This week, we reach one of the most remarkable plot twists in the entire Torah. After a lifetime of suffering, a lifetime of family conflict, Joseph is reunited with his brothers.

Suddenly, it seems, Joseph’s life is transformed. “I am Joseph your brother,” he says, “who you sold into Egypt.  Now don’t be sad and don’t be upset because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to save lives.”

Joseph no longer sees himself as a tortured child, hated by his brothers and left to die. He realizes that his entire life – with all of its suffering – was part of something larger. By organizing the food distribution, he was keeping his family alive and paving the way for the Jewish people.

Each of us, said Rav Soloveitchik, lives in the past, the present, and the future. We live with the memory of what was – the joy and the pain. And we live in the present. And we live with a vision of what the future can bring – a vision clouded by the pain of the past, a vision clouded by our understanding of our own potential.

But there’s more to us than we can ever imagine. All too often, there is more pain than we are willing to remember. And there is also more promise than we can ever imagine.

And ultimately, this is what Joseph wanted to tell his brothers.

“Joseph spoke to his brothers’ hearts” wrote the Izbitza rebbe,  “and told them that they were only doing God’s will.  God plants a light in our hearts, prompting us to fulfill a divine purpose.”

Joseph knew that his brothers had hurt him. But what was once a source of pain became part of a much larger story.

The rabbis taught that a voice comes forth from Mt. Horeb every day calling us to teshuvah.  Every day, the voice calls out, “Return, my children, return.”  But rabbis never explained why a new voice needs to call out every day.

“Perhaps,” said Netivot Shalom, “the voice from Mt. Horeb is guiding us to a new purpose.  Perhaps, it is calling out to us saying, “This is a new day. I have given you a new way to repair the world, a new way to bring light into the lives of others.”  Each day, the voice calls out to our hearts, saying, “Where are you?  Return to a life of purpose.”

We’re reaching the end of a difficult year. And we don’t know what lies in front of us. We read the news, and wherever we look, there are signs of darkness. But every day, a voice calls out from Mt. Horeb saying,  “This is a new day. I have given you a new way to repair the world, a new way to bring light into the lives of others.”

May we each find our purpose in the coming year.

Shabbat Shalom,
Art