I Made Hashem Master: Prayer from the Divine Within

1aThe supremely holy R' Yisrael of Ruzhin, zt"l, said on the verse “God has made me master over all Egypt” [Bereishis 45:9]: How could Yosef send his father Yaakov Avinu such “good news,” that he had been appointed master over all Egypt? Rather, samani, “has made me,” should be read as sam ani, “I have made”: I have made God the Master over all Egypt. Those are the holy Rebbe's words. My father and teacher, R' Yechiel of Alexander, zt"l, explained them through the verse “When He hears your complaints against Hashem — and what are we, that you complain against us?” (Shemos 16:7). The true tzaddik is on this level: he gives everything back to Hashem, the King of kings. He knows, and makes known, that Hashem alone does and will do all things.

1bYosef the tzaddik stayed the same even while he reigned. When he interpreted Pharaoh's dream, he told him, “It is not in me; God will answer” [Bereishis 41:16]. That is, this is not in my hands at all; everything comes from Hashem, not from my will. Bil'adai, “not in me,” means something outside oneself. And the Midrash says that he returned the kingship to its Owner¹. So also during his reign he declared that the kingship is Hashem's alone, and to Him it is fitting: “My whole reign is not from me, but from the One Who crowns kings.” He made known to all Egypt that the kingship is Hashem's alone. That was the good news: “I have made Hashem Master over all Egypt.” Moshe and Aharon said the same: “What are we?” We know clearly that we are as nothing. Hashem made me a kohen and my brother a king, and He alone does and will do all things. So when you complain against us, you are really complaining against Hashem. Apart from His wisdom there is no wisdom, and everything comes from Him. It is not we who command or do anything apart from Him, Heaven forbid. Those are my father's holy words.

2aWe can explain this further. Yosef made known to everyone that a person does everything only through Hashem's power, through the Divine portion within him. When a person sins, Heaven forbid, he pains that portion, as Chazal say: “What does the Shechinah say? ‘My head is heavy, My arm is heavy’” (Sanhedrin 46a). This must be the whole of our prayer: If, Heaven forbid, “my iniquities have gone over my head” [Tehillim 38:5], that is, they have overpowered my understanding and my mind, and I myself am not worthy, then “act for the sake of Your Name”: for the sake of Your portion that is within me. This is hinted in “Yehudah approached him” [Bereishis 44:18]. The Midrash says that “approaching” means prayer, as in “Eliyahu approached” [Melachim I 18:36; Bereishis Rabbah 93:6]. “And he said: Bi adoni, please, my lord.” Bi literally means “in me”: within me there is a Divine portion, so I ask Hashem to raise me to a high place.

2bThis follows my father and teacher's explanation, zt"l, of the Gemara (Berachos 29b): “One who walks in a place of bands of wild beasts and robbers prays a short prayer: ‘Do Your will in the heavens above.’” Rashi explains: “in a place where there is no sin.” My father explained that this means a high place that no sin reaches. The “wild beasts and robbers” are people's own afflictions, their sins, which do not let the prayer rise. So we ask Hashem to raise our prayer to a high place where sin cannot reach. That is “Let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears” [Bereishis 44:18]. If my prayer passed along the ordinary route, it would not be allowed to reach You, for I am not worthy. But I ask You to have mercy on Your portion within me, and let me speak only “in my Master's ears,” like a person speaking to his friend mouth to ear, so that no one else hears. This is “From before You let my judgment go forth” [Tehillim 17:2]: from before You, precisely. “Relief and deliverance” [cf. Esther 4:14] abound before Him, precisely: in a place where there is no sin at all, only relief and deliverance.

3“And let not your anger flare against your servant” [Bereishis 44:18]: he asks Hashem's forgiveness for daring to make such a request. “For you are like Pharaoh”: the letters of Paroh (פרעה) also spell oref (ערף), the back of the neck. That is the kelipah, the husk of impurity, as in “they have turned their back to Me, not their face” [Yirmiyahu 2:27]. Some kelipos draw their nourishment from the “back of the neck,” and they block the prayer from passing through. “Like you” means: just as there is a side of holiness, so opposite it there are kelipos of the back of the neck. This is “like Pharaoh,” as in “the people shall be like the priest” [Yeshayahu 24:2]. Therefore I ask You to let my prayer enter straight into my Master's ears. When a person prays only for the sake of the Divine portion within him, then “even if a sharp sword rests on his neck, he should not hold back from praying for mercy” [Berachos 10a]. He can still pray, even though he is soiled with sins.

4This explains the Midrash on “Yehudah approached him”: “This is what is written, ‘Golden apples in silver settings is a word spoken in its proper manner (ofen)’ [Mishlei 25:11]” [cf. Bereishis Rabbah 93:3]. That is, in whatever situation a person is in. Yehudah had accepted, in word and in heart, that all the brothers would be slaves [Bereishis 44:16], so he had no way out at all. Even so, he prayed to Hashem. As the holy R' Yisrael of Ruzhin said on the verse “How long shall I set plans in my soul... how long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” (Tehillim 13:3): as long as I am making plans in my soul and still have some scheme left, Hashem does not send the salvation. But once there is no plan at all, Hashem sends the salvation. For He is the Infinite One, and nothing is impossible for Him.

5This is what Eliyahu said on Mount Carmel (Melachim I 18:36): “Today let it be known that You are God in Israel”: literally within them, for the souls are “a Divine portion from above” [Iyov 31:2], as we said. And he said, u'vidvarecha, “and by Your word,” written with an extra yud. The yud stands for Chochmah, wisdom, and from there comes a miracle beyond the way of nature. And he said, “You turned their heart backward” [Melachim I 18:37]. They had thought that they were “backward,” beyond hope. But in truth, for Hashem there is no difference between someone in the lowest depths and someone at the highest levels: “If I make my bed in the grave, there You are” (Tehillim 139:8). As we wrote [in Parshas Chayei Sarah] on the verse “Hashem is high above all nations” (Tehillim 113:4): the nations say that Hashem is high above all nations, and it is beneath His glory to watch over the lower worlds. As Chazal say, they call Him “the God of gods” (Menachos 110a). But we say, “Who lowers Himself to look upon the heavens and the earth” [Tehillim 113:6]. Even looking upon the heavens is a lowering compared with His glory. So for Him there is no difference between heaven and earth.