Parshas Vayigash contains the story of the dramatic reunion of Yosef and his brothers, and his father Yaakov. Yosef reconciled his grudge on his brothers for selling him as a slave, by saying, (45:5) “Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me here; it was to save life that Hashem sent me ahead of you.”
In reality, the brothers already realized that they made a grave mistake by selling Yosef, and admitted their sin. The passuk tells us earlier (42:21) “They said to one another, “But, we are being punished on account of our brother, because we looked on at his anguish, yet paid no heed as he pleaded with us. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
There were many years from when they sold Yosef until this point. Back then, they left him for dead in a pit, and then finally had mercy on him and pulled him out, only to sell him as a slave! Did they seriously think this entire time that they were justified? Why only now – that they were accused of treason by the second in command in Egypt – did they realize and confess their sin?
Rav Moshe Chevroni zt”l, Rosh Yeshiva of the Chevron Yeshiva, once stepped into a taxi for a short trip. The driver was noticeably not religious, given his long hair, ear piercings, and uncovered head, but his eyes lit up as he welcomed rosh yeshiva. “I have to tell you a story about my friend, Yaron, who became a fully religious Jew!” he began. “He now wears a kippah, and prays and learns most of the day. Do you want to hear?”
Rav Chevroni welcomed the story.
“After our army service,” the driver began, “Yaron and I went together to tour the world, starting with South America. We were exploring the Amazon Jungle with our group, when all of a sudden, a huge snake appeared. We all tried to scare it away, but it wouldn’t leave. Suddenly, it slithered up to Yaron and started wrapping itself around him! Two men started to hit it, trying to yank it off him, but it was too strong.
“We watched in horror as it coiled tighter and tighter, slowly choking my friend! We were all franticly watching as his face was turning blue! With gasping breaths, Yaron started screaming ‘Shema Yisroel!’ As soon as he said those words, someone from the group hit the snake one more time with a huge tree branch, and miraculously, the snake uncoiled itself and slithered away – disappearing into the trees! It was a real miracle!
“After this happened, Yaron left the tour and went straight back to Israel. He enrolled in a yeshiva, and became completely religious.
Rav Chevroni smiled, and asked the driver, “What about you? Why didn’t you go with him?”
“The snake was wrapped around my friend’s neck,” the driver shot back. “Not mine!”
My grandfather, Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l quoted Rav Eliyahu Lapion, zt”l, in his sefer Lev Eliyahu, who answered. When a man is a good place, he sometimes sees no wrong. The brothers looked at Yosef as a rebeller. They saw him hinting to the fact that he will rule over them, and they suffered from his slandering them to their father. They convened as a court of Jewish Law, and sentenced him. In their mind, they were justified, and they never had a reason to look back.
But things changed. Life became tough. They were accused of treason. Shimon was thrown in jail. Binyamin was summoned to Egypt, and Yehuda put his future on the line. They finally had time to think and rethink their life.
Why was this happening? What did Hashem want from them? As they thought and contemplated their life, judging and weighing their actions, they got the answer. They now realized their mistake, and they admitted it.
When life is going smooth, it is hard to recalibrate and rectify. But when the pressure is on and the snake is around a neck, perspectives change. The bumps in the road are a blessing in disguise – forcing us to rectify and recalibrate our deeds, and to reset ourselves on the true path.
Good Shabbos!
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