Lenses and Clarity

I was taking off my lenses the other day and started to think about how amazing it is that something so thin and tiny can help me see so far. I put this little thin, clear (hard to see or notice) thing into my eye and presto! I can see! Not only can I just see, but I can see just as clearly as a person without lenses who has 20/20 vision! Besides for the fact that this is an amazing invention, there is a great lesson we can learn from this.

Sometimes, all you need is that one answer or that one mashal to make everything crystal clear to you. You may have a whole bunch of questions on a certain topic and then when you hear this one thing, it makes everything else, all the questions and all the doubts, fall into place. And then you can understand everything and all your questions disappear. You go to a speech and you hear an amazing thought, an amazing piece of inspiration, and suddenly, your worries get smaller and you feel like you have the strength to go through it. You read a book that inspires you just in the area you needed chizuk.

When the 11 brothers stood before Yosef, the mishneh lamelech, they did not know who Yosef was and why they were being questioned about the way they came through the gates separately and why they were accused as spies. They did not understand why they were invited for a whole meal, why they were chased and why they had to go through so much pain when they just came down to Mitzrayim to get some grain and food. But then, Yosef said, “Ani Yosef!” and everything became clear. Suddenly, they understood why they had to go through all that he did.

We now live in a very crazy, confusing world. We are in galus. Things do not make any sense! We look around and see a world of pain, death, sickness, children leaving the beautiful path of Torah thinking they will find happiness and excitement somewhere else…only to learn that they were so wrong. We look around and see people who look so happy, who have everything going for them and it is confuses us. Things don’t look fair! We have questions, we want answers and we just want to understand…and it’s the one answer that we are waiting to hear that will make us understand. When moshiach comes, Hashem will say two words and everything will become crystal clear – Ani Hashem! I am Hashem! I was here all along and I have a reason for each and every thing that I did and for everything that happened in your life!!

May the time come very soon!!