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SHABBAT SHALOM
Friday, December 14, 2018
Candle lighting - 4:10pm
Torah Portion - Mikeitz
Saturday, December 15,  2018
Havdalah - 5:14pm

SHABBAT SHALOM!


Contact Information

Rabbi David Delman
845.608.2357


email:
office@jeprockland.org




    
Parshas Vayigash concludes the extraordinary story of the life of Joseph. We are aware that there are numerous iconic men and women mentioned in the Torah. Yet the Torah proclaims only Joseph as "Joseph the righteous" ..."Yosef HaTzaddik." Why is this so? Could we not make the case that all our Patriarchs and Matriarchs were deserving of such a title...Tzaddik, meaning righteous? The Rabbis point out that the title of righteousness is given especially to one who is tested by an act of immorality, and passes. This is a reference to Joseph when he was regularly tested by the temptations posed by the wife of Potiphar.
 
I would like to offer another answer as well. Imagine being Joseph for a moment. After all your brothers have done to you, the tables are turned, and you are now in a position of great power where you can easily exact revenge on those that abused you for so many years. How many of us would not take advantage of this opportunity to exact revenge?  But not only does Joseph withhold these natural desires, he actually consoles his brothers, embraces them, explains to them that it was all G-d's will, part of the Creator's Master Plan that arranged for their family's circumstances to unfold the way they did. That level of self- control, that grander view that enabled him to consider "the bigger picture" is truly unique, and thus, he truly earned the title, Joseph the Righteous. 
 
To conclude, I'd like to share a final thought. With Joseph's brothers standing before him in Egypt, he could no longer restrain himself, and famously proclaims: "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" These words suddenly put into perspective, for all to see, many of the questions of justice and injustice, the rights and wrongs, that played out in the life of Joseph. In retrospect, it made sense how everything was meant to be...
 
To be hated by his brothers -
To be thrown into a pit and left for dead -
To be sold to Arabs and brought to Egypt -
To be tested in the home of Potiphar -
To be thrown in jail for so long -
To interpret the dreams of the butler and the baker as well as Pharaoh -
 
All of this, so that he could personally develop through these challenges, then ascend to the throne, save the country, and finally bring his family down to Egypt where he would oversee this difficult stage of transition in our nation's history.
 
This is what we call "Hashgacha Pratis" (Divine Providence). We often struggle to make sense of the challenges we face every day. We see good people suffer while wicked people rejoice. We live our lives as best we can but often succumb to the many challenges we face. Let us always remember that there is a Divine rhyme and reason to everything that occurs. The Chofetz Chaim states that just as Joseph's proclamation, "I am Joseph!" made clear to all the many previous years of pain and anguish, so too, will it be in our lives when we merit the coming of Moshiach, and Hashem will be proclaimed as King. With that single realization, the many struggles in our own lives will be understood, and peace and harmony will prevail.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi David Delman
Director/JEP Rockland