The Megilla of Rus begins with the word ויהי (It was). The Talmud tells us that the word ויהי always indicates a calamity. By contrast, the word והיה (it will be) always indicates a time of joy. What is the reason for this distinction?
In Hebrew we have a concept called ו' המהפך, this means that when a verb is preceded by the letter ו, the function of the ו is to switch the tense of the verb. A past tense verb becomes future tense, a future verb becomes past. The word יהי is future. It means: it will be. Adding the ו changes it to past tense: it was. The future is full of endless possibilities. It has not yet occurred and there is no telling what it will bring. It is full of hope. Turning the future to past freezes it as being one possibility and negates all the others. This is calamity.
והיה is the opposite. The word היה by itself indicates past tense. Adding the ו changes it to the future. We have taken the past that seemed frozen and stuck in one way, and learned that even the past can be reframed and changed and doesn't have to remain the way we remembered it. This is joy.
In Hebrew we have a concept called ו' המהפך, this means that when a verb is preceded by the letter ו, the function of the ו is to switch the tense of the verb. A past tense verb becomes future tense, a future verb becomes past. The word יהי is future. It means: it will be. Adding the ו changes it to past tense: it was. The future is full of endless possibilities. It has not yet occurred and there is no telling what it will bring. It is full of hope. Turning the future to past freezes it as being one possibility and negates all the others. This is calamity.
והיה is the opposite. The word היה by itself indicates past tense. Adding the ו changes it to the future. We have taken the past that seemed frozen and stuck in one way, and learned that even the past can be reframed and changed and doesn't have to remain the way we remembered it. This is joy.
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