There was a simple woman who would go to shul infrequently. She came to shul the week of parshas Vayeishev. She listened to the Torah reading and heard the story of Yosef being sold by his brothers to the Yishmaelim and being brought down to Egypt. She became very emotional, and began to cry hysterically, her heart going out to poor Yosef. It took a while for the other ladies to calm her down. The next time she came to shul (besides for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur) was the following year, parshas Vayeishev. Once again, she heard the story of Yosef being sold, but didn’t react as she had the previous year. They asked her, “What changed from the previous year?” She answered, “If he’s fool enough to go back there and be sold again, I have no pity on him!”

This is an old joke. But as we read the same story every year, we should try to learn something new. I’d like to share the following thought and lesson.

Yosef was sold to the Yishmaelim, and the Torah makes the point that they were transporting spices. Rashi brings the medrash that says that the spices were a novelty for Yishmaelim to transport. They usually transported petroleum and smelly items, unpleasant baggage. Here, Hashem arranged for them to be transporting good smelling spices so that the tzadik Yosef would have a pleasant trip.

Question: Yosef was in tremendous pain from being sold by his brothers (even though he agreed that they were correct - not our topic here) and being separated from his father. Why would he even notice the difference or care about the nice smell?

Rav Chaim Shmulevitz tzs”l answered that we learn from this story about a new type of hatzalah, rescue.  There’s a hatzalah of necessity. Someone’s in danger and they need Hashem to get them out of that frightening situation. The hatzalah removes them from all the danger. 

Then there’s a different hatzalah that doesn’t remove the pain and difficulty. Instead, it lessens or makes the difficulty more bearable or pleasant. What for? They’re still in that situation? The purpose is, that Hashem is showing the person that He still loves them, even though they need to go through that hardship.

Even more so when someone did something wrong and is deserving of punishment; Hashem will lessen or sweeten the situation. It’s like Hashem is telling them, “My dear child, you misbehaved and need this consequence. Yet, I will still give you some sign to realize that I still love you, even right now.”

Yosef Hatzadik spoke lashon harah to his father about his brothers. That was wrong, and in fact, what he told his father was based on his understanding of what he saw, but it wasn’t the truth. He misinterpreted what he saw and he was deserving of a punishment. Still, Hashem gave him a small wink at that time, as if to say, “I still love you and I’m here with you.”

Perhaps this why Rashi here uses the words matan schar shel tzaddikm - the reward being received by tzadikm - even when they need the punishment, they’ll have this sign of love from Hashem.

This is a powerful message that manifests itself in many situations. Whatever reason there is that one needs to be in that circumstance, many times there is something good, even small, in the picture to help them see that Hashem is there for them.

As we are approaching Chanukah, I’d like to point out that the miracle of the oil burning for eight days is exactly this! The gemara (Shabbos 21b) describes how Chanukah came to be. After the Greeks were defeated, Klal Yisrael fixed-up the Beis Hamikdash and found ritually-pure oil for lighting the menorah, enough for one night, and it burned for eight days. The next year they established Chanukah for eight days to commemorate the miracle of the oil.

What happened to the military victory? Wasn’t that the bigger miracle? The answer is yes, the battles and the victories were a huge, open miracle that was seen by everyone. The Syrian-Greeks kept amassing large and powerful armies to defeat the Chashmonaim, and they kept losing! Huge miracles! (The Chashmonaim were expecting to lose, but were ready to die al kiddush Hashem!) When the Jews returned to Yerushalayim and lit the menorah, that miracle was only seen by a few people, mostly Cohanim. To be able to see and tell that last night’s oil was still there and the same wick was still burning, required to have been there when the usual time for changing the wicks was - in the morning. Who could do that, besides for the Cohanim doing the avodah? Most people heard about the miracle. So why should we focus on the miracle of the oil?

I’ll give the same answer we mentioned above. Even though the situation wasn’t completely resolved, they received a wink from Hashem in the form of that miracle of the oil. It wasn’t necessary for it to happen. The victories, yes - necessary. Klal Yisrael was in immense pain from the decrees of the Greeks, and the victories were needed to get save them from the Greeks. But the oil burning for eight days, that was a pure bonus! Totally extra! Furthermore, the victories over the Greeks weren’t entirely completed, as the wars continued for many more years. The situation wasn’t completely resolved. Still, Hashem gave them a wink, a sign of love from Above, that He was there for them.  

As of current events, with everything happening around us, we are far from any complete salvation. Even with the weakening of Hamas and Hezbollah, the collapse of Syria, and Iran’s forces weakened, there is still much to be done before victory can be declared. With the infighting in Israeli politics, and one sector bashing the other, we need a big hatzalah. With the surge in anti-Semitism around the world, including in the U.S., and even with the Trump victory, there is a lot of salvation needed.

At the same time, the number of miracles we’ve recently seen, even with all the many terror attacks and tragedies, are surly a big wink and smile from Above. Hashem is saying, “I’m watching over you Klal Yisrael, and I love you!”

May we be zoche to receive and see what these winks are, and appreciate all the many miracles that Hashem does for us, both as individuals, and as a collective nation. May we be zoche to have more open miracles with the complete salvation with Mashiach’s arrival very soon!

Adapted from a shiur given by R’ Yisrael Altusky shlita, Yeshiva Torah Ore, Yerushalayim. Shiurim can be heard at the Kol Halashon website.