In a small village, there lived an old man who had a young son and a horse. One day, the horse ran away from the stable. The villagers came to the old man and said, “How terrible this is!” The old man replied, “How do you know it’s terrible?” The next day, the horse returned, and along with it came an entire herd of wild horses. The old man and his son opened the stable doors, and all the horses entered. The villagers came to the old man and said, “How wonderful this is!” The old man replied, “And who said it’s wonderful?” The day after that, the son tried to ride one of the wild horses and broke his leg. The villagers came to the old man and said, “How terrible this is!” The old man replied, “Who said it’s terrible?” Later, soldiers came to the village and conscripted all the young men into the army, but they didn’t take the old man’s son because his leg was broken. Many of those soldiers who were taken never returned alive from the war. So, how can we truly know what is good and what is bad?
Yosef HaTzaddik was sent by his father ’לראות את שלום אחיו’ - to ’see the welfare of his brothers,’ (37:14) and on the way, “a tragedy befell him.” At first glance, it seemed like something bad had happened to him. But the holy Torah tells us about the Arabs who took him (37:25): ’וגמליהם נושאים נכאת וצרי ולט’ - ’And their camels were carrying spices, balsam, and myrrh.’ Rashi explains, ’Why does the Torah specify what they were carrying? To inform us of the reward of the righteous: it is not customary for Arabs to carry anything but tar and pitch, which have a foul smell, but for Yosef, spices were prepared, so he would not suffer from a bad odor.’ The question naturally arises: At the time when Yosef was sold into slavery, would he really care whether the Arabs’ camels carried tar or spices? Would he even notice the difference? What difference does it make to him—tar or spices? He just wants to go home, to his father!
Hashem Yisbarach wanted to show Yosef HaTzaddik: “I am with you. Even if you think something bad is happening to you, know that this is not the case. Perhaps, if you look deeper, you will see, smell, and understand that this is not tar; it is spices.”
Similarly, when we feel something bad is happening to us, let us always remember that behind everything stands our Father, who only wants what is best for us. No harm ever comes from Him, Yisbarach. And if we look closely, we will see that “it is not tar, it is spices.”
