Let's begin with a story...
Once upon a time there was a girl named Rena. It was the height of summer and she was looking forward to cooling down with a sweet iced treat. Her father opened the freezer and handed her an ice cream sandwich. "Enjoy," he said, "because this is the last one!" Excitedly, Rena took the ice cream sandwich, unwrapped it, and went outside into her backyard.
Rena decided it was the perfect weather for a picnic. Unfortunately, she tripped while walking down the steps of her deck and her ice cream sandwich went flying...right into a patch of mud.
Rena was really upset. She cried, tears streaming down her face.
Her father went back to the freezer to see whether there might be another ice cream sandwich. Of course there wasn't - but he did notice something else. On the box, which he hadn't read carefully, it said that the ice cream CONTAINS TREE NUTS. Rena was allergic to tree nuts!
It turned out that having the ice cream fall into the mud was a blessing in disguise...can you imagine what would have happened if Rena had eaten the ice cream?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Why was Rena sad when the ice cream fell into the mud?
2. At that moment, do you think Rena would have thought the situation could have had a good ending?
3. How did Rena experience Yad Hashem/ God's plan when her ice cream fell?
In this week's parsha, we meet one of Jacob's sons, Joseph. Joseph is a dreamer, but his dreams aren't received well by his brothers.
TIER I- Several pesukim will be provided below that demonstrate *some* of the negative events that befall Joseph. Please read them and discuss them with your partner (some context will be provided). Pay special attention to how Joseph might have felt as he lived through these negative events.
TIER II- Please open a Chumash in shul and read all of Genesis 37. Then please read Genesis 39 and 40. As you are reading, make a list of the negative, problematic or upsetting events that befall Joseph. Discuss with your partner how Joseph might have felt as he experiences these negative events.
Joseph's brothers hated him because of his dreams. They thought he saw his dreams as making him lord over all of them. It also did not help that their father, Jacob, had given Joseph a coat of many colors that they envied. This is what happens when the brother see Joseph one day.
(יח) וַיִּרְא֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ מֵרָחֹ֑ק וּבְטֶ֙רֶם֙ יִקְרַ֣ב אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וַיִּֽתְנַכְּל֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ לַהֲמִיתֽוֹ׃ (יט) וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֑יו הִנֵּ֗ה בַּ֛עַל הַחֲלֹמ֥וֹת הַלָּזֶ֖ה בָּֽא׃ (כ) וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ לְכ֣וּ וְנַֽהַרְגֵ֗הוּ וְנַשְׁלִכֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד הַבֹּר֔וֹת וְאָמַ֕רְנוּ חַיָּ֥ה רָעָ֖ה אֲכָלָ֑תְהוּ וְנִרְאֶ֕ה מַה־יִּהְי֖וּ חֲלֹמֹתָֽיו׃
(18) They saw him from afar, and before he came close to them they plotted to kill him. (19) They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer! (20) Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we can say, ‘A savage beast devoured him.’ We shall see what comes of his dreams!”
Although the original intention was to kill Joseph, the brothers change their mind, as you will see below.
(כה) וַיֵּשְׁבוּ֮ לֶֽאֱכׇל־לֶ֒חֶם֒ וַיִּשְׂא֤וּ עֵֽינֵיהֶם֙ וַיִּרְא֔וּ וְהִנֵּה֙ אֹרְחַ֣ת יִשְׁמְעֵאלִ֔ים בָּאָ֖ה מִגִּלְעָ֑ד וּגְמַלֵּיהֶ֣ם נֹֽשְׂאִ֗ים נְכֹאת֙ וּצְרִ֣י וָלֹ֔ט הוֹלְכִ֖ים לְהוֹרִ֥יד מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ (כו) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוּדָ֖ה אֶל־אֶחָ֑יו מַה־בֶּ֗צַע כִּ֤י נַהֲרֹג֙ אֶת־אָחִ֔ינוּ וְכִסִּ֖ינוּ אֶת־דָּמֽוֹ׃ (כז) לְכ֞וּ וְנִמְכְּרֶ֣נּוּ לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִ֗ים וְיָדֵ֙נוּ֙ אַל־תְּהִי־ב֔וֹ כִּֽי־אָחִ֥ינוּ בְשָׂרֵ֖נוּ ה֑וּא וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֖וּ אֶחָֽיו׃
(25) Then they sat down to a meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels bearing gum, balm, and ladanum to be taken to Egypt. (26) Then Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? (27) Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.
As if it were not bad enough that Joseph was sold to strangers, he is then sold again when he comes to a strange land. Please see below-
(1) When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, a certain Egyptian, Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his chief steward, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
Even when things seem to be well for Joseph, they don't go well for long. Now the wife of Joseph's employer makes up a lie about him- which makes him end up in jail!
(17) Then she [the wife of Potiphar] told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew slave whom you brought into our house came to attack me (18) but when I screamed at the top of my voice, he left his coat with me and fled outside.” (19) When his master heard the story that his wife told him, namely, “Thus and so your slave did to me,” he was furious. (20) So Joseph’s master had him put in prison, where the king’s prisoners were confined.
Once in jail, Joseph successfully interprets the butler (chief cupbearer) and baker's dreams. You would think that the chief cupbearer would remember Joseph and try to get him out of prison...but that's not what happens.
(23) Yet the chief cupbearer did not think of Joseph; he forgot him.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. How do you think Joseph felt as he went through these experiences?
2. Do you think Joseph thought God had a plan for him? Why yes or no?
Much later on in the Joseph story, Joseph says something extremely surprising to his brothers. This is what he declares.
(ד) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יוֹסֵ֧ף אֶל־אֶחָ֛יו גְּשׁוּ־נָ֥א אֵלַ֖י וַיִּגָּ֑שׁוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אֲנִי֙ יוֹסֵ֣ף אֲחִיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־מְכַרְתֶּ֥ם אֹתִ֖י מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ (ה) וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ אַל־תֵּעָ֣צְב֗וּ וְאַל־יִ֙חַר֙ בְּעֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם כִּֽי־מְכַרְתֶּ֥ם אֹתִ֖י הֵ֑נָּה כִּ֣י לְמִֽחְיָ֔ה שְׁלָחַ֥נִי אֱלֹקִ֖ים לִפְנֵיכֶֽם׃ (ו) כִּי־זֶ֛ה שְׁנָתַ֥יִם הָרָעָ֖ב בְּקֶ֣רֶב הָאָ֑רֶץ וְעוֹד֙ חָמֵ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵין־חָרִ֖ישׁ וְקָצִֽיר׃ (ז) וַיִּשְׁלָחֵ֤נִי אֱלֹקִים֙ לִפְנֵיכֶ֔ם לָשׂ֥וּם לָכֶ֛ם שְׁאֵרִ֖ית בָּאָ֑רֶץ וּלְהַחֲי֣וֹת לָכֶ֔ם לִפְלֵיטָ֖ה גְּדֹלָֽה׃ (ח) וְעַתָּ֗ה לֹֽא־אַתֶּ֞ם שְׁלַחְתֶּ֤ם אֹתִי֙ הֵ֔נָּה כִּ֖י הָאֱלֹקִ֑ים וַיְשִׂימֵ֨נִֽי לְאָ֜ב לְפַרְעֹ֗ה וּלְאָדוֹן֙ לְכׇל־בֵּית֔וֹ וּמֹשֵׁ֖ל בְּכׇל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
(4) Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come forward to me.” And when they came forward, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, he whom you sold into Egypt. (5) Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me here; it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. (6) It is now two years that there has been famine in the land, and there are still five years to come in which there shall be crops from working the land. (7) God has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival on earth, and to save your lives in an extraordinary deliverance. (8) So, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Does Joseph blame his brothers for sending him to Egypt?
2. Who does Joseph say *really* sent him to Egypt?
3. Are you surprised by Joseph's statements? Why yes or no?
Imagine standing in a museum and seeing a rug that looked like a mess of lots of threads and colors. You might scrunch your face up in confusion as you stared at it. It all looks so random. But THEN you realize that you are actually looking at it the wrong way! You are looking at the BACK of the rug. If you walk around to look at the front of the rug, you will see the actual design and how beautiful it is.
In our world, as we live our life, sometimes it seems like things that happen to us are completely random. It feels like that messy rug. But if we could see the world the way God sees it, we would understand that actually He has a plan for us - and that even though everything looks and feels messy to us, there is a clear design and order when you look at it from the front side.
THE REVERSE TAPESTRY
[Sometimes] we turn cynical. "Who needs this?" "It's all random [...]."
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik used an ancient, unforgettable metaphor to respond to this plaint:
Imagine you are looking at the back of a magnificent unlined tapestry hanging in a museum. You see a profusion of threads strung wildly in every direction, a riot of colors with no apparent purposeful arrangement; no fine embroidery, only stitching- an appalling mess. But then you realize that you are looking only at the underside of a brilliant work of art and after staring at it, the picture begins to fall into place. You begin to detect a motif, a hint of a grand design, a trace of a pattern, a fragment of a human figure. Now you sense hints of the tapestry's coherence and harmony. You know that if you could see the front side you would find it breathtakingly beautiful.
---
From the earth, we contemplate God's universe from its reverse side, as it were. If we believe God is a divine designer, we will discover a divine meaning from the clues we find, a grand design in the seemingly wild threads and colors of this world. Thought we will never get to see it from God's perspective, we intuit that it is magnificent. We may be confused about the patterns of life, and on the surface it often makes no sense, but we feel that behind it all, beyond the reach of our senses there is justice and fairness- reward for good and punishment for evil.
If you believe that creation is divine and that the world is created with purpose, then even if the threads of life are bewildering, you can be confident that the universe has a system and a plan and a pattern [...].
-Pages 155-156
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. What does the messy side of the rug/ tapestry represent?
2. What does the beautiful and detailed side of the rug/ tapestry represent?
3. Have you ever had a moment in your own life where you glimpsed the design in the tapestry- saw the Yad Hashem (Hand of God) at work? What happened?
(You can watch this whole video by scanning the QR code below. If you prefer to read, the part typed below starts at minute 1:33 and onward.)
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Where was Rabbi Jonathan Sacks supposed to be instead of filming this video?
2. Why wasn't he there?
3. How *could* he have responded to his flight being cancelled?
4. How *did* he respond his flight being cancelled?
5. Have you ever had a situation happen in your life that was similar to Rabbi Sacks? How did you respond to it?
If you have finished the material above and still have time left over, please consider looking at and discussing the following texts-
1. The Purim story- Megillat Esther. Consider and discuss all the ways in which the Purim story demonstrates God's plan, especially for Esther! One key example occurs when Mordechai speaks to her in Esther 4:13-14. His iconic words- "Who knows whether you have come to royalty for just such a time as this?"
2. Everything Hashem Does is for the Best (a story featuring Rabbi Akiva and adapted from Berachot 60b) at this link: https://bit.ly/akivacandle
3. Taanit 21a (a story about a man called Nachum Ish Gam Zu) at this link: https://bit.ly/nachumgamzu
- Are you surprised by Joseph's understanding of Yad Hashem/ God's plan in his life?
- Have you ever had a moment where you have seen Yad Hashem/ God's plan in your life?
- Does Rabbi Sacks' approach of wondering 'What am I called to do in this moment' when things don't go as planned speak to you? How yes or no?