By: Rabbi Yitzchak Ariel In this week’s Parsha, the Torah tells us about Yosef Hatzadik’s journey; from being first thrown in a pit and later sold by his brothers to ending up in jail in Egypt. In jail, Yosef’s cell mates were the king’s head butler and head baker. The head butler and baker each had a dream of the their own and they also each dreamt the interpretation of their fellows dream. Needless to say, they were shocked when they saw that Yosef was able to correctly interpret each dream. After explaining to the butler that he will be taken out of jail and will be reinstated as the head butler again, Yosef asked to butler to remember him and mention him to Pharoh. Sure enough, when the butler was released from prison and was reappointed as head butler, he completely forgot about Yosef. Rashi comments that Yosef was actually punished for asking the butler to remember him and therefore had to spend an extra two years in prison. Yosef should have had more trust in Hashem and it was unnecessary for him to profusely ask the butler to remember him and rely on mere flesh and blood to take him out of jail. The commentaries point out that Yosef did nothing wrong by asking the butler to remember him. One is not supposed to do nothing and rely on miracles. In fact one is obligated put in some type of hishtadlut (effort) in order to accomplish something. Yosef was supposed to ask the butler to remember him. However, his wrongdoing was that after initially asking the butler to remember him he continued on urging him to do so, putting in more effort that necessary. Although we are not on the level of Yosef Hatzadik and we will not but judged as harshly, we must understand that we all need to find the correct balance between effort and trust in Hashem. We learn from this incident that just as one is held accountable if he does not put in any effort to achieve his goals or to sustain himself and his family but rather relies on miracles to provide for them, so one also is held accountable for putting in too much effort and not relying enough on Hashem. Hashem will provide if we put in the appropriate amount of effort with the ultimate understanding that it is He who is ranging everything and catering to all of our needs. Shabbat Shalom |
