Have you ever found out you were wrong? Not just a little off, not just mistaken, but slap-in-the-face, can’t-believe-it, really, truly wrong?

In Parashas VaYigash, the twelve sons of Ya’acov (Jacob) stumble into a political drama revolving around a monarch so mercurial, so flippant, that they can hardly tell which way is up. A drought has devastated the entire Middle East and they have visited the wealthy Egypt simply to purchase food. Suddenly, the lord of Egypt, second in command only to Pharaoh himself, accuses them of spying. He demands to see their youngest brother Binyamin (Benjamin). None of the other hungry visitors to Egypt had to cope with such odd requests and accusations. Who brings their kid brother with them to Egypt anyway?

Later, during their return trip to Israel, the brothers discover that the money that they had paid for their food has been returned to their bags. Even stranger, the precious chalice that the monarch has accused them of stealing has shown up in Binyamin’s sack, forcing them to return to the monarch with the chalice and a baffled apology. How? Why? Who knows? And why had their accommodations in Egypt been so far superior to any of the other customers?

What’s going on?

Didn’t the brothers even remember? They hadn’t the foggiest idea of any connection, but decades earlier, a single decision changed the course of the rest of their lives. Yoseph (Joseph), their handsome, charismatic brother, had told them of his two strange dreams of monarchy. Thinking that Yoseph was about to usurp the Jewish monarchy from its rightful place with Yehuda, and unknowingly tainted by their jealousy of their fathers’ favorite son, the brothers sold Yoseph into Egyptian slavery and that was supposed to be that.

But it wasn’t. Not for Yoseph. And not for the brothers either.

“I Am Yoseph!”

One of the most powerful narrative turnarounds in all of Torah takes place with these words:

“I am Yoseph. Is my father still alive?” (Beraishis-Genesis 45:3)

Can you imagine how the brothers felt at that moment? It explained everything. All the runaround, all the strange demands, all the unusual accusations. All of them ploys to test the integrity of the brothers, to check whether revealing Yoseph’s true identity would be meaningful at all. The mercurial overlord of Egypt was actually Yoseph, and in truth not mercurial at all.

And imagine how Yoseph was feeling. To see his brothers faces after so many years! To meet his youngest brother, the only other child born of both his father and his own mother, Rachel! Yearning to know, aching to know, whether his beloved father, his hero, his everything, is still alive… Yet somehow Yoseph holds back until the perfect moment has arrived.

Finally the stage is set and Yoseph knows that the brothers are ready. Or as ready as they will ever be:

“But his brothers could not answer him because they were stunned before him.” (ibid)

Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. Who could make this up?

“’Come close to me… I am Yoseph your brother – me, whom you sold to Egypt. And now, do not be distressed, do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here, for it was as a supporter of life that G-d sent me ahead of you…the hunger year is in the midst of the land… And God has sent me ahead of you to insure your survival… It was not you who sent me here, but G-d…’ He then kissed all his brothers and wept upon them…” (ibid 4-15)

There are no words. Yet Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, known for his famous and beloved book as the Chofetz Chaim, somehow finds the words. The message, he explains, is as personal for you and me as it was for the brothers.

“I Am Hashem!”

“We, like Yoseph’s brothers, journey over the earth as full of questions as a pomegranate [has seeds]. We do not understand what G-d is doing. Why is there a good man and [things are] bad for him, and a bad man and [things are] good for him? Why does evil [seem to] rule the world? Why do the Jewish People suffer? And many more questions.

“However, on the day of redemption, when from one end of the earth to the other the truth is heard - [just as Yoseph declared “I am Yoseph”, so will Hashem declare] “I am Hashem” - the veil will be lifted and all the questions will disappear as though they had never existed at all. Everyone will understand what has taken place through a new viewpoint, exactly like Yoseph’s brothers!”

Yoseph HaTzaddik (Joseph the Righteous), the shining candle of truth amidst the darkest of confusions, remains steadfast to the end. He credits the Almighty with everything that he has gone through, both “bad” and “good”, knowing that ultimately everything is good in a world created by a loving G-d.

They say that the truth will eventually catch up with you, but it might not be the truth that you think. Even when things seem darkest, G-d is still ruling the universe, including your personal life. You are still being loved and carried and looked out for.

The real question is what part you are going to play. Will you be a Yoseph or a Pharaoh? Will you be an Esther or a Vashti? Will you be an Avraham or a Nimrod? One way or the other, everything will work out for the best, but on the day when “I am Hashem” finally echoes from one end of the earth to the next, where will you be standing? That’s a truth that only you can reveal.