At the start of this week’s Parsha Yosef goes to check on his brothers. His siblings feel the purpose of Yosef's trip is not altruistic and he is just looking to spy on them. Eventually the brothers throw Yosef in to a pit.
Reuven secretly desires to take Yosef out of the pit but his rescue plan is sidetracked when Yosef is sold. Reuven could have never conceived that this ordeal was going to be read and studied every year and his behavior in this situation would be recorded for all of eternity. If he did, he would have acted very differently.
If Reuven knew that this is how he would be remembered and immortalized he would have ran in to the pit and and brought Yosef out on his shoulders. In life we don’t know when the significant moments are going to occur, they are concealed by their mundane nature.
One of my favorite types of T.V. series are hidden camera shows. Punk'd, Candid Camera and recently a show called What Would You Do ? All these shows have the same formula. An unknowing subject is engaged in a situation and their reaction is documented and analyzed. The key ingredient in this formula is that the show involves hidden cameras and regular situations. The hidden camera is a concealment that creates a revelation. All the shows reveal the inner character of the person who was unaware of the hidden cameras and thought that they were just involved in a "small" moment.
Later in the parsha Yosef ends up incarcerated . This is a low point in his life. Yosef is isolated from his family, in an Egyptian jail for a crime he did not commit, and he still inquires about the welfare of the other prisoners. This behavior indicates that the first time Yosef went to look after his brothers he had pure intentions. Yosef genuinely cares about his brother and the inmates and everyone in the world. Yosef is called a Tzadik, a righteous man. His behavior gives us a window in to what it means to be righteous.
Last year a picture of Larry Deprimo, a cop buying a homeless man boots went viral when a tourist snapped a picture of the act of kindness on her camera phone, the next day Deprimo was on the cover of the New York Post. Recently a picture of Isaac Theil, a religious Jew, letting another man sleep on his shoulder on the train got millions of views across the world. Many commented that this man’s activity, the simple kindness of letting another human sleep on him without saying a word, restored their faith in God and mankind. Because he did not say anything when the other man leaned on him, Isaac Thiel's praise was spoken by others around the world. They called him a Tzadik.
One aspect of being truly righteous is how we treat people when we don’t know we are being watched. Every day the paper contains bad news about people doing things they hope are never uncovered but eventually are revealed in a very public light. Rarely do we get the read about the inverse, when someone does a good deed privately and it is made very public.
One year on Chanukah someone called my house and asked for my father, I told the caller my Dad was busy. He then asked me to give him a message he said , tell your father "Thanks for buying me Chanukah candels". Hearing this was the best Chanukah present I could ever receive. Sometimes our actions which are seemingly hidden and done in the dark are the very things that reveal a great deal of light.
Reuven secretly desires to take Yosef out of the pit but his rescue plan is sidetracked when Yosef is sold. Reuven could have never conceived that this ordeal was going to be read and studied every year and his behavior in this situation would be recorded for all of eternity. If he did, he would have acted very differently.
If Reuven knew that this is how he would be remembered and immortalized he would have ran in to the pit and and brought Yosef out on his shoulders. In life we don’t know when the significant moments are going to occur, they are concealed by their mundane nature.
One of my favorite types of T.V. series are hidden camera shows. Punk'd, Candid Camera and recently a show called What Would You Do ? All these shows have the same formula. An unknowing subject is engaged in a situation and their reaction is documented and analyzed. The key ingredient in this formula is that the show involves hidden cameras and regular situations. The hidden camera is a concealment that creates a revelation. All the shows reveal the inner character of the person who was unaware of the hidden cameras and thought that they were just involved in a "small" moment.
Later in the parsha Yosef ends up incarcerated . This is a low point in his life. Yosef is isolated from his family, in an Egyptian jail for a crime he did not commit, and he still inquires about the welfare of the other prisoners. This behavior indicates that the first time Yosef went to look after his brothers he had pure intentions. Yosef genuinely cares about his brother and the inmates and everyone in the world. Yosef is called a Tzadik, a righteous man. His behavior gives us a window in to what it means to be righteous.
Last year a picture of Larry Deprimo, a cop buying a homeless man boots went viral when a tourist snapped a picture of the act of kindness on her camera phone, the next day Deprimo was on the cover of the New York Post. Recently a picture of Isaac Theil, a religious Jew, letting another man sleep on his shoulder on the train got millions of views across the world. Many commented that this man’s activity, the simple kindness of letting another human sleep on him without saying a word, restored their faith in God and mankind. Because he did not say anything when the other man leaned on him, Isaac Thiel's praise was spoken by others around the world. They called him a Tzadik.
One aspect of being truly righteous is how we treat people when we don’t know we are being watched. Every day the paper contains bad news about people doing things they hope are never uncovered but eventually are revealed in a very public light. Rarely do we get the read about the inverse, when someone does a good deed privately and it is made very public.
One year on Chanukah someone called my house and asked for my father, I told the caller my Dad was busy. He then asked me to give him a message he said , tell your father "Thanks for buying me Chanukah candels". Hearing this was the best Chanukah present I could ever receive. Sometimes our actions which are seemingly hidden and done in the dark are the very things that reveal a great deal of light.
