Have no Fear! / Michael Pomerantz

Having heard the report from his sons that Yosef is alive, and in fact is the viceroy of Egypt, Yaakov gathers his strength and announces that he will travel to Egypt as bidden by Yosef and by Pharaoh himself.  Yet, upon beginning his journey and arriving in Beer Sheva, we suddenly find Yaakov apparently having second thoughts about continuing on to Egypt.  Hashem appears to Yaakov and tells him “Don’t be afraid of going down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation.”

What is the meaning of Yaakov’s apprehension?  We would expect to find him eager and excited to push forward to finally meet his long-lost son, rather than considering turning around and going back home!  Rashi and others explain that Yaakov’s fear was to leave Eretz Yisrael: Was it proper to leave the Land that his father Yitzchak had been warned never to leave?

Yet it would seem that the explanation of Ramban and Chizkuni is closer to the mark. According to them, Yaakov’s fear was not related to the Land he was leaving; rather he was afraid of where he was going.  Having reached Beer Sheva and having offered sacrifices to G-d in the very location where his fathers lived and brought their own sacrifices, Yaakov was suddenly struck by an awareness that descending to Egypt meant that he was to be a pawn in the Divine plan that had been revealed to his grandfather Avraham.  It now dawned upon him that he was not merely a father going to Egypt to see his son; rather he was walking a path that would lead to bondage and persecution for himself and his descendants!

“Am I willing to take upon myself the responsibility of continuing my journey to Egypt and bringing 400 years of suffering on my family?”  This was Yaakov’s fear!  G-d appeared to him in order to allay those fears – “Yes, you are correct, Yaakov, in realizing that the Divine plan you are part of will bring your family much suffering.  But you must also realize that the suffering is itself only a stage in order to forge your family into a people that will become My nation.”

There are two layers to reality.  The first layer is that which humans see and act within according to their freedom of choice.  The second layer of reality is where G-d’s ratzon (desire or will) expresses itself according to His plans for the universe.  The second layer traverses time on the back of human actions but is hidden from human view, rarely revealed except to prophets or exceptionally sensitive people.

Yosef was one of those gifted individuals who without being a prophet was able to recognize in retrospect that his personal saga was also an expression of layer two – a Divine plan that required him to suffer for a time but which would lead to saving his entire family and much of the world from starvation.

Both Yosef and Yaakov had been unaware of this plan when Yaakov sent him to search for his brothers.  The Midrash remarks that when Yaakov sent Yosef off from Hevron, he was unwittingly setting the stage for the descent to Egypt.  Only in Egypt did Yosef understand this, and only now, upon leaving Beer Sheva, did Yaakov comprehend the magnitude of what was happening in the Divine realm.

May we be worthy of recognizing that our freedom of choice is sometimes not only for ourselves, but is also part of something larger than our personal lives.  Even though we are unlikely to know what that Divine layer is, the realization that this second layer exists should help us put things in perspective.