Midreshet Amit

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In this week's Parsha, Vayigash, the brothers are all reunited with Yosef after he was thrown in a pit and sold down to Egypt. When Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, he notices that the brothers are afraid, perhaps Yosef will punich them for sending him down to Egypt. He tells them that God sent him down here to save the Egyptian people and to save the family of Yaakov as well.. It is not their fault, rather it was the result of G-ds greater plan. Yosef forgives them because he doesn’t blame them in the first place. Yosef could’ve blamed them and put them in jail, but instead he sees a perspective that they shouldn’t be sad or angry, rather they should understand that God sent him there to save people from starvation. The natural reaction would be for Yosef to get angry but instead he is able to see the big picture. Yosef understood that Hashem had a greater plan. Yosef needed to be sold so that he could save the Egyptians from starvation and therefore they could enslave the Jewish people and ultimately end up fulfilling God’s promise to Avraham during the Brit Bein Habitarim. While there is a machloket between Rashi who says that the brothers did sell Yosef and Rashbam who says that it was the Midyanim that sold him, Yosef still recognizes that it was all part of God's greater plan. Sometimes in life things happen to us and it is easy to react impulsively and blame others. Taking a step back and recognizing that everything happens because Hashem has a greater plan, can ultimately result in happiness and positivity from all of us.