Parshas Vayigash: Reframing our relationship with Hashem and others

Rabbi Sacks writes Joseph had reframed his entire past. He no longer saw himself as a man wronged by his brothers. He had come to see himself as a man charged with a life-saving mission by God. Everything that had happened to him was necessary so that he could achieve his purpose in life: to save an entire region from starvation during a famine, and to provide a safe haven for his family. This single act of reframing allowed Joseph to live without a burning sense of anger and injustice. It enabled him to forgive his brothers and be reconciled with them. It transformed the negative energies of feelings about the past into focused attention to the future. Rav Berkovits The reason why they were going to kill him was because they saw him as a lowly, narcissistic, critical, difficult person who could never be great. They saw him as a menace to the future of the nation that would be formed from this family. It just couldn’t be that he would become the ruler of the country. It just wasn’t a possibility. So when he reveals himself they were stunned! It’s not just they misunderstood what was going on in the story. Rather they so misjudged him. It’s this way with people, we have impressions of people, and we write people off. It’s not just people. It’s our attitudes on life. Things are just so clear to us! The way we view things after that are jaded and we can’t see straight. Its demands integrity, it demands openness, it demands that we are honest as people, honest as Jews in the way we make our decisions and in the way we interact with others. Rav Berkovits is with a group of alumni – and whilst out there. Twice a year, no less than 390 species of birds pass through the area; water fowl, birds of prey and songbirds, water buffaloes and wildcats, unique flora and fauna. Over 500 million birds pass through Hula Valley each year. אני יוסף – when Yosef reveals himself to the brothers. They were נבהלו, speechless. Says the sefas emes – when he revealed himself he allowed the gadlus that he had been hiding whilst speaking to them, to show. They were now able to see the gadlus of Yosef Hatzadik. They came to the realization of what they had done and to whom! to such a great person. אוי לנו ליום דין – in the future, when we leave the world, we will be able to see this world with our נשמות, we will see the קדושה and גדלות that radiates from everything in this world. the regret will be in how we turned this beautiful world into something mundane when it's so big. We have to experience this beautiful world that Hashem created for us and recognize that it’s a gift from Hashem. The aesthetics. Look at the colours of world! colours don’t contradict one another. DO YOU EVER SEE flowers where the colours just don’t go? Recognize that this world is a gift from the creator. “It’s exceptionally beautiful…everything in the Briyah Hashem created for us…the beauty, the nature…we have to realize that it’s a personal gift from the Creator… ‘lhanos bahem bnei adam’...there is no explanation other than He did it for us! Gift wrapped! Look around and see the beautiful world and read the note that says ‘Love, Hashem.”