When we recite the supplication during the Bircas Kohanim service on Yom Tov, Festivals, we say to Hashem, V’sitneinu l’ahavah, “And may You grant that we find love, favor, kindness and mercy, in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who behold us… Just as You granted Yosef, Your righteous one – at the time that his father garbed him in a fine woolen tunic.” It seems strange that we would ask for such favor, when, in fact, the kesones pasim, woolen tunic, triggered Yosef’s brother’s hatred toward him. What favor did he find as a result of this tunic?
In his Kedushas Tzion, The Bobover Rebbe, zl, employs a Midrash to explain this. David Hamelech says, Lechu u’reu – “Go and see the works of G-d, He is awesome indeed toward man.” This is immediately followed by, “He changed the sea into the land” (Tehillim 61:5,6). The Midrash asks, “Why did the brothers hate Yosef? It was so that the sea would one day split for their descendants.” Chazal are teaching us a lesson concerning the wonders of G-d. He causes things to happen which, over time, are transformed into wonders for His people. In the beginning, however, they appear as awesome, almost fearful occurrences – something definitely not to look forward to, suggesting the inevitable question: “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” In the end, however, we observe a transition to the good – “almost” as if this was Hashem’s original intention. In other words, those alilos, awesome deeds, which, at first, had appeared fearful were really there for our good, to catalyze salvation for us.
Likewise, the kesones pasim originally appeared to be the source of the hatred the brothers harbored towards Yosef. In the end, all the troubles which resulted from that distinctive tunic led to the Splitting of the Red Sea. Actually, when Yaakov Avinu garbed Yosef with the kesones pasim, it was the immediate catalyst for Krias Yam Suf – but we had to undergo a number of alilos on the way. Thus, explains the Kedushas Tzion, we ask Hashem to grant us the result of Yosef’s kesones pasim – only we really could do without the alilos that accompany it. Could we just experience the miracles – right away?
