ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף קהלת 8:5

The ten rulers referred to are the ten brothers of Joseph, since it is written, "Ten of the brothers went down." They could have laid Egypt waste with their strength, but Joseph vanquished them with his wisdom. Since man is forced to sojourn on this earth although he has been provided with a soul by G-d, it is fitting that his fate be similar to the fate of other strangers in this world. Due to the soul's celestial antecedents, plus the fact that man was created in G-d’s image, his place should not really be down here on earth, but his natural habitat should be near the Almighty Himself. This is what David says in Psalms 119,19, "Do not hide Your commandments from me, because I am a stranger on this earth." It is natural for man to keep his intimate secrets from those whom he considers of inferior status. David pleads with G-d in Psalm 55,14 not to keep His secrets from him, because he is aware that his place of abode is so inferior. Also in Psalms 39,13, he pleads that though he may have become estranged from G-d through some of his deeds, G-d should not turn away from his supplication, since at least his ancestry is so superior. The reason that ordinary man, i.e. the one who does not constantly advance towards moral and spiritual perfection, is called am ha-aretz, people of the earth, is precisely because he has made the "lower" world his permanent home instead of treating it like the foyer to a far superior world (Avot 4,21). This world is reserved for those who preserve the Divine image in which they were created. Because our world is merely a foyer to the ultimate palace reserved for us, it is only natural that during our stay on this earth we must submit to the indignities usually reserved for aliens everywhere. The two major areas in which aliens are disadvantaged while far from home are A) They cannot claim the respect due them as they would in their native society, and B) they have to perform work unbefitting the dignity of their real status in order to earn their livelihood. Jeremiah already compares G-d as not insisting on the respect due Him, since He is in exile when His people are in exile (Jeremiah 14,8). "Why should You be a stranger on earth, like a guest requiring lodging, when Your name is proclaimed with us?" The meaning there is "Since You are not a stranger, and since You have existed from time immemorial, if You do not help us as our Savior, You will be considered like a man without recourse, like a disabled hero." This too is the line Moses took when he argued that people will comment on the demise of the Jewish people as evidence of the inability of G-d to overcome the Canaanites (Numbers 14,13-17). When our sages advise a person who is unable to master his passions to go to a place where he is unknown (Chagigah 16), they want to prevent the sin to be committed to fall into the category of chilul hashem, desecration of the holy name of G-d, something that it is impossible to atone for in this life. When a stranger is observed committing a sin, this does not influence the society of the place in which the sin is committed, since nobody pays the stranger any heed anyways. If the same sin were committed in one's hometown, others may use it as an excuse to do likewise, and the chilul hashem is beyond recall. The second major indignity suffered by strangers is their inability to converse in the language of that country, thereby making themselves laughingstocks and misfits in the new society they find themselves in. Even if in order to earn some money one subjects oneself to such indignities by becoming a stranger in a foreign land, since one has no guarantee that one will return home with a sizable fortune, what guarantee is there that even if the money has been earned, it will endure (see example of Rabbi Eleazar ben Charsum in Yuma 35)? Forsaking preoccupation with the acquisition of permanent wealth, namely Torah knowledge, cannot be justified. Our purpose in this world is to prepare ourselves for the world to come. It follows that those who demean themselves by unnecessary preoccupation with the acquisition of material wealth, demean the "palace" in favor of the "foyer." When the Midrash comments on the words Vayeshev Yaakov, that if a person of the caliber of Jacob wanted to live serenely on this earth, Satan interfered, the meaning is quite plain. A tzaddik who demonstrates too much interest in material wealth and pleasure in this world imperils his standing as a tzaddik and invites yissurim, painful tribulations, to remind him of the error of his ways. This is what the Midrash meant when it says one cannot demand the "goodies" of both worlds. "Peace" is real only in the other world, as indicated by the promise to Abraham, "And you will join your fathers in peace" (Genesis 15,15). The yissurim, afflictions, make its recipient realize that his presence on this earth is comparable to that of a persecuted stranger. Jacob's experiences are a perfect example of this analysis. The disappearance of Joseph, the rape of Dinah, the famine, the apparent loss of Shimon, the threatened loss of Benjamin, all combined to bring home that truth. Unless Jacob was a stranger on this earth whose rightful abode was in the celestial regions, how could we account for all the indignities he had to suffer? The second disadvantage we have mentioned as being suffered by aliens in a country not their own, the language problem, is also relevant when we view man's temporary stay on earth. As a rule, speech is used to articulate man's physical needs, i.e. food and drink etc., or to put it more crudely, to communicate those of his needs that he shares with the animal kingdom to others. Whenever mere language does not suffice to assure him of his needs, he resorts to violence, i.e. a call to arms: (Proverbs 18,6) "The lips of the fools engage in quarrels, his mouth calls for turbulence." Their very language becomes an instrument of violence. Jeremiah 18,18 illustrates this point further: "Let us smite him by means of language!" Wisdom, however, is superior to violence and to instruments of war and strife (Kohelet 9,16). When speech is employed to express the spiritual yearnings of man, it does not become an instrument of war or a means of animalistic gratification. When Solomon says, "Do not answer the fool according to his foolishness; answer the fool in accordance with his folly!" this means, "Do not use the power of speech to answer the fool on his own level, but use the power of speech so that even a fool can recognize his folly (Proverbs 26,5). The ox is the animal that uses its brute strength to work hard uncomplainingly. Joseph had to suffer many indignities in the early part of his life, such as the brothers' jealousy, the Midianite slave merchants, Potiphar's wife's accusations etc. Nevertheless, he proved his moral superiority in his encounter with his master's wife. This moral superiority which he demonstrated when it clearly hurt his chances of a continued career (when he refused the advances of his master's wife), was richly rewarded by G-d, who alone was aware of the pure motives which had governed Joseph's behavior throughout. Joseph's ability to control his carnal urges made him a paragon of virtue. The Talmud Shabbat 63 says that whoever fulfills one single mitzvah completely, wholeheartedly, will not receive evil tidings. He will not need to worry about receiving bad news, but can enjoy undisturbed confidence that G-d’s personal Providence will remain at his side. Joseph's strength, i.e. the ox's strength, lay in the certainty that his cause was righteous, not in his ability to pull heavy loads. The lion, on the other hand, represents mere physical prowess. The brothers, in being described as "rulers" are conceived as having made themselves at home here on earth, not being content with remaining aliens, the purpose of man's sojourn on this globe. For this reason, then, Joseph representing the inner strength of a man of spiritual values, was able to overcome the combined strength of his brothers who had threatened to destroy Egypt failing release of their brother Benjamin.

Since we have established that events in this world can be due to natural law or G-d’s direct intervention, and that the latter is reserved for the Jewish people, it is proper to show how construction of the tabernacle fits into the second category. When events are the result of natural law, the fate of the righteous and the fate of the sinner are alike, since natural law does not distinguish between good and evil, rich and poor etc. This is not so when events are due to Divine intervention. Then the guilty gets his just deserts and the innocent, i.e. the righteous reaps the reward due him. It is crucial therefore, to have chosen the right way of life. He who chooses the lifestyle of a sinner, is in effect choosing death. This fact is spelled out in the Torah on several occasions, such as Deut.30, 16, et al. We have discussed G-d’s Personal Providence in chapters 15 and 31. Since we have explained in chapter 48, that the tabernacle was a microcosm of the universe, we will explain how Israel is taught a lesson by G-d exercising His Personal Providence in connection with the tabernacle and its parts, about His macrocosm. When one speaks about how the world is being run, this "running" can be subdivided into three aspects. 1) Availability of food and shelter. Both are available in equal measure for the righteous as well as for the sinner, as stated in Deut. 4, 19, "sun, moon and stars have been allocated to all nations." 2) The availability of free choice within the framework of natural law. (compare chapter 3) This is necessary in order not to make good conduct something that is merely functional. If bad conduct were to be followed automatically and immediately by punishment, good behaviour could not qualify for reward since it would be due merely to fear and other functional considerations. 3) Sometimes, matters that had been preordained in accordance with natural law, are synchronised to occur at a time when they demonstrate G-d’s pleasure or displeasure with the conduct of man. If Nebuchdnezzar's star rose at the time of Yehoyakim so that he became the world's ruler, Israel, by reason of its wicked conduct was not excluded (saved) by special Divine intervention. Normally, when prophets make predictions they have in mind those preordained events. They announce their knowledge of these events and the time they would occur. Should the people repent, the preordained event will be cancelled, i.e. Divine intervention in Israel's fate will become manifest. False prophets base their predictions on their knowledge of natural law, not being privy to these preordained happenings that are timed to coincide with certain actions, resp. inactions of the Jewish people. Thus they deny Divine Personal intervention. Chapter twenty seven in Jeremiah is a case in point. Personal Providence does not apply to Nebuchadnezzar, but it would apply to Israel if they would follow the urgings of the prophet. Proof that the chapter discusses events due to natural law, is the prophecy concerning Nebuchadnezzar's son and grandson who had as yet not proven themselves, and whose dominion, if preordained, had nothing to do with Divine intervention. In such circumstances, intervention by hashgachah peratit, Personal Divine Providence, cannot be expected. Also, by means of natural law, the seventy years of Babylonian exile were to have the psychological effect of bringing about repentance by those who had to live in Babylonia as strangers. King Cyrus responded to their seventy year exile when he granted permission to re-establish the Jewish state, (province within the Persian empire) When king Solomon states in Kohelet 8,5, "he who obeys the commandments will know no evil, and a wise mind will know time and justice, for everything has its time and justice for man's evil overwhelms him..l have taken this to heart," this passage does not mean that all fates are determined exclusively by natural law. It merely means that there is such a thing as natural law, but that G-d works according to His timetable. Those who believe that there is only natural law err. Therefore, all attempts to calculate the coming of the Messiah in advance are doomed to failure. When G-d has said in Isaiah 63,4, "the day of vengeance is in My heart," He means that He will not reveal the timing, but it remains in His heart. Sanhedrin 97, curses those who calculate the timing of the Messiah's arrival beforehand. Such calculations actually delay his arrival. If someone had calculated that the Messiah would not arrive until the year seven thousand, using astronomic and astrological data, we would resign ourselves to a lengthy exile and slacken our efforts to hasten his arrival through the performance of good deeds. We must believe that a) "My redemption is close at hand," (Isaiah 56, 1) and that when least thought about, it may arrive. (Sanhedrin 94) Experience has taught us that G-d may hasten the end, (Haggadah of Passover) when He shortened our exile in Egypt." I the Lord, at its time, I will hasten it" (Isaiah 60,22). G-d reserves the right to accelerate His timetable, if warranted. At this point we learn that "natural law" can be supplanted by hashgachah perartit. When Jeremiah expresses the hope that the prediction of the false prophet Chananyah ben Azzur who had predicted the return of the captured holy vessels within two years, would come true, (Jeremiah 28, 6) he did so because the principle of hashgachah peratit can override the dictates of natural law. G-d’s prerogative to employ this method has certainly not been abrogated. When Jeremiah expressed doubt however, that this would happen, and predicted the false prophet's imminent death, he merely indicated that the conditions to bring about G-d’s personal intervention on behalf of the Jewish people did not exist at that time. The people simply did not merit it. The acid test of whether a prophet speaks the truth is when he predicts something "good" and it does not come true exactly as promised. Prediction of disaster merely serves to arouse feelings of fear and, hopefully, remorse. The reverse is achieved when the false prophet predicts something "good," lulling his listeners into a false sense of security, an impediment to arousing feelings of remorse and repentance. This is what was the case in Jeremiah chapters 27 and 28. In Jeremiah 27, 18, Jeremiah exhorts those prophets that if they were indeed prophets of the Lord, they would pray to G-d not to lose the remaining holy vessels of the temple, and for their king not to be taken into captivity. At least, if they did that, they would attempt to ward off a decree already in the process of being executed. The reason the "good" prophecy has to come true is that hashgachah peratit supersedes natural law, and a good prophecy is always based on hashgachah peratit being employed. The reverse is not true, since prophesies of doom are based on G-d’s intervention having been forfeited. Hence there is a chance of doom. When no doom occurs, it proves that Divine intervention did take place on our behalf and superseded the natural law which would have proved fatal to us had it been allowed to run its course. (more on this in chapter 96) When two prophets prophesy simultaneously about the same people however, the true prophet threatening doom in order to arouse feelings of repentance, and the false prophet assuring the same people that regardless of their conduct the good will come true since their merit suffices, then only by the "good" coming true can we have proof positive of who was the true prophet and who was not.

The seven days of consecration which Aaron and his sons spent in isolation, away from their respective families, prior to assuming their priestly functions, were to prepare them spiritually for their task. While they had to remain on the threshold, they were neither to enter the sanctuary nor to leave the holy courtyard. This clearly demonstrated that these seven days were preparatory to their sacred task, but that until the eighth day their preparations would not be complete. Symbolically, these seven days represented the entire life cycle. Just as life on this earth is viewed as an antechamber to the world to come, (Rabbi Yaakov Avot 4,21) so Aaron and sons were to view themselves as dedicating themselves for their lives' destiny. Wherever and whenever we encounter the number seven, it is to remind us that perfection is capable of being achieved at the end of a cycle of seven. Even when we observe a period of mourning, we do so for a seven day period. We have learned this from G'd Himself, who had observed seven days of mourning for mankind when He brought the deluge upon the earth. (Genesis 7,4. see commentary of Rabbi Zeyra in Moed Katan 3,5) He who fails to observe the seven days of preparation, is as if he were already mourning his own demise during the seven days that should have prepared him to attain his goal, his purpose.