Parshat Bo

This week’s Parsha marks the beginning of the Jewish people’s freedom from slavery in Egypt.  It begins where last week’s Parsha left off, with the last 3 of the 10 plagues, and then continues with Pharaoh allowing the people to go free and of their preparations to leave. In addition, the Jewish concept of freedom begins to emerge in this week’s Parasha.
On the eve of the Jewish people’s departure from Egypt, Moses speaks to the people about educating their children on 3 different occasions.  This is important because it is teaching us that the importance of freedom is about much more than just achieving freedom from bondage.  Moses could have spoken about how great it will be to free and how amazing God is for freeing the Jews. Instead, he chooses to reveal those lessons through the perspective of “you will teach your children about those things.”  Because freedom is about much more than just being freed from slavery, freedom needs to be about preserving that freedom as well.
According to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Judaism’s concept of freedom needs 3 institutions to exist; parenthood, eduction and memory.  “You must tell your children (and the children of your community) about slavery and the long journey to liberation.  They must annually taste the bread of affliction and biiter herbs of slave labour.  They must know what oppression feels like if they are to fight against it in every age.  So Jews became the people whose passions was education, whose citadels were schools, and whose heroes were teachers.  Covenant and Conversation, p. 78-79.”
There is a line from Pirkei Avoth 6:2 which says, “There is no one so free as one who occupies himself with the study of Torah.”  Because true freedom is about the ability to rise above our passions, to control ourselves, and in the words of Rabbi Sacks, “To control oneself without having to be controlled by others.”
With this understanding we see that freedom is more than just doing whatever we want, and it’s not just another word for nothing left to lose (from the popular song, Me and my Bobby Mcgee). Freedom is sometimes expressed in our ability to not do whatever we want, to control our passions.  The Torah teaches us how to do this.  When we learn Torah and follow the Tora,h we learn how to control ourselves, and we keep ourselves from falling into unbreakable habits and from becoming slaves to the culture around us.  Torah gives us the means to march to the beat of our own drummer.

Parshat Va'era

The Midrash on this week’s Parsha makes an interesting observation on Pharaoh’s behavior.  There is only one time during the entire episode of the 10 plagues that Pharaoh says that the Lord is just.  In fact, from the beginning, Pharaoh denies even any recognition of God, let alone that God is right and he is wrong.  Yet, after the plague of Hail Pharaoh says, “I am wrong, God is right, And I and my people are the villains (Exodus 9:27).”  What influenced this change of heart in the Pharoah?

The answer proposed by the Midrash is a very interesting one, with implications about how to influence other people in our own lives.  The Midrash says that it is the way of human beings to surprise their enemies, attack them, and take what is theirs, but God does not act in this way. when God strikes human beings it is to educate.  Therefore when God intended to send the hail to Egypt as the 7^th plague, Pharaoh was instructed (Ex. 9:18-19) to make sure all of the beasts were in from the fields for their protection and the protection of the servants who tended them. 

On this verse, Sforno (16^th century Italian sage) comments:

So that I might show you my power – to move you to repent.  As it is written: “for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies…” (Ezekiel 18:32). 

The most influential thing in the change of attitude in Pharaoh was not the strong hand of God, Pharaoh remains obstinate in the face of the plagues.  It was the way in which God displayed his mercy which impacted Pharaoh. 

It is important for us to remember this when trying to influence the people around us, friends, children, family.  It is often the case that people are influenced more by merciful and understanding behavior than by browbeating them into accepting that our way is correct.  

Parshat Shemot

Rabbi Bachy Ibn Pakuda (an 11th century Spanish Rabbi) in his book, “duties of the heart,” teaches an important lesson about humility and appreciating the value of other people.  He tells a story about a great Jewish sage who was once asked about how he became the greatest sage of his generation.   The wise man answered by saying that it is because every person that he ever encountered was greater than him at something.
The sage was saying that his greatness was not a result of his own superior qualities, but rather an appreciation of the fact that every person possesses some quality greater than his.  It’s often hard to see that in people.  I’m sure we can all  make a list of people whom we think don’t have much value, or whom we think dont have much to offer.  But this is counter to the lessons of our Jewish tradition.  There is a quote in Pirkei Avoth which says, who is a wise person, someone who can learn from all people.
This Jewish value is such an important lesson to the entire world about how to develop a worldview in which we see every single human being as posessing an inherent value. None of us are so great that we can’t learn from another.  This is lesson is reflected in the very beginning of this week’s Parsha.
The Parsha, Shemot, means names.  And the Parsha begins by listing the names of Jacobs’s sons who came to Egypt with him.  Most of us would think that when making a list of someone’s children, the obvious way to list them would be in age order.  Not only is it logical, it’s somewhat subconscious as well.  Having an order helps us remember things, sometimes to a fault.  I can remember numerous times when my mother, wanting to call me, had to go through all my older sibling’s names first- , Adam, Joshua, Deena, Daniel.  Her brain recalls all of her children in order until she finally gets to me, I’m sure many of us have done the same.  It’s just the way the brain works.
So it’s strange that when listing the names of the Jacob’s children, the names are not listed in age order.  Furthermore, over the course of the Chumash, the tribes of Israel are listed about 15 times, and they are almost never given in the same order twice.  What is the reason for this?  Other than to test our memory, why wouldn’t the Torah just list them in age order?  There has to be some reason for this arbitrary method.
The Midrash in Shemot Rabbah takes note of this disparity and teaches that the torah is not particular about maintaining a fixed order to teach that no one tribe is greater than the other.  Everyone has some inherent value for everyone else.
This message has two important lessons regarding our own self-worth.  We should never ever think that someone is of no value.  It’s often easier to believe that about others, because then we don’t have to force ourselves to see the good in others .  But achieving true wisdom requires us to see the value in everyone.  Sometimes, the only way to do this might be engaging someone whom we would usually avoid.  Going out of our way to connect to someone whom we’ve never spoken to before, or to someone whom we may dislike, with the attitude that this person has something to offer, is a positive model about how to interact within a community.  Respecting another does not necessarily even mean that you have to like them, but it means that you have to treat them civilly enough to interact with them and get to know them so that we can find their intrinsic value.
But it also has an important impact on the way we view ourselves.  It is also lesson to a person who thinks that they have no value, or that they are not worth much.  If one has that perspective of themselves, they may never offer insight for fear of appearing ignorant, or may never work for  a cause because of a belief that their opinion doesn’t matter.  But if we realize that we are all of equal value and all have something to teach, we should be motivated to feel confident in displaying our true selves to the world.
This is an important lesson to remember on Martin Luther King Day.  Amongst the many important legacies that he has left this world, Dr. Martin Luther King is a testament to the power that one person has to simply motivate and unite other people around a cause, and to the impact  of many disparate voices uniting on important issues can have on the world.  Good Shabbos!

Parshat Veyechi

Hello Everyone,

I came across a short paragraph while learning this week’s Parsha that I found very powerful.   I’d like to share it with you for this week’s dvar torah rather than offer my own words.  It is taken from a summary of a class on this week’s Parsha off of the website, www.tanach.org.   Here is a link to the page where the following paragraph is taken from, followed by the lesson on the Parsha itself.  Shabbat Shalom.  http://www.tanach.org/breishit/vaychiab.htm

Yaakov's blessings to his sons in Parashat Vayechi touches upon the very essence of the concept of "shevatim" (tribes).  Why should God's special nation divide itself into twelve factions?  Does this not invite contention and disunity?  The answer is that Bnei Yisrael must represent the ideal of Godliness to the rest of mankind.  It is only natural for people to group together according to common interests, inclinations, goals, talents and the like.  The objective, however, must be for the different groups to work together with one another, harnessing their unique capabilities for purposes of "Shem Shamayim" (God's Name).  Thus, the twelve-tribe system, when properly implemented, accurately captures the message God's nation must bring to humanity.  This nation declares that yes, different groups of people with different interests and tendencies can work together harmoniously and work towards the common good.  Yaakov blesses each son by wishing him the proper utilization of his respective talents, such that they all come together to fulfill the destiny of God's special nation.

Parshat Vayigash

Parshat Vayigash

Rabbi Daniel Levitt

There has been some distressing news coming out of Israel this week if you’ve been paying attention.  This week there have been protests and demonstrations; the media has picked up on the treatment of women, by ultra-orthodox men in Israeli society.  The issues have primarily focused on the 8 year old girl in Beit Shemesh who gets harassed for not dressing “frum” enough, and on the segregated buses where women are made to sit in the back of the bus.  The news tends to sensationalize things and it’s easy to demonize the behavior of this group of men treating people terribly in the name of the religion.  It’s important to realize that these extremists among the ultra-Orthodox, while deplorable, are a small minority.  But these stories are symptomatic of the situation that has been going on for some time now, there is a battle raging in Israel between the ultra-Orthodox and the Secular.

It is a very polarizing battle; each side sees things in terms of blacks and whites.  For the secular, who don’t understand or respect the ultra-Orthodox they see their own way of life being attacked by ALL of the ultra-Orthodox who they see as forcing religion into Israeli society.  The mere sight of a black coat and beard can be offensive to some.  For the ultra-Orthodox, they view the rest of the world as being against them in their desire to live modest, religious lives, without the distractions and attractions of the outside modern world.   When the secularists, or Israeli law authorities, condemn their lifestyles, they feel attacked and discriminated against.

This is a complex situation; there is no easy resolution in sight.

Some people see it as a clear evil, talking about forcing someone to the back of the bus makes Americans think of Jim Crowe segregation, while in fact this is not exactly parallel.  And it’s important to note that many ultra-Orthodox women are more comfortable in separate seating and actually prefer this situation.  Other people might be under the impression that there is no problem with the buses at all, that the problem lies with the secular society trying to make separate seating illegal.  They feel that the only people who would ever ride these buses the first place are people who are comfortable with this type of segregation, so why stir up controversy?  Just as a point of information, the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that these buses are lawful so long as everyone on the bus is ok with the separation. 

After seeing countless news articles on this subject this week I wanted to understand some of the latest headlines from a more personal perspective.  Thank God for facebook.  I posted the question on facebook this week,” has anyone ever been on one of these segregated busses?”  It was interesting to me that all of my facebook friends who responded were women.  I asked them to describe the experience for me so that I could understand first hand, rather than from the news what it was like.  Most of the respondents felt the need to respect the wishes of the ultra-Orthodox men and were not bothered by the situation even if it meant getting motion sickness in the back of the bus or having to pay more or take a much longer route in order to use a non-segregated bus.  There was a desire on their part for mutual respect and a need for tolerance.  But unfortunately, that desire was not always reciprocated. 

I want to read to you what one of the women wrote to me, and draw a lesson from what she writes to the Parsha this week.

I used to have to take the Chareidi (Ultra-Orthodox) separate bus back from Bar Ilan University to my parents’ house in Bet Shemesh.  Without going into detail, I think I should tell you that I am generally considered to be modest in dress, and I definitely believe in respecting the norms of the Chareidi community when I enter their community. I have also never been accused of a lack of self-confidence. Which may be why it was so surprising that, since that first trip, I avoided the separate buses as much as I could. People would ask me why I chose to take the more expensive and less convenient transportation back home to my family, and I would answer, only half-jokingly, that I was not a middle aged Black woman in the South 60 years ago. Of course, there were times when I had no other option. While most of these trips were not noteworthy, I can distinctly recall one trip when the driver graciously allowed me to get on in the front, until when one red bearded man started raising his voice in protest and I backed down, got off the bus and boarded from the back. I was ashamed. And I was angry.

Still, I think nothing compares to the time I spent on the 1 bus, which travels from Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station to the Western Wall, via the Chareidi neighborhood of Meah Shearim. The popular bus route is truly a melting pot of races, cultures and denominations. Although now the bus is, for the most part, mixed, there was a period of a few years that extremists had succeeded in imposing a strict segregation. I don’t know if it was the harsh contrast of the profoundly religious experience at the Western Wall, compared with the wholly profane experience of the bus, but some of the worst interactions I have had in my life took place on that bus. Rides on that bus frequently left behind a bitter emotional aftertaste- from the shame I felt when I meekly moved to the back upon being “kindly informed” that the bus was now separate, or the disgust I felt as I stood crammed in the back of the bus while the men in the front had seats to spare, or the incredible indignation and utter incomprehension I experienced as men who refused to even look at me had no problem pushing into me and slamming into me with the entire weight of their bodies as they forced their way onto the bus. But the bitterness of all those emotions could not compare with the acrid hatred that would engulf me after these encounters. While I hated the way they made me feel ashamed, or the way I believed they focused on the letter of the law while ignoring the values and spirit of the law, what I hated most of all was the way they made me hate them.

I, who had always tried to defend the Chareidi community, found myself badmouthing them in frustration after each and every one of these rides. I, who always tried to find the best in people, found myself looking for the worst. I, who firmly believes in the power of love and acceptance, could not find it in my heart to love or accept.

My father always says that the quickest way to get someone to dislike you is by making them think you dislike them. It is human nature; we treat others the way we are treated. I don’t know who started this vicious cycle of intolerance and hatred. I hope we can find a way to end it.

That note of hope is how she ends her letter, and that is what I’d like to connect to this week’s Parsha.

This is a complex situation.  There are halachic considerations which need to be respected with regard to the closeness of the seats, how crowded these buses can get, and the need to protect people who do not tolerate physical contact between men and women.  But there has to be a better way of ensuring that Jewish law is maintained.  Jewish society also needs to respect the general dignity of human beings, and model a religious lifestyle which reflects behavior that our sages describe as, derekh eretz kadma l’torah - ethical behavior comes before the Torah.

Wouldn’t it be nice if both sides could listen and respect the other side, understand what is upsetting their fellow Jew, and work together to come up with a mutually agreeable solution.  Women shouldn’t feel, as one of my friends described, let down by the orthodox world that they were supposed to look to for guidance and inspiration.  But, how does Israeli secular society treat the religious?  An employee of an Israeli non-profit that monitors worldwide anti-Semitism responded to a question about whether it monitors anti-Semitism in Israel, she responds that they can’t, out of fear of losing funding.  What anti-Semitism could she be referring to in Israel of all places?  She says, "I'm not talking about the Arabs. I'm referring to attacks originating from the Israeli left. I'm ashamed to say that if the same standards and definitions were applied in Israel, many left-wing political statements and media reports would be considered anti-semitic.The orthodox world shouldn’t be judged by the actions of a few extremists and made out to look like vicious horrible people, and they shouldn’t be forced to compromise on their personal religious values in of all places, the Jewish state, when it’s not negatively impacting others.  Hatred and the downright anti-Semitism that occurs in secular Israeli which is directed at the orthodox are also not acceptable.  

Emotions and tempers on this issue are understandably hot.  This week we saw thousands of demonstrators against the treatment of women in the ultra-orthodox, there were Jews at these demonstrations chanting slogans and holding signs about the evils of religion.  These opponents of what they see the chareidi-zation of Israeli society often make false assumptions that all women are constantly subjugated and discriminated against in the ultra-Orthodox world.  Which, if you have ever spent time with ultra-orthodox families, is clearly a gross overgeneralization and most of the time patently false.  In response to these demonstrations, ultra-orthodox men in Beit Shemesh held their own demonstrations, which according to many reports, turned into a small riot.  

On this issue and all disagreements in general, the more each side digs in to their position, the more each side stops listening to the other, the more each side is made to feel defensive of their way of life, the less likely that either side will listen and understand; making it impossible for both to desire reconciliation.

In this week’s Parsha we have one of the most famous reconciliations.  Joseph reveals himself to his brothers.  After having been mistreated and then sold as a slave by his brothers, Joseph became Prime minister of Egypt, second in power only to Pharaoh himself.   With his brother’s destiny in his hands, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers.  What a moment!  Can you imagine how you would feel if you were Joseph, would you be able to withstand the desire for revenge?  Can you imagine how you would feel if you were one of the brothers?  The shame, guilt, embarrassment and fear?  Yet, we know the rest of the story; they all lived happily ever after.

How were they able to reconcile?  Not knowing that the Egyptian Prime Minister was their brother Joseph, the brother’s spoke openly between each other.  Joseph was able to overhear all the guilt and remorse expressed between each of his brothers. Yehuda had made a heartfelt plea to Joseph on behalf of his brother Benjamin to protect Benjamin and have mercy on their father. When Joseph saw that his brothers truly felt sorry for the way they treated him, had learnt from the experience and were now going out of their way to protect Benjamin, only then did Joseph feel safe enough to reveal himself.  With Joseph and his brothers, reconciliation was possible because the brothers’ remorse and true emotions were revealed to Joseph.  Would they have been as honest and as open if they had known it was him?  Would any of us?

How many of us have avoided apologizing, avoided reconciling simply because of the discomfort of having to do it?  Sometimes we know we are wrong, but saying sorry is hard.  Sometimes we refuse to admit to ourselves that we have done any wrong; because we feel that we have been wronged as well.  It is hard to look someone in the face with whom you disagree and try to really listen and understand where they’re coming from; it is hard to look someone in the face who has done something wrong to you, sometimes it’s even harder to look someone in the face of whom we have done something wrong to.

The lesson for us is that for reconciliation to occur, we must look the other side in the face.  We need to respect and understand where they are coming from.  It’s not always easy, but it’s always necessary.  In Israel, there is complexity and validity on both sides, no one is totally wrong all of the time and certainly no one is right either.  I don’t know how reconciliation will happen, but I do know that if things continue the way they are going, with both sides feeling more and more attacked and less and less respected, I fear that it is going to get a lot worse before it can get better. 

This is true in our personal lives as well.  If we can’t listen to people we disagree with, can’t understand where they are coming from, and aren’t willing to accept fault, then we leave little room for the other person to listen to us, understand us, and ask themselves where they have gone wrong.  When posturing ourselves like this our interpersonal rifts will just keep getting wider, it has to stop somewhere. 

May all of us, the entire Jewish people, and the entire world be blessed with the courage of Joseph and his brothers to make the effort to care more about creating peace and understanding, than in protecting our own pride.  

Parshat Miketz

The Chinese word for crisis is composed of two characters.  One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.  The underlying concept here is that when a crisis occurs there are two possible outcomes.  When faced with a crisis, if we lose hope and do nothing, the crisis will definitely be dangerous.  But, if we view crisis as an opportunity, it can motivate us to action, re-think, re-imagine, be persistent, and grow.  A crisis is not the end; it is merely an opportunity to move forward differently.
So the question is: how do we navigate the potential danger of a crisis so that it becomes a moment of opportunity?

We can find an answer to that question from Joseph’s behavior in this week’s Parsha.  The Parsha begins with Pharaoh’s dreams.  Pharaoh had dreams that were very troubling to him.  In his first dream he saw seven beautiful and robust cows along the banks of the Nile.  Then, all of a sudden seven disgusting looking emaciated cows rise out of the Nile and ate the seven beautiful cows without the appearance of the ugly cows not changing at all.  In his second dream, he dreamt of seven beautiful ears of corn growing strong only to be followed by seven unhealthy looking ears of corn which then proceeded to swallow up the seven beautiful healthy looking ears of corn.

When Pharaoh woke up in the morning he was extremely agitated by these dreams.  He looked for someone to interpret the dreams for him.  But in all of Egypt he couldn’t find anyone who could interpret the dream to his satisfaction.  At this point, the butler who had spent time with Joseph in prison, tells Pharaoh about Joseph and his ability to successfully interpret dreams.             

Upon hearing Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph told Pharaoh that his dreams werereally one dream with the same message, and the message is a warning about an impending crisis.  He said that the message of the dream was that there were going to be seven years of plenty, and good harvests, followed by seven years of famine.  And the famine would be so bad that no one would even remember the years of abundance which had led up to the famine.  That is the end of the interpretation of the dreams, but it is not the end of what Joseph said to Pharaoh.  In the face of this impending crisis, with its potential to be a disaster, Joseph advised the king on how to prepare for the crisis.  He told Pharaoh that with proper planning this could become a moment of opportunity for him, and proceeded to formulate a plan on what to do.

When faced with the possibility for disaster, Joseph did not despair, he gave hope to everyone around him by formulating a plan which would enable them to have hope and do something so that the crisis could become a moment of opportunity.  Pharaoh sees the greatness of Joseph’s attitude and ability to act when necessary, and is so impressed that he appointed him as the prime minister with the responsibility of overseeing their plan of action to turn the famine into an opportunity.

It is often a human reaction during a time of crisis to despair: what do we do?  What’s going to happen?  All is lost!  Joseph’s lesson is, don’t just stand there, do something.  He had no idea whether his plan would work, but it was better than nothing, having a course of action gave them something positive to focus on, rather than focusing of the negativity of the possibility of danger.  This gave Pharaoh hope and confidence.  We can’t always control the outcome of any particular crisis, but we can control our attitude when facing the crisis.  With a positive attitude that motivates us to do something during a crisis, we will feel some hope and we will emerge from that situation stronger people.
Crisis has the potential for danger or opportunity, we can’t control the outcome of the crisis but we can control whether we turn it into an opportunity or not.

I would argue that if you look at any crisis in the history of the world we would find instances when some people gave up hope, but we’d also see other people who find an opportunity in that crisis to grow.

Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor and psychologist, wrote a book about his experience as a prisoner in Auschwitz.  The first part of the book is his story and in the second half he explores the psychological part of his experience.  He says, that in Auschwitz everyone knew when one of their fellow prisoner’s was about to die, it might not happen tomorrow or the day after, but the people who had given up hope had certain look that was obvious to those around them that their end was near.  He said they used to call them the walking dead, because when a person gave up hope in the camps, nine times out of ten they weren’t going to make it much longer.  We can’t judge those who suffered in the camps. Realistically, most of us might’ve given up hope too in similar circumstances.  Frankl says that the question which needs to be asked isn’t, why did they give up hope, that’s obvious; Rather, the interesting psychological question is how did anyone hold on to any hope in the camps.  The answer to that question is his primary thesis, and the answer is basically that people who had something to live for, people who still saw the potential for meaning in life, maintained their will to live.

I can’t think of a crisis more extreme than living as a prisoner in a concentration camp.  Thankfully most of us have never faced a crisis anywhere near something as challenging as that.  But the message that hope can help us in times of danger and distress is a very profound message.  We usually do not have a choice about what will happen to us in life, but we can try to choose how to handle whatever situations life puts us in. Hope is better than despair.

This lesson is the real message of Chanukah as well.  The Jews in the Chanukah story were facing a major crisis. The tiny Jewish people were facing their possible destruction by one of the most dominant military powers in the history of the world, and the forced assimilation into one of the most influential cultures in the history of the world.  What were they to do?  Should they give up hope, believe that there was no way of escaping such power, and just accept their inevitable destruction?  Or should they do something about it?

There was no way of knowing what the outcome would be, but the Maccabees were the heroes of the story because they decided that despite the possibility of destruction they would not give up hope, they would do something, they would try to overthrow their enemies against all odds.  Holidays are celebrated so that the memory of the experience will continue to serve as a lesson.  Chanukah is not just about celebrating our survival, that’s not a unique lesson for a jewish holiday,  Chanukah has its own unique message.  Chanukah is a lesson to us about the power of hope.  Disaster seemed imminent, but the heroes of the Chanukah story influenced the Jewish people to have hope and do something to try to save themselves.  After beating the Assyrian Greek army and kicking them out of the Temple, they only found enough oil for one day, but they used it anyway and miraculously it lasted much longer than they anyone could’ve predicted.  When faced with great darkness, even a little light can go a long way.
May we all be blessed with the strength of faith to give us the hope to turn moments of crisis into moments of opportunity and growth.  Good Shabbos!

Parshat Vayeishev

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:

·         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.