You have to wonder what Yosef (Joseph) was thinking when he was thrown in jail at the end of last week’s Parsha (Torah portion). At 17, he is kidnapped and sold by his brothers. He winds up in a foreign land and successfully works to earn his master’s trust. He is falsely accused of sexual abuse and is thrown in Jail. He works to gain his jailer’s trust and succeeds again. He correctly interprets the butler’s and baker’s dreams. He asks the butler to remember him to Pharaoh so his wrongful imprisonment can end and nothing happens.
If I were in Yosef’s shoes, I might despair and perhaps even think that Gd hates me. After all, what else can go wrong for him?
When we pick up the story two years later, Pharaoh has a dream and Yosef is called in to interpret the dream. Pharaoh is desperate for answers. As the verse tells us (Gen. 41:8):
וַיְהִי בַבֹּקֶר וַתִּפָּעֶם רוּחוֹ וַיִּשְׁלַח וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־כׇּל־חַרְטֻמֵּי מִצְרַיִם וְאֶת־כׇּל־חֲכָמֶיהָ וַיְסַפֵּר פַּרְעֹה לָהֶם אֶת־חֲלֹמוֹ וְאֵין־פּוֹתֵר אוֹתָם לְפַרְעֹה׃
Next morning, his spirit was agitated, and he sent for all the magician-priests of Egypt, and all its sages; and Pharaoh told them his dreams, but none could interpret them for Pharaoh.
Pharaoh instinctively knew that there was meaning to this dream. He even had an idea of what the dream might mean because he rejected all the attempted interpretations his advisors gave him. For example, Rashi says (Rashi on Gen 41:8):
ואין פותר אותם לפרעה. פּוֹתְרִים הָיוּ אוֹתָם, אֲבָל לֹא לְפַרְעֹה, שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה קוֹלָן נִכְנָס בְּאָזְנָיו, וְלֹא הָיָה לוֹ קוֹרַת רוּחַ בְּפִתְרוֹנָם, שֶׁהָיוּ אוֹמְרִים שֶׁבַע בָּנוֹת אַתָּה מוֹלִיד וְשֶׁבַע בָּנוֹת אַתָּה קוֹבֵר (בראשית רבה):
ואין פותר אותם לפרעה AND THERE WAS NONE THAT COULD INTERPRET IT TO PHARAOH — There were, indeed, some who interpreted it, but not in reference to Pharaoh (לפרעה) (i.e., their interpretations had no reference to him as a Pharaoh, as a king), so that their words found no acceptance by him and he was not satisfied with their interpretation. They said: “You will beget seven daughters and you will bury seven daughters” (Genesis Rabbah 89:6).
The Butler finally remembers Yosef, the young man who correctly interpreted his dream, and suggests he appear before Pharaoh and attempt to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. When Pharaoh receives Yosef, he greets him (Gen. 41:15):
וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל־יוֹסֵף חֲלוֹם חָלַמְתִּי וּפֹתֵר אֵין אֹתוֹ וַאֲנִי שָׁמַעְתִּי עָלֶיךָ לֵאמֹר תִּשְׁמַע חֲלוֹם לִפְתֹּר אֹתוֹ׃
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it. Now I have heard it said of you that for you to hear a dream is to tell its meaning.”
Yosef responds (Gen. 41:16)
וַיַּעַן יוֹסֵף אֶת־פַּרְעֹה לֵאמֹר בִּלְעָדָי אֱ-לֹהִים יַעֲנֶה אֶת־שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה׃
Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “Not I! God will see to Pharaoh’s welfare.”
Despite what he has gone through, Yosef does not even think about taking credit for being able to properly interpret dreams, he credits Gd showing his great faith in the Creator.
Why do we need to know these details? An obvious reason is the lesson of faith that we get from Yosef but I think there is something even more important to learn from the entire story of Yosef and his brothers.
One of the main arguments used to deny the existence of Gd is that evil still exists. If Gd exists, the argument goes, there would be no evil.
There is an interesting statement in the Talmud (Pesachim 51a):
אָמַר רַבִּי אַחָא בַּר חֲנִינָא: לֹא כָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, עַל בְּשׂוֹרוֹת טוֹבוֹת אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרוּךְ הַטּוֹב וְהַמֵּטִיב״, וְעַל בְּשׂוֹרוֹת רָעוֹת אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרוּךְ דַּיַּין הָאֱמֶת״. לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, כּוּלּוֹ ״הַטּוֹב וְהַמֵּטִיב״.
Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina said: The World-to-Come is not like this world. In this world, upon good tidings one recites: Blessed…Who is good and does good, and over bad tidings one recites: Blessed…the true Judge. In the World-to-Come one will always recite: Blessed…Who is good and does good. There will be only one mode of blessing God for tidings.
The obvious question is: Why is there only one blessing in the World-to-Come? I heard an interesting interpretation of this fantastic statement. The Talmud in Berakhot (60b) states:
אָמַר רַב הוּנָא אָמַר רַב מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי מֵאִיר, וְכֵן תָּנָא מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא: לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם רָגִיל לוֹמַר: ״כׇּל דְּעָבֵיד רַחֲמָנָא לְטָב עָבֵיד״.
Rav Huna said that Rav said that Rabbi Meir said; and so it was taught in a baraita in the name of Rabbi Akiva: One must always accustom oneself to say: Everything that God does, He does for the best.
By definition, Hashem is good and all that He does is good. The problem is that His timeline is not the same as ours. We think in terms of days, months, years, and decades. For Hashem, however, (Psalms 90:4)
כִּי אֶלֶף שָׁנִים בְּעֵינֶיךָ כְּיוֹם אֶתְמוֹל כִּי יַעֲבֹר וְאַשְׁמוּרָה בַלָּיְלָה׃
For in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that has passed, like a watch of the night.
I have already discussed in prior articles that the hand of Gd can be seen in world events over time. Looking back, we can look at events that were seen in a particular light when they happened only to learn that they were very different given the benefits of hindsight and perspective.
That is the key difference between this world and the World-to-Come is perspective. The World-to-Come’s perspective is much longer and larger than ours is. Therefore we, who have a very limited time frame perspective, have two blessings: One for good and one for bad. In the World-to-Come, however, their larger perspective allows them to see how what Hashem does is always good. There is no bad, therefore they have only one blessing.
This is a reason for us to see this story. Yosef had every reason to be bitter over the “bad” events in his life. However, he had faith and trusted that what happened in his life would penultimately turn out to be good.
We spend a great deal of our time complaining over the bumps and bruises life gives us. The truth is that we are the sum of our experiences and our failures often accrue more to our benefit than our successes. What we might see, in the moment, as bad can turn out to be good in the long run. We need to always maintain a positive outlook fueled by our faith that Hashem only does good.
Parenthetically, maintaining a positive outlook is good for the believer and good for those people around them. I think we can all agree that working and interacting with people who maintain a positive outlook is better than someone who does not. Perhaps that is the purpose behind Shammai’s statement (Pirkei Avot 1:15):
שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר, … וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת:
Shammai used to say: … and receive all men with a pleasant countenance.
RaMBaM (Maimonies) explains this statement as meaning (RaMBaM on Pirkei Avot 1:15):
סבר פנים יפות. הוא שישא ויתן עם הבריות בנחת ובדברים ערבים ורצוים
“a pleasant countenance”: That is when he interacts with the creatures calmly and with pleasant and welcome words.
How much better would the world be if we could do this? Well, as the story of Yosef and his brothers shows us, the “bad” things that happened to Yosef would up saving an entire civilization. As Yosef says in Parshat Vayechi (Gen. 50:20):
וְאַתֶּם חֲשַׁבְתֶּם עָלַי רָעָה אֱ-לֹהִים חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה לְמַעַן עֲשֹׂה כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה לְהַחֲיֹת עַם־רָב׃
Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.
Be positive despite the bumps along the road. Nothing happens by accident and all, ultimately, is for the good.