Mishpatim

Hashem tells the Jewish people,” ,הנה אנכי שלח מלאך לפניך לשמרך בדרך, behold, I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way.” The Torah continues by saying that they should listen to this angel and then he will help them conquer the land. There is a similar statement after the sin of the golden calf, where Hashem says He will send an angel to lead them. The Jews get upset and Moshe says, “If You don't lead us we won't go.” The Abarbanel asks, “Here, there was no sin, so why did Hashem want to take away His protection and put them in the hand of an angel? Furthermore, why is there no outcry from the Jews; why doesn't Moshe say anything?

The Malbim answers these questions by saying that there are two types of angels, one who acts on his own without Hashem’ accompaniment and one is acting for Hashem, with Hashem’s guidance, like Hashem is talking and doing through the angel. So, after the eigel when the people sinned, Hashem said it in anger that He wouldn't be with them. That was an angel that wasn't going to be there for their benefit, so they didn't want it. However, here, this angel was sent as an additional protection for their benefit to make sure they would be protected along the way, but Hashem wasn't leaving them.

The Netziv says Hashem is always watching over His people. Nevertheless, most of the time He appoints the angels to take care of things, as it says “I appoint My angel to watch over you.” In our parsha, Hashem was still watching over us but sending angels ahead to watch over us. However, after the sin of the eigel, He took away His personal protection and put us in the hands of the angel.

There is an interesting story which shows that, even now, Hashem is watching over us and is sending angels in different forms to protect us. A Jew tells this story. “I was a taxi driver and had just picked up a passenger. It was a little hot and the man rolled up his shirt sleeve. I saw the numbers tattooed on his arm and was overcome with emotion. When I asked him to tell me his story, he told me that his whole family was wiped out except for a brother that he had heard made it here to Israel. No one knows of him, so he probably died here leaving me alone in the world.”

“At this point, it’s important to know my story. I am a Baal Teshuva, having grown up on a cheloni kibbutz with no connection to religion. There was a huge vat into which all the potatoes went with a huge blender on the bottom that would grind up all the potatoes. My job was to put the potatoes in. One day, I climbed the ladder to dump in the potatoes, lost my footing and fell into this huge vat of potatoes. I screamed, but no one heard me and I knew it was a matter of minutes until I would hit the blenders. For the first time in my life, I turned to Hashem and screamed Hashem help me; I don't want to die! As I am screaming, I see a hand come down from the top of the vat; I grab on and it lifts me out. The first thing I noticed on that hand was the number tattooed on it.

This was the hand of Zalman from the kibbutz. He was saved from the Holocaust but it had made him psychologically unwell, so he never said a word to anyone. I thanked him profusely for saving my life but he just kept walking without a word. His number was forever etched in my memory. Now, when the man in my cab rolled up his sleep, I saw that the number was almost identical to that of Zalman’s. Only the last digit was different. Therefore, when I heard he was looking for his brother, I didn't say anything but started driving to the kibbutz. My passenger was getting a little agitated asking where we were going but I just kept driving. I drove up to the kibbutz, right to Zalman’s door, hoping he still lived there. I get out of the car and bang on the door. Zalman answers and I give him a huge hug. He looks at me like he has no idea who I am. Then, my passenger gets out of the car and comes toward us. He takes one look at Zalman and they embrace in an emotional and long hug! My hunch had paid off. Zalman was my passenger’s long-lost brother! It was the first time I ever heard Zalman speak. I thought to myself, Zalman was sent as my angel from heaven to save my life, so I would live and be his angel to bring him to his lost brother.” There are no coincidences; Hashem has it all planned out; we just have to do our part and be the next guy’s angel!

Vayechi 2017

Shortly before his death, Yaakov summons Yosef and asks him to swear that he will bury him in the cave of Machpelah where his parents and grandparents are buried. The posuk then tells us how Yaakov explains to Yosef why he didn't bury his mother there, saying he shouldn't have hard feelings that now I’m asking you to bury me there when I didn't do the same for your mother. ואני בבאי מפדן מתה עלי רחל, but as for me when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me. ואקברה שם בדרך אפרת היא בית לחם, and I buried her there on the road to Ephrath, which is Bais Lechem.

Rashi says, that he didn't even take her to Bais Lechem, to bury her in a settled land. Instead, he just buried her on the side of the road. He continues that he did it by the word of Hashem, so that when the Jews are exiled and pass by Rachel's tomb, she will go out and pray for them.

The עלינו לשבח asks, how do we understand this? Every Jewish child who's brought up in a religious home knows that we have to judge everyone favorably; surely a son has to judge his father favorably. These are the Avos, and the son in question is the closest to his father; how could it be that Yosef would hold a grudge and not give his father the benefit of the doubt?  

He answers that, of course, Yosef would give the benefit of the doubt as demonstrated by his not holding a grudge against his brothers. However, when it came to his mother's honor, he just couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. As much as he tried to give his father the benefit of the doubt, he just couldn't get the question out of his heart. This teaches us that, even though we have a commandment to judge everyone favorably, if one can't, despite trying to find a reason, Hashem won't fault him for not judging favorably,  as long as one doesn't take action because of it. In the case of Reuvain, another one of the shevatim, who was sticking up for his mother's honor, and moved Yaakov's bed to his mother's tent after Rachel’s death, in order that his mother shouldn't be inferior to the maidservants. He was punished because he took action. Yosef and Reuvain both took offense at a perceived injustice to their mothers, yet Reuvain, who took action, lost the bechora while Yosef, who didn't do anything, gained the bechora.

I saw a story by Mrs. Yehudis Samet that brings this idea home to us. She writes, “a friend called me for the name of a photographer to use for a simcha. I gave him the name of an excellent photographer.” “I’ve heard of him,” said my friend, “but I also heard he’s unreliable.” “What makes you say so?” I asked. “Well, I’m told that he was recently hired for a bar mitzvah and he arrived after it was half over.  There’s no way I’d hire a person who is so irresponsible.” “Are you sure it’s true?” I asked him. “I’m positive,” he said. “Yisrael was the head of the band that night, and he told it to me himself.” “Maybe, due to unforeseen circumstances, he was delayed,” I said, trying my best to judge favorably. “Perhaps you’re right,” replied my friend “but I just can’t risk it. Besides, there is no reason in the world for coming late. There is absolutely no excuse for a photographer to walk in after half the affair is over!” “He had a strong point.  When I hung up the phone I found myself in a real quandary. Could I really recommend someone unreliable? I called the musician and he verified the whole story. The very next day, I bumped into my good friend, the photographer. “Is it true that you arrived halfway through the bar mitzvah?” I asked. “Yes, it certainly is,” he said. “But why are you asking?” “I just recommended you for a job, and the people refused to take you.” He looked at me in disbelief, and then began telling me his story. “The job was not mine at all,” he began. “The photographer who had been hired for the job failed to show up.  I received an emergency call in the middle of the affair to come down immediately. Despite being very busy at that moment, I dropped everything I was doing and came down as a personal favor to them.”

Sometimes, the reasons why something is done is beyond the scope of our reasoning. Yosef couldn't have known Hashem's plan for having Rachel buried on the road, but we just have to trust that there is a reason.  Let's take this to heart and try to judge everyone favorably. Even if we can't figure out the reason, we shouldn’t act on our feeling, for one never knows what's really going on!