Ra’anana Community Kollel
From Insights and Inspirations
Published by the Ra’anana Community Kollel
Mikeitz 5765
Cause and Effect
Rabbi Binyomin Lipson
“And it was, at the end of two years, that Pharaoh dreamt;
and he was standing on the Nile River . . .”
(Bereishit 36:1)
On the superficial level, it would seem that Yosef was forced to remain in prison until fortunately, Pharaoh had the dreams which brought about his release. However, the Beit Halevi explains that in fact, just the opposite is true. As the additional two years that Yosef was destined to remain in prison had come to an end, Hashem brought about Pharaoh’s dreams in order to serve as the impetus for Yosef’s release. If a man went to work one morning and was suddenly presented with a multimillion dollar business opportunity, the average person would certainly single out this transaction as the source of his wealth. However, as one’s income for the coming year has already been stipulated on Rosh Hashanah, it would be much more accurate to say that as this person was destined to become wealthy, Hashem merely presented him with a lucrative venture in order to bring about this divine decree. This is the idea presented by the Midrash (9:1) at the beginning of this week’s parshah:
“‘And it was, at the end of two years, that Pharaoh dreamt . . .’ This is expressed by the verse, ‘He placed an end to the darkness . . .’ (Iyov 28:3). When the duration of Yosef’s imprisonment was concluded, immediately Pharaoh dreamt.”
The Chofetz Chaim often illustrated this point with a parable. Once, in the time when railway travel was still a novelty, an uncultured but curious peasant went to observe the happenings of a busy train station. As he watched, a man with a brass whistle arrived and blew a loud blast. Suddenly, many of the passengers began to hurry towards the waiting train and present their tickets. Several minutes later, the man blew another blast, and many of the remaining passengers who had not yet boarded hurried to do so. Finally, after a third shrill blast, the doors were sealed and the huge, powerful train began its journey to the town. After having observed this scenario, the peasant was totally convinced that this man with the brass whistle was the owner and manager of the entire train station. Approaching the uniformed man with great awe and respect, the peasant expressed his great admiration for the workings of the station and posed several questions about its operation. With a surprised look, the man burst out laughing and replied, “If you think that I am the manager of the station you are greatly mistaken. The real manager would never be seen on the tracks himself! He works in a nearby office and hands down the times of departure to me. I merely blow the whistle in direct accordance with his orders!” Far too often, continued the Chafetz Chaim, in our evaluation of cause and effect we behave much like this peasant. We look around the world with a limited level of understanding and foolishly assume that we can fathom the reasons for the events of history. However, for the most part we remain totally unaware of the true cause of even the most simple and obvious events of our daily lives.
The concluding Mishnah of Mesechet Sotah discusses the period of time which will precede the coming of the Messiah. Among other descriptions, the Mishnah tells us, “In the time directly preceding the coming of the Messiah, the face of the generation will be the face of a dog.” What is this Mishnah attempting to teach us? The Chafetz Chaim explained that when a person hits a dog with a stick, the dog can easily remain totally unaware of the true identity of his attacker. He will relate to the stick itself as the enemy and attempt to bite it, totally ignoring the person in whose hand it is being held. In the same way, the generation just before the coming of the Messiah will suffer from this same lack of perception. When the Jewish people are attacked and oppressed by the nations of the world and afflicted by all types of troubles, they will view the aggressors as the true and ultimate enemy, totally forgetting that they are but a stick in the hand of Hashem. The face of the generation refers to its essence, the inner dimension; the panim. It will be a time when the Jewish people’s true enemies will not be readily identifiable, and when our tribulations demand that we search our inner selves for the real source of our problems.
Nevertheless, just as when Yosef’s time in confinement came to an end, he was immediately catapulted from the stench of the dungeon to the throne room of the royal palace, so too, when our time in exile has been completed, Hashem will not allow our suffering to continue for even a second longer. Only then will we be able to understand the true meaning of every chapter of Jewish history.
