Taking the Lead

By Rabbi Joshua (foresightedly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

The midrash, cited by Rashi, says that Yosef spent an extra two years in prison because he asked the butler whose dream he had interpreted in a favorable way, to remember him after returning to his positon, and mention him to Pharaoh. Eventually, when Pharaoh could find no one to interpret his own dream, the butler mentioned Yosef to him, whereupon he was taken out of prison to help.

A fuller version of the midrash has aroused the interest of the commentators, such as Rabbeinu Bachya. The midrash cites a verse which says “Happy is the man who trusts in God and does not turn to the arrogant,” – for because Yosef turned to the Egyptian he spent an extra two years in prison. The midrash seems to begin by praising Yosef’s trust in God, and ends by saying he was punished for his lack of trust!

R. Bachya explains that looking for outside help is, for most people acceptable, but for Yosef, who was on a high level of trust in G-d, and, we may add, had experienced a great deal of divine help since coming to Egypt, relying on the Egyptian was not acceptable. The Chazon Ish, in his Emunah U’Bitachon, says that it would have been acceptable to look for help from a reliable source, but the butler was not reliable and asking him for help was akin to grabbing at straws, meaning an attitude of desperation.

Interestingly, the Ralbag in his section on the benefits derived from the parsha at the end of parshas Vayeishev says that a lesson we learn from Yosef is that one should not rely on a miracle, as we see that Yosef asked the butler to help him. Is the Ralbag simply avoiding the midrash for the purposes of pshat, a simple reading of the Torah, or is there more involved here?

Perhaps we can suggest that Yosef interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams to be referring to a coming seven year period of plenty, followed by a seven year period of famine, and advised Pharaoh to appoint a man of wisdom and understanding to administer the country’s food. Simply, the fact that he had previously asked the butler to help him, indicated to Pharaoh that Yosef was a practical man, who understood how to deal with difficult situations. While, on the one hand, Pharaoh noted that Yosef, a man who had the spirit of God in him, would be a good choice, he also noted his wisdom. Perhaps we can further suggest that Yosef’s atypical turn to the butler for help was divinely generated, as happened, for example, with Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, in his request for Yavneh, rather than Yerushalayim, from Vespasian, as recorded in the gemara in Gittin (56a). This may be what happened with Yosef, as well.