CHASSIDIC PEARLS BY RABBI LAZER BRODY PARSHAS MIKETZ

We saw his deep anguish when he pleaded with us and we didn't heed; that is why this trouble has come to us (Bereishit 42:21). The language of the above passage seems strange. The Torah says that the trouble has "come to" the brothers, as if it were describing a visitor. We would have expected the Torah to use terminology such as the trouble has "befallen" or "come upon" the brothers. Since every single letter and every single word of the Torah are absolute and eternal truth, we have to ask ourselves what the intrinsic message the Torah is conveying by saying that the trouble has "come to" the brothers. Rebbe Nachman of Breslev explains (Likutei Moharan I:54.2), that Hashem initiates the events of a person's life on three different levels - thought, speech, and deed - taking into consideration each person's particular situation at that given time. These events – namely, everything that happens to a person – are all hints designed to bring that person closer to Hashem. For that reason, one must think in depth in order to comprehend these messages from Hashem. Rebbe Nachman is simply teaching us that everything that happens to us in life, from the most significant events to the tiniest mundane detail, are all personal memos from Hashem designed to enhance our relationship with Him. Yosef's (Joseph's) brothers knew that their incarceration in Egypt wasn't the result of any recent crime. Their three days of isolation in prison severed them from contact with the outside world and from their daily routine, thus serving as an opportunity for serious self-evaluation and soul searching. The incarceration was Hashem's way of saying, "Please stop, for I have freed you temporarily of all other responsibilities. Take advantage of your stint in jail to ask yourselves what you did to deserve this." By virtue of this golden opportunity that Hashem gave them, even though it was embellished in a seemingly terrible predicament, the brothers were able to contemplate Hashem's message and ultimately reach the right conclusion so that they could correct what needed correcting.