This is Vayigash, where we have the dramatic meeting and the reintroduction of Yosef and his brothers. They’re going home and telling Yaakov that Yosef is still living, and Yaakov says, “This is tremendous. Yosef, my son, is still living. I’m going to go and see him before I die.” Later, Yaakov goes to Be'er Sheva and brings a korban (offering). Rashi asks, “Why did he go to Be'er Sheva?” Because Be'er Sheva is a place where Yaakov... HaKadosh Baruch Hu told Yitzchak that he shouldn’t go to Chutz La'aretz (outside the Land of Israel). And Yaakov, if he knew, was bizarre that he was going to Chutz La'aretz. So, therefore, here in Be'er Sheva, HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to him, “Don’t worry. You go. You go to Mitzrayim. Don’t worry about it.” But it’s very strange. Why did he make a decision first to say, “I’m going to go”? Why didn’t he first go ahead and say, “Let me ask Hashem if that’s what I’ve got to do”? But he immediately goes and makes a decision.
It occurred to me that perhaps the depth of this is: Remember, Rashi says in the beginning of Parashat Vayeshev, he says, “Yaakov wants to sit in peace.” HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, “What? Tzadikim (righteous people) don’t have enough? They want to sit in peace in this world?” And all types of suffering began. Yaakov learned that HaKadosh Baruch Hu was giving him a message: “Your job is to sit in peace. Your job is to sit in peace. Your job is to sit in peace.” It’s not over. You’ve got things to do. There are accomplishments in life. And therefore, Yaakov Avinu understood well that HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s lesson to him was: You can’t sit back. A tzadik (righteous person) always has to be pushing forward. There’s more to do.As soon as Yaakov heard that Yosef is alive, Yaakov said, “I understand that I have a duty to go and work with Yosef. He’s there. That means HaKadosh Baruch Hu was saying, ‘I’ve got to go there.’” And for some reason, that’s where we’ve got to be. And that’s where my next job is. And indeed, Yaakov had to establish the Jewish people there, so that they should be able to survive the Galut (exile). He was mitzta'er. He felt bad. He came to Be'er Sheva. He brought something. He made something. Maybe HaKadosh Baruch Hu would tell me otherwise. But his immediate reaction was, “That’s what I must do.”
This is the way we have to approach things in life. There are circumstances and situations that we didn’t ask for, and we don’t ask for. But we have to understand every situation. Okay, so now, what does HaKadosh Baruch Hu want me to do? It means, because this situation arose, now I have a responsibility to act. And the way I act, and what I do with it, that’s what HaKadosh Baruch Hu is looking at.
We should all have the Beracha (blessing), that just as Yaakov, he knew, after his Vayechi Yaakov, next week, he has 17 years of bliss, because he was establishing the Jewish order in Mitzrayim. We should all be zocheh (be worthy) that we make the right decisions. We also have that zechut (merit).