In this week’s parshah, Yosef’s brothers plot to kill him, mockingly adding, “Now we’ll see what will come of his dreams.” The Baal Hafla’ah (in the name of his grandfather) notes that Rashi states that the words, “We’ll see what will come of his dreams” were actually spoken by a Bas Kol, a heavenly voice, which was heard only by Reuven and not by the other brothers. Reuven therefore concluded that the words of the Bas Kol were meant for him alone, and that he should act on them to ensure that Yosef’s dreams would be fulfilled. He then set out on his mission to rescue Yosef.
Each and every one of us has a unique mission in life, and even if we don’t hear an actual Bas Kol, we do receive messages from Hashem in all sorts of ways. When an idea occurs to one person and not to others, that too is a form of a heavenly message. What a shame when the person with the idea doesn’t act on it, and waits for someone else who didn’t get the message to make the first move.
So often we know very clearly what the other person should be doing. We know where they’d succeed, or we notice their blind spots. We have it all down pat. If only our spouse would do XYZ differently, everything would be good.
If you see an issue and your spouse doesn’t, there’s a reason. Perhaps it’s because you are the one with the ability to fix it.
What if the issue pertains to your spouse alone? Even then, there’s a lot you can do to encourage change in them. You can’t force other people to fix themselves, but you can make the circumstances more conducive to change. Let’s take “our” messages and do what we can on our end, and hopefully, affect everything and everyone around us for the better.
