Do you ever feel like saying: "Stop the world -I want to get off?!" Life is tough, school is demanding, family and financial pressures keep growing...you feel like you want to stop for the "break that refreshes." You want a little breather...a few days of R & R (rest and relaxation).

Well, Yaacov Avinu is the one person in Jewish history that you could say "deserved" a break! He had survived his brother Esav's plot to kill him, endured life with Lavan, "lost" his son Joseph, his daughter Dina was kidnapped...wouldn't you think he deserved a five minute break from all of this turmoil? So that's what he tried to do. The Torah says: "Vayeshev Yaacov" -And Yaacov sat down...just to catch his breath. The Midrash says: "And he sat down"...Yaacov requested a moment's peace and tranquility. But Hashem picked him up and said:

Is it not enough that righteous people get their reward and rest in the World to Come -you also want a reward (of resting) in this world, too!?

Hashem was giving Yaacov -and us -an important message. This world is not made for rest, relaxation and rewards. This is a world of "getting on with it" -of striving and of working hard on oneself. The reward for working on yourself c-mes in the next world -when we gain full consciousness. This world is a time to keep going- and to keep growing.

Whenever Yaacov experienced his difficult trials and tribulations, he brought a special message and lesson to the world through those difficulties. For example, Rashi quotes the Midrash that when Yaacov was escaping from Esav after Esav threatened to kill him, Yaacov was confronted by Elifaz, Esav's son, who threatened his life. In the first recorded mugging in history, Elifaz effectively said: "Your money or your life." Yaacov said: "Take my money. Give me my life." Yaacov gave up his possessions and enshrined forever the sanctity of life over materialism, in the Torah for all to see. He achieved this through being faced with the threat of death by his nephew.

It is through Yaacov's being away from his parents for twenty-two years in the house of Lavan that we learn the principle of "middah k'neged middah." He was punished for his failure to honour his parents for those twenty-two years by having his own son Yosef removed from him during the twenty-two years that Yosef spent in Egypt. Through this torturous test the world learns the principle of the balance of justice in the world. Yaacov's ordeal gave rise to this principle.

It is through the ordeal of being pressed by the seductive advances of the wife of Potifar that Yosef obtains the title "Yosef HaTzadik." He resisted the temptation and went to prison falsely accused but having maintained the principles of morality. He could only have taught us this eternal lesson had he gone through the ordeal.

In a sense, we must step back from our predicament while it is happening and look at ourselves from G-d's perspective. Going through this ordeal with a consciousness that this is G-d's will and that working through it is actually our purpose in life at this particular moment will give us strength to persevere. This perseverance and growth will create a sense of inner simcha in the midst of the external sadness. The growth in character that results from weathering the process of the test will bring us to a new level of personal growth.

Only by going through his ordeals was Yaacov able to teach important lessons to the world. So too, when we go through challenges and ordeals in our lives, we grow in our personality and character, and thereby teach ourselves and others an important lesson. By getting through our tests and challenges, we bring out the best in ourselves and act as role models for others to emulate. When we pass our tests with courage and faith in G-d, we give others the courage and strength to go through their own tests.

This Dvar Torah is based on Rabbi Yisroel Roll's book, "Inner Peace -Achieving Self Esteem Through Prayer." You can find the book at www.feldheim.com.