Parashas Shemos - Overcoming Obstacles

I used to work in a small office with someone who was not religious at all. We got to share a few stories - one I will never forget: He told me he use to have long payis, wear only white shirts, and never left his house without a black hat. I asked him, “What happened? How did you go from all that to not keeping Kosher, Shabbos,or anything else in between for that matter?” He told me he was “angry” at Hashem. Ever since he was a child, he felt as if Hashem 'abandoned' him. He lost a brother at a young age and when his mother passed away from a tumor, it triggered his 'separation' from Judaism.. At one point, he actually went onto a rooftop to jump off but then changed his mind. From that day on, he 'gave up' on Hashem and Judaism.

In this week's Parasha, the Torah says, “These are the names of Bnei Yisroel who came to Egypt...” Then it names the eleven sons of Yaakov, followed by, “All the souls that came from Yaakov numbered seventy; and Yosef was already in Egypt.”

Rashi asks; Weren't Yosef's sons included in the seventy? From the above posuk it doesn't seem like that; however, in Bereishis (46, 8-27) we see Yosef and his sons were indeed counted in the seventy. Rashi answers that the purpose of breaking it up a little was to let us know how righteous Yosef was. “He was the same Yosef who tended his father's sheep and now he's the same Yosef who is King of Egypt and he remained righteous,” he says.

Between tending his father's sheep and becoming King of Egypt, Yosef had many obstacles. He was hated by his brothers, he had been thrown into a pit, sold as a slave, seduced by Potifar's wife, accused of trying to rape her, thrown into jail, etc.

How was Yosef was still righteous (Yosef Ish Tzaddik) even with all the obstacles in his life?

There's a concept of 'surrendering' to the 'Higher Power' a.k.a. Hashem. At times when I feel like everything in my life is not going the way I want it to go (I'm sure a lot of you know what I am talking about – as the saying goes, “when it rains it pours,”) I feel like I can't handle it and I have no strength to do it on my own. It's a similar feeling to hopelessness or giving up; Yi'ush. For example: when someone loses an object and gives up on ever finding it. He feels there's no way he's going to get it back, so he transfers ownership to whoever finds it by giving up on looking for it. Surrendering is knowing a person can't handle a situation on his own, and asks a 'Higher Power' (Hashem) for help. The difference between the two is that by 'giving up' (miya'esh) you're putting Hashem aside, whereas by surrendering, you're putting your hope in Hashem.

A reason why Yosef was “righteous,” was not only because he went from tending his father's sheep to becoming King of Egypt. I think there's more to Rashi than meets the eye. He was righteous because of the whole journey in between as well. No matter how bad a situation got, Yosef always knew Hashem would never abandon him. We saw this when Yosef comforted his brothers, telling them, “Please don't be afraid. Come close. It was Hashem who sent me here to Egypt, etc.” In every situation, Yosef knew Hashem was behind it all and when obstacles got in his way, he put his faith in Hashem's Hand to help him out.

Kaveh El Hashem, Chazak v'Yametz Libecha – Have hope in Hashem, He will strengthen your hearts.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso