Yosef was meant to be freed from jail immediately after he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s butler and baker. But he was kept in jail for another two years because he relied on the butler to plead his case to Pharaoh to release him from jail, when he should have relied on G-d alone (Rashi to Bereishis 40:23).
What was Yosef’s sin that deserved this punishment? Is it not a rule that: Ein somchim al ha’nes, one should not rely on miracles? Rather, one should try one’s best to solve the situation on one’s own and only when one has exhausted one’s human capacities will G-d take over?
We see the principle of ein somchim al ha’nes many times in the Torah. It was not the ark on which Noach toiled for 120 days that saved him. The gushing waters rendered him powerless to close its doors. It took G-d’s direct intervention to achieve that, “Vayisgor Hasehm ba’ado – and G-d shut the door for him” (7:16). If it required G-d’s direct intervention to save Noach anyway, why did G-d task him with the huge undertaking of building the ark?
When the daughter of Pharaoh discovered Moshe hidden in the river, she stretched out her hand as far as she was physically able to retrieve him, but still he remained out of reach. The Talmud tells us (Sotah 12b) that at that point, G-d miraculously extended her arm further to enable her to draw him from the water. And why was it necessary to equip the shulchan, the table in the sanctuary with kesavos, which were hollow, golden canes designed to allow air to circulate freely between Lechem Hapanim (the twelve loaves of bread) so that they would not become stale? Didn’t they miraculously remain warm and fresh from Shabbat to Shabbat anyway without human intervention (Menachos 96b)?
The answer to all of these questions is that G-d will only step in with miracles when one has done all that is humanly possible to help oneself.
So what did Yosef do wrong?
The answer is that the rule of ein somchim al ha’nes applies only when there is no miracle already in progress at the time of danger. But where it is clear that G-d is already busy working a miracle on one’s behalf, it is presumptuous to believe that G-d needs our help and cannot go it alone. In this case, miracles were already unfolding before Yosef’s eyes. Although he was not a dream interpreter, he saw that G-d intervened and enabled him to correctly interpret the dreams of the butler and baker, when none of the professional dream interpreters could do so, (40:8). If you see G-d’s hand already at work, step out of the way and let Him finish the job.
Pharaoh dreams that “vehineh omed al haye’or – he was standing on the river” (41:1). Before his dreams, Pharaoh considered himself to be a god who walked on water. He boasted that the Nile, the nerve center of Egypt’s economy, belonged to him and that he had created it, “Li ye’ori ve’ani asitini – the river is mine and I made it,” (Yechezkel 29:3). But he woke up from his dreams feeling vulnerable. Although his regular dream interpreters told him that the dreams meant that he would have seven daughters and would bury seven daughters, the Torah tells us that this interpretation that focused on his personal life did not satisfy him in his role as Pharaoh, the monarch of Egypt.
Pharaoh was preoccupied with affairs of state, not with personal matters. He was worried that if the economy of Egypt would fail, he would be ousted from power. So when he repeated his dream anxiously to Yosef, he spoke like a vulnerable human being, “hineni omed al sfas haye’or – I stood on the bank of the river “41:17). Now pharaoh is standing on the edge like everyone else, in need and worried for his physical survival. He no longer walks on water.
When, two years later, the butler finally remembers Yosef, Pharaoh sends for him urgently and he is released from jail. Clearly, time is of the essence when Pharaoh is in distress. Yet, Yosef does not go to see him right away. He only does so after taking a haircut and changing his clothes (41:14. ) Why make the mighty king of Egypt wait when there is in an emergency?
Rashi tells us that Yosef did so out of respect for royalty. We are cautioned “Heve mispallel beshloma shel malchus she’ilmaleh mora’ah, ish es re’eihu chayim belo’o – pray for the welfare of the government because if people do not fear it, they would eat each other alive.” Although Yosef might be delayed for a while, it would be disrespectful to show up in prison clothes and with unkempt hair. Besides, that first impression would remain forever and Yosef would never be taken seriously as the viceroy of Egypt.
Before Yosef is officially appointed as viceroy to the king, he is told that he should get married. His job requires focus and dedication. He cannot be distracted with bachelor pursuits, kol she’ein lo isha shorui belo choma, a person who is without a wife is unprotected from sin (Yevamos 62b).
During the years of famine Yosef’s wife Osnat bore him two children. Yosef calls the firstborn child Menashe, “ki nashani elokim es kol amali ve’es kol beis avi – because G-d has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house” (41:51).
We know Yosef never forgot his father. Even though he no longer lived next to him, his father was an ever-present influence wherever he went and whatever he did. Yosef was able to resist succumbing to the seductive overtures of Potiphar’s wife because the image if his father came between him and his desire.
So what is Yosef saying? He is not saying he forgot his father, he is saying he forgot his father’s household and the sibling jealousy that was part of it. Yosef had a frenetic job to do. He was running from pillar to post trying to save the greatest world economy from imminent disaster. He simply did not have the time to dwell on petty brotherly rivalry. In the end he was thankful to his brothers for selling him into slavery because it helped him save his entire family from hunger and, as he later says, “ki lemichyah shelachani elokim lifneichem – for G-d sent me before you to keep you alive” (45:5). It seems that many family disputes would be resolved if people just focused on making money themselves instead living off other people’s money.
Yaakov sees that there is famine in Canaan but there are stockpiles of food in Egypt. Even though Yaakov and his family had sufficient food at that time and did not require the assistance of Egypt, his non-Jewish neighbors did. And so Yaakov ordered his sons to join the crowd that was going down to Egypt in search of food. He said to his sons “Lamah tisrau” (42:1), why would you risk the envy of your neighbors by appearing to have enough food when they are starving. We know that ma’aseh avos siman lebonim, the purpose of many of the patriarchs actions was to teach their future generations how to conduct themselves in the diaspora. If you are blessed with wealth, keep a low profile and don’t be conspicuous.
Yosef recognizes his brothers but he hides his identity from them. When he sees them, the first thing that comes to mind is the dreams he had about them. “Vayizkor Yosef et hachlomos asher chalam lahem” (42:9). He had dreamt that he was binding sheaves of corn with his brothers and his sheaves stood upright and his brothers sheaves stood round about and bowed down to his sheaves. This dream had nothing to do with Yosef wanting to rule over his brothers. The Torah does not say “asher chalam aleihem,” that he was dreaming about ruling over them, but that his dreams were “lahem,” for his brothers’ benefit. He dreamt about providing food for his brothers in times of need. And now this dream had come true. So why did he not identify himself there and then? Why did continue to remain anonymous? Because he also had another dream of eleven stars bowing down to him and this dream included Bejamin. He wanted that dream to come true as well and so he devised a strategy to bring Benjamin down to Egypt too.
Yosef, like his father before him (See Rashi to 7:11) knew the significance of these dreams and that they were destined to come true. But he also knew that they could not be realized before Yaakov had lived for 22 years separated from Yosef. This, we are told is what Yaakov had to endure for staying away from his father Yitzchak for 22 years. Yosef met his brothers in the twenty-first year and he knew that there was one year to go before he could reveal his identity and be reunited with his father. So he kept up the pretense for another year. But it pained him to make his brothers suffer even though they made him suffer in the past.
The Torah conveys to us Yosef’s suffering in causing his brothers pain. It uses the words “Vayisov me’aleihem vayevch” (42:24). Chazal tell us that the letters “Vay” convey distress. Vay sav, Yosef was distressed for his father, sav, the old man who had to suffer another year of separation from his son. Vay kaf-beis, woe unto the 22 years that Yaakov had to suffer.
