ephraim.”

To watch the replay of the lesson at minute 44:58 >>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIeLlzyffoA