The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
I received an email from Manhigut Yehudit with a Torah thought by Moshe Feiglin.
And the messengers returned to Jacob and said: We have come to your brother, to Esau and he is also coming to meet you and four hundred men are with him. And Jacob was very frightened and he was distressed and he divided the people that were with him and the sheep and the cattle and the camels to two camps. (From this week's Torah portion, Vayishlach, Genesis 32:7-8)
"And he was very frightened and he was distressed." Why write the same thing twice? We understand that Jacob was frightened, we understand that he was feeling pressured. Why re-emphasize this as two separate issues?
There are many answers given to this question. But one Chassidic commentary captured my eye. "And he was distressed -" because he was frightened. Jacob naturally reacted toward Esau with fear. But immediately afterwards, he felt great sorrow for having felt fear.
...A person is where his thoughts are. If you feel that you belong in Israel and that this Land is yours, then you are not afraid. Your internal world projects to your surroundings, reflecting as a world that is, indeed, not dangerous.
...It all begins and ends in the world we create inside our heads and hearts.
http://www.jewishisrael.org/eng_contents/update/5771/7109.htm
The video below captures the positive energy and thoughts of Ron Nachman, mayor of Ariel. May he merit a refuah sheleimah.
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