The Torah relates that Yosef, after being sold as a slave to an Egyptian officer, was alone, away from his family. There he was challenged by the constant entreaties of his master’s wife.
Yosef, who is known as the righteous one, regularly fended off her advances. However, one day when no one else was in the house, she grabbed Yosef and solicited cohabitation with him. Yosef was reminded of his righteous father Yaacov and it infused him with the courage to flee.
His master’s wife turned matters around and claimed that Yosef had tried to seduce her. An investigation began, and it was determined that Yosef was innocent, and therefore they did not kill him for the alleged offence. However, in order to save face for the officer’s wife, Yosef was incarcerated in a pit for twelve years.
The warden recognized Yosef’s talents and righteousness and entrusted him with running the jail.
During the ninth year of Yosef’s imprisonment, the Torah relates that the winemaker and bread maker of the Pharoh were jailed. The winemaker, because a fly was found in the Pharoh’s goblet, and the bread maker because a pebble was found in the Pharoh’s bread.
About a year into their sentence, both the winemaker and baker had dreams that were disturbing to them. In the morning Yosef noticed that they were depressed, and asked them what was on their minds.
As a side, who wouldn’t be in a depressed mood living in a dungeon? It must be that Yosef, who was in charge, with his talents and personality, was able to keep the inmates in an upbeat mood.
They both told Yosef that they had dreams, and Yosef asked them to relate them to him.
The winemaker began, “In my dream I saw three clusters of grapes, and I pressed the grapes into the Pharoh’s goblet and handed it to the Pharoh.” Yosef interpreted the dream – In three days the Pharoh will restore you to your former position.
Our Sages tell us that within the dreams of both the winemaker and baker, there was an interpretation of the other’s dream. So, when the baker saw that Yosef interpreted the winemaker’s dream correctly, he decided to tell Yosef his dream. There were three wicker baskets on my head and the top basket was filled with the Pharoh’s breads and birds were eating them.
Yosef explained, in three days, Pharoh will lift your head from you and hang you on a tree and birds will eat your flesh.
Indeed, in three days, the winemaker was reinstalled to his position and the baker was hanged, as Yosef had interpreted.
Yosef did his due diligence to be released by asking the winemaker to put in a good word to the Pharoh on his behalf for clemency. Yosef’s request did not produce results. Commentators explain, although we are encouraged to do our best to advocate for ourselves, Yosef shouldn’t have put his trust in the winemaker remembering him. As we see, the Torah tells us that the winemaker duly forgot about Yosef’s request. Why didn’t the winemaker remember Yosef? Because this is the nature of the Egyptians – they are an ungrateful people. As we see that after Yosef was appointed viceroy and saved Egypt from collapse, when a new Pharoh ruled, “he totally forgot all the Yosef did for them,” and they all went on to enslave Yosef’s family, the Jewish people.
What did Yosef see in the baker’s dream that showed him that the baker was doomed?
Dubner Magid, who is famous for using illustrations to explain ideas, tells us of a sculptor who fashioned a person bearing a basket of bread on his head.
Two people were viewing the sculptor, and to their amazement, they watched how a bird came to peck on the bread.
Wow! exclaimed one of the viewers – look how real the breads look, even a bird thought it was real.
The other viewer saw it differently. Yes, the bread may look real. However, the bird wouldn’t go near the bread if he thought the person bearing it was alive.
Thus, Yosef understood from the baker’s dream that if a bird was eating from the bread on his head, he was considered a dead man.
Rabbi Meir Simcha of D’vinsk o.b.m. cites a Medrash that states that G-d orchestrated for Pharoh to get mad at his servants, the winemaker and baker, in order that Yosef’s ability to interpret dreams become known and thus he would rise to become the viceroy.
The question he asks is why was it necessary for the baker to be in the story? All Yosef had to do was interpret the dream of the winemaker who eventually, two years later, when the Pharoh had dreams, told him about Yosef’s abilities.
Reb Meir Simcha explains that the baker was necessary to recognize Yosef’s ability to interpret dreams.
Had Yosef only told the winemaker that he would live and be reinstalled to his position and then the winemaker would have been killed nothing would have happened to Yosef because the winemaker would not be able to take revenge on Yosef for falsely interpreting his dream.
However, interpreting the bakers dream would have consequences for Yosef, for had his interpretation not been correct and the baker was reinstated, he would have taken revenge on Yosef falsely instilling the fear of death in him. Thus, through the baker’s dream the winemaker saw that Yosef carried with him the spirit of G-d.
Yosef was an amazing person. Although he lived with feelings of being betrayed by his brothers who sold him, and living in the dismal situation of being jailed, the Torah tells us he always had G-d’s name on his lips. He was always upbeat and gave his all to everything he did. And the Torah attests, “Hashem gave him Hatzlacha – success in everything he did!
