Today’s class is Le’ilui Nishmat Chana bat Gilsom, Mrs Emy Missry a’h on her yarzheit.
There is a beautiful thought from the Bet HaLevi on this week’s Parasha, Miketz.
The Midrash says on the pasuk,
וַיְהִ֕י מִקֵּ֖ץ שְׁנָתַ֣יִם יָמִ֑ים וּפַרְעֹ֣ה חֹלֵ֔ם
it was after two years- and Paroah had a dream,
הַדָא הוּא דִּכְתִיב
That’s what the term “קץ שם לחשך” means:
There was a “time for the darkness to end”
זְמַן נָתַן לְיוֹסֵף כַּמָּה שָׁנִים יַעֲשֶׂה בְּבֵית הָאֲסוּרִים
There was a time given to how long Yosef would be in jail,
כֵּיוָן שֶׁהִגִּיעַ הַקֵּץ חָלַם פַּרְעֹה חֲלוֹם
and once the time came, Paroah had a dream.
The Bet HaLevi explains that the Midrash is trying to tell us that we might think Yosef got out of jail after two years because that’s when Paroah had his dream, but that is wrong.
It’s actually that Paroah had his dream after two years, because that’s when Yosef was supposed to get out of jail.
What comes first, the chicken or the egg? We know it’s the chicken. And in this case, what came first? G-d’s decree that Yosef should get out. It’s the decree of G-d that creates the cause. It’s not the cause that creates the outcome.
The same is true about Yaakov Avinu giving the multicolored garment to Yosef HaSadik. That’s not what caused the Galut. Rather, because there was supposed to be a Galut, Hashem put into Yaakov Avinu’s head to do that. This a very important fundamental in understanding how things work. Another example is a famous D’var Torah in Chayeh Sarah. It says Sarah Imenu lived 127 years, these are the years of Sarah. At first glance it seems superfluous and obvious. But Rav Yaakov Kaminetzsky explains that one might make the mistake of thinking that Sarah Imenu really should have lived until 180, but because the Satan came and told her about the Akeda of Yitzhak, and how he was almost slaughtered, she died prematurely of shock.
It’s really the opposite. She lived exactly the amount of years she was supposed to live, and it was because her time had come, that the Satan was able to do that. This is a fundamental rule: Everything happens because of the decree, and not the opposite. There is a saying from the Rav of Brisk: Someone who says ‘Oh, I had a hole in my pocket and that’s why I lost money,’ that man is denying a fundamental of our beliefs. It’s the opposite- it’s because he was supposed to lose money that he got a hole in his pocket. Of course, this is provided that he was not negligent - a person can be negligent and do things wrong ( this is a discussion for another time) But the main point is- what comes first ?
Rav Dessler says that this is a rule for everything in life. We might see a very smart man, with good connections, and think that this is why he is successful in business. But that’s wrong. It’s because he was supposed to be successful in business that he got all those connections. We think the girl got married a day out of high school because she had x,y, and z going for her. But it’s the opposite. It’s because she was supposed to get married right out of high school (which was decided 40 days before she was conceived), that G-d said we have to give her those things, in order to make it happen.
We can go on and on with examples of this, but it’s always the opposite of the way we look at things, and that’s why we have to constantly reiterate this point. I like to call it the Upside-down theory: When we look at things, we think we are looking at them right-side up, but they are really upside-down. We don’t understand what the real cause behind everything is. We have to repeat this because it is a fundamental, and yet we live in a world where we don’t see it.
The Hovot HaLevavot gives us a mashal to illustrate: if you want water from a well, you tie a pail to rope, and the rope is tied to a harness, which is attached to cow, and when the cow walks, the pail pulls the water out. Of course, there is a man leading the cow, and he’s working for the man who needs the water.
That is the multi- step process of getting the water of of the well.
What is closest to the water? The pail.
But what has the least to do with the water getting into the pail? The pail.
Who’s the furthest from the well?
The man in charge, who hired the worker. He doesn’t even know where the worker is, but he’s making it all happen. So too, in life, whatever is closest to you has the least to do with it. The meter maid giving you a ticket isn’t really the one giving you the ticket. It goes all the way back to the mayor, who decided that the city needs more revenue. But that is not really where it ends. It goes all the way back to G-d, who does know what’s going on, every step of the way. Therefore, we always have to look at things from the real source. The real Source is Hashem. That is the Miketz lesson of the Bet HaLevi. Look at life with the glasses that the decree makes things happen. This was Yosef’s lesson from day one. Yosef taught us this in last week’s Parasha, when he was lost on the road and he couldn’t find his brothers. Technically, he should have just gone home, and he never would have gotten into this mess. But then suddenly a man appeared on the road and gave him directions. Who was this man? An angel.
G-d is showing us that there’s an angel that will be there to get us where we have to go.
The Ramban says this is to show us that G-d’s decrees are unstoppable, and all of man’s machinations to stop them won’t do a thing.
It’s all about the gezerah/decree. How do we change a gezerah? By getting closer to G-d.
Have a Shabbat Shalom.