4. We Need to Follow the Right Path
We read in this week's parsha that after Yosef revealed himself to
his brothers, they became overwhelmed with shame and were unable to
respond. Yosef said to his brothers, "And now, do not be
distressed, do not be angry with yourselves for having sold me
here, for it was as a supporter of life that G-d sent me ahead of
you." Yosef told his brothers not to be "distressed/depressed" and
not to be "angry" with themselves, which seem to be two
contradictory emotional states. The emotion of anger emanates from
arrogance or a sense of "self", while depression or distress
emanates from feelings of lowliness and worthlessness.
The Ohr Ha'Chaim Ha'Kadosh explains that Yosef had overheard a
conversation between his brothers in which they expressed that the
reason why they were experiencing so many difficulties was because
Hashem was punishing them for ignoring the pleas of Yosef. His
brothers expressed, in that conversation, that they were guilty of
mistreating Yosef and that they were heartless. Yosef understood
that this was the source of their "distress/depression."
Recognizing that his brothers' distress was as a result of their
guilty feelings, Yosef tried to ease them by telling them "do not
be distressed". Yosef said this because they recognized the wrong
they had done- which itself was a correction.
The reason why Yosef's brothers sold him into slavery was because
they believed that he was trying to undermine their relationship
with Yaakov in order to position himself as the leader of the
Jewish people. By selling Yosef into slavery his brothers believed
that his illusions of grandeur of one day leading the Jewish people
and having his brothers bow to him would never come to fruition.
What actually transpired was the exact opposite their intent. Yosef
was able to rise to power only because his brothers sold him into
slavery. He was summoned from prison to interpret Pharaoh's dreams
and subsequently was appointed Viceroy of Egypt - functioning as
the supporter and protector of the Jewish people.
The irony of the situation was that Yosef's brothers believed that
they were preventing him from reaching greatness by selling him
into slavery when in fact they served as a catalyst for his
success. Having realized that their efforts ended in opposite
results, Yosef's brothers could have easily become angry with
themselves. In order to address this, Yosef told his brothers not
to be angry with themselves because his success was as a result of
Hashem's divine plan and not their actions. They were not the cause
of Yosef's success but rather Hashem deemed that Yosef should rise
to power and lead the Jewish people.
Very often in life we pursue courses of action that we believe will
bring us success yet they, G-d forbid, result in disaster. On the
other hand we also confront situations, which appear to be
tragedies, and they ultimately lead to positive results. This is
only because Hashem controls the outcome and success of our
actions. We can only pursue actions that are consistent with the
Torah and trust that Hashem will bring about an outcome, which is
in our best interest.
The Gemara in Taanis tells us the story of Nochum Ish Gamzoo (who
was Rebbe of Rabbi Akiva). Nochum Ish Gamzoo was appointed by the
Rabbis of the community to go to Rome with a chest of jewels (as a
gift) in order to plead for the Jewish people. While staying at an
inn on the way to Rome, the innkeeper, without Nochum's knowledge,
stole the jewels and replaced them with dirt.
Subsequently, he appeared in Rome in front of the Emperor to
present his gift. When the Emperor discovered that the chest was
filled with earth rather than jewels, he became enraged and ordered
that Nochum be executed. Nochum's response was, "Gamzoo l'tova (It
is all for the best)." However, before sending him to the gallows,
the Emperor asked Nochum, whom he knew to be a wise man, why he
would forfeit his life so easily by presenting a gift of dirt.
Nochum explained that the dirt was special because it was the same
dust used by Avraham to vanquish the four mighty kings.
Hearing this, the Emperor sent batches Nochum's dirt to his troops
who were then able to easily defeat their enemies. The Emperor
spared Nochum's life and gave him a chest of diamonds, gold, and
jewels as payment for the "magical dirt ".
When Nochum returned to the inn where he had stayed, the innkeeper,
who had stolen his jewels, noticed that he had returned with new
riches in place of the dirt he had placed in the chest. The
innkeeper immediately took a cartload of dirt to the Emperor and
told him that it was the same as Nochum's. The Emperor tried the
innkeeper's dirt with no success - his troops were slaughtered in
battle. As a result the Emperor executed the innkeeper.
We learn from this that "Gamzoo L'Tova (It is all for the best)"
means that what ever happens to us is in our best interests. Even
tragedies, G-d forbid, that we may confront are in fact in our best
interest because we are unaware of G-d's plan. Situations that may
seem to be favorable for us may, G-d forbid, end as being
detrimental. We can only do the right thing and leave the rest up
to Hashem.
As the Gemara tells us that Chizkeyahu Ha'Melech (The King of
Judah) chose not to procreate because he had foreseen through
divine inspiration that the son that he would father would truly be
evil. He subsequently fell ill and was on his deathbed. Yeshaya,
the prophet, told Chizkeyahu that he would not recover if he did
not perform the mitzvah of procreation. Chizkeyahu informed Yeshaya
of his vision of having an evil son and Yeshaya responded by
saying," You should not meddle with G-d's hidden plan." We do not
have the ability to understand the will of Hashem - We can only do
the right thing.