Dvar Torah for Parshat Vayigash

From The Breslov Haggadah

"The number of souls in Yaakov's family who came to Egypt was seventy."
(Genesis 46:27)

"With seventy souls your forefathers went down to Egypt, but now God your Lord has made you as numerous as the stars of the heaven."
(Deuteronomy 10:22)

The seventy souls that went down into exile were the progenitors of the Jewish people. They embodied the Seventy Souls, the source of all Jewish souls, analogous to the seventy facets of Torah (Likutey MoHaran I, 36:1). They comprised the full tapestry of Jewishness, the entire spectrum of Jew; from the holiest to the most remote (Likutey Halakhot, Sukkah 6:12).

"B'shivim Nefesh"with seventy souls"Yordu Avotekha."

The Seventy Souls are also the source of prophecy; the seventy facets of Torah being analogous to the spirit of prophecy. (See Likutey MoHaran II, 8:7 that the Torah was transmitted via prophecy, and prophecy, in turn, reached its zenith with the giving of the Torah. Also see Likutey Halakhot, Orlah 4:10.) Thus, the seventy members of Yaakov's family who entered Egypt personified the prophetic spirit. The acronym of the above verse which tells of the "Jewish people's" descent into exile spells the Hebrew word for prophet. Their very essence was prophecy.

Prayer is a function of prophecy. Prophecy is proportional to prayer. The prophet speaks the Word of God, his prayer is the Word of God. God makes his prayer a reality (Likutey MoHaran II, 1:11; cf. Bereishis Rabbah 52:5; Tikkuney Zohar 21, p. 45a).

When any Jew, from whatever segment of the Seventy-Soul-tapestry of Jewishness, is confronted with the personal exile in the constrictions of Mitzrayim/Egypt - let him remember! Latent within himself is the wherewithal to overcome those limitations. The spirit of prophecy, the experience of prayer; they are within his reach. His birthright. The essence of his Jewish soul. He can uplift himself - to a more vivid perception of reality.

And, as we pray, as we yearn, God helps us see ourselves achieving that which we pray for. God makes our prayers reality.