Parashat Vayetzeh begins with Yaakov Avinu fleeing from home after his brother, Esav, threatened to kill him. Yaakov traveled to his uncle, Lavan, as his mother instructed him. When he arrived in Haran, the town where Lavan lived, he was penniless. He had absolutely nothing. The Midrash tells that Esav sent his son, Elifaz, to run after Yaakov and kill him. Elifaz did not want to kill Yaakov, but he also did not want to disobey his father. Yaakov decided to give Elifaz everything he had so he would be poor, and poverty is, in a sense, similar to death. The Midrash further tells that afterward, as Yaakov made his way to Haran without anything, he wrote the words of one of the most famous chapters of Tehillim (121). He cried, אשא עיני אל ההרים, מאין יבא עזרי – “I lift my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come?!” He felt helpless, all alone, not knowing what the future had in store for him. And so he asked, “From where will my help come?!” Yaakov then answered his own question. He exclaimed, עזרי מעם ה' עושה שמיים וארץ – “My help comes from G-d, Maker of heavens and earth!” Why did Hashem put Yaakov in this position, of having to run for his life and having not a penny? Why did Yaakov have to experience the feeling of מאין יבא עזרי , of wondering how he would manage? The answer is that Hashem was preparing Yaakov for the rest of his life, which would be filled with many difficult struggles and challenges. He specifically wanted Yaakov to experience adversity, so he could recognize that עזרי מעם ה' , that even under adverse conditions, Hashem is with him and helping him. He was shows that even if he had nothing, he could manage, and he could flourish. Yaakov was forced to run away because Esav was angry at him for taking the berachah which Yitzhak meant to give him. This berachah wished that Hashem would grant Yaakov great wealth ( ויתן לך האלוקים מטל השמיים ומשמני הארץ ). But Rashi makes a very important comment about this berachah . He writes that Yitzhak said to Yaakov: אם ראוי לך יתן לך, ואם לאו לא יתן לך – “If you are deserving, then he should grant you [this blessing], and if not, he should not grant you [this blessing].” “Blessing” means something different for us Torah Jews than it does for others. Most people assume that being blessed means having more. If somebody has wealth, then this means he is blessed. But for us, this is not what “blessing” means. For us, “blessing” means having what Hashem has determined that we should have. Having everything we feel we need or want is not necessarily a blessing. Sometimes, specifically having less is the greater blessing. This is what Yaakov Avinu was shown – that he can manage and succeed even under very difficult circumstances, and even when he has nothing. Sometimes Hashem blesses us by specifically withholding things from us, by sending us challenges which make us stronger. This is something we’ve all learned, I hope, over the course of the last couple of years, during the pandemic – that we can adjust and manage with less, even when conditions are not what we’re used to. At first, we all had the feeling of מאין יבא עזרי , wondering how we would manage, but gradually, we understood that עזרי מעם ה' , that Hashem helps us find our way even during challenging times, and that to the contrary, challenges help us grow and become greater. Hopefully we will bring this lesson with us throughout the rest of our lives, so we can change the adversity narrative. Instead of feeling anxious, aggravated, upset and angry when life sends us challenges, let us instead remember that we are truly blessed even when we don’t have everything we feel we want, because Hashem always gives us what we need to grow and achieve.