Yosef Reveals Himself (III)

How did Yehudah cause Yosef to reveal that "Mai'Elokim yatzah hadavar", that despite their perception of danger, everything which occurred only was the yad Hashem? The Sefas Emes captures the tension between the reality of hashgacha and our perception of events in a teaching from his grandfather. Yehudah and Yosef represent two personality archetypes. Yehudah represents hoda'ah, acknowledgment (modeh) and praise (hoda'ah) that comes from seeing the yad Hashem b'giluy. Yosef is the yad Hashem in hiding; superficially Yosef is the Egyptian viceroy bringing suffering, yet behind the scenes is Yosef haTzadik carrying out the plan of hashgacha. When a person feels he/she is sinking, they have to cry out that this is just the pretend image of Yosef as viceroy, but everything in truth is only Yehudah, only a cause to thank Hashem. "VaYigash eilav Yehudah": the Yosef-perception that masks the hashgacha can be dispelled the closer draw to a Yehudah-attitude, to constantly praising for Hashem and being always aware of his presence.