Day 17/50: Your Unique Cosmic Role

בְּעֶ֨צֶם֙ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה יָֽצְא֛וּ כָּל־צִבְא֥וֹת ה’ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם

On that very day all the legions of Hashem went out of the land of Egypt.

What gave Yosef the strength to withstand the great test of Eishes Potifar? The Medrash says that the image of Yaakov’s face appeared to him. Not only that, but it also gave him a message of inspiration. Yaakov communicated to Yosef that the ephod worn by the kohen gadol was destined to be adorned with the names of all the shevatim. He said, ”If you, my son, commit this aveirah, you will lose the zechus of your name appearing on the ephod!

Yaakov Avinu was conveying to Yosef that the only way for him to overcome this challenge was through awareness of his own greatness! By reminding Yosef of his name and the cosmic role he was meant to play in the world, he injected newfound gevurah into him. Yosef was in a state of confusion, and Yaakov reminded him that there was too much at stake for him to fail.

Yosef Hatzaddik is our paradigm of the idea that we must never forget how great we are and the value system we represent. Each and every one of us has a unique cosmic role to play in the ultimate tikkun and perfection of the world.

Rav Shlomo of Karlin would say, “The greatest tool of the yetzer hara is to make a person forget that he is a ben Melech, a son of the King.”

We will have tests that we will face alone, when we do not even have the company of our wives, our children, or our friends. There will be times when we will be on vacation or on business trips and we might need to unplug a screen in a hotel room, even though no one would ever know what we did or didn’t do. We might have to resist picking up an unfiltered iPhone or tablet that is lying around during bein hazmanim. These will be defining moments, when we can prove to ourselves what we stand for by conducting ourselves as bnei Torah through and through, in private just as much as in public.