We read in Parashat Vayeishev the difficult story of Yosef and his brothers. The Torah describes the enmity that the brothers felt toward Yosef, and their decision to sell him as a slave. Among the many questions that have been asked regarding this incident is how God allowed Yosef to suffer harm when, at his father’s behest, he traveled to Shechem to check on his brothers. Our chachamim taught us a famous rule known as "Sheluchey mitzvah enam nizokim" – people do not suffer harm while involved in performing mitzvot.
When a person goes to do a mitzvah, Hashem grants him special protection from harm. The question thus arises, how could Yosef meet this tragic fate, being thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery, when he was fulfilling the mitzvah of honoring parents? His father instructed him to visit his brothers, and he obediently complied. Why was he not granted God’s protection? What happened to the rule of "Sheluchey mitzvah enam nizokim"?
The Or Ha’haim (Rav Haim Ben-Attar, 1696-1743) suggested an answer that is very relevant to our lives. He explains that in truth, Yosef did not suffer harm as a result of this mitzvah. Although he was sold as a slave, this sequence of events ultimately turned out to be a great blessing. It was decreed that Am Yisrael would endure exile in a foreign land, and as a result of Yosef’s sale as a slave in Egypt, Bnai Yisrael moved to Egypt under the protection of the Egyptian government, as Yosef rose to the position of viceroy. And, because of Yosef, grain was stored in Egypt ahead of the years of drought, thus ensuring that Bnai Yisrael would be supported during this harsh period. Yosef himself tells his brothers later in Sefer Bereshit (50:20) that although they intended to cause him harm, Hashem worked it out for everyone’s benefit.
Thus, Yosef’s experiences are entirely consistent with the principle of "Sheluchey mitzvah enam nizokim." Although he suffered short-term harm, in the long-run, his mitzvah of obeying his father yielded enormous benefit for himself, his father and his brothers.
We know situations where, unfortunately, a person was struck by tragedy as a result of a mitzvah. Such incidents can pose an enormous challenge to one’s faith in the value of mitzvot. The story of Yosef must remind us that mitzvah performance is always to our long-term benefit. We cannot always understand how, just as Yosef likely could not understand how his status as a slave in a foreign land would prove beneficial. But we must retain our faith under all circumstances that mitzvot are beneficial. "Sheluchey mitzvah enam nizokim" – people involved in mitzvot will always benefit from the mitzvot they perform. Somehow, in the end, the mitzvot will prove to have been to their benefit, even if in the short-term this benefit cannot be seen. We can draw inspiration and encouragement from the remarkable story of Yosef, bolstering our faith in the ultimate value of mitzvot, even when we cannot immediately recognize this value.
