own land, in comfort and secu-
rity. The Jewish people needed 
to be born in a state of natural 
upheaval, into miracles, amid 
“signs and wonders.
” And, 
so, Joseph’s personal story, all 
the suffering he endured, all 
the great challenges he faced, 
ended up being nothing less 
than the vehicle for the unfold-
ing of Jewish destiny. In fact, it 
was the reverse of what Joseph 
thought: he thought he had 
been ‘sent’ to Egypt because of 
the famine to prevent and save 
his family and the region from 
starvation — but God sent the 
famine as a catalyst to bring the 
family of Jacob down to Egypt. 
So Joseph went ahead, to be 
able to save them all, and to 
bring them all down to Egypt. 
And that was the plan.
This plan unfolded not over 
years, but over centuries. And, 
ultimately, it was a plan that 
came full circle. Joseph’s dying 
wish was that he not be buried 
in Egypt, but rather be taken 
with the Jewish people, when 
they later left Egypt, and bur-
ied in the land of Israel. His 
wish was fulfilled, and he was 
eventually buried by Joshua in 
a place called Shechem. Rashi 
notes this was the very place 
where Joseph was captured by 
his brothers and sold into slav-
ery. And so Joseph’s journey — 
and along with it, God’s grand 
plan for the Jewish people — 
comes full circle.
This helps us to understand 
what faith in God means — to 
trust that whatever befalls us, 
it’s all for the best. The famous 
Talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva 
says our response to anything 
that befalls us should be: “Gam 
zu letova — this too is for the 
good.
” But, this doesn’t mean 
everything will turn out the 
way that we wish it to, or even 
the way we expect it to. Things 
happen that are extremely 
painful and often tragic — but 
faith in God means to trust 

that there’s a plan, no matter 
how confusing and chaotic 
things seem, and no matter 
how hard it is to see what that 
plan is.
The truth is, as mere 
mortals, how can we see God’s 
plan? How can we understand 
a plan that spans not just 
centuries and millennia, but 
planes of reality — this world 
and the World to Come. How 
can we fathom the mind of 
God? These are some of the 
deepest secrets and mysteries 
of the world that even Moses 
— the greatest prophet 
who ever lived — could not 
understand. According to 
the Talmud, when he was on 
Mount Sinai, he asked God 
why it is that some righteous 
people suffer and some wicked 
people prosper. And God 
answered: “No man can see 
me and live.
” In other words, 
to understand the answer 
to such a question would be 
going to the depths of the 
very essence of creation; it 
would be like gaining the 
deepest knowledge of Hashem, 
Himself, who is beyond human 
comprehension. How this 
world actually functions — 
how Hashem governs it — is 
not something that as mortals 
of flesh and blood we can 
properly understand. And if 
Moses didn’t know and God 
refused to tell him, who are we 
to be able to claim insight into 
these things?
This is the message of 
Joseph’s life. We never quite 
know what’s going on beneath 
the surface; the mysterious 
inner workings of the universe 
are beyond our understanding. 
But our calling is to trust that 
God is in control and have 
faith that He loves us and 
wants the best for us. 

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who 

has a PhD. in Human Rights Law, is 

the chief rabbi of South Africa. This 

article first appeared on aish.com.

SPIRIT

Defeating Haman 
Through Joy 
T

he most famous verse in 
the Megillah (8:16) tells 
that after Haman’s sud-
den downfall, the Jews experi-
enced “light, joy, jubilation and 
honor.” 
The Gemara 
(Megillah 16b) inter-
prets these terms 
as alluding to four 
fundamental features 
of Jewish life: Torah 
study, yom tov cele-
bration, circumcision 
and tefillin. It seems 
that following the great 
Purim miracle, these 
religious observances 
were reinstated after 
having been banned.
Why did Haman 
seek to bar the Jews 
from specifically these four 
observances?
Rabbi Yitzchak Menachem 
Weinberg, the current Tolna 
Rebbe, explains that these 
four mitzvot are all associated 
with joy. Torah study brings 
happiness (Tehillim 19:9), 
and is thus forbidden during 
mourning. Yom tov, of course, 
requires joy and festivity. The 
Gemara (Shabbos 130a) tells 
that our nation accepted the 
command of circumcision with 
special joy; one of the sages is 
described as having been espe-
cially jovial after putting on 
tefillin (Berachos 30b).
Haman wanted to deny the 
Jews any special joy because 
he understood that the Jews’ 
most effective line of defense is 
joy. When we remain upbeat, 
optimistic and happy, we can 
overcome even the harshest and 
most trying conditions. Haman 
banned the observance of these 
mitzvot in order to sow wide-
spread depression and despair 

so his sinister plot of extermi-
nation would succeed.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 96b) 
states that Haman had offspring 
that converted to Judaism and 
taught Torah. According to 
one version of the text, this 
descendant was a school-
teacher, Rav Shmuel bar 
Sheilat. Several writers 
noted that Rav Shmuel 
taught, Mishenichnas Adar 
marbin besimcha — “When 
Adar enters, we increase our 
joy.” Haman sought to elim-
inate our joy and plunge us 
into despair; but each year, 
we are taught by his descen-
dant’s directive to be joyful 
and spirited.
We oppose Haman’s 
scheme by remaining 
cheerful and upbeat under all 
circumstances. We defy Haman 
not only through our continued 
survival, but also by experienc-
ing the joy which he wanted to 
deny us. 
This means taking a moment 
before entering the home after 
a long, aggravating day in the 
office to collect ourselves so we 
come in smiling and cheerful. It 
means that a boss should smile 
and compliment his employees 
even when he is under stress. 
It means that a teacher should 
enter the classroom with enthu-
siasm and positive energy. It 
means reminding ourselves 
of how much we have to be 
thankful for even when we face 
hardship and difficult challeng-
es. We should generate genuine, 
deep-seated simchah that will 
stay with us throughout the 
entire year. 

Rabbi Dov Loketch is Rabbi of 

Congregation Agudas Yisrael Mogen 

Avraham in Southfield.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Dov 
Loketch

Parshat

Vayikra: 

Leviticus 

1:1-5:26; 

Isaiah 

43:21-44:23.

MARCH 10 • 2022 | 45

