Parshas Shemos- Divine Counsel

כל הבן הילוד היאורה תשליכוהו

Every son that will be born, into the river shall you throw him.

The Steipler (Birchas Peretz) writes that Pharaoh sought to change the will of Hashem and prevent any salvation of Klal Yisrael, but his efforts failed miserably. Pharaoh had heard from his astrologers that a son would be born who would be a savior of the Bnei Yisrael. His response was a sweeping gezeirah: כל הבן הילוד היאורה תשליכוהו. Yet it was that very gezeirah that placed Moshe into the river. Not only did he not drown, Pharaoh’s very own daughter saved him, brought him into the palace, and Pharaoh himself raised him. Pharaoh’s decree caused Moshe to grow up protected and uniquely positioned to be the leader of Klal Yisrael.

From here we see that not only can one not circumvent the will of Hashem, but any attempt to do so will ultimately become the very instrument of His plan. רבות מחשבות בלב איש ועצת השם היא תקום.

This idea appears in the Gemara (Shabbos 119a) in the story of Yosef Mokir Shabbos. A goy was told by his astrologers that all of his wealth would ultimately fall into the hands of a Jew, Yosef Mokir Shabbos. Determined to prevent this, he gathered all of his assets and purchased a single precious stone, sewing it into his hat so it would never leave him. While crossing a bridge, a great wind blew, and the hat with the stone sewn in was swallowed by a fish. On Erev Shabbos, Yosef Mokir Shabbos, known by that name because he would spare no expense for kavod Shabbos, purchased that very fish.

By purchasing the stone, the goy gathered all of his wealth into one place, actually playing right into the gezeirah. Once the decree existed, it could not be circumvented.

The Eitz Yosef (peirush on Ein Yaakov) questions why Chazal bring this entire story with the goy—couldn’t it suffice to say that someone honored Shabbos and was repaid? He answers that Chazal want to teach us that when something is decreed, להודיענו כי הגזרה אמת והחריצות שקר, “to show us that the decree is true, and human efforts of cleverness are false.”

These words are found in the Ramban regarding mechiras Yosef: “להודיענו כי הגזרה אמת והחריצות שקר… שלא על חנם היה כל הסיפור הזה, להודיענו כי עצת ה' היא תקום.” The Torah teaches us that once it was decreed that Yosef HaTzaddik would go down to Mitzrayim and become second to the king, everything else fell into place exactly as Hashem intended. Even the brothers’ plan to sell him, something that seemed cruel and destructive, was actually the tool Hashem used to get him to where he needed to be. Every setback, Potifar’s house, the prison, looked like ruin, but each step was carefully building toward Hashem’s ultimate plan. In the end, Hashem’s will prevailed: Yosef rose to power, ruling over Mitzrayim, and in a sense, over the world. Because of this, Bnei Yisrael went down to Mitzrayim, endured exile, were redeemed, received the Torah in the midbar, and ultimately inherited Eretz Yisrael.

Yet none of the brothers saw the bigger picture. Each seemed entirely focused on his own personal interest at that time. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, who watches over every event, was quietly arranging it all, step by step, to bring about His ultimate purposes.

The story is told of a simple boy who grew up in great poverty. He never learned to read or write, and he couldn’t even sign his own name. When he went looking for work, he was turned away again and again; no one wanted to hire someone who couldn’t write. With no alternative, he became the shamash of the local shul.

One day, the shul ordered new furniture. The gabbai asked the shamash to remain in shul to receive the delivery. When the furniture arrived, the driver asked him to sign that the shipment had been received. The shamash answered honestly that he didn’t know how to sign his name. The driver refused to unload the furniture and returned everything to the factory.

When the gabbai arrived and discovered that the entire shipment had been sent back because the shamash couldn’t sign his name, he dismissed him immediately, in shame.

With nothing left, the young man set himself up on a street corner and began repairing shoes. And there, in a way no one could have imagined, Hashem placed His brachah upon him. His work was outstanding, his reputation spread, and before long shopkeepers were purchasing from him as well. In time, he became a very wealthy man.

Years later, a prominent merchant came to place a large order. When the agreement was finalized, the merchant asked him to sign the contract.

“I don’t know how to sign,” replied the former shamash.

The merchant stared at him in disbelief. “How is it possible that you’ve become so successful, and you can’t even sign your name?”

The shoemaker smiled and said, “That itself is the answer. Had I known how to sign, I would still be a shamash. I would never have come to all this.”

Good Shabbos, מרדכי אפפעל

לז"נ ר'יהושע חזקיהו בן ר'אברהם ז"ל