At the end of this week’s Parsha, after being sold into slavery in Egypt, Joseph experiences a lot of success in everything he does. First, he is promoted to the head slave of his master’s house, then while in jail he is placed as the overseer of the entire prison. The trust and responsibility he was given on both of these occasions is rather impressive, and both occasions have significant similarities.
Let’s look at the verses describing both instances of Joseph’s success:
Let’s look at the verses describing both instances of Joseph’s success:
· God was with Joseph and he became a successful man, and this was in the house of his Egyptian Master. His master saw that God was with him, and that God made him successful in everything he did. Joseph found favor in his eyes, and he served him personally. He appointed him over his household, and placed all that he had into his hands. From the time he appointed him overseer in his household and over all that he had, God blessed the Egyptian’s household because of Joseph. God’s blessing was in everything he had, in the house and in the field. He left everything he had in Joseph’s hands, and besides him he knew of nothing except the bread he was eating… (Gen 39:2-6)
· God was with Joseph and he turned toward him with benevolence; He made him pleasing to the chief of the prison. The chief of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Everything that they did there was for him to do. The chief of the prison did not see to anything that was entrusted to Joseph, for God was with him, and whatever he did, God made successful. (Gen 39:21-23)
In both episodes, Joseph is entrusted with such a high level of responsibility by his masters that they felt comfortable delegating all of their responsibilities to Joseph, and they never felt the need to even check on him to make sure that he was doing the job right. Furthermore, Pharaoh will repeat this level of delegation to Joseph in next week’s Parsha, when he appoints him as the prime minister and overseer over all of Egypt.
What was it about Joseph that made him so successful and trustworthy? The Torah explains, throughout the verses quoted above, that God was with Joseph, and God made him successful. There is an important lesson here about how our relationship with God can impact our general competency and the impressions we make on others.
This lesson is derived from how we understand the meaning of, “God was with Joseph,” and the way we view Joseph’s personality in light of that understanding. The simple explanation of this phrase is that God simply blessed Joseph, but Joseph was completely passive. In order for God’s divine plan to be carried out, it was necessary for Joseph to be elevated to these positions. God made sure that Joseph was successful so that he would end up in the right place at the right time.
With that explanation, the understanding of God being with Joseph is more of a history lesson, a detail of the story, but not a lesson for future generations to emulate. My understanding of the Torah is that, though it describes history, it is not a history book. The Torah is a guidebook; the Torah teaches us how to live. Details of the stories in the Torah are not anecdotal; they are there to teach us something.
What do we learn from God being with Joseph? The lesson is in the way that Joseph actively brought God into everything he did. Joseph’s mindfulness of God into everything he did can account for his success, and is the source of his trustworthiness. The evidence for this is from whenever Joseph speaks during this part of the story he mentions God.
From chapter 39 in this week’s Parsha, through chapter 41 in next week’s Parsha, we hear Joseph speak on 3 occasions. It can be drawn from the fact that every time he speaks, God is on his lips, that he had a constant mindfulness of God that impacted how he acted in the world and how people viewed him in return. When refusing his master’s sexual advances, Joseph emphasizes to her that sleeping with her, beyond being dishonest to his master, would be, “a sin against God” (39:9). In prison, when encouraging the butler and the baker to share their dreams with him so that he can interpret them, he gives credit to his ability to interpret dreams to God (40:8). Lastly, in next week’s Parsha, when brought before Pharaoh as a person who can interpret dreams, the first thing Joseph says is, “It (dream interpretation) is not up to me, May God provide an answer that will be for Pharaoh’s welfare” (41:16).
God was with Joseph because Joseph actively made God a part of his life. Being God conscious in this way is a major part of the entire system of Jewish law. We are commanded to love God when we wake up in the morning, during the day, and when we lie down to sleep at night. The Shulchan Aruch (code of Jewish laws) begins with discussions of how a person should wake up in the morning, teaching us to start out our day with God consciousness so that it can influence how we act the rest of the day. Furthermore the entire system of Jewish laws pertain to all aspects of our life, the way we dress, eat, treat others, do business, etc. The goal of this system is to have a positive attitude and approach to everything we do in life motivated by a deep seated God consciousness. We may not be able to reach the level of Joseph, but the more effort we put in, the closer we can get to reaching our full potential.
What was it about Joseph that made him so successful and trustworthy? The Torah explains, throughout the verses quoted above, that God was with Joseph, and God made him successful. There is an important lesson here about how our relationship with God can impact our general competency and the impressions we make on others.
This lesson is derived from how we understand the meaning of, “God was with Joseph,” and the way we view Joseph’s personality in light of that understanding. The simple explanation of this phrase is that God simply blessed Joseph, but Joseph was completely passive. In order for God’s divine plan to be carried out, it was necessary for Joseph to be elevated to these positions. God made sure that Joseph was successful so that he would end up in the right place at the right time.
With that explanation, the understanding of God being with Joseph is more of a history lesson, a detail of the story, but not a lesson for future generations to emulate. My understanding of the Torah is that, though it describes history, it is not a history book. The Torah is a guidebook; the Torah teaches us how to live. Details of the stories in the Torah are not anecdotal; they are there to teach us something.
What do we learn from God being with Joseph? The lesson is in the way that Joseph actively brought God into everything he did. Joseph’s mindfulness of God into everything he did can account for his success, and is the source of his trustworthiness. The evidence for this is from whenever Joseph speaks during this part of the story he mentions God.
From chapter 39 in this week’s Parsha, through chapter 41 in next week’s Parsha, we hear Joseph speak on 3 occasions. It can be drawn from the fact that every time he speaks, God is on his lips, that he had a constant mindfulness of God that impacted how he acted in the world and how people viewed him in return. When refusing his master’s sexual advances, Joseph emphasizes to her that sleeping with her, beyond being dishonest to his master, would be, “a sin against God” (39:9). In prison, when encouraging the butler and the baker to share their dreams with him so that he can interpret them, he gives credit to his ability to interpret dreams to God (40:8). Lastly, in next week’s Parsha, when brought before Pharaoh as a person who can interpret dreams, the first thing Joseph says is, “It (dream interpretation) is not up to me, May God provide an answer that will be for Pharaoh’s welfare” (41:16).
God was with Joseph because Joseph actively made God a part of his life. Being God conscious in this way is a major part of the entire system of Jewish law. We are commanded to love God when we wake up in the morning, during the day, and when we lie down to sleep at night. The Shulchan Aruch (code of Jewish laws) begins with discussions of how a person should wake up in the morning, teaching us to start out our day with God consciousness so that it can influence how we act the rest of the day. Furthermore the entire system of Jewish laws pertain to all aspects of our life, the way we dress, eat, treat others, do business, etc. The goal of this system is to have a positive attitude and approach to everything we do in life motivated by a deep seated God consciousness. We may not be able to reach the level of Joseph, but the more effort we put in, the closer we can get to reaching our full potential.
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