“And Pharaoh said to Yaakov, how many are the years of your life? And Yaakov said to Pharaoh: I have lived one hundred and thirty years.The years of my life were few and bad and they have not reached the years of my fathers.”(Bereshit 47:8-9)
After Yosef revealed himself to his brothers Pharaoh suggested that he should bring his father Yaakov and all his family down to Egypt and he would give them the richest part of the land of Goshem.
The Daas Zkainim ( a commentator) cites the Midrash that Yaakov lived thirty three years less than his father Yitzchak for saying that his days of his life were few and bad. These 33 years correspond to the number of words in verse 8 and 9.
Rabbi Chayim Shmuelevitz would constantly cite this Midrash to explain how important it is to gain such great appreciation of life itself that even if we have many difficulties in life, we will still live a joyful life. The ultimate level we should strive for is to constantly be aware of our blessings and feel a tremendous joy because we are alive and breathing, and in this way trivial matters will not cause us to complain.
Some excerpts taken from “Growth Through Torah” by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin
www.livealittlehigher.com
