We say in the Haggadah shel Pesach (Devarim 26:5) שם ויגר מצרימה וירד, "He went down to Mitzrayim שם ויגר, and he sojourned there." The Haggadah explains, יעקב ירד שלא מלמד – שם לגור אלא במצרים להשתקע, "This means that Yaakov didn't want to live in Mitzrayim for a long time, only for a short time. שנאמר, As it states כי לעבדיך אשר לצאן מרעה אין כי באנו בארץ לגור בארץ הרעב כבד, "They said to Pharaoh, 'We have come לגור, to live for a short time, in the land, for your servants' flocks have no pasture, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan' (Bereishis 47:4)."
שם ויגר means that the Yidden's original intention in Mitzrayim was to live there for a short time.
The question is, after the famine, why did they not return to Eretz Yisrael as they had originally planned to?
As long as Yaakov Avinu was alive, we can answer that since Yaakov was old, his children didn't want him to go through the trouble of traveling so far. (Additionally, Hakadosh Baruch Hu told Yaakov to go to Mitzrayim. Perhaps he didn't have permission to leave Mitzrayim.) But after Yaakov was niftar, why didn't they return to Eretz Yisrael? All his children brought their father to be buried in Maaras HaMachpeilah; they could have stayed there! Did they forget that they had only come בארץ לגור, to live for a short time in Mitzrayim? When the hunger was over, they should have returned.
The answer, it seems, is that they forgot. It was destined from heaven that their minds should not think straight regarding this matter. They forgot that they planned to return to Eretz Yisrael. This was destined from heaven because it was Hashem's plan that they should be slaves in Mitzrayim. Hashem caused them to overlook what they had initially planned.
Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Dezh zy"a (צדק מעגלי) gives this explanation, and with it he answers another popular question on the first Rashi of this week's parashah.
Rashi (47:28), at the beginning of the parashah, asks, "Why is this parashah סתומה (without a space)?" Generally, there is a space in the Torah separating the parshiyos. Between Bereishis and Noach, there is a space. There is a space between Noach and Lech Lecha, and so on. But there is no space between Vayigash and Vayechi. Why is that?
Rashi answers, "After Yaakov Avinu was niftar, the hearts and the eyes of the Jewish nation became 'closed' due to the misery of slavery." The parashah is "closed" (סתומה) because the hearts and the eyes of the Jewish nation were "closed" at that time due to the tzaros.
The problem is that the tzaros hadn't begun yet! Chazal (Seder Olam Rabba 3, quoted in Rashi Shemos 6:15) state that as long as one of Yaakov Avinu's children were alive, the slavery didn't begin. When Yaakov was niftar, the difficult labor hadn’t started, so why were the Jewish nation's hearts and eyes closed?
Reb Mendel of Dezh says that we can explain Rashi as follows: ָבִינוּא ֲקֹביַע ַרְטֶנִּפׁש ֶכֵּיוָןׁש, Yaakov was niftar, now nothing was holding them back from returning to Eretz Yisrael, so why didn't they? The answer must be that ֵלָאְרׂיִש ֶלׁש וְלִבָּם ֶםֵינֵיהע ְּ מוְּתנִס, that Hashem caused them to forget. Why did Hashem cause them to forget? ְבּוּדִּׁעַשה ַתִצָּרמ, because Hashem wanted to bring on the slavery in Mitzrayim.
According to this explanation, “their hearts were closed” indicates they forgot their original plan.
Let us learn from this that Hakadosh Baruch Hu leads the world and brings forth His plan as He wants things to be. Hashem does everything, and even the mistakes people make are also from Hashem. One mustn't say that if I had done something differently, things would have been better. It is the opposite. Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to bring about His decree, which is why He caused you to make this mistake.
Reb Moshe Sternbuch Shlita heard the following story from those who were close to the Satmar Rebbe zt'l. A group of wealthy individuals told the Satmar Rebbe that they wanted to publish a newspaper written solely in accordance with the Rebbe's daas Torah. They said, "There will be a great benefit because it will publicize the Rebbe's hashkafah and shittah."
The Satmar Rebbe said that he needs some time to think it over. A couple of days later he told them that he doesn't agree with the idea of putting out a newspaper. He explained that newspapers tend to explain what occurs in the world, and they explain everything according to the rules of nature. They write that this happened because of this, and that occurred because of what ploni did or didn’t do, and so on. They forget that everything occurs because it was Hashem's will. We must remember that everything happens from Hashem. I can't take on the responsibility of putting out a newspaper and risking the pure emunah of our fellow Yidden."
Everyone must believe that everything is from Hashem. His hashgachah pratis is over every detail, and His plan will always transpire.
