Little Moishe is playing outdoors, using his mother’s broom as a pretend horse. When it starts to get dark, he goes inside, leaving the broom in the backyard.

Later, when his mother can’t find the broom, Moishe tells her that he left it outside.

His mother tells her son to please go and get the broom. Moishe protests that he is afraid of the dark, and doesn’t want to go outside into the frightening night.

“Don’t worry, my son,” Moishe’s mother explains, “G-d is out there too, so there’s no need to be afraid.

Little Moishe opens the backdoor slightly, and whispers, “Psst, G-d, since you’re out there, please hand me the broom.”

Little Moishe was able to manage his fear of the darkness because he felt G-d’s presence in the darkness – a lesson we should all master.

There is a Torah principal that states Mesayemim BeTov, which means a book should always conclude on a good note.

Yet, it seems that the conclusion of the very first book of the Torah, Chumash Bereishis, ends on a negative note. The Torah tells us, in the last verse of the Parsha “And Joseph died at the age of one hundred ten years, and they embalmed him and he was placed into [his] coffin in Egypt.”

What a seemingly depressing event to conclude the marvelous book of Beraishis with. Beraishis is filled with the inspiring life and times of our forefathers, why allow it to end with the passing of the great leader and Tsadik, Yoseph, in a foreign country (Egypt), and unlike his father, he does not have the merit to immediately be buried in the Holy Land.

The Zohar provides insight into why Yoseph had to be buried in Egypt, and why this is in fact a positive development that justifiably concludes the Parsha and the first book of the Torah.

The Zohar explains that because Yoseph was interred in Egypt he was able to protect the Children of Israel during the long and difficult years that they remained in the Egyptian Exile after his death. It was because Yoseph was buried together with his nation that the Jews were able to pull through the trying years of Egyptian bondage.

This is because Yoseph represents the ability to be submerged within an alien culture, and yet remain spiritually whole.

There is an essential difference between Yoseph who was initially interred in Egypt, and his father Ya’akov, who was buried in Israel. Ya’akov was not a Man of Exile. Even when he lived in Egypt, he lived in a separate section of the land, the land of Goshen. He remained aloof and uninvolved in the Egyptian culture. The Egyptian culture did not affect Ya’akov, because Ya’akov had no contact with Egypt. He isolated himself from Egypt. He ignored Egypt.

Not so Yoseph. He lived in Egypt, and was intimately involved with Egyptian life. However, his involvement in Egyptian society did not compromise his own greatness or spiritual level. Yoseph ruled Egypt but did not allow Egypt to ever rule him. His close interaction with Egypt did not affect him in any way.

It was this characteristic that caused Yoseph, therefore, to be the perfect protector of the exiled Jewish People. He had interacted with the darkness and it did not harm him. He was therefore, even after his passing, the spiritual force and inspiration that would safeguard Israel in Egypt. It would be Yoseph who would teach his People by personal example not to be influenced by the rotten Egyptian culture, and stay strongly bound to their Heavenly Father. Thus the end of Chumash Beraishis does in fact end on a positive note. Yoseph’s burial in Egypt is the preemptive cure to the disease of exile and slavery, which will be the subject of the next book of the Torah.

So, when the Parshas Vayechi is read, and we reach the words “And Joseph … was placed into [his] coffin in Egypt,” all those present call out Chazak Chazak Venischazek, which means strength, strength, let us strengthen each other. What we are evoking is the strength of Yoseph Hatsadik. It is the strength that we derive from the inspiration of a life that interacted with the darkness but was not intimidated by it. A life that sensed the presence of G-d in the darkness and that knowledge rendered the darkness inconsequential. It is this strength that we wish upon each other.

As we spend the last few moments in our own terrifying Exile, we are also able to reach into history and derive comfort and encouragement from the example of Yoseph and know that the Jew is always able to get the better of the night, and transform the night into bright day. May we merit the speedy end of the Exile.