Remember Who You Are | Rabbi Mordechai Stern

Yosef HaTzaddik, when faced with the incredible Nisayon with the wife of Potifar, the Gemara in Sota teaches us that at the last moment due to all of the extra effort that he had expended in withstanding the Nisayon, he was blessed with a gift from the Shomayim and the Ribono shel Olam sent he had a דמות דיוקנו של אביו, an image of his father appeared at the window to stop him from the עבירה. And the Gemara tells us that the image said to him: Yosef, you and your brothers, your names are destined to appear on the אבני אפוד, on the stones that the Cohen Gadol wears on his chest and on his shoulders. All of the names of each of the Shvatim are inscribed there. If you go through with this עבירה, your name will be missing. That is how his father warned him against the עבירה. And the question that we want to know is, is that how you tell somebody not to commit a terrible עבירה? Why didn't his father just tell him, Yosef, it's אסור! It's terrible! If you do this, you'll be lost. You'll go to Gehenom. He tells him: Your name won't be on the Choshen. What's the message? And there's a similarly fascinating Midrash that says: וימאן, Yosef turned to Eishes Potifar and said: I can't go through with this. You know why I can't go through with this? Because in my father's house, my grandfather's house, my grandfather, Yitzchak, was called upon to be an עקידה, to be a Korban to Hashem. If I go through with this, perhaps I'll be called upon to be a Korban, and I will not be worthy of being a sacrifice to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He said: In my house, the house of my father and my forefathers we’re called upon to be נביאים, to be spoken to by HaKadosh Baruch Hu. If I go through with this terrible חטא, maybe at that moment, the Ribono shel Olam will want to speak with me and I'll be טמא. I can't go through with this. Why didn't Yosef tell Eishes Potifar: I cannot do this because it's אסור? And the answer is something incredibly profound that each and every one of us has to know. Because when faced with a Nisayon, sometimes it doesn't help to say, It's wrong and it’s אסור. The Gemara in Nedarim says, Sometimes when faced with the challenge, with the passions, with the difficulties, it's hard to remember that it's אסור. But there's something that can work. Who am I? What do I stand for? What are my שאיפות? What are my goals? I am a Shevet! I am a Korban! I am an exalted, elevated Vayimaen Yid. I cannot do this because I am a person that the Ribono shel Olam speaks to. I am a person who can be called upon to sacrifice myself for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. My destiny is to be inscribed on the Choshen. I am Yosef. My father's face is in front of me. I do not do that. When faced with challenges, we remember the message of the Midrash in the original Vayimaen moment. Remember who we are. We are from the dynasty of עקידה, of נבואה, of elevated Vayimaen people. The Ribono shel Olam speaks to us. The Ribono shel Olam calls to us. Our father's face is in front of us. I do not do that. Vayimaen!