To make up all the times I said a short Shabbos Dvar Torah, here is a really long one
I will say my Dvar Torah from my Parshas Vayeshev, in the Sefer Breishis, Perek: Mem, Passuk Chuf-Gimmel .
What’s going on? Well, the bread baker and the wine maker served Paraoh. The bread, in which the bread baker made, contained a pebble. Paraoh saw the pebble and then sent the bread baker into the dungeon, or jail. Later on the wine maker sent Paraoh wine to drink. A fly flew in the wine cup, and the fly died inside the wine cup. The king sent the wine maker off to the dungeon as well. Now, there were three people in the dungeon - they were the bread baker, the wine maker, and Yosef. Yosef was there unjustly, because Potifar, his boss, and Potifar’s wife, made a false accusation against him.
One morning the wine maker and the bread baker looked upset and so Yosef asked them what happened. They both said that they had weird dreams which bothered them. Yosef first asked the wine maker about his dream. And the wine maker told Yosef what he dreamt. He saw in his dream three cups of wine, and he didn’t understand what it meant. Yosef said that the three cups of wine stand for three days. That is when Paraoh will take you out of jail, and return you to your old position as a wine maker, and you will serve him once again. The bread baker saw that Yosef interpreted the wine maker’s dream, so he told Yosef about his strange dream, where he saw three baskets, but he did not understand what it meant. Yosef said that the three baskets in your dream are also referring to three days. That is when Paraoh will take you out of the dungeon also. He will hang you from your head on a tree and birds will eat your flesh. The difference between the two is, that it wasn’t the wine maker’s fault that the fly flew inside the wine cup, but somehow, the bread baker should check and know if there is a pebble in the dough when he baked the bread. That is why the wine maker was freed, and the bread baker was hunged.
It says in the Sefer Breishis, Perek: Mem, Passuk Chuf-Gimmel: that the wine maker did not remember Yosef, when he was freed, but instead he forgot him.
The question which arises is, how could the wine maker forget Yosef so quickly? The answer to this question is, that since Yosef told the wine maker to remember him, and to mention his name to Paraoh, he was punished. Why was he punished? Yosef should have more Emunah and faith in Hashem, and he should not have relied on the wine maker or any of his favors. So another question which arises is, why didn’t Yosef have the Emunah and faith in Hashem that Hashem would take him out of the dungeon? Some Rabbis say, that he didn’t want to rely on a miracle to save him. So then another question arises, why did Hashem punish Yosef and make him stay an extra two years in prison? The answer given is that even though Yosef felt that he should not rely on a miracle only, he was wrong. He should have realized that Hashem was watching and helping him on a very personal, unusual, and direct level from the time his brothers threw him in the pit, even until now. He had been saved so many times by Hashem, he did not need the wine maker now.Here are some examples that show that Hashem was always with him in a very special way. When Yosef’s brothers threw him in a pit with snakes and scorpions, all these animals went away from him, instead of killing him. Another example is when Yosef was sold to the Arab spice merchants, the wagon in which he had to travel with them smelled nicely, instead of the usual foul smell of Arab merchandise. Another example is when Yosef was sold to Potiphar in Egypt, Yosef was placed in a high position instead of a low position job. There are even more examples that Hashem was watching Yosef. When Yosef was sent to jail, he was not with the hardened criminals, but he was with the political prisoners, such as the bread bakers and wine makers, who committed smaller and not such dangerous crimes. Therefore, he should have realized that Hashem was with him all along, with a high and special protection of Hashkacha Protis. Yosef should not have asked the wine steward to remember him and ask Paraoh to save him. We, however, can not judge Yosef, because sometimes there is a very fine line between doing actions and having faith, and sometimes it is really difficult to decide what to do. It is also just as difficult to understand how much action one should take and how much faith one should have, and what is the proper balance between the two. Hopefully, we will never be put to such a test.
Shabbat Shalom! Have a Good Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom! Have a Good Shabbos!
