Jewish Pride

There is a detail mentioned incidentally in the story of the dreams of the baker and butler. Yosef tells the butler to put in a good word for him when he is reinstated.

He tells the butler, כי גנב גנבתי מארץ העברים, “Because I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews.” He is not embarrassed by his being a Hebrew, a proud Jew.

Compare this with the story of Moshe Rabbeinu saving Yitro’s daughters. They tell their father that an איש מצרי, an Egyptian man, saved us. There is an opinion that Moshe should have spoken up and proudly tell them, that he was a Hebrew, a proud Jew.

There is a Midrash that says that this was the actual reason why Yosef merited having his remains buried in Eretz Yisrael, in the city of Shechem. Moshe, on the other hand, did not have this merit and was buried outside of Israel.

It is always important to look for even the subtle details of the Torah. The lesson here is that we should be proud Jews. We must never be ashamed to declare that we are part of עם ישראל. In the end, we gain far greater respect in the eyes of the nations, when we are not afraid to declare who we are.