Seeing the Big Picture

SPIRIT

A WORD OF TORAH

Seeing the Big Picture

There is a dramatic moment in this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi. Joseph’s brothers are distraught and fearful. Many years before, they had turned on Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt because of their fears and concerns at the time. This led to Joseph being separated from his father for more than 20 years, causing unspeakable anguish to both Jacob and Joseph. The brothers had come to truly regret and show deep remorse for what they had done. Now they were all in Egypt, living with Joseph because of the famine. Together, they buried their father, Jacob, as described in this week’s Torah portion.

After the passing of Jacob, the brothers feared that with his father no longer around, Joseph would exact revenge for the pain they had inflicted on him all of those years before. And so they approached him with trepidation to inform him that Jacob’s dying wish was that Joseph should not take vengeance for what took place all those years before, and that he should instead grant them complete forgiveness for their wrongdoings.

The brothers completely subjugate themselves before Joseph, offering themselves as his servants. Joseph dismisses their concerns immediately, and says to them: “Do not fear, for am I in place of God? You intended to harm me, [and yet] God intended it for good in order to accomplish — it is as clear as this day — in order to give life to a vast people. So now, do not fear, I will sustain you and your young ones.” And he comforted them and spoke to their heart. (Bereishit 50:19-21)

In essence, Joseph was telling his brothers that God had a plan. They had to accept responsibility for their actions, but ultimately, what happened turned out for the best. Being thrown into the pit and then sold into slavery set in motion a series of events that would see Joseph become the viceroy of Egypt, and as Pharaoh’s righthand man, guide the country, and in fact the entire region, though the famine, preventing mass starvation. So Joseph was saying that God’s plan, although it involved much personal pain for him, was ultimately for the good.

In doing so, Joseph was articulating a fundamental Jewish belief — that no matter what happens in life, it is ultimately part of God’s plan; that God loves us and that everything that happens to us stems from that love. What we learn from this saga involving Joseph and his brothers is that it’s not always possible to discern God’s plan while it is unfolding. Joseph was just a boy of 17 when he was sold by his brothers into slavery, and he could never have foreseen what lay ahead. It took many years for the grand scheme to reveal itself.

But, what is so ironic in this situation is that Joseph thought he had understood God’s ultimate plan. Joseph’s understanding was that God allowed for him to be sold into slavery so that he would be able to get down to Egypt and save the region — including Jacob and his family — from the famine. But, there was actually a much bigger plan in play — a plan with more far-reaching consequences, a plan that touched on the very essence of Jewish destiny and the forging of the Jewish people.

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein

A CATALYST TO BRING CHANGE

God had foretold to Abraham how the nation of Israel would be born from suffering and slavery. And Joseph being sold into slavery was the means through which God orchestrated that development. It was the catalyst that would eventually bring Jacob and his family to Egypt, where they would become a great nation, and then become enslaved, just as was promised to Abraham centuries before.

That was crucial, because God wanted the creation of the Jewish people to be through His miracles and His direct intervention so that we would always owe our freedom and very existence as a nation to God — a nation born of God, so to speak. A supernatural nation, born in supernatural circumstances and worthy of its supernatural mission, brought to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the Divine document outlining that mission.

None of this could have happened to a self-reliant people living independently in their