In this week’s parasha, we find Yaacov sending his sons to shepherd sheep in Shche

m and then sending Yosef to see how they are doing. This of course is the beginn
ing of the dramatic story of Yosef being sold by his brothers to Egypt.
“‫המכש אביו‬. ‫ ”…הדשב העות הנהו שיא והאצמיו‬-―And he [Yosef] came to Shchem . And a man found
own to look for his brothers and in the process he got lost and was found by a m
an in the field. How very strange that the Torah is telling us he asked for dire
ctions—is this the first time in the Torah someone needed to ask for directions? W
hy does the Torah tell us this odd vignette and why is this being recorded? What
is the significance? Who is this strange Ish (man)?
Rashi says that he must be the angel Gavriel. Does it make sense that Hashem mad
e a miracle and sent an angel from Heaven to give him directions? Perhaps Rashi
is alluding to the fact that this man, who seems to be there by coincidence, was
actually there by design. Does this mean he was really an angel? Perhaps we can
learn out from this that every ―ish is really a messenger from HaShem. Every per
son we meet is an angel. After all, what is an angel? An angel is a being sent d
own to this world with a mission, a message to bring forth. Every person in this
world contains a specific and direct message from HaShem to us.
The Baal Shem Tov explains on the verse: ―‫ ודבל םדאה תויה בוט אל‬,-― it is not good for man
reason it is not good for man to be alone is not because it is not good to be lo
nely. Rather, man would not be clued in to the mission he is to fulfill in the w
orld were it not for the people surrounding him. Very often, the people around u
s are sending us messages from HaShem all the time.
These messages can come in many forms. Sometimes they are more obvious and other
times they are more mysterious. For example, when feeling frustration at anothe
r being, one must really look inward to try and understand what the message that
HaShem is trying to convey. Imagine—were we to really view the world from this sp
iritual perspective, we would never be able think negatively of our fellow man.
It would be equivalent to getting mad at the stick that a person used to hit you
. It has nothing to do with the stick –only the one instructing the stick. Of cour
se, this does not mean that man is not accountable for his action. The man is re
sponsible and on a physical level must make ammends, however on a spiritual leve
l—there is a message here tailor made and hand crafted by The One Above especially
for you. According to the Baal Shem Tov, HaShem does not only ―speak to us throug
h Torah and Tefillah but also through the stories of our lives.
I want to bless all of us to realize how HaShem is communicating with us on a co
nstant basis and more importantly, to realize the godliness in one another—after a
ll, we are all hand-picked messengers by God.
Shabbat Shalom!