The original Disney version of Beauty and the Beast is a wonderful and magical story with a colorful cast of characters and timeless songs. I found myself though thinking this week about the opening moments of the film, the prologue that sets the stage for the story.
The narrator tells of a prince who lived in a beautiful castle in the country. One stormy and cold night, an old woman comes knocking at the door to ask for food and shelter for the night. The prince, though he has everything in the world he could need, and plenty to offer, turns her away. The old woman says do not judge by appearances, but by what is in the heart. When he turns her away again she transforms into an enchantress who punishes the prince by turning him into the beast.
I was thinking about this premise when Joseph and his brothers are speaking after the death of their father Jacob. As the Book of Genesis draws to a close this week, Joseph’s brothers are concerned he will bear a grudge against them and punish them after their father dies.
Joseph reassures them and says, “Although you intended to do me harm, God intended it for good – so as to bring about the present result, the survival of many people.”
Joseph’s evaluation called to mind a Rabbi of the Talmud who’s story could well have been the inspiration for Disney’s version of Beauty and the Beast.
Nahum of Gamzu was a person who suffered horrific loss of limbs and function. Since he was known as a righteous person, his students asked him why such suffering had befallen him. He explained to them what happened: He was once traveling the road to his father in law’s house, and he had a load divided onto the backs of 3 donkeys: one of food, one of drink, and one of other delicacies. A poor person came along and said to me, “Rabbi, please help me with something to sustain me!” Rabbi Nahum said, please wait until I unload the donkeys and then I’ll give you something to eat. However, before he could unload the donkeys the poor man died.
He prayed that God would bring him pain to atone for the way he could have helped the poor man more quickly.
While Nahum does not turn the poor man away like the prince in the story, both stories suggest to us that when there is a need, we should do what we can with the least amount of delay.
But what’s more amazing about Nahum is how he stayed positive, faithful, and hopeful despite what happened to him. Our Sages looked at his name, especially the name of the town he came from, Gamzu, and explained he is a person who would always say “Gam zu le’tovah”, “This too will be for the good.” No matter what happens, he believed good would come from it.
Joseph makes the same claim to his brothers, and our ancestors over the last many centuries affirm it was God’s plan for Joseph to end up in Egypt and then be able to help the family.
As far as we can tell, Joseph never bears a grudge against his brothers, and only tests their character to determine, and perhaps also show, the way they have grown up, for the better.
But it is one thing to look back and see what good may have come from something, but the great philosopher John Stuart Mill argued that good may come from evil, but tragically, and just as easily, evil may result from the good. And it is one thing to look back wistfully from a place of comfort, and another thing altogether to be in the moment, experiencing the suffering first hand.
When we or someone we care about suffers, we’re inclined to want to fix the problem, but we’re not always able to, nor are the professionals always able to fix what is wrong. And during these times, the clock ticks on, meaning we have to keep ourselves going at the same time – and we may feel depleted as a result.
The awareness we cannot always fix things is an important awareness – and a loving presence is often the best gift we can give, similar to the time Abraham is sitting in pain outside his tent, and the Torah tells us God is there – present but not as a healer or miracle-worker, just present so that Abraham is not alone.
Let’s commit this week to being fully and lovingly present for someone in our lives, a family member, a friend, a neighbor. If we can be present in this way, acknowledging but not trying to fix the other person, then we may be able to give the other person the empowerment to find his or her own way through the healing maze since they will know that someone is there to reassure and offer compassionate voice.
And let’s not forget, that in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, it is love that transforms the beast back into a human being, and when we’re suffering we may feel like we are the disease, or the condition that causes the pain, and through loving presence we can help someone realize they are, like the prince, a human being through and through, made in the image of God.
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