Parashat HashavuaSeries'LibraryPiskei Din (Hebrew)Test YourselfPirkei D’Rav Eliezer quotes Rav Levi: The staff was created at dusk/twilight & given to Adam in Gan Eden. Adam then gave it to Chanoch & it passed over to Noach, Shem, Avraham, Yitzchak & Yakov. Yakov took it to Egypt & he gave it to Yosef. When Yosef died, his house was looted & the staff was brought to Paro. Yitro, one of Paro’s advisors, took the staff & "planted" it in his garden. No one could extract it until Moshe finally did, prompting Yitro to recognize Moshe's greatness & give him Tzipora as a wife. Some say "D’tzach Adash B’Achav" (the initials of the 10 plagues) were inscribed on the staff; others say it was the ineffable name of G-d. Some hold this was the same rod which Aharon used that miraculously blossomed (see Bamidbar 17:23) & would later be placed in the Mishkan near the Aron); others say the staff was eventually sliced into 12 parts that were given to the heads of each Shevet. One thing is clear: A leader is only as great as his staff!
The class deals with the most common examples of mistakes or sins which we almost all do, some of which haven't changed, but we also point out those where historically there has been an interesting improvement over time.
Sometimes We Have No One to Blame But Ourselves & Our Imagination!
Rav Kook explains how fear and one's imagination often cause more damage than the problem itself. In fact, most of our problems we cause to ourselves, and if we made decisions based upon Godly logic and ideals, it would not only grant us a feeling of security, but in fact we would save ourselves from most problems, and surely the inflated or exaggerated ones.