True Living in Egypt

The third Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, once asked his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe: Why do we say that our forefather Jacob not only dwelled in Egypt for seventeen years, but those were his best years? Egypt was a very immoral land; how could this be?

The Alter Rebbe replied that Jacob had previously sent his son Yehuda to Goshen in Egypt to establish a center of Torah study. Thus, even in Egypt he experienced the best of life.

The story offers several lessons: 1. We must educate so that our youth seek answers to their questions. 2. To be prepared to personally answer any question that arises. 3. No matter how great the darkness around us, Torah study always illuminates the way.