This is one of my favorite bitachon-related thoughts, on Parashat Shemot
The pasuk says,
וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף
A new king arose in Mitzrayim, who “did not know” about Yosef. And he planned to outsmart the Jewish people, to stop their population growth. The Kli Yakar asks what it means that he
“did not know” about Yosef?
A simple explanation is that he really did know Yosef, but pretended not to. But the Kli Yakar explains that it means he didn’t learn the lesson of Yosef.
What was the lesson of Yosef?
The brothers were afraid that Yosef would become king over them; they feared the fulfillment of the dreams. So, what did they do? They threw him into a pit. But they didn’t realize that when you try to avoid the Will of G-d, not only are you unsuccessful, but you end up bringing about the Will of
G-d yourself.
Who was it that made Yosef into King? It was the brothers. If he had stayed home, he never would have become the viceroy of Egypt. They made him into the king.
Paroah didn’t know this rule. If he had, he never would have done what he did. He said, “ פן ירבה lest they become great”
And G-d said , “כן ירבה- you are going to make them great! You, with your decrees, will make him great.” The famous Ibn Ezra asks who made Moshe Rabbenu into the leader. It was Paroah, he says, because Paroah’s decree that every boy should be thrown into the Nile is what ultimately caused Moshe to be raised in his palace, as a prince. And that enabled Moshe to become the Jewish leader.
The rule is that you can’t avoid the Will of G-d.
But what you can do is connect to G-d and change things.
That is an important rule.
This past week, we mentioned that a person should not get frustrated if he wants the vaccine, but can’t get it, because if he’s supposed to get it, he’ll get it, and if he’s not he won’t. That is true, but here is an additional point:
Connect to Hashem and even if you aren’t supposed to get it, now Hashem will make it so that that you will get it, and it will be good for you. Maybe before, it wasn’t good for you, and now it will be.
Connect to Hashem- that’s the way to change things. This rule repeats itself multiple times throughout history. People try to do things, and they backfire. One of the classic examples is Haman. Haman built very high gallows for Mordechai. It was so high that it could be seen through the window of the palace. This was done for the sole purpose that when Haman would be eating his meal, he could envision the full completion of his plan. He envisioned Mordechai hanging from the gallows while he watched from his dinner. He envisioned himself, along with the king and queen looking through the window. at Mordechai hanging. That was his ultimate dream.
In the end, when he fell, the pole was seen outside the window, and the guards were able to tell Ahashverosh, “Look through the window- there’s the pole he prepared for Mordechai, who spoke good on the king!” And Ahashverosh immediately told them to hang Haman on it.
So Haman thought he was preparing the gallows for Mordechai, but it backfired. He prepared the gallows for himself.
There are endless examples of this.
The Ben Ish Chai makes this point, about Yosef Mokir Shabbat, who always wanted to buy the best food for Shabbat. A goy had a dream that Yosef would inherit all his wealth, and he did not want that to happen, so the goy took all of his assets and invested them in a large jewel. But rather than put the jewel in the bank, he put it in his turban. That way, wherever he went, the jewel would be close to him, so that Yosef would never get to it. Then one day, as he walked across a bridge, a strong wind blew the turban off his head, and, along with jewel, it fell into the sea. He pacified himself that at least if he didn’t have it, Yosef wouldn’t get it either.
A large fish swallowed the jewel. The fisherman caught it on Erev Shabbat, with only an hour or two left until Shabbat. They couldn’t think of anyone that would buy it, except Yosef, who would always buy the best things for Shabbat. So they went to Yosef. Sure enough he bought the large fish, and found the jewel inside.
That is the power of Hashem’s Will.
When you try to go against the Will of G-d, it only backfires. The only way to change the Will of G-d is by connecting to Hashem.. That is the way to make things happen. That is a powerful lesson of bitachon, in this week’s Parasha.
Have a Shabbat shalom.