Although Parashat Miketz is over, there is a beautiful thought that I saw this week, that I didn’t want to wait until next year to share.
Our rabbis tell us that within three days of the Parasha, we still have the right to discuss it.
When Yosef got out the pit, it says that they rushed him out - and the Sforno says something very important about this-״Like all salvations of Hashem, it happened in a second. The same thing happened, he says, when we got out of Egypt. We were there for 210 years, but then we were “rushed out of Egypt”
The same will happen in the future when Mashiach comes. As the Pasuk says, “and suddenly he will come to his chamber, the Master.”
This shows us, says Rav Yerucham Levovitz, that there is a very big difference between the salvation of a human being and the salvation of
G-d. The salvation of a human being needs a process in order to come about. Even when the person has already decided that he wants to help, there is a process of steps that have to occur. It doesn’t happen in a second. But for G-d, it happens in a second. Why is that?
He tell us an important principle, based on a lesson from the beginning of the Parasha, from the Midrash we quoted on Friday, based on a pasuk in Iyov-קץ שם לחשך - there’s a time given for the darkness to end. Rav Yerucham says that the word is full of light. When G-d shines His face on someone, there is light there. יאר ה׳ פניו אליך
G-d should shine His face towards you.
The only reason we have challenges in life is because there is something called Hester Panim- G-d is hiding His face.
In the words of Rav Yerucham, “Nothing is lacking for G-d to bring about a salvation, just the revelation. Everything is ready.
All we need is to take away the darkness, and there is light.”
That is an important principle, because a lot of times, when we are in a predicament, and we don’t see any shine or ray of hope, we despair. But Rav Yerucham is telling us that when we rely on G-d, and our source of salvation is G-d, then we don’t need a process. It happens immediately, without any system, without any rhyme or reason. This should give us hizzuk not to despair.
I recently heard a beautiful thought from Rav Bloch from Monsey, who gave a mashal for a person that is reliable. He described a rabbi who is asked to be Mesader Kiddushin. The people are counting on him to officiate at the wedding. They tell him the ceremony is going to start at 6pm sharp, and he has to travel from New York to New Jersey for the wedding. A reliable rabbi, someone with common decency, knows that people are counting on him. He knows that if the ceremony is 6pm, and he leaves at 4:30pm, there might be an accident or bad weather- anything can happen. So, if he really wants to be reliable, he will leave at 4pm, plan to be there at 5:15pm, and not take any chances. He knows he’s not in control, and he won’t wait till the last minute. He’ll give himself ample time to take any mishaps into consideration. That’s the way a reliable human being act. Rav Bloch says that sometimes we make the mistake of looking at G-d through our glasses. If I need my money tomorrow, it should at least come today... it shouldn’t come tomorrow. But it can come tomorrow, because it’s
G-d. When it came to the first Shabbat of Creation, it says that G-d stopped His work onto seventh day. Rashi asks how G-d could stop on the seventh day. One of the explanations Rashi gives is that G-d was able to stop at the last possible moment, which would look, to a human being, like it was already the seventh day. But G-d does not have to worry about any interferences. G-d can wait till the last second. We have discussed this in the past, with the lesson of fact that the Jewish people were at the 49th level of Tumah/impurity. One more second and they would’ve sunk to the 50th level, and they never could’ve come out. So why did G-d wait till the last second? Because G-d is not worried that anything will interfere.
Similarly, we saw this with Nakdimon Ben Guryon. He was praying for rain, but it hadn’t rained in a year. He had made a deal with a gentile that if he didn’t pay back the water he borrowed by a certain time, he would have to pay back 12 wellsprings full of gold and silver. And G-d brought the rain -at the very last second. Why wait till the last second? Because G-d has no interference. There is nothing that can stop Him. There is nothing to worry about. There are no traffic jams, there is no bad weather… There is nothing that can interfere. Therefore, Hashem is always calm. Because He knows He is in control. And we, who rely on Hashem, have to have that same sense of calm. We know that when Hashem decides for the salvation to come, it will come in a second. This is for anyone that is waiting for anything. When Hashem decides, it happens. Shidduch, baby, money, medicine, lawyer...whatever it may be. there might be no sign of any hope on the horizon, but when the salvation happens, it’s just a flick of the switch. That is a powerful lesson from the Sforno, and Rav Yerucham, on Parashat Miketz and I felt it wouldn’t be nice to wait another year to share it.
Have a wonderful day.