An individual action affects the entire nation

The story is told that before Mao-Tse-Tung (1893-1976), the founder and leader of the People's Republic of China, brought the Revolution to China and installed the Communist system there, he was warned that millions of Chinese could starve until they got things working properly. 

Mao responded, "If I lose 100 million Chinese peasants for the revolution, it's worth it." 

Indeed, during his leadership, from 1949 to 1976, it is estimated that 70 million of his people perished. 

This is one type of leader who can give up 100 million people, as long as his goals are accomplished. Joseph was taught by his father a vastly different message: One person is the world. Taking one person's life is extinguishing the entire world's light.  

This message is conveyed with astounding depth in the weekly Torah portion, Naso. In the listing of the offerings brought by the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, in dedication of the newly erected Sanctuary, recorded in detail, the seventh leader is from the tribe of Ephraim. 

On the seventh day, the leader was the son of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud.  

Which begs a great question: 

The leaders began offering their contributions on the first day of the month of Nissan, the day the Sanctuary was erected, on a Sunday. This means that Ephraim brought his offering on the seventh day of the week, on the Shabbat. But on Shabbat, you are not allowed to bring a private offering. On Shabbat, you may not slaughter an animal, nor can you place meat in a fire, nor can you cook meat—all components necessary for an offering in the Sanctuary! On Shabbat, only communal offerings are permitted. The Midrash gives an enigmatic explanation. 

Ephraim was a son of Joseph. The tribe of Ephraim carried the genes and legacy of Joseph. When the brothers of Joseph came to Egypt to obtain food from him, he told the caretaker of his home to "slaughter and prepare a meal," which the sages understand that he should cook and prepare all the food on Friday to be ready for the Shabbat. 

Rabbi Yochanan states it was Friday afternoon, and Joseph told his people to prepare a Shabbat meal.  Thus, in the entire Torah, Joseph is the first person described as preparing a Shabbat meal ahead of time. This was before the Torah was given. So G-d said: "Joseph! You kept Shabbat even before it was given, I will pay you back, that your descendant will offer his sacrifice on Shabbat, which is not the case for ordinary individuals who cannot offer private sacrifices on Shabbat." 

Yet this is so strange. What is the logic behind saying that since Joseph kept Shabbat and prepared for Shabbat on Friday, his great-grandson would bring a sacrifice that ordinarily violates the sanctity of Shabbat? If anything, Joseph should be rewarded by descendants who increase in the sanctity of Shabbat. 

The sages teach that all the Patriarchs observed the entire Torah before it was given, including Shabbat. What then was the uniqueness of Joseph?  

The Rebbe explained that we must recall the fateful story of Joseph and the uniqueness of his observing Shabbat in Egypt. 

Joseph, an extremely handsome young man, attracts the lustful imagination of his master's wife. She desperately tries to engage him in a relationship, yet he steadfastly refuses her. Then came the fateful day, "When he entered the house to do his work, and none of the household staff were inside. She grabbed him by his cloak and pleaded, 'Lie with me.' He ran away from her, leaving his cloak in her hand, and he fled outside. 

Humiliated and furious, she used the cloak as evidence that he attempted to violate her. Her husband, Potiphar, had Joseph imprisoned, where he spent the next twelve years of his life until, through an astonishing turn of events, he was appointed Prime Minister of Egypt. That is when his brothers came for food, and he had the Shabbat feast prepared on Friday, since he observed the laws of Shabbat.  

The Midrash explains the meaning of the phrase that Joseph "entered the house to do his work, and none of the household staff was inside." What type of work did Joseph come to do?   

The Midrash says that the "work" Joseph came to do was to yield to the advances of his master's wife. After all of her unceasing pleas, Joseph at last succumbed. However, as the union between them was about to materialize, the visage of his father, Jacob, appeared to him. This caused Joseph to reject the powerful urge. He left his garment in her hand, and he fled outdoors. 

What about Jacob's visage that inspired Joseph to deny the temptation?  

Let us reflect more closely on the psychological and physical condition of Joseph during that day when his master's wife lured him into a relationship.  

Joseph was a 17-year-old slave in a foreign country. He did not even own his body—his master exercised full control over his life, as was the fate of all ancient and modern slaves. Joseph did not have a single friend or relative in the world. His mother died when he was nine years old, and his father thought he was dead. His siblings were the ones who sold him into slavery and robbed him of his youth and liberty. One could only imagine the profound sense of loneliness that pervaded the heart of this lad. 

This is the context in which we need to understand Joseph's struggle. A person in such isolation is naturally overtaken by extremely powerful temptations and is also likely to feel that a single action makes little difference in the ultimate scheme of things.  

After all, what would be at stake if Joseph succumbed to this woman's demands? Nobody was ever likely to find out what had occurred between the two. Joseph would not need to return home in the evening to face a dedicated spouse or a spiritual father, nor would he have to go back to a family or a community of moral standing. In addition, we must take into consideration the power possessed by this Egyptian noblewoman who was inciting Joseph. She was in the position of being able to turn Joseph's life into a paradise or a living hell. She did the latter, having him incarcerated in an Egyptian dungeon on the false charges that he attempted to violate her. If it were up to her, he would have remained there for life. 

The Talmud described the techniques the woman used to persuade Joseph. "Every day, the wife of Potiphar would attempt to seduce him with words. Let us recall that this story took place before the giving of the Torah, when adultery became forbidden for Jews even at the threat of death. One may argue that, considering the death threats presented to Joseph by his master’s wife, it would have been halachically permissible, perhaps even obligatory, for him to engage in the union! 

What was the secret behind Joseph's moral rectitude? What empowered a lonely and frail slave to reject such an awesome temptation? 

"The visage of his father Jacob"! That gave Joseph the extraordinary fortitude to smack his impulse in the face and emphatically dismiss the noblewoman's lure. 

But why? Jacob was living many miles away, unaware even of the fact that his son was alive. What was the magic that lay in his physiognomy?  

The Talmud presents a tradition that the beauty of Jacob reflected the beauty of Adam, the first human being formed by the Almighty Himself. When Joseph saw the visage of Jacob, he saw the visage of Adam as well. 

Adam, we know, was instructed by G-d not to eat from the fruit of "the tree of knowledge." His disobeying this directive altered the course of human and world history forever. Though he did something insignificant, merely eating a single fruit from a single tree, this minuscule act still vibrates through the consciousness of humanity to this very day.  

Why? Because every single human being is part of the fiber in which heaven and earth are interlaced. "Each person is responsible for saying that the world was created," says the Mishnah. What this means is that there is something in this world that only I can repair and accomplish.  

G-d's dream was not to be alone but to have mankind as a partner in the continuous task of healing the world. Each of us was given our particular mission, and on this task the whole world depends. By whatever we do, we either advance or obstruct the drama of redemption; we either reduce or enhance the power of evil. Something eternal is at stake in every decision, every word, every deed performed by every single man, woman or child. 

When Joseph saw the visage of Jacob, which reflected the visage of Adam, he reclaimed an inner unshakable dignity; he remembered that he was a candle of G-d lit in the cosmic way. Seeing the visage of Adam reminded Joseph how a single act, performed at a single moment by a single man, had the power to change history forever. 

At that moment, Joseph remembered that Adam was not one man; Adam was the entire world. If something were to happen to him, if he were to die, humanity would die with him. Each decision he made impacted the planet. He could not deceive himself that his actions were unimportant. One move this way or that would define the destiny of mankind.  

This is what gave Joseph the fortitude he needed to withstand temptation. This is how he could keep Shabbos as the Prime Minister of Egypt, all alone, with no family or community support. He realized the depth and significance of his life and decisions. 

The greatest mistake in life is to think of yourself as insignificant. Not to realize the centrality of your existence in the cosmic plan. Not to appreciate the truth that you are G-d’s ambassador to the world. You are never alone, and you are never merely one small individual.  

In the words of the Reb Yosef Yitzchak, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe (1880-1950):  

Every individual is an entire community; they can create a community and bring life to a community. 

Does one need better proof than Joseph’s eventual story? Here was one man who saved the entire world from famine! 

Rabbi David Lapin, from South Africa, once shared this experience. 

As soon as I entered the rabbinate of South Africa, I became concerned about retaining my intellectual independence – something I am fiercely protective of – while serving as a community rabbi at the will of a synagogue’s board of directors. Therefore, I believed that I also needed to secure an independent source of income. And so, I first went to work for an international commodities trading company, and later I founded the leadership consulting firm, which I currently lead. 

At about that time, an opportunity arose to join a company of commodity traders in Johannesburg, and this is what I did. But I was not sure I was on the right track. Was I right to divide my time between my business and rabbinic duties? It seemed as if I had two full-time jobs, and my family was paying a heavy price as a result. 

There came a time when I felt I needed the opinion of someone much wiser than me, someone with a global perspective that embraced modernity, history, and the future. I decided to seek the advice of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. 

In 1976, I came to New York, but I had not realized that to see the Rebbe, one had to make an appointment many months in advance, and at first, I was turned away. Only when I wrote a letter to the Rebbe in which I made the argument that my questions impacted the larger Jewish community – and which I insisted be presented to him – did he invite me to wait until he finished his appointments for the night, when he would make time to see me. 

I will never forget meeting the Rebbe. I recall that he got up from his chair as my wife and I came in, greeted us, and insisted that we sit down. At that moment, I realized that we were going to have a real conversation – this was not going to be just a symbolic encounter. 

Indeed, the meeting lasted about fifteen minutes, during which time I felt that he was looking right inside me and communicating with me on a level that transcended the mind, getting straight to the heart and the essence of being. In addition, I sensed a kindness and warmth – all at once I was in the presence of a great man, an intellectual genius, a leader of the Jewish people, but also a grandfather who cared about me. In short, it was an amazing experience. 

I asked him about the responsibilities I faced and the limitations I felt, which seemed overwhelming. How can I manage it all? What should I give up – my business or my Torah teaching? Where should I direct my energy? 

His answer to me was that I should give up nothing and continue working in business while still teaching Torah. I do not remember his exact words, but the gist of it was that my being in business increased my ability to bring people closer to Judaism; my profession increased my influence and was a vehicle of sanctifying the name of G‑d. He stressed that I would have a greater impact if I were involved with business and Torah. 

I was still very young, and I couldn’t imagine how I could continue to do both. So, I burst out with: "I don’t think that is realistic. I’m already up here… I feel humbled and honored that you would even talk to me this way, but it isn’t realistic! 

I remember clearly his response to my outburst. He said, "I’ll tell you what your difficulty is. You think that human interaction is like a chemical reaction. But it isn’t. In a chemical reaction, two elements interact with each other, and they result in a third compound. But people aren’t chemicals. When people interact, the result is a nuclear reaction. A nuclear reaction occurs at the core, and then it radiates in a spherical, rather than a linear, way. As the outer rings of your sphere get bigger and bigger, the number of people you are touching gets bigger and bigger – indeed, there is no limit." 

When you touch the heart of one person, there is a nuclear reaction because that person, in turn, touches so many other people. So, each person you touch – even if it is a moment’s interaction – represents a nuclear reaction in terms of impact. That’s what it is. 

He was right of course, and way ahead of the research that, since then, has proven his words to be true. For example, the Framingham Heart Study showed that people’s mood affects others three times removed – that is, one’s friend’s friend’s friends. We impact people not just with our words but with our moods and our energy. 

Rabbi Lapin concluded: 

"I remembered this whenever I stood in front of a class of fifty people. I contemplated that these fifty could, in turn, impact at least one hundred and fifty others. This meant that, both in my work as a rabbi and as a businessperson, week after week, I was affecting tens of thousands of people without realizing it. That’s what the Rebbe tried to get across to me. He was talking about the huge amount of holiness that I had the potential to bring into the world. 

"I got it. Indeed, he changed my entire mindset when he said, "Don’t underestimate what each person is capable of doing. Just remember that when you touch one person, you are causing a nuclear reaction. And that’s something that I’ve never forgotten." 

Now, at last, we can appreciate the words of Midrash. 

Joseph, who kept the Shabbat even in Egypt, who remained connected to truth and morality even in depraved Egypt, can do so only because he understood the truth that an individual is the entire nation and the entire world. So, G-d says, when it comes to your offering, it is not an offering of a private citizen; it is an offering of the entire nation. Hence, it can be offered on Shabbat. 

During our lonely moments of misery, when we, too, may feel that nobody cares for us and we are alone in a large, indifferent universe, we ought never to fall prey to the easy outlet of immoral gratification or despair. We must remember that something very real and absolute is at stake at every moment of our existence and in every act we do. 

You may view your actions in the privacy of your bedroom as insignificant. Yet from the perspective of Judaism, these decisions create history. 

If you only open your eyes, you will see the visage of your father whispering to you through the silent winds of history that you are not an isolated creature in a titanic world whose behavior is inconsequential. At this very moment, G-d needs you and me to bring redemption to His world. 

Or as one WhatsApp clip quipped: It took only one man in China to create the coronavirus; and only one man in Minnesota to stop it. 

Shabbat Shalom, 

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky