So I heard about this new escape room in Downtown Petaluma (Code
Zone).
An escape room is a series of challenges, puzzles, and mysteries needing to be solved, that together lead to the key to... escape the room. They can be fun team-building experiences filled with a sense of excitement and adventure.
But if you think about it, shouldn't it be a traumatizing and frightening experience, knowing that you are stuck; the doors are locked; you are in unfamiliar territory. The simple and obvious answer is that you know that there is an exit, and that the operator can and will let you out. The way out is sure. Knowing that they would face some of the hardest times (not just perceived), assuring them that there was light at the end of the tunnel gave them the necessary hope to weather the storm of the Egyptian slavery. In our lives, as we face various challenges or dark moments, it is faith that there is an Operator who can and will lead us to better times that helps us ride the sometimes turbulent wave of Life.
This is exactly what happens in this week's Torah. Joseph, before passing, instructs his children that "the day will come when Hashem will remember you. At that point, please bring me for burial in the land of Israel."