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Light and Darkness: Cause and Effect

By:
Rav Rafi Rosenblum

The Midrash in Parshas Miketz tells us that Hashem brought an end to the darkness and that is why it was necessary for Paroah to dream his dreams. What exactly is the meaning of this Midrash, and what is it telling us? The Beis Halevi explains that in all aspects of life there is a cause and there is an effect. When it comes to Yosef being taken out of jail, we are used to thinking that the cause was that Paroah had his dreams and the effect was that Yosef was released from jail. However, says that Beis Halevi, the Midrash is telling us that that wasn’t the case. Hashem had decreed that Yosef was to remain in jail for two years. Once those two years were finished, Yosef needed to get out of jail. That is why Paroah had his dreams. They were the effect and Yosef needing to get out of jail was the cause.

This idea, that we sometimes confuse the cause with the effect, is very relevant to Channukah. In al hanisim when recounting all the miracles that Hashem did for us, we speak about how the strong lost in battle to the weak, the many to the few, the impure to the pure, the wicked to the righteous, and the wonton to the diligent Torah learners. The first two are easily recognizable as miraculous; however, the last three are puzzling. What was so special about the impure losing to the pure, the wicked to the righteous, and the sinners to the Torah learners? There are many answers given to this question, but that is one answer that I would like to share with you. R’ Matisyahu Salomon, the Mashgiach Ruchani in Lakewood, answered that the last three things that we are saying weren’t part of the miracle. We are explaining why Hashem allowed the Jews to be victorious in battle against all odds. The reason that Hashem delivered the strong and the many into the hands of the weak and few is because those weak and few were righteous tzaddikim who spent their days and nights involved in Hashem’s service. That was the cause and the effect was the victory. He then goes on to show how this is the case in many of the wars throughout Jewish history, and how this is the meaning of the Pasuk that tells us hakol kol Yaakov v’hayadayim yidai Esav. When we have the kol Yaakov, which represents the learning and davening, then we also will be blessed with the yidai Esav, representing military strength and success.

There has been much international acclaim for the Iron Dome missile defense system, and rightfully so. The Iron Dome was able to prevent an enormous barrage of deadly missiles from reaching their target and causing tremendous damage, chas v’shalom. How many people were saved from injury or even death, rachmana litzlan? At this point though, we should be asking ourselves a question. Were so many lives spared because the Iron Dome was successful, or was the Iron Dome successful because so many lives needed to be saved? Was it the Iron Dome that saved all those lives, or was it the learning and davening of Jews all over the world that saved the lives?