The timeless story of Yosef and his brothers, related in great detail in our Parasha, may surely be termed as ‘a perfect storm’.
The term ‘a perfect storm’ is described by the Collins Dictionary, as:’An unusual combination of events that produce an unusually bad or powerful result’- a truly apt description of our Parasha.
Rav Matityahu Solomon expounds: ’When we reflect on our Parasha in its entirety, we find in it a combination of error after error, by Yaakov Avinu and his sons, which culminated in the sale of Yosef, and his descent to Egypt.
‘Yosef erred in tale-bearing to his father, of his brothers misdeeds, as he saw them; due to his youthfulness, he did not pay proper heed to the possible consequences of his actions- surprisingly, in view of his vaunted wisdom.
‘His father, Yaakov, erred in giving his favored son the ‘cloak of many colors’, which led his brothers to envy him, and which was to lead to our forefathers descending to Egypt - again, surprisingly, in view of his wisdom, not reflecting that this might lead to jealousy by his older brothers.
‘Yosef’s righteous brothers, erred in deciding that Yosef’s intent, in bad-mouthing them to their father, was akin to being a רודף:’pursuer’, so that he alone would find favor in his father’s eyes.
‘To compound the hostility, Yosef, in his youthful naivete, felt compelled to share his dreams of his future rise to glory over his brothers , with them, despite they having stopped even speaking to him.
‘The ‘crowning’ inexplicable link in this chain of errors and misjudgments, was surely the decision of Yaakov, despite, as Rashi comments, being aware of the hostility between them, sending Yosef:(37:14) to ‘look into the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of thr flock..So he sent him מעמק חברון: from the depth of Hebron’- and Yosef, the faithful son, unquestionally went, to meet his destiny.
‘In these three words’ expounds the Rav, ‘we find the answer to all these wondrously, ‘inexplicable’ errors of ALL the actors- as Rashi here asks rhetorically: ’But is not Hebron on a mountain’, not in ‘the depth’? But (it is to be understood that he sent him) from the deep counsel of the righteous one who is buried in Hebron’ - Avraham Avinu - to fulfil what was said in the Covenant of the Halves: ’Your seed shall be aliens in a land not theirs’.
‘Now there is no difficulty, or wonder, but everything is clear and obvious: when Hashem acts to fulfil his covenant with Avraham, that his seed was to descend to a land ‘not theirs’, there is no wisdom nor counsel, not in Yaakov, nor in Yosef Hatzadik, nor in his brothers, the holy tribes, but only the eternal wisdom of Hashem, because He gives each of them ‘room’ to err, and blinds their eyes from seeing correctly, so that, by the combination of all their errors, Hashem’s ‘counsel’ is fulfilled.
‘This is called עצה עמוקה: ‘deep counsel’, because it is hidden from the minds of men, and it appears as if all happens ‘in the way of the world’.
‘To awaken us to this, that all that happens is by the hand of Hashem, the Torah uniquely here writes something which is ‘wrong’: that Hebron is in the depth, so that we can learn this wondrous foundation of our faith’.
Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl adds:’The Chovot Halevavot writes, that the free choice with which man is uniquely endowed, is principally in his intention and will, not in the outcome of his deeds. He can seek to do good, but only ‘seek’, as the outcome, whether or not it comes to fruition, is solely in the hands of Hashem.
‘In our Parasha, we are confronted with a new reality: man does not have even this choice, as even his intention and will, are determined from Above.
‘Yaakov Avinu loves Yosef- why? Answers Onkelos: because of Yosef’s wisdom, which was greater than that of his brothers. As this was clearly a love לשם שמים: for the sake of heaven, we would have thought that his righteous brothers would appreciate him for this gift - yet, instead, they hate him.
‘The wonder is also about Yosef, who, despite his greatness and righteousness, does not follow the dictum of our Sages, to judge his brothers favorably, but instead, ‘bad mouths’ them to their father.
‘So too, in the sale of Yosef; the very same tribes whose names the Kohen Gadol is to bear on his breastplate, to be ‘a memory before Hashem, always’, judge Yosef as seeking their downfall, and seek to kill him, without compassion for him, and not even for their elderly father.
‘What explanation can there be for these events?
‘To all of these there is one short answer:’And he sent him from the depth of Hebron’: it all flows from the deep counsel of the one who is buried in Hebron. And, though man has free choice as to his will, more so men of the stature of Yaakov and his sons, nevertheless, because it has been decreed that ‘Your seed shall be aliens in a land not theirs’, only the counsel and wisdom of Hashem will prevail- and even the independent thoughts of men will be directed to achieve this end.’
The Kli Yakar offers his usual original exposition, commenting:’The words ‘counsel’ and ‘deep’ require explanation- whose counsel is it referring to, and what does ‘deep’ denote?
‘It appears to me, that the Midrash relates, that Hashem said to Avraham: Should your sons transgress, what should be their punishment: gehinnom, or exile? Avraham chose the latter, and this is the ‘counsel’ alluded to. And since the land of Israel is higher than all other lands, and compared to it all other lands are, as it were, ‘in the depth’, therefore the exile to Egypt, which resulted from Yaakov sending Yosef, to his brothers, is alluded to as ‘the deep counsel’ of Avraham.’
A parting insight from the Midrash Chafetz, brought in a footnote in the Torah Shleima:’The exile to Egypt was only decreed so that, by their servitude there, *Bnei Israel would become ‘submissive’, and accept the yoke of Torah and Mitzvot, as Hashem said: ‘For this I took you out of Egypt, to be a G-d to you’. And Hashem revealed this to Avraham, which is why it is called ‘deep counsel’.’
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Danny Ginsbourg is a retired lawyer and a Torah scholar who made aliya from Australia a decade ago. He has written five volumes of Torah thoughts in Hebrew,and was awarded the Jerusalem Prize.for the two volume Davsha shel Torah to which there are already several sequels.
ME: So that *Bnei Israel would become ‘submissive’ – perhaps this is the purpose of the past two years? As with Yitzias Mitzrayim, in order to be ‘taken out’ to serve Hashem on Har Sinai and receive the Torah and gain true freedom?
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