Dedicated to the memory of the 42 people who perished in the Carmel fires

In Breisheet  47:8, When Yaakov arrives in Egypt, looking like a very old man, Pharaoh asks him: “How many are the days of the years of your life?”

Yaakov’s response in the next pasuk is: “The days of the years of my sojourns have been a hundred and thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the life spans of my forefathers in the days of their sojourns.”

Chizkuni comments that Yaakov’s answer was that I have lived a short life so far, however since the days of my life were so bad, I look older.

Chizkuni brings a Midrash from Torah Shlema of why Yaakov lived 33 years less than his father, Yitzchak: God said to Yaakov: “I saved you from Lavan, Esav and Shechem, I returned Dena and Yoseph to you and you say that your life is short and bad! I will take a year off of your life for each of your word of complaint to Pharaoh (in sentence 9)!”

We can learn from here that even in the toughest of times we should be thankful for what we have and try to look on the bright side.

Amidst last week’s disaster in the Carmel, we saw many people go out of their way to help others see the light during such a dark time. Natan Sharansky and the Jewish Agency brought many children who are now homeless due to the fire to Jerusalem to enjoy fun Chanuka activities. I was happy to see the children smiling in a picture in the newspaper.

College students throughout Israel have been helping clean up kindergartens on Kibbutzim as well as collecting school supplies, toys, books and clothing for children who lost all of their material possessions.

It is very easy to sit around and complain about whose fault the fire was but at this time we need to keep a positive outlook and see how we can rebuild and move forward.