Welcome to the Nishma Insight Discussion Forum blog.
The NISHMA INSIGHT is our popular dvar Torah, distributed almost every week by e-mail, that touches upon an important concept in the Parsha, theme in a holiday or event in contemporary society.
Often, readers respond, via e-mail, with comments that initiate a further dialogue. Through this Discussion Forum, we now wish to open this dialogue to others. If you have a comment on the INSIGHT, we invite you place to your comments here; then we invite everyone to join the discussion.
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I really enjoyed the way this INSIGHT dealt with a complex aspect of the teshuva process, the relationship between forgiveness and repentance. It is a halachic issue, but also a personal and emotional issue, and I thought the INSIGHT did a great job of expressing both sides, and sharp, nuanced approaches to the problem.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading and discussing this INSIGHT Friday night, I had an idea -
Maybe Yosef isn't saying, "Don't be angry, because it was God's Will," but he's saying, "Don't be angry THAT it was God's Will."
First, from a personal standpoint, when sin leads to a positive result, it can be very confusing and difficult - and it becomes something the sinner carries with himself for the rest of his life, unable to separate the positive outcome from the negative cause. In some ways, it's preferable when the sin leads to something negative, and the sinner can just throw the whole thing away, like a stained shirt.
And secondly, and probably more importantly for Yosef's brothers, the news that their sin was God's Will and played a significant part in the journey that eventually would lead to Sinai, must have been very upsetting. It means that their sin will never be forgotten, it will always be a part of the story.
So Yosef was saying, "Don't be upset THAT your sin was God's Will," and not just some mistake that you, or any of us, can walk away from and forget.