Sorry, Doc!

“And Yosef … called, ‘Take out all the men from before me!’ And not one man stood with him when he

revealed himself….” (Bereishis 45:1)

Why does the Torah repeat that no man was in the room? If Yosef, the viceroy, commanded everyone to leave, obviously no one was there!

Rav Shmuel Brazil explains that when tragedy strikes, human nature seeks excuses or scapegoats to blame, to avoid grappling with guilt. However, this approach displays a lack of proper emunah and bitachon. One who truly recognizes that everything emanates from Hashem won’t blame others (Rabbi Ozer Alport, Parsha Potpourri).

Way back when I was a kid, going to the doctor meant a cheery greeting and a cherry lollipop after every well visit. He reminded me of a football quarterback, our pediatrician, but his gentleness belied his build. I thought all doctors were like him.

Unfortunately, I’ve since run into a few physicians since who seem to think their degree granted them divinity. You know the type, who blame the patient, the system, even global warming for their own deficiencies, but luckily they’re rare. And I recently had an experience that blew the proportions of good docs versus bad way over the top.

In Yosef’s case, it would’ve been easy for him to partially attribute his slavery and eventual imprisonment in Mitzrayim to unexpected circumstances. His father had instructed him to travel to Shechem to check on his brothers, but when he arrived, they weren’t there. At that point, Yosef could’ve safely returned home and told Yaakov that he couldn’t locate his brothers. Instead, the Torah recounts (37:15) that Yosef met a “man” in Shechem, who informed him that his brothers had gone to Dosan. Rashi explains that this wasn’t an ordinary man, but the angel Gavriel, who was sent by Hashem to ensure that Yosef would end up in Mitzrayim.

My son needed his tonsils out. Not supposed to be a big deal. “Chick chock,” the nurse said briskly when we arrived in the outpatient clinic, “and all the ice cream you can eat.” Hey, what kid wouldn’t want that deal? In a matter of minutes, all his strep infections and snoring will be behind us and we’ll go home and break out the Ben and Jerry’s (or not, depending on your political preferences).

But for some reason, my son had a wacky reaction to the mild anesthesia given, and as soon as he woke up, he began vomiting nonstop. The first half hour, the nurses were sympathetic and reassuring. After another hour, they called Hatzalah. We ended up in the pediatric ER needing fluids for three days, while my poor baby kept violently vomiting until all the effects of the anesthesia were completely out of his system. (Please, Hashem, don’t let him ever need to go under for anything ever again!)