The Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh comments concerning the redundancy of the text. It previously said that Yaakov v’chol zaro, with all his offspring, came to Egypt. Why does the Torah reiterate that his sons and grandsons came? Were they not part of his offspring? The Torah goes on to mention daughters and granddaughters, following the word ito, with him. First, why are they separated from the rest of the offspring? And why is the extra word ito added as a separation between sons/grandsons and daughters/granddaughters. The Ohr HaChaim explains that, indeed, with regard to their attitude, the different groups were not on the same page as the Patriarch. Some went down willingly because it was the gezeiras haMelech, decree of the King – Hashem. Others were hesitant to descend into the “iron crucible” of Egyptian oppression. His sons and grandsons went willingly “with him,” aligned in mind and spirit with him. The rest of the family had to be “brought down.” They were not excited about the change in venue, leaving the idyllic life in Eretz Yisrael for what was to be the commencement of the Egyptian exile.
The Ohr HaChaim adds that, in reward for their willingness to descend to Egypt, Hashem delayed the enslavement until each of the brothers had died. He concludes with the words, Sama d’yisurei Kabulei, “The cure for Divinely imposed suffering is wholehearted acceptance of the Divine decree.” (This coincides with Chazal Berachos 62A: “The tradition regarding yissurim is silence.”)
Yissurim, troubles in all forms, are Divinely decreed. We are being taught a powerful lesson: Sama d’yissurei Kabulei: If a person accepts his yissurim with love, acknowledging their Heavenly Source, he diminishes their effect and ultimately is rewarded for his faith. Fighting the inevitable only increases the pain. Yaakov Avinu and his family were originally destined to go down to Egypt in iron chains as slaves. Hashem orchestrated events, so that they would descend as royalty and be treated as such with respect. This is because they did not challenge the “challenge,” but rather accepted it with love.
Horav Yechiel Tzuker, shlita, relates an incident concerning a young kollel family in which this concept was realized. As their family grew, getting around by public transportation was becoming increasingly difficult. The fellow decided it was time to invest in a car. To his good fortune, he was able to get a good price on a car in excellent condition, whose owner had doted on it. Indeed, the first time he showed up at the kollel with his car, one of the fellows remarked that the car was not suited for a kollel fellow. He should be careful not to attract an ayin hora, evil eye. Actually, that very same day, as he was going home, he did not notice a fence that was in his way. As he backed up, he dented the trunk of his car. It was more cosmetic than anything else, certainly not the type of damage that he would spend two thousand shekel to repair.
The young man was upset. He and his wife had saved and done everything right. They were fortunate to have found a car that was in pristine condition. Why did he have to get a dent on the very first day that he took it to kollel?
A few months passed, and summer vacation came around. They decided to take the entire family to Ashdod where the children could enjoy the beach. Anyone who has ever taken his family on a trip knows that the hardest part is packing the car. Each child has his/her favorite toy that must be brought along. They tried to close the trunk of the car, but there was just so much room. They rearranged the luggage, the toys and the food, and they pushed hard to close the trunk! Their smiles immediately changed when they heard the shrieking of the youngest daughter, whose hand had become stuck in the trunk door. The father was terrified, not knowing what to expect. Fingers caught in a trunk door can present much more than pain. It could mean surgeries and therapies. All this went through his mind in the few seconds it took for him to pop open the trunk and extricate his daughter’s hand. He did not know what to expect, but he was overcome with shock when he saw that his daughter’s hand had not even been bruised. “Apparently” his daughter’s hand had been caught in the exact same spot as the inexplicable dent for which he had wondered what Hashem wanted of him.
At the seudas hodaah, thanksgiving meal, in honor of his daughter’s emerging unscathed, he said, “Hashem tested my reaction to the dent in my new car. I accepted it with joy. It was a challenge which I would overcome. He showed me that, had there not been a dent,, my daughter would have suffered greatly.” We just do not know why, but we do know the Source: Sama d’yissurei Kabulei.
