The Torah reading for the seventh day of Pesach tells of the events that transpired after Beneh Yisrael left Egypt, culminating with the miracle of the splitting of the sea.
We read that as they left Egypt, ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו – Moshe Rabbenu took with him Yosef’s remains, which would later be buried in Israel. Many years earlier, before Yosef died, he made his brothers promise that when the nation leaves Egypt, they would bring his remains with them. In fulfillment of this promise, Moshe took Yosef’s bones with him at the time of Yetziat Mitzrayim.
The Midrash praises Moshe for doing this. At that time, the rest of the nation was busy asking their Egyptian neighbors for their belongings, and they became very wealthy as a result. Moshe, however, went to take Yosef’s remains. The Midrash says that Moshe here embodied the teaching of the pasuk in Mishleh (10:8), חכם לב יקח מצוות – “The wise-hearted takes mitzvot.” While the rest of the nation was busy taking riches, Moshe was busy “taking” mitzvot.
This Midrash requires some explanation. G-d had commanded the people to ask their Egyptian neighbors for their belongings. This, too, was a mitzvah. So what was so special about Moshe’s taking Yosef’s remains? And why does the Midrash describe Moshe as חכם לב – a “wise-hearted” person? What special “wisdom” did Moshe display?
A different Midrash describes what Moshe had to go through in order to get Yosef’s bones. According to one opinion, the Egyptians kept Yosef’s bones in a special place, and they were carefully guarded by golden images of dogs, which would magically bark and chase away anyone who approached. The Egyptians did this because they knew that Beneh Yisrael could not leave Egypt without Yosef bones. As part of their plan to keep Beneh Yisrael trapped in Egypt, the Egyptians guarded Yosef’s remains. But on the night of Yetziat Mitzrayim, the dogs remained silent, allowing Moshe to come take Yosef’s bones. According to another opinion, the Egyptians buried Yosef in a secret location. When Beneh Yisrael were leaving Egypt, Moshe went around looking for Yosef’s remains. Finally, he asked Serah, a granddaughter of Yaakov Avinu, who remained alive all these years and knew where Yosef was buried. She told Moshe that Yosef’s coffin was submerged in the Nile River. Moshe went there, and miraculously, the coffin floated to the surface.
According to both opinions, getting Yosef’s remains was not a simple matter. It was a great challenge, but Moshe understood that somebody needed to do it, because the people could not leave Egypt without Yosef’s remains. And so while the rest of the nation was busy collecting wealth, Moshe was busy doing everything he could to find Yosef’s bones so Beneh Yisrael could leave. Moshe’s “wisdom” was focusing on what was needed, rather than being preoccupied with himself and his own interests.
Usually, when we wake up in the morning, the first thing that goes through our mind is the question, “What do I need to do today for myself?” We think about the things that we need to care of for ourselves. Maybe we should try instead asking a different question right when we wake up in the morning: “What does the world need from me today?”
Instead of focusing on what we want, perhaps we should be focusing more on what we can give, how we can make an impact.
If we make this little switch, we’ll be amazed by how many people we can impact each day. For example, we can decide to make just one phone call each day to somebody who would like to hear from us, who could use some friendship and encouragement. We just need to change that first question from “What do I want today?” to “What can I contribute today?”
The world needs each and every one of us, each and every day of our lives. This should be the first thing we tell ourselves every morning!