Message From Above

“… and behold a caravan of Yishmaelim was coming … and their camels were carrying spices, balsam and lotus … to Egypt” (Bereishis 37:25).

Rashi explains that the reason the Torah describes what the caravans of the Arabs were carrying is in order to let us know the reward of the righteous. Rashi explains that these caravans usually transported foul-smelling supplies like tar and petroleum; however, in deference to the greatness of Yosef the caravans carried sweet smelling spices.

Yosef was being taken away from his father’s house, sold as a slave to be taken down to Egypt, from which place no slave ever escaped. Yet Hashem grants him this great kindness that he should not be assaulted by the offensive odors of tar and petroleum? This would be comparable to indulging a person going to prison by giving him a ride there in a limousine. Of what benefit was this small amount of pleasure when measured against the years-long pain and anguish that Yosef would be suffering?

The baalei mussar remind us how exacting is the sagacity of the Heavenly Court, which judges the individual on each detail and aspect of his actions, as it says (Devarim 32:4), “for all His paths are justice.” There was no verdict that Yosef had to endure a foul odor on his journey down to Egypt, and therefore the caravan was carrying sweet-smelling spices.

The Shemen Rosh offers an additional insight. He points out that even when a person experiences difficult periods of darkness and gloom the Divine Presence is with him, as it says (Tehillim 91:15), “I am with him in distress.” This can be compared to an individual who is in a dark place far from home. Suddenly he sees a chariot riding up behind him and he recognizes his father. The person is immediately calmed and invigorated. Knowing that his father is king and can do whatever he wants, he is no longer fearful. That is what Dovid HaMelech is referring to (Tehillim 23:4), “Though I walk in the valley overshadowed by death I will fear no evil for You are with me.” Hashem is always shining a light amid the darkness in all areas of life, bringing unforeseen help, support, an unusual solution, or suggestion.

To the tzaddikim, as well, Hashem sends small signals of positivity amid their hardship, signifying hope for the future. The pasuk (Bereishis 39:21) tells us, “Hashem was with Yosef, and He endowed him with charisma, and He put his favor in the eyes of the prison warden.” This rejuvenated Yosef with the assurance that the Divine Presence was with him.

A Jew once came into the tzaddik of Kustinan pleading for help. He explained that he had already been praying for a half hour and he still had not seen a ray of hope. The tzaddik told him, “You already want the answer after half an hour? I have been praying for something specific for ten years, and I still have merited that salvation. I understand that I still need to say many prayers to merit salvation.”

R’ Mordechai Weber was a shammash (attendant) to R’ Aharon of Belz. Every day he would go by bus to a bais medrash in the neighborhood to give a Torah shiur. One day he had to allow three buses full of passengers to pass, before he was able to board a fourth bus. This was a very unusual occurrence; as a matter of fact, R’ Weber could not recall such a situation in the past.

He boarded the bus and sat down next to a young man, who knew of his association with the Belzer Rebbe. The young man greeted him warmly and asked R’ Weber to repeat any divrei Torah or other anecdotes he might have heard from the holy Rebbe.

R’ Weber complied, and then began to tell him of the Rebbe’s experiences during the Second World War. During those days, he said, the Germans, ym”s, would appoint a Jew from within the community, called a kapo, to be responsible for the actions of their brethren. Generally, these kapos sought to meet with the approval of the Germans in a spirit of self-preservation, and they would be merciless taskmasters, reporting anyone who did not obey. The Jews suffered greatly under their control. R’ Aharon had told him, though, that there was one kapo who was very honorable and withstood many challenges to protect his fellow Jews. The Rebbe confided that this kapo had often helped him personally.

A while later, the two travelers finally reached their destination and parted ways.

A few days later, R’ Weber received an invitation to a vort from someone whom he didn’t know. The rule is, however, that if one is invited to a simcha he should try to attend. When R’ Weber arrived, one of the mechutanim gave him great honor. The man related that he had been sitting behind R’ Weber that day on the bus when he had been imparting such wonderful stories about R’ Aharon of Belz. He had been especially interested in the story about the kapo who had supported and helped the Jews during the Shoah. In fact, that narrative had been the impetus for him to be able to finalize the shidduch for his daughter.

The mechutan said that many of his friends had been discouraging him from going through with the shidduch because the chosson’s grandfather had been a kapo, most of whom were notorious for their vicious attacks on their Jewish brethren. However, when he heard the Belzer Rebbe’s witness account that this kapo had not been an offender, but rather a humanitarian who helped many of his brethren, he had proceeded with the shidduch. Tonight’s vort celebrated that union.

At this moment, R’ Weber realized the Divine Providence of the unusual procession of crowded buses. “The matter stemmed from Hashem!” (Bereishis 24:50). It was fated that he should repeat the Rebbe’s reminiscence particularly on that day, to this individual, on this bus so that two families destined to be together could be joined – invei hagefen b’invei hagefen davar na’eh umitkabel.”