We all play part in God's master plan

Torah study

ARLIENE BOTNICK
Vayeishev/Genesis 37:1-40:23

"A man came upon him wandering in the fields." (Genesis 37:15) "Adonai was with Joseph." (Genesis 39:2)

Yiddish permeated my childhood: "Man may drive, but it is God who holds the reins; it's all in God's hands." It was most comforting to believe God was in complete control.

But one Simchat Torah, God's plan resulted in the death of my father, leaving my mother a young widow with two children, my sister 16 years old and me barely 13. I was no longer secure in the notion that God makes it all happen, that God's plan prevails. Now, having experienced both additional tragedies and many joys in my life, I am closer to coming to terms with an oxymoron of religious faith. There is free will in a world where God's master plan is in control.

This week's portion, Vayeishev, is a perfect example of these two forces: man's free will and God's plan. As Vayeishev begins, Jacob sends Joseph from the valley of Hebron. Later, as Nehama Leibowitz notes in "Studies in Bereshit," the story of Joseph concludes with the following words of Joseph to his brothers: "So it was not you who sent me here, but God." (Genesis 45:8)

As we examine the Joseph story, through all its permutations of human intent, we see that "Adonai was with Joseph" (Genesis 39:2) throughout. On his way to Shechem, Joseph meets the "man" who redirects him from Shechem to Dothan: "A man came upon him wandering in the fields." (Genesis 37:15) This mysterious man is reminiscent of the man with whom Jacob struggles at the river Jabbok. In both instances, the man is seen as representing God's role in the events taking place.

When Joseph comes upon his brothers at Dothan, their first intent is to murder Joseph. Through Reuben's intervention, Joseph is not murdered but cast into a pit. Later, the brothers look up to see a caravan of Ishmaelites, to whom they decide to sell Joseph. The brothers' choice brings Joseph to Egypt.

Other events in Joseph's story continue this interweaving of coincidence (or preplanning) and human choice. In Egypt, Joseph is put into a cell with two men who have experienced troubling dreams. A compassionate Joseph goes on to interpret these dreams, he himself realizing that it is "surely God" who can interpret. (Genesis 40:8)

God's blueprint of creation, the Torah, will unfold, but we are God's partners in this unfolding.

God has created the big picture. We choose our part, be it by wrestling with the stranger or asking to help the downtrodden dreamers. Man has his plans, but God is in control. Free will exists within God's plan.

"Interwoven into the account of moral doings is the unseen hand of Divine Providence. On the surface, the actors in the story set in motion their own plans, succeed or fail, start again, all on their own initiative. That is the immediate superficial impression. In fact, however, it transpires that it is Divine Providence which is carrying out, through mankind, its own predestined plan." (Nehama Leibowitz, "Studies in Bereshit," p. 394)

Each one of us has suffered or will suffer personal tragedies. If we see that these losses are part of God's plan, will our faith be shaken, strengthened, destroyed?