Hi,

Hope all is well.

… Genesis ends with the death of Jacob.

He had come to Egypt with his family to be reunited with Joseph.

When Jacob died?

Joseph’s brothers were petrified. (Genesis, 50)

“Now that Dad is gone, Joseph may take his revenge.  Finally even the score.”

Joseph’s response?

“Don’t worry.  You meant to harm me.  But G-d had something else in mind.

  It was part of G-d’s master plan for the Jewish People to come down to Egypt.

And for me to be able to provide for them!”

… Joseph reminds us of a Jewish perspective on life.

We probably have all had things happen that seemed terrible.  And we wondered “why.”

But it turned out for the best.  And we said, “Thank G-d!”

But then there are things that we just can’t understand. 

… Jewish tradition says we shouldn’t be surprised.

We’re visitors on Earth for a very short time.

We should all live to 120!  But it’s still a short time.

G-d is a loving G-d.  And he has a master plan.

And we pop in for a visit!  We shouldn’t expect to understand everything.

… Some of us may remember when giving kids medicine was a real challenge.

You had to hold the kid down and literally force it down his throat.

And the poor kid?

He looked up at you with with a sense of betrayal.

“How could you do this to me?  I thought you loved me”!

And the parents felt so bad.  Because there was no way the kid could understand!

His perspective was too limited.

(Today?  We tell the kid, “Oh, you don’t like cherry?  I’m sorry. Here’s strawberry!”)

… Science has made tremendous progress in understanding the world.

How it began.  And how it operates.

But with all that progress?

We haven’t the foggiest idea about 90% of G-d’s universe!

… We’re still kids!

All the best,