Not Today - Vayishlach

I started baking Parshah themed desserts with my friend over Zoom. We talk about the Parshah first, then decide what to make. This week we chose small cups of ice cream to remind us of the pachim ketanim, the little things Yaakov went back for.

That idea of “small things matter” stayed with me when I checked my bank account and saw I was in overdraft. As a tutor, a babysitter, and a home baker, I was shocked. I earn a steady salary, Baruch Hashem, and I barely spend, so the number on the screen felt unreal. For a moment, I felt like Yaakov when he saw Eisav coming toward him with 400 men. Everything felt like it was rushing at me at once.

While I sat with that feeling, I remembered something from the Parshah. There is a rule that says if you meet someone on the road who seems unsafe, you tell him you are going farther than where you are really going. It keeps you one step ahead so he cannot trap you.

That helped me rethink my own stress. I do not have to solve everything right now. I just have to step ahead of the fear. I can deal with the money piece, but not from a place of panic. I can tell the Yetzer Hara, “Not now. You can wait.” The worry will still be there, but it no longer runs the show. I can breathe, take the next step, and handle it.

Good Shabbos

All the best

Sima Ross