As the Israelites are making their way out of Mitzrayim, we are told that Moshe took Joseph’s bones with him.
Joseph, their ancestor who had come to Mitzrayim and saved them from famine, “had exacted an oath from the children of Israel saying, ‘God will surely take notice of you: then you shall carry up my bones from here with you” (Shemot 13:19) Joseph had told them that in the future, God will take care of them. Joseph’s words gave them hope, and they clung to this hope as part of what got them through the unbearable years of servitude in Mitzrayim. After so many hundreds of years, Joseph’s words continued to impact them, and they honored that impact by bringing his bones with them out of Mitzrayim, into their future.
This one verse, this one break from the narrative gives us a model of how to act when we are trying to make our way out of Mitzrayim, out of a place that is narrow. Like the Israelites, we look to our past to give us hope, and we carry it with us through the difficult times in order to bring us to our future. The past, representing our values and our core, anchors us and helps bring us hope for the future instead of falling into despair.
The rabbinic sages taught the reward for righteous behavior is received not necessary in this world, but in Olam HaBah, the World to Come, or perhaps, the World that is Coming. I imagine they attached themselves to this idea because they looked at the world around them, a world where corruption won. They couldn’t understand how good people were left to struggle while those that weren’t righteous enjoyed riches. Our rabbis needed to maintain a sense of hope, so they believed that ultimately, even if they didn’t know exactly when or how it would happen, justice would prevail.
We can’t know what will happen in the World that is Coming, but our ancestors teach us how to navigate the journey. We reach into our past and hope to be strengthened by our values, by what anchors us and gives us our character. We take it with us through the difficult times; we remind ourselves constantly of what we stand for. And we keep it close to us always, believing that it will carry us through to redemption, through to the Promised Land, through to the World that is Coming.
