Miketz
What I Learned from Joseph about Post-Traumatic Growth.
Reflection by Galit Toledano, Executive Director of Or HaLev
"Parshat Miketz — the last Parsha of my father's life — always awakens a new revelation within me. Perhaps it's because the story of Yosef (Joseph) is a story we can all relate to: moments when something breaks, and we are no longer the person we once were. This feeling is especially resonant now, after October 7th, when we woke up to a reality of rupture, profound uncertainty, shock, and the immense pain of two years of war.
Yosef endures betrayal, displacement, and years of loneliness and uncertainty. It is a human story of trauma.
Yet, the Torah offers a different way to view the brokenness.
When Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, he says:
לֹא אַתֶּם שְׁלַחְתֶּם אֹתִי הֵנָּה, כִּי הָאֱלֹהִים (בראשית מ”ה, ח)
`It was not you who sent me here, but God.` (Genesis 45:8)
He doesn't erase the pain. He simply stops letting it define him. Rashi explains that Yosef understands there is a broader story at play. This is a moment of true freedom.
The Me'or Einayim, the great Hasidic master, reminds us that the descent into Egypt is a 'Birur Nitzotzot': a clarification, or elevation, of sparks — meaning that in the darkest of places, there is something to illuminate.
The Sefat Emet speaks of Yosef’s ability to maintain faith even when there is concealment (`Hester`).
And Rebbe Nachman teaches that true growth begins in the breaking.
When I look at Yosef through the lens of meditation, I see a person who knows how to sit with his pain, to breathe into it, and not rush to distance himself from it. Out of this encounter, something new is born: clarity. Connection. A heart capable of meeting others again.
And within the current reality of Israel — a nation experiencing collective trauma — the figure of Yosef becomes a teacher. He reminds us that our pain is not the end of the story. That within it also exists a movement of life. That it is possible to transform hardship into meaning, and a wound into a place that cultivates compassion.
This is a great lesson for me, filled with the deep optimism that characterized my late father, who, despite challenges, saw the opportunity and the potential for growth.
May we all find the Yosef within ourselves, and may we grow from hardship and pain to great illumination."