The Light at the Bottom of the Pit

Landing with a thud at the bottom of a deep pit, Yosef must have wondered if things could get any worse. Indeed they would when his master's wife decided she wanted him. But how did he view all these events? When he eventually revealed himself to his brothers he let them know that he did not hold them responsible for what had occurred. As far as he was concerned it was all part of God's plan that he be in Egypt in order to sustain the whole family. To take that even one step further, although Yosef may not have been fully aware, God wanted Yaakov and his family to be exiled to Egypt. He chose to send Yaakov to Egypt as the visiting father of a member of the royalty, rather than having Yaakov taken there in captivity. In this respect Yosef's sale to Egypt was primarily to bring about the slavery in Egypt, which was a vital component in the building of the Jewish nation.
There is a Midrashic statement which comments that while Yaakov was busy mourning the loss of Yosef, and Reuven was busy atoning for getting involved in his father's personal life, and Yehudah was dealing with his role in allowing the sale of Yosef, God was busy planning to brining about the Moshiach by facilitating the union between Yehudah and Tamar. But to have Moshiach there had to be a Jewish Nation. That was also part and parcel, and perhaps front and center, of what God was busy doing in the past few Torah portions.
To see the positive and the constructive outcome of being tossed into the pit was the challenge facing Yosef. Later events demonstrate that he passed the test.
I believe that the fact of his being thrown into the pit being in order to take the nation to Egypt is alluded to in the verse describing his being tossed in. The Torah writes והבור רק אין בו מים, and the pit was empty, there was in it no water. There is much written about the apparent redundancy in this verse. If we focus just on the words רק אין בו מים, we can explain it as follows. רק=300 in Gematria (numerical value), אין בו subtract from it מים=90 you are left with 210 the number of years that the Jews were in Egypt.

Lag B'Omer Thoughts

The following is a free rendition of an interesting insight of the Chidushei HaRim, the founder of the Gerer Chassidic Dynsasty.

Lag B'Omer, which falls out Monday night, May 11 and Tuesday, May 12 this year, is seen as a celebration of the life's work of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. One of the leading sages of his generation for his teaching of the conventional portions of Torah, he is best known for his Kabbalistic teachings and for laying down the foundations of Jewish mysticism and spirituality. He famously spent thirteen years hiding in a cave after being sentenced to death by the Roman occupiers of Palestine. The Talmud tells the story of how that occurred.

One day he was sitting with two of his contemporaries, Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Yose. Rabbi Yehudah began to praise the Roman government for all the public works projects they were building in Palestine. He felt that they were benefiting the Jews as well. Rabbi Yose remained silent in response. Rabbi Shimon criticized the Romans and said that they were only doing it for self aggrandizement.

When the Romans heard about this conversation, they appointed Rabbi Yehudah as the foremost spokesperson for the Jews. Rabbi Yose, for his silence, was exiled. Rabbi Shimon was sentenced to death for his criticism. To save his life he ran and hid in a cave for thirteen years.

The Chidushei HaRim suggests that the names of these sages indicate that they shared the souls of some of the sons of Yaakov (Jacob). Jewish tradition already teaches us that the sages of their generation, immediately after the destruction of the Second Temple, were held responsible by God for the sale of Yosef (Joseph) 1500 years earlier. This was because they shared the souls of the brothers who had sold Yosef long ago.

Yehudah (Judah), the son of Yaakov, is found already in the Torah as the spokesperson for his family. Tradition teaches us that he repented for his part in the sale of Yosef, and was already forgiven by God for his part. That is why Rebbe Yehudah, his spiritual descendant, was now given the chance to take a leadership position as the spokesperson for the Jewish nation.

Yosef is criticized for his silence. When his brothers met with him on their arrival in Egypt and had no idea who he was, they repeatedly referred to their father as "your servant." Five times Yosef heard this term of disrespect for his father and was silent. As a result, Rabbi Yose was now silent as well. He was sent to Tzippori (Sepphoris) to exile. The Talmud teaches us that Tzippori was a town in which one could learn how to refrain from improper speech. Certainly an appropriate exile for his history of wrongdoing.

Finally, Shimon (Simon) was the brother who was most responsible for the sale of Yosef. He actually wanted his siblings to execute Yosef, but in the end was overruled and Yosef was thrown into the pit instead. That is why Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai was now sentenced to death by the Romans, but in the end spent many years in a cave instead.

The Zohar teaches that just as Yosef was the brother who took the primary lead in offering physical sustenance to his family, he was also the one who was supposed to offer spiritual sustenance. When his brothers sold him, they destroyed the conduit by which he was able to transmit to them spiritual sustenance. Shimon, as the primary mover behind that sale, had the main responsibility for the lack of spiritual sustenance for the Jewish people. It therefore fell to his spiritual descendant, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, to reopen those channels through the writing of the Zohar and the teaching of Jewish spirituality.

This was his Tikkun (rectification) for the wrongdoing his spiritual ancestor had committed so many years before.