In מ:כ״ג, it is written- "ולא זכר שר-המשקים את יוסף וישכחהו״"
meaning, "but the chamberlain of the cupbearers did not remember Yosef, and he forgot him".
In the book לימודי יומי, it says, many commentators ask, was it so bad that Yosef, who had been in jail for Ten years, ask someone else for help? Why was this not considered hishtadlut- effort?
One approach to resolve this question is: Yosef was actually allowed to ask for help, however it was the way he did it that was wrong. He asked Twice, first saying "if only you would remember me" and then again, "and mention me to pharaoh". The first time was considered hishtadlut, but the second was not.
Another approach is: Yosef was wrong because he should have realized that the chamberlain being freed was such a miracle, that it must have been part of a plan to free Yosef himself. Had he already realized this, he would have seen Hashem had a plan, and would not have needed to ask for help.
The Chasam Sofer says that the mistake that Yosef made was not putting his faith in G-d. He says that righteous people only need to put in a small amount of effort and then G-d will help them from there. All Yosef needed to do was put in a little effort (since he was a righteous person), which he did when he interpreted the dreams, so G-d was ready to help him. Yosef’s mistake was that he should not have asked sar hamashkim for help. One reason is that he may not have been fit for the job and the other is that he could potentially take credit for freeing Yosef. Ultimately Yosef should have put all his faith in G-d because in the end that was all he needed in order to be free.
ReplyDeleteRashi believes that asking the sar hamashkim was a sin because he should have trusted hashem. However at the same time hashem wants us to do everything in our power to help ourselves. Who is yosef to know if the sar hamashkim was a sign/ savior sent from god?! Although god wants us to help ourselves however we can, we still must recognize that we alone are not in control of our lives. Yosef devised a plan and thought that he was individualy in control of the outcome. That was where he went wrong.
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