LESSONS LEARNED FROM YOSEF

Lessons Learned from Yosef

Filed Under Parshat HaChodesh, Vayeshev, Weekly Parasha ·


Written by: Ashira Gailor


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In Perek mem of this week’s Parsha, we find Yosef locked in a prison with Pharoah’s chief butler and chief baker. Both of these men, who had been thrown into the jail for offending the king, had dreams one night which had disturbed them. From previous experience, the charismatic Yosef knew he would be able to interpret the dreams, and invites the prisoners to explain their dreams to him. The former chief butler dreams of a grape vine with three branches growing and blossoming at a speedy rate, he then sees himself holding Pharoah’s goblet, filling it with juices and giving it to the king. The baker, on the other hand, dreams that he has three baskets full of food on his head. All of a sudden, a bird flies in and eats all of the baked goods from his baskets. Yosef informs both men that the symbolism of 3 in both dreams represents three days in which they fates would be decided and carried out. In the case of the butler, this would mean that he would be released from prison and reinstated in his job in three days’ time. The baker, however, was not as lucky-he too, would leave the prison in three days, but would not receive the same happy fate. Pharoah would hang him from a tree, and he would be left there for the birds to eat at his flesh.

When giving over his interpretation of the first dream, Yosef says to the butler:“Ki im ZICHARTANI itcha ka’asher yitav lach vi’asita na imadi chesed VIHIZKARTANI el paroh vihotzeitani min habayit hazeh” (30:14)I don’t have an Artscroll by me right now for a fancy translation, but the gist of the pasuk is that Yosef asks the butler to please remember him (”zichartani”, “hizkartani”) when he returns to work for Paroh, and put in a good word so Yosef can get out of jail, too.

However, the last pasuk of the parshah states:“Vi’lo zachar sar-hamashkim et Yosef, vayishkichehu”. The butler did not remember Yosef, he forgot him. A thought of Yosef did not even cross his mind after the incident for another two years, as we learn at the beginning of Parshat Miketz, when Pharoah has a dream that needs to be interpreted and the butler finally remembers the favour Yosef did for him all those years ago.A very interesting idea can be brought down here. When Yosef meets these two men and interprets their dreams, he has already spent ten whole years in jail. According to the midrash, each of those years was a punishment for the lashon hora he had spoken about his ten brothers (one year corresponding to each brother about whom he had spoken badly). Why would he have to wait another two years? The midrash answers he had to wait another two whole years as another punishment-one year for each time he asked the butler to remember him. (One year for having said “zichartani”, and one year for “vihizkartani”)

You’re probably wondering what could possibly have been wrong about Yosef asking the butler to “remember” him. The answer given, based on the midrash, is that Yosef should have had trusted in Hashem that everything would have worked out fine;he should not have been asking the butler to give him an “in” with Pharoah in order to ensure he would be freed. According to the Beit HaLevi, one should always believe that Hashem has planned out his destiny and will carry it out appropriately, and in a manner that suits our best interests. As can be seen from the two prisoners, we can never truly know what our fate is, regardless of the circumstances from which they develop. Both the butler and the baker were thrown into jail for the same reason, yet the outcomes they faced were polar opposites. Hashem always has a plan for us, and no matter which way it goes, negatively or positively, we have no way to know what it is. All we can do is keep our bitachon (trust) steadfast and know that everything will ultimately work out for the best, as Yosef should have done in this instance.

Rav Soloveitchik illuminates a slightly different dimension to this idea. When asked what would have happened had Yosef merely asked once, instead of saying Yosef would have been in jail for one year extra on top of the obligatory ten, The Rav answered that Yosef would have been freed that year, without any extra years added to his sentence. Although it appears this statement contradicts the aforementioned concept of Yosef being punished for his lack of trust in Hashem, Rav Soloveitchik continues to explain that (contrary to the idea brought down in the Beit HaLevi), one can not merely trust that Hashem will fix everything for us and not put in any effort ourselves. We must do what we can to help ourselves, while trusting in Hashem that things will pan out. According to this idea, it would have been fine, even proper for Yosef to try make an attempt to get help from the butler to get out of prison-that would be his personal hishtadlut (effort) in the matter, but then he would have to rely on his bitachon (trust) in Hashem to take care of the rest..as would have been demonstrated by not reiterating his request.

The lesson that we learn from Yosef is that it’s essential to have bitachon in Hashem and the plan that he has for our lives..but crucial not to forget to put in our own hishtadlut and make his plan pan out. May we all be zoche to find the balance between the two!!

Shabat Shalom

taken from Tzipiyah.com