In the Parsha, Yosef quells his brothers’ fears that he will now take revenge upon them after Yaakov has died: “And you thought evil towards me, G-d thought goodness so that I can do what I am doing today supporting many nations.”
Did the brothers have a choice in performing their sale of Yosef, or was it all part of the Divine plan? Hashem had already told Avraham that his children would be oppressed for 400 years. Even more important, what hints do Yosef’s words give us about freedom of choice?
In Masechet Brachot, Rabbi Chanina says “Everything is in the hands of heaven except for Yirat Shamayim, fear of heaven.” This idea is repeated in the Gemara in Masechtot Nidah and Megillah. We learn from this that a person cannot control anything unless it falls under Yirat Shamayim. If a person inherited brown eyes and freckles, they will have brown eyes and freckles. However, it is your choice whether you will believe in G-d and whether or not he gave us the Torah.
Rambam says that individual has complete freedom of choice. Therefore, according to Rambam, if a person is born into an abusive family and is given no real hope, he still has the choice to have Yirat Shamayim.
Although most people do lose hope, each person does have the ability to change. In Chovot Halevavot, the Soul and the Mind ‘discuss’ the topic of free choice. The Mind informs the Soul that there are several opinions: The first is that we have absolute freedom of choice on all issues and G-d never intervenes. The Second opinion is that we have no freedom of choice at all. The third opinion is as follows: It is a type of compromise. We should act as though we have total freedom of choice. At the same time we must realize that Hashem rules over everything.
GEMATRIA OF THE WEEK
Issac Betesh, Chapter President of Brookline give us the Gematria this week.
When Yaakov is speaking to Joseph about the prophecy he saw in Luz, he tells Yosef that “ephraim u’menashe kir’uvein v’shim’on yihyu li,” that Menashe and Ephraim, will be like Yakkov’s son’s Shimon and Levi. What is cool is that when you add up the letters of Menashe and Ephraim, they equal the addition of the letters Shimon and Levi.