Yosef explained to his brothers that although their selling him to Egypt seemed like a very bad act in itself, actually it was the Will of G-d and it was all for the best. This is what a religious Jew believes fervently. There is no such thing as coincidence. Everything is from Hashem - and everything is for a good purpose. We have discussed this many times, but it is a rule that is worthy of reviewing again and again because when things are trying, it is hard to remember.

Rabbi Zilberstein shlita, in his book Borechi Nafshi, relates the following story.

In a certain yeshiva, there was a student, Baruch, who, besides being a diligent learner was also always available to help out in time of need. He was very popular and well liked by all.

One week, right before Shabbos, the usual ba'al keriah (the one who reads the Torah during the services) informed the gabbai (the administrator of the synagogue) that, due to an emergency, he cannot be present in yeshiva this weekend. It was an especially long parashah and the gabbai searched frantically for someone who could prepare the Torah reading with such short notice. The obvious candidate was Baruch.

Baruch stayed up the whole night long, going over the parashah again and again until he knew it perfectly. When he was finished, he had only three hours to sleep before the morning services. However, when he awoke, he noticed something very strange. He was completely hoarse and was incapable of producing a sound from his mouth. There was no way that he could read from the Torah and they had to search for some other alternative.

Now, another boy would have had complaints to Hashem. "I was up all night just to serve the congregation faithfully, and this is what happens to me? I lose my voice? Is this fair?"

Sounds familiar?

But not our Baruch. He accepted Hashem's decree with joy; feeling assured that there must be some good reason for it.

Unbeknown to Baruch, he had been suggested to someone as a perfect match for his excellent daughter. The girl's father was only interested in a studious student who spent all of his time learning. He believed that a boy who did anything else could not be a top learner. That Shabbos morning, the man came to daven in the yeshiva to observe Baruch without his knowledge so that he could see for himself what he was really like. He later declared that had he seen Baruch reading from the Torah, he would have rejected the shidduch at once. Only when he got to know him personally, and saw that he was a great Torah scholar in spite of his other activities, did the shidduch have a happy ending, and soon after, Baruch and the man's daughter got married.

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