Forever & Ever | Rabbi Mordechai Alster

Yosef HaTzaddik, when he had the Nisayon with Eishes Potiphar, the Gemara in Sota says that the דמות of Yaakov Avinu נראה לו בחלון, he saw the image of his father, Yaakov, in the חלון. And what did Yaakov tell him? Your brothers’ names are destined to be written on the stones of the אפוד including your name. Do you want your name to be erased from the אבני האפוד? Why was Yaakov talking about something in the distant future? Why didn't Yaakov Avinu tell Yosef, It's an Aveira, it’s אסור. Stop! Why was he talking about the אבני האפוד? We find a very interesting עונש in the Torah. The עונש of the עבד that says, אהבתי את אדוני, את אשתי ואת בניי. An עבד typically goes out after six years. But what happens if an עבד says, I like my wife, I like my master, I like my children, I don't want to go free. The Torah gives him a unique עונש. The Torah says, He works forever. He has an eternal punishment. And that's unique. We don't find in the Torah forever punishments. The Gemara in Makos says, You could redeem yourself. You get your Malkos and you move on. Why in the case of the עבד that says he wants to stay בבית אדוניו, why don't we just give him an עונש and then let him redeem himself later and move on? Why is the עונש forever? And although it's only till the Yovel, 50 years, the Ramban says that it's a lifetime. And I think the answer is that what's the עבד thinking? You have people, Goyim, they have a friend, a good friend. So what do they do? They tattoo the name of their friend on their arm. And you look at them and you say, Are you going to be friends with this person in five years? You're going to break up with that person. Why are you causing permanent damage based on a temporary circumstance? The עבד says the same thing. He rationalizes to himself and he says, אהבתי את אדוני, את אשתי ואת בניי. Does he really think he's going to like this shiksale, his wife, forever? He's going to like בניי forever? Is this really a natural circumstance, a natural מצב someone stays בבית עבדות, in servitude? It's not normal, it's not natural. He's going to change his mind, he's going to regret it. But he's thinking to himself: You know what? I'll deal with it then. Right now, I like it. Right now, I like my temporary situation. And I'll deal with the future as it comes. And the Torah says: No, it doesn't work like that. ועבדו לעולם. There's no such a thing as a temporary decision. Every decision is permanent. It's going to last forever. You’ll remain an עבד forever. There's no such thing. You make a decision now, there's no going back. It's always going to be there. When a person has a Nisayon, and specifically Yosef, Yaakov Avinu tells him: Yosef, you think that you’re gonna just give in to the Yetzer Hara now, it's going to be a temporary lapse of judgment, it's going to be a moment of indiscretion. No, it won't. It's going to last forever. You think you're just going to be able to do an Aveira and come right back to yourself, and tomorrow be regular Yosef again? It doesn't work like that. A person says to himself: I'm just going to do the Aveira. I'm going to take a peek, I'm going to take a look. No big deal. Tomorrow I'll come back to myself. The Torah says: No. Your name will be forever omitted from the אבני האפוד. The damage that you're going to do based on this temporary decision, the damage is going to be permanent, and it'll stay with you for the rest of your life.