Do Not Rely on Miracles

This week we read פרשת מקץ that describes Yosef’s rise to power in Egypt. We are told at the beginning of the Parsha, that it took two years until Pharoah had his dream and needed Yosef’s help.

The commentators tell us that this was a punishment to Yosef for relying on the butler and not relying on Hashem. The question asked was what he actually did wrong. Aren’t we taught that we are not supposed to rely on miracles?

The answer is that there is a delicate balance involved when we do our השתדלות by taking some kind of action, and at the same time rely on Hashem.

The Baal Shem Tov once needed a place to stay for Shabbat. He knocked on the door of a Jew, and then ran away! The השתדלות was knocking on the door. The salvation was to come from Hashem.

Rabbi Twerski explained that what was learned from the Baal Shem Tov is that we must do our part, but it does not mean that the salvation needs to come from that action.

Yosef’s mistake was that he relied to heavily on the butler. Telling the butler that he was a Hebrew and he was innocent, was the השתדלות needed on his part. From that point on, he needed to take a step back and leave it to Hashem to make things happen. If the salvation would come from the butler, that would be fine. But he also needed to remember that Hashem could bring that salvation, any way that He saw fit. It could have come from somewhere else, just as easily that it could have come from the butler. This is the faith Yosef needed to have. This is the faith we need to have as well.