A man was walking through the woods one day with his walking stick. He was so deep in thought that he did not realize where he was walking until he was a few feet from a lion. The man, in a state of panic, recognized that he must do something, so he pretended the stick was a gun to scare the lion. As the lion approached, the man closed his eyes, lifted the stick, and made a loud gun noise. When he opened his eyes, he saw blood coming from the lion. He thought he manifested his stick as a gun and performed magic. What he did not know was that there was a hunter nearby who saw what was going on. At the moment the lion was going to attack, the man screamed, and the hunter shot the gun. We are the man with the stick, and the Hunter is Hashem.
For years, Yaakov could not be comforted, and his head was elsewhere. He did not have the connection to Hashem that he used to and was depressed from losing his son Yosef. He found himself in a state of not realizing Hashem was there and pulling the strings.
Despite that, after hearing the news about Yosef, Yaakov sees and remembers Hashem’s hand. As he gets ready to visit Yosef, Yaakov receives a reminder from Hashem that He has always been with him and will continue to be with him.
Hashem says, “I will go down with you to Mitzrayim, and I will come back up with you.” Hashem knows we are sometimes like the man who has his head in the clouds, and when sticky situations arise and we overcome them, we can think it is all up to us. However, Hashem reminds us, as he did when He brought Yaakov out of his low state, that both the lows and the highs are from Hashem. It does not matter how much you have done wrong or if you are depressed; it doesn’t matter how successful you are; it doesn’t matter that you do not always think of Me. I, Hashem, will still be there. May we always feel Hashem, and may we recognize when He acts to save us.
Shira Sedek is a passionate educator currently working toward a master’s degree at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.
