Finally, after so many twists and turns, Yosef reveals his true identity to his brothers: “I am Yosef your brother, the one you sold to Egypt.” It was not easy for Yosef to convince them that his intention was not to harm them, the truth is that he never had even the slightest grudge against them, since, after all the dreams he had had, and everything he had lived since he They threw into the well until it became Pharaoh’s right hand, his faith in God had been strengthened, just as he revealed to his brothers: “Do not be saddened, nor be sorry for having sold me here … You did not send me here you, but God “… However, how did Yosef obtain such a high level of faith in God? How is it possible that he did not hold a grudge against his brothers after all the damage they had caused him? Our Sages teach us that the different situations that occur to us every day are not by chance, they are tests that the Creator puts on us, small obstacles that we have to overcome. Of course, sometimes they are not so small, this depends on the level of the person. However, in one way or another these tests have the same purpose: to overcome them so that we can be closer to God, as we learn from the test that God put Abraham avinu when he commissioned him to offer his son Yitzchak. Immediately after Abraham passes this test, the angel of God tells him: “Do not extend your hand on the boy, or do anything to him; because now I know that you are God-fearing.”

This sounds nice in theory, but how can we internalize the fact that God is constantly testing us to draw closer to Him? Imagine this situation: you go to an important work meeting, and suddenly your tire goes flat, what is your reaction? Some people, at first, will be more angry than others, however no one in their right mind would start hitting the tire over and over again, nor would they insult you. Do you know why? Because it’s obvious that the tire wasn’t meant to hurt you, right? It was God who, with his infinite wisdom and mercy, made the tire explode for some unknown reason. The real problem arises when it is not a tire, but someone who assaults us, offends us, insults us. It is no longer about an object, but about a person who had malicious intent against us. But the truth is that if God does not want someone to harm or insult us, he will not allow it; We see this way of living reality when “Shimí son of Gerá” curses King David, his guard wanted to assassinate Shimí, but King David stopped him saying: “The Lord told him to curse David, and who can question him: Why did you do it? (Let him) curse, since God told him so. ” The Kabbalah books cite a very interesting example so that we can understand this concept in depth. It is about a dog whose owner hit with a stick, the dog, wildly bit the stick, thinking that this was the one who hit him, completely ignoring his owner. Yosef, David, and many other greats of the Jewish people were aware that all the events that happened to them were meticulously intentional by the Creator, so there was no point in getting angry with those who attacked them, on the contrary, they adapted the events to the Divine plan, reflecting on the reason for what happened, and rectifying their ways to be able to get closer to God. Of course, this level is not so easy to reach, since it implies overcoming the illusion that we are in control of everything, and for this we must dominate our ego, which constantly seeks recognition and independence. We do not want to feel in debt, and we prefer to believe that everything is our merit. Are you willing to lower your head, to approach the transcendental dimension?

by Reuven Reich