{"id":40507,"date":"2018-09-18T12:55:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T09:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=40507"},"modified":"2022-04-13T23:33:30","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:33:30","slug":"the-ruler-of-emotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-ruler-of-emotions\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ruler of Emotions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were frightened of him (Genesis 45:4), Joseph reassured them by saying “I am your brother Joseph, he whom you sold into Egypt. \u00a0Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me hither; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you.\u201d (Genesis 45:4-5).<\/span><\/p>\n

On the one hand, Joseph does not intend to ignore the ugly act that his brothers have done, and he says twice: “he whom you sold… because you sold me hither.\u201d \u00a0On the other hand, he makes it clear to them that their action served a bigger Divine plan: \u201cit was to save life that God sent me ahead of you.” From here one can learn that our world is conducted on two plains and with two sets of laws: \u00a0on the lower plain, the actions and oversights of human beings determine the course of events, but on the upper plane the human actor is integrated into the Divine plan. Here we have an excellent example to illustrate the concept expressed in the Mishna that “everything is foreseen and free will is given\u201d(Pirkei Avot 3:15).<\/span><\/p>\n

With the death of Jacob, the brothers again fear that Joseph will take revenge and they say to him: \u00a0\u201cBefore his death your father left this instruction: So shall you say to Joseph, \u2018Forgive, I urge you, the offense and guilt of your brothers who treated you so harshly.\u2019\u201d (Genesis 50:16-17). \u00a0And Joseph reassures them with words similar to what they said above, when their father was still living: \u201cHave no fear! Am I a substitute for God? Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result\u2014the survival of many people.\u201d (Genesis 50:19-20). \u00a0Again, Joseph does not dress up the brother\u2019s behavior nor to be straight with them: \u201cyou intended me harm,\u201d but he points out again that the actions of his brothers fit into a great Divine plan: \u201cGod intended it for good. <\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph\u2019s words: \u00a0\u201cAm I a substitute for God?\u201d recall his father\u2019s response to Rachel, Joseph\u2019s mother, when she said to Jacob bitterly, \u201cGive me children, or I shall die.\u201d (Genesis 30:1). \u00a0Jacob said: \u201cCan I take the place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?\u201d (Genesis 30:2). Joseph\u2019s words are a type of corrective to his father\u2019s words. Jacob was terribly insensitive to his beloved wife\u2019s distress whereas their son Joseph went out of his way to comfort his sinful brothers. \u00a0Joseph\u2019s words both in Chapter 45 and in our chapter, are a wonderful expression of the opposition to any form of vengeance. Even if we wrong you or offend you, you should forgive and have mercy. Who knows, perhaps the sin they committed against you serves, in the final analysis, some plan that is hidden from you, on the level of \u201cGod intended it for good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The Ruler of Emotions","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Joseph goes out of his way to comfort his sinful brothers","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"old_create_date":"","links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40507"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104003,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40507\/revisions\/104003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}