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Thought for the Day: The Alta Bubbie's Tears Were Shed in Her Youth

Again, based on what I heard from R' Cziment's amazing chumash shiurim; available on TorahAnyTime.

Some review: Yosef HaTzadik was sold into slavery and purchased in Mitzrayim by Potiphar, an important official in Paroh's government. Potiphar's wife was, to say the least, quite smitten with Yosef. (In modern parlance, we'd call her a cougar.) Yosef HaTzadik, all of 17, abandoned and sold into slavery by his family, was able to resist her quite considerable charms. You know the rest of the story.

From whence did Yosef derive the strength to overcome that challenge? Let's ask a little more pointedly: How did Yosef HaTzadik even have the will to seek a solution to his predicament? It was a monumental task and he overcame and, yes, the journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step -- but before taking that step is the decision to go on the journey.

The medrash says that Potiphar had a very special residence. It had once been the palace of Paroh himself. When? In that days when Avraham Avinu and Sara Imeinu came to Mitzrayim. In fact, Sarah Imeinu was taken that that selfsame room where more than a century later her great grandson would be tempted by Potiphar's wife. What happened in that room?

The medrash tells us that Sarah Imeinu cried all night. She cried out to HaShem, "We came to this land because my husband has faith in You, HaShem. I came with him because I have faith in my husband. Now he is out that I am trapped in here!" HaShem answered, "Sara, everything I am doing is for your benefit." HaShem was telling Sara that her tears and distress were not in vain. She needed to be in distress, and she needed to cry -- for those tears of distress in that room would be the source of strength that would give Yosef HaTzadik the will to decide that he would and could resist the wife of Potiphar more than a century later.

We all talk about the power of our bubbie's (and alta bubbie's) t'filos and tears and how we are sure they are a source of merit and strength for us to this day. But I think we picture frail old lady with gnarled hands reading from her well worn t'hillim with tears gently flowing down her wrinkled cheeks. So cute and poetic. When Sara Imeinu cried those tears and poured out her heart in distress, though, she was not a cute little old lady. She was young, vibrant, beautiful -- so beautiful that Paroh wanted her for himself. She wasn't crying gently over her well worn t'hillim. No -- she was crying for her predicament and afraid for her virtue; she saw no hope but to call out to HaShem. She was saved, but not in the z'chus of those prayers. Rather, we see from the medrash that the tears and t'fillos were the reason for the predicament!

Quite the opposite of the way we usually view things. We think we are davening for salvation -- that we are in trouble and we need help to get out. Often, though, we find ourselves in distressing situation because HaShem desires our prayers!

Let's think about this. When Sara Imeinu was pouring out her heart, she had no children and even had no hope (without Divine intervention) of ever having children. Yet those were the tears that saved the great grandson whom she never knew nor even dreamed of. (And it was that success of Yosef HaTzadik that saved the virtue of our exalted mothers throughout the 210 years of slavery in Mitzrayim... but that's another story.)

A couple of thoughts on this idea. One, we are also those alta bubbies and zaydies for unborn generations. We have no idea what we may be doing for our descendants. Two, there is an expression: a mother is only as happy as her least happy child. When HaShem told Sara Imeinu that everything was happening for her benefit, Hashem was speaking the mother of klal yisrael. There is not a mother who would not gladly go through any distress to save her children, and childrens' children, and childrens' childrens' children, and ...

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