Reaching Out to Those in Need

From favored son to imprisoned slave. From prophetic dreamer to forgotten prisoner. When Joseph lost everything, he discovered what his dreams never showed him: the true meaning of Jewish leadership.

Not-So-Humble Beginnings

At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, we find Joseph grooming himself, sharing prophetic dreams of ruling over his family, and parading a striking coat that broadcasts “daddy’s favorite.” His self-absorption, dreams of grandeur, and flaunting of favoritism provoke his brothers' anger. They throw him into a pit and subsequently sell him to spice merchants bound for Egypt.¹

In Egypt, the merchants sell Joseph as a slave to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's chamberlains. But after rising to power in Potiphar’s house, Joseph fails the test yet again. According to Rashi, "As soon as he saw that he was ruler (in the house) he began to eat and drink and curl his hair." God's response? "Your father is mourning and you curl your hair! I will let a bear loose against you."

That "bear" arrives in the form of Potiphar's wife, who sets her sights on the handsome young steward.² After failing in her final seduction attempt, she has Joseph thrown in jail on a false charge of attempted rape.

When Breakdown Becomes Breakthrough

After 12 years rotting in an Egyptian dungeon, Joseph faces another test. This time, his response reveals a profound transformation - not through grand gestures, but through an act so small we might dismiss it as trivial.

In the deepest pit of Egypt's most depraved culture, Joseph - a boy betrayed by his brothers and imprisoned on false charges - does something remarkable. Noticing two imprisoned courtiers of Pharaoh, he performs a simple act of kindness: "When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught. He asked, 'Why do you appear downcast today?'" (Genesis 40:6-7). Rabbeinu Bachya explains: "Joseph cared for their well-being although they were wicked people serving a wicked King."

The timing of this gesture is astounding. Joseph's life lies in ruins. He's been imprisoned without hope of release for 12 years. When we're at our lowest, caring for others feels almost impossible - our pain demands all our attention, pulling us into self-centered despair. Yet these moments of heartbreak offer us something precious: the ability to truly relate to another’s suffering.

Through his own pain, Joseph discovers the meaning of Jewish leadership - the capacity to step beyond ourselves and connect with another’s struggles. This is the legacy of Moses, whom the Torah describes as the most humble person who ever lived (Numbers 12:3). As the saying goes, humility isn't thinking less of yourself – it's thinking of yourself less.

Joseph's childhood dreams of kingship weren't mere fantasy - they were prophecies awaiting fulfillment. Like a seed that must break down in dark soil before it can sprout, Joseph's ego needed crushing before true leadership could emerge. The pit and the prison served as God's crucible, transforming his self-absorption into selfless concern. The simple act of genuine concern for two troubled prisoners marks the moment Joseph's true leadership emerges.

Reaching Out to Redemption

As within, so without. Joseph’s inner transformation quickly manifests in the outer world. After interpreting the courtiers' dreams, one returns to his post and mentions Joseph’s abilities to Pharaoh, triggering his ascent from dungeon to throne.

Our sages teach that our forefathers' actions create spiritual blueprints for future generations. If Joseph's redemption began when he reached beyond his own suffering to care for others, then the Torah is teaching us about how to achieve redemption from the pits of our own lives. We must not wallow in our own pain. We must realize that we're not needy - we're needed.

This week, pay attention to the needs of those around you. Look for someone who seems downcast. Push yourself beyond your own concerns to see their pain. Offer a smile, open a conversation. In doing so, you are sowing the seeds of redemption – seeds of the perfected, harmonious world we all hope to build.

Shabbat Shalom!
Avraham

Inspired by the classes of Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld, my primary Rabbi and head of the Machon Yaakov Yeshiva.

1. Before we get into the content of this week's parsha, I'd like to give important context that I learned early on in my path back to Judaism. When we read the basic text of the Torah, particularly in Bereishis and the stories of Yosef and his brothers, if we are paying attention, we must wonder how the people that we look up to as our near perfect ancestors could act so coarsely. "How can we look up to our ancestors? They have the same flaws that we do, and sometimes even worse!"There are two parts to the answer to this fundamental question:
   1. Our sages tell us that "God['s judgment] is exacting on the righteous to the hairsbreadth," meaning that the Torah will portray miniscule mistakes in highly magnified and blunt terms. Let's give an example: when the Torah describes the murderous jealousy of Yosef's brothers, the Sages say that there was a deep, fundamental dispute where the brothers concluded that Yosef was usurping the kingship that was, by all rights, destined go to Yehuda, and therefore needed to be extricated from the Jewish legacy. However, somewhere deep in their psyche, they were affected by a small tinge of jealousy that swayed their decision for the worse. The Torah therefore portrayed them as being jealous and spiteful of their younger brother, seeking to eliminate him in cold blood.
   2. So why did God choose to portray such righteous people in such a demeaning light? One answer is that God wants us all to find our way back to His path. For a person in a very dark place who has committed real sins they feel are unforgivable, he or she can draw tremendous inspiration from our ancestors. We see each of these characters, after their initial mistakes, rise beyond their flaws later on in the narrative. The lesson we are meant to glean is profound; even the most righteous people struggle, fall and get back up. A famous line of the Talmud teaches us that "A righteous person falls seven times, yet still rises up."  We see the greatest men and women of all time also struggling and even losing against their inborn, negative tendencies, yet eventually rise above to the heights of human perfection, we are inspired to achieve greatness no matter how low we are. Note: I was very bothered by this question this year and the answer I wrote here what I came up with. Another answer, given by Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits, my current Rosh Kollel, is that the Torah displays an extreme version of the sins in order to show us how far we can fall if we have even a seed of a bad character trait. I am very open to other great answers and invite you to ponder and share if you have them!
2. Rashi on Bereishis 39:6 - AND JOSEPH WAS OF BEAUTIFUL FORM — As soon as he saw that he was ruler (in the house) he began to eat and drink and curl his hair. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Your father is mourning and you curl your hair! I will let a bear loose against you” (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 8). Immediately, “HIS MASTER’S WIFE LIFTED UP HER EYES”