Shabbat and the Paradigm Shift
Before Yosef’s brothers recognized the vizier of Egypt as Yosef, he dealt with them very harshly, casting serious accusations about them and framing them with theft. Finally, Yosef revealed to them who he was, and made it clear to them that he harbored no hard feelings towards them whatsoever. In an instant, they realized that the person whom they had assumed hated them and was working to ruin their lives was, in truth, their loving brother who deeply and sincerely cared for their wellbeing. The Torah (Bereshit 45:3) says that at that moment, ולא יכלו אחיו לענות אותו כי נבהלו מפניו – “His brothers were unable to respond to him, because they were terrified of him.”
The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni) comments that the brothers’ stunned reaction can teach us a lesson of what will happen to each and every one of us in the future:
אמר ר' שמעון בן אלעזר אוי לנו מיום הדין אוי לנו מיום התוכחה ….. יוסף קטנו של שבטים היה ולא יכלו אחיו לענות אותו כי נבהלו מפניו, לכשיבוא הקב"ה ויוכיח כל אחד ואחד לפי מעשיו על אחת כמה וכמה.
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: Woe unto us on the day of judgment, woe unto us on the day of reproof… Yosef was the younger [brother] among the tribes, yet his brothers were unable to respond to him because they were frightened of him. When the Almighty comes and reproves each and every person according to his actions, all the more so.
What exactly is the analogy drawn by the Midrash between Yosef’s revelation to his brothers and the events that will transpire at the time of the final judgment?
The Imreh Emet explains that at the end of days, when we finally “meet” Hashem, all the concealed information about our lives will be revealed. When Yosef said the two words אני יוסף (“I am Yosef”), the brothers instantly understood everything. They realized that this man, who they thought was just a ruthless tyrant bent on persecuting them, was in truth working to help them, to bring them to repentance for the sin of selling him as a slave. He was orchestrating a situation whereby they would have to sacrifice themselves to save their younger half-brother, Binyamin – the precise opposite of what they had done to him. The brothers saw Yosef as an evil oppressor, when in truth he was their loving and devoted brother. Similarly, the Imreh Emet writes, when we will stand before G-d at the end of days, we will discover that all the times when it appeared that Hashem was trying to hurt us, Heaven forbid, He was, in truth, trying to help us. All the events in our lives that seemed harsh and cruel were really illusions, and were actually to our benefit.
In modern terminology, this kind of experience – discovering a heretofore concealed piece of information which changes our entire perspective on something – is called a “paradigm shift.” The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the term “paradigm shift” as “an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.” When something happens or is learned that causes us to look at something differently, we experience a paradigm shift.
Interestingly enough, the example given by the Merriam Webster Dictionary for the usage of this term relates to the theory of evolution: “This discovery will bring about a paradigm shift in our understanding of evolution.” Without realizing it, the dictionary’s authors chose the perfect example of a paradigm shift. In the end of days, all people will discover Hashem, and this will cause a fundamental change in outlook, leading people to reject the underlying basis of evolutionary theory, which is that the world came into existence on its own, without a Creator. Recognizing the truth about Creation will bring about the ultimate paradigm shift – a dramatic change in how people view the world. They will look at the giraffe’s extended neck not as the result of its stretching to reach leaves, but rather as the way Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, created the giraffe from the outset. Every explanation will suddenly appear meaningless, as it will be revealed to have been predicated on fundamentally mistaken premises.
Over the course of our lives, we often experience paradigm shifts, both big and small. An enlightening example is a story told by Rabbi Paysach Krohn in his Illuminations of the Maggid about an unusual event that once took place on visiting day in a certain summer camp. A stretch limousine pulled up in the parking lot, and two campers excitedly ran to the limousine. After several minutes, the limousine – to everyone’s shock – drove out of the parking lot and onto the grass, and continued until the entrance to the boys’ bunk. The window rolled down, and somebody was seen peering outside through the door. The limousine then drove to the camp director’s bungalow, and the passengers got out of the car, entered the bungalow, and remained there for a while.
The reactions of the campers and guests were predictable. They all said sneeringly, “Look what you can do when you have money!” They naturally assumed that two campers had especially wealthy parents, who, due to their privileged status, allowed themselves the luxury of driving straight to the bunk and spending time with the camp director. People looked askance at what they assumed to be this grossly unethical conduct.
Soon thereafter, however, word spread that this is not what happened at all. Those two campers came from an ordinary family, that was not wealthy. Unfortunately, their father was very sick and frail, and was not expected to live for much longer. Given his fragile condition, the father could not drive to the camp to visit his sons. However, some of the family’s friends donated money to hire a large limousine so the man could lie down comfortably and thus make the trip. When he arrived in the camp, his sons very much wanted him to see their bunk. As the man could not walk from the parking lot, the vehicle drove right up to the bunk so he could see it through the window. Then, the man needed to sleep in a proper bed, and so he was brought to the most comfortable bungalow in the camp, the one belonging to the director, where he took a nap.
What at first appeared as an act of arrogance and entitlement was, in truth, the heartrending sight of a dying patient coming to see his children despite his ailing health. This is a paradigm shift – when a missing piece of information changes one’s entire outlook on a situation once he discovers it. Until he receives that information, he sees things incorrectly.
We often fail to look at events in our lives from a positive angle because, like Yosef’s brothers, we are missing vital pieces of information. And just as Yosef’s brothers eventually realized that their seemingly harsh situation was being orchestrated and handled by their loving brother, we will similarly be shown that everything that happens to us is being done by our loving Father entirely for our benefit. Whether it’s national calamities such as the Inquisition, the Crusades and the Holocaust, or our personal struggles and misfortunes, we will, in the future, receive the missing information that will fundamentally change our outlook.
The experience of Shabbat, as we know, is a taste of the next world, when everything will be clear. The future world is called יום שכולו שבת – “the day that is entirely Shabbat” – because we catch a glimpse of that world every Shabbat. And so each and every week, on Shabbat, we are given the special ability to experience a paradigm shift, to look upon our lives and look upon the world from a different, more positive, perspective. We are given the special ability to recognize that Hashem created the world and is governing our lives, always leading us at every stage to precisely where we need to go. By opening our minds to perceive our lives differently, and by opening our eyes to view the world from a positive outlook, we can experience a profound paradigm shift each and every Shabbat, which will then make our lives happier and more fulfilling.