When God Throws the Ball Back at You: Vayeshev 5786

If you were wrongly imprisoned. you would do everything to clear your name and win your freedom. Yet, according to the Midrash Tanchuma, Joseph erred in asking the wine butler to mention him to Pharaoh in hopes of gaining his release. Because Joseph took matters into his own hands instead of relying on God’s salvation, the midrash explains that Joseph was forced to endure an extra two years in prison. 

However, the rabbis balance the concept of faith and relying on Divine Providence with that of self-help. While we believe in miracles, we do not rely upon miracles according to the Talmud (Taanit 20b). Jacob’s prudent actions are a case in point. The patriarch is lauded for his pragmatic behavior as he prepares for his encounter with Esau, who Jacob feared still desired revenge for his theft of the blessing. In addition to praying for divine protection in his encounter with his twin, Jacob acted wisely, by dividing his family into two camps, reasoning that if one camp were captured by Esau, at least the second camp would escape. Jacob understood what would eventually be taught in the Talmud (Shabbat 32a)- relying on miracles diminishes the credits one attains from the performance of mitzvot.

The rabbis are not merely teaching that one should avoid exceeding one’s credits. The deeper concern is that when one is overly reliant on divine intervention, he will inadvertently shift the burden of responsibility to his fellow. There is an old joke about the father-in-law who meets his future son-in-law. He asks his son-in-law how he will earn a living, and the son-in-law responds by explaining that there is nothing to worry about – for God will provide. After the son-in-law leaves, the mother-in-law asks her husband what she thinks about their new son-in-law. He responds by stating that he likes the young man because he believes that “I am God, for I will wind up providing for him.” 

This is a lesson that even Moshe Rabbenu had to learn. When trapped between the Egyptians and the sea, Moses exclaimed to the Israelites that they would now see the salvation of God. Yet, God’s response was, “why do you cry out to me,” rather you take control of the situation by raising your staff and urging people to go forward.

Or Chaim explains that while prayer was an appropriate response in that situation, it wasn’t enough in and of itself. It needed to be followed by action. In other words, as the cliché goes, “God helps those who help themselves.” In fact, in order to preserve life, he is expected to take matters into his own hands. 

After the Seleucids (Syrian Greeks) massacred Jewish rebels who refused to defend themselves on Shabbat, it was ruled that one must defend himself even on Shabbat from deadly attack though this means transgressing Shabbat. The Al Hanisim prayer which we recite on Hanukkah, credits God for the miracles he performed on our behalf, yet does not exclude the heroism of those who fought to preserve Judaism. It’s no wonder that religious Zionists who grew tired of simply waiting around for God to send the Messiah and decided like the Maccabees to take matters into their own hands.

Though Joseph is criticized by the midrash, he understood what later on Abayei would teach in a famous Talmudic passage (Shabbat 53b). According to the story, a man with a young child lost his wife, the mother of the child. The father could not find anybody else to nurse a child, so in order to sustain the child, God performed a miracle, and the man lactated himself. At first glance, one would assume the man must have been a zaddik for God to perform such a miracle on his behalf and there is an opinion that says as much. However, Abayei argues the opposite. He is of the view that the need for God to upend natural order to that degree, only proves that the man was incompetent and in need of drastic outside intervention, for a more competent individual would have found a way to deal with the situation on his own. 

The message is that prayer is certainly an appropriate response to adversity but it should not be the last response. After praying, our creator expects us to act like adults and get up off our knees and do our part to address the crisis at hand. You can throw a ball to God, but don’t be surprised when he throws it back at you and expects you to catch it.