Parasha Vayeishev
SAN DIEGO — You’ve heard it many times, “Man plans, G-d laughs.” Or perhaps, like me, you’ve heard this version, “Mentsch tracht, Gott lacht.” I like “Man thinks, G-d Winks.” Regardless, like all of us who prefer to live without being mutchet or tcheppeht, (pressured or bothered), Jacob found that life has its challenges and disappointments. Just when we think all is well in our family, in our career, in our lives, G-d shows us He has another lesson for us to learn. It seems the only thing predictable about life is how unpredictable it can be.
A lesson? Yes, a lesson. This is based on the Hasidic notion of yeridah tzorech aliyah, meaning “descent for the sake of ascent.” Every setback is a setup for a comeback. The only reason we fall is to rise. Perhaps this is a key life lesson in this week’s parasha.
From Rashi we learn that Jacob wanted to live in peace, in shalva, in tranquility, but it was not to be. From the Ramban we see again the notion that we can plan all we want, but it is G-d’s ultimate plan that takes precedence, “Hagezera emet, vehacharitzut sheker.” We live as partners with G-d, between our own free will and G-d’s blueprint for us. Mishlei 19:21 teaches us, “There are many thoughts in a man’s heart, but God’s plan-that shall stand.”
At the beginning of the parasha, we read that Jacob sent Joseph to Hebron. But later Joseph sees it’s all G-d’s will, and shares with his brothers, “So it was not you who sent me here, but Hashem” (Genesis 45:8). Vayeishev, perhaps more than any parasha, teaches us that downturns aren’t permanent.
Do we always see, are we mindful of, His hand in our lives and in the lives of our family and our friends? When His plan deviates from our own hopes and dreams, do we come closer to Him or are we so shaken that we turn away? When we daven, pray, we would be wise to be mindful of the words that teach us that, like Joseph who saw that Hashem was always with him (Genesis 39:2), that He is with us, teaching us, guiding us, and assisting us. Those fortunate enough to see this undoubtedly lead a rich, comforted, life.
As Rudyard Kipling put it beautifully in his poem “If.” “If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same…You are a better man than most.”
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Dr. Mantell writes a d’var Torah each week for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family worship.
Thank you. I needed that reminder and will remember your words as I go through a difficult time in my life right now.