Maintaining Observance

When Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, they could not respond, as they were in a state of shock and disbelief. Rashi tells us that he proved he was their brother because he indicated that he was circumcised.

Rav Kook felt that there was a much bigger message that Yosef was teaching his brothers. Despite living in the most decadent place on earth, he still managed to observe all of the Mitzvot. ( The Rambam wrote that Egypt was so decadent that men married men, and women married women!)

Rav Kook viewed Yosef as the one who was concerned about his relationship with the non-Jewish world. He believed that it was not necessary to separate from the rest of society. It was necessary to show, by example, the beauty of living as a religious Jew. It was Yehuda who was more in favor of making a more drastic separation.

The philosophy of the modern day religious Zionists, was that they take their place in society by working and contributing like everyone else. The ability to interact and be accepting of others, was very important. If co-workers would see the high standard set in the areas of ethics and morality, they would respect and possibly emulate the lifestyle of the Religious Zionist.

It is most troubling to hear the excuses of the Chareidi world for not serving in the IDF. The main excuse during the current war is that if they serve, they will stop being observant. Rav Aviner of Beit-El commented on this and said that if such worries exist, they must not be that solid in their faith.

Each person must be aware of his own strengths and weaknesses. There are definitely challenges by being exposed to the secular world. However, if one has sincere devotion to Hashem, and he makes “fences” for himself, a great sanctification of the Name of G-d takes place, when he conducts himself properly. Yosef demonstrated that this definitely could be done.