Genesis 41:14
וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח פַּרְעֹה֙ וַיִּקְרָ֣א אֶת־יוֹסֵ֔ף וַיְרִיצֻ֖הוּ מִן־הַבּ֑וֹר וַיְגַלַּח֙ וַיְחַלֵּ֣ף שִׂמְלֹתָ֔יו וַיָּבֹ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹֽה׃
Thereupon Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was rushed from the dungeon. He had his hair cut and changed his clothes, and he appeared before Pharaoh.
After two long years of wrongful imprisonment, Joseph must have been surprised by the speed at which his bondage ended. With all the haste the Torah can imply, Joseph was rushed out of prison, shaved, bathed, dressed in new clothes and stationed before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. After years, it took only mere hours for Joseph to be a new man, not only cleaned and refreshed, but free.
What might be surprising to us is that this is how our tradition understands redemption. The haste with which Joseph goes from bondage to freedom, from darkness to light is not the exception, but the rule. Good things – powerfully holy moments of transformation happen in a moment. In Psalm 126 we read “restore our fortunes like the waters of the negev desert.” You might wonder what desert waters the psalmist could be referring to. There’s no water in the desert! Except that in Israel you see flood warning signs all around the Negev desert. Flash floods are the waters that typify redemption – you don’t see it coming, and all of a sudden it’s immediate, rejuvenating, and powerful.
In this vein Rabbi Meir Kagen, famous for his book “Hafetz Hayim,” used to keep a special change of clothes with him at all times just in case the redemption came. He knew that in a moment profound good can occur, and be as wonderfully transformative as it is unexpected. We know all too well that life can change in a moment. Usually we focus on the fact that this can happen for the worse. We forget that in a moment our lives can change for the better too. Our job is not only to hope, but expect that good will come when we least expect it.e in stature and authority in Egypt and save an entire region from famine.