Before we dive into today’s sedra-centric song, let’s first do a quick recap – closes pen – and see how we got here.
The Torah tells us וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ חָדָשׁ עַל מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע אֶת יוֹסֵף – a new king rose over Mitzrayim who didn’t know Yosef (Shemos 1:8). The Kli Yakar teaches us a tremendous lesson and explains that this new Pharaoh didn’t know Yosef’s life-story. He didn’t know what had transpired up until now and what actually brought the Bnei Yisroel to Mitzrayim. For that, he would have to turn the pages of his chumash back to Parshas Vayeishev:
In his dreams, Yosef saw his brothers bowing down to him. So, to prevent this from happening, his brothers sold him as a slave to Mitzrayim. They figured that this would certainly prevent the dream from materializing. Ultimately, their attempts only aided the dream to transpire.
Fast-forward a bit – Yosef goes from slave to prisoner, and then in an instant, from prisoner to viceroy of Egypt! Moving on, when his brothers came down to Mitzrayim to buy wheat, they entered the land through ten different gates in an effort to split up and search for their missing brother. The last place they’d expect him to end up is in the palace and on the throne, right? And so sure enough, just as Yosef had dreamt all those years before, his brothers did bow.
The Kli Yakar writes that the brothers tried with all their might to prevent the realization of his dreams, but all of their plans failed. Hashem wanted to make Yosef great, so that was what was going to happen.
Pharaoh didn’t know this story. Because had he known, he would have realized that it is impossible to go against Hashem’s plan.
To prevent the nation’s rapid growth, Pharaoh decreed forced-labor on our nation. He said פֶּן יִרְבֶּה – lest they’ll increase in number (1:10) – he thought of different ways and desperately urged his countrymen to “nip us in the bud” – to try to stunt our nation’s rapid growth. In the end, of course, he failed. Every tactic that Pharaoh tried worked completely against him. The pasuk tells us, וְכַאֲשֶׁר יְעַנּוּ אֹתוֹ כֵּן יִרְבֶּה וְכֵן יִפְרֹץ – the more they tormented the Jews, the more their population grew (1:12).
Every so often, we in golus will hear echoes of the age-old Mitzri worry – “פֶּן יִרְבֶּה” – perhaps they will increase, perhaps they will become great. But we must know that Hashem has a plan for us, and there is nothing they can do to change it. Hashem wanted Yosef to be the ruler, and against all the odds, that’s exactly what he became. Hashem wanted the Yidden to increase and multiply in Mitzrayim, and that is precisely what came to be. Because again, Hashem has a plan for us, and there is nothing anyone can do to change it.
As Rashi (1:12) citing the Midrash states, that when the Mitzriyim plotted against us, the Divine voice responded with a promise: אַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים פֶּן יִרְבֶּה וַאֲנִי אוֹמֵר כֵּן יִרְבֶּה – You say pen yirbeh, perhaps the Bnei Yisroel would increase? I say kein yirbeh, they most definitely will increase.
So now, when we read Parshas Shemos, and we read of how our dreadful exile begins to take hold, let’s try to absorb this perfectly placed boost of faith. Just as Hashem took Avraham outside and showed him the “star power” of his future children (Bereishis 15:5), so we are being reminded that our destiny lies high above the laws of nature and out of the reach of Man.
Says Hashem, “You say פן and I say כן” – Don’t think for a minute, Pharaoh, that you can outsmart the will of Hashem. For, in the end, it is Hashem’s plan that will always prevail.
And now for the music. Pen Pen, Ken Ken was composed by celebrated songwriter Yossi Green, and was sung by the sensational Yumi Lowy on his debut album, Ahavas Hashem, back in 2011. Combine Mona’s well-rounded arrangements, Yumi’s fresh and lively vocals, together with Yossi’s uncanny aptitude in taking the words of Chazal and bringing out both their practical and perceptible implication through his mastery of music, and you have a hit worth listening to again and again.
Wishing you a stupendous Shabbos!
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