After interpreting the dream of the Chamberlain of the Cupbearers, Josef told him, “If only you would think of me with yourself when he benefits you, and you will do me a kindness, if you please, and mention me to Pharaoh, when you would get me out of this building.” Famous Torah commentaries, the Seder Olam, Tanchuma and Shemos Rabbah comment that Josef was punished an extra two years in prison for this statement, for a lack of trust in God. This is quite astounding as we have a mandate to do our best effort in procuring the best outcome for our future.

Lesson:

There are so many rich lessons packed into this week’s Torah portion. Josef had been thrown into a pit by his own brothers, sold as a slave, and then thrown in jail for resisting a lewd temptation. While in jail, he saw that the Chamberlain of the Cupbearers and the Chamberlain of the Bakers were aggrieved. Was Josef not also aggrieved? Was he not angry and bitter from all the torment and distress that had befallen him? He asked them, “Why do you appear downcast today?”

If you are downcast yourself, wallowing in your own misery, it is nearly impossible to recognize and go beyond yourself to first recognize someone else’s misery and then offer help. Josef did just this but only because he himself was not downcast. How is it possible to have gone through such travails and not become bitter?

The key is because He saw God guiding him, lovingly, throughout each turn and therefore could remain in a positive state of mind and heart. Through it all, Josef had perfect and complete trust in God. In fact, the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 89:3) tells us that Josef placed his complete trust in God, and ironically enough, this is the reason that Josef is ‘punished’ an extra two years. For someone like Josef, even a small dependence on anyone beyond God showed a lack of faith.

While for us, this would be the opposite, we have a mandate to utilize every opportunity, to do our very best effort to optimize the best outcome. For someone like Josef, however, it was seen as a negative. However, it was this ‘punishment’ that was the platform through which Josef could rise to viceroy. It was the so-called ‘punishment’ that allowed his success to come to fruition.

During those two extra years that Josef spent in jail, Pharaoh has summoned everyone to try to interpret his dreams. And, during those two years, people from near and far had come to try. After the two-year time, everyone who could have tried to interpret Pharaoh’s dream already had. They had exhausted every single person. Pharaoh, even more distraught that he was still left with these dreams and with no one else to interpret them, was desperate. As such, when the Chamberlain of the Cupbearers told him about Josef in a disparaging manner: young, a slave, and an Israelite, Pharaoh immediately had him taken out of jail, and Josef interpreted the dreams correctly along with a plan of action.

Had Josef interpreted the dreams earlier, before everyone or anyone else then someone could have exclaimed to Pharaoh that they were about to tell him the exact same thing! Josef is not great, he just got to Pharaoh first. By Josef being in jail the additional two years, it allowed Pharaoh to recognize that only Josef held the answer, leading to his liberation and rise to viceroy.

As humans, we make mistakes and sometimes have regrets. While we do not always see it, God created the world such that sometimes the consequences of our mistakes can actually be the very thing that allows our greatness to come to fruition. Often times we categorize things as good or bad. With a child, you listen you get rewarded, you don’t, you get punished; but God does not relate to us this way. This is such a beautiful and deep concept: God could have led to Josef’s greatness in a way completely unrelated to his punishment. But its amazing to have a Creator Who in His abundant mercy created a world where the consequences of our mistakes can be the platforms to propel us to even greater heights.

Exercise: Think of something that you regret. Now try to let it go, knowing that God in His abundant mercy and love can propel you to new heights through it.