12 Dec MIKEITZ: HASHEM DOES

Yosef told Pharoah
(41:25) “What
Hashem is doing, He has told Pharaoh.”
Reb Moshe Minder zt’l (Toras Avos)
explains that Yosef told Pharaoh that
everything that occurs in the world,
Hashem does it.
Pharaoh replied (41:39) “There is no one
as understanding and wise as you.”
Pharaoh admitted that no one is as wise
as Yosef because Yosef understands that
everything is from Hashem.
Even Pharoah’s thoughts are in Hashem’s
hands. We will prove it:
The Torah tells us that Pharaoh changed
Yosef’s name to Tzafnas Paneiach. The
Chasam Sofer (Toras Moshe) zt’l asks,
why is it important to know the name
that Pharaoh called Yosef, and why is it
written in the Torah?
The Chasam Sofer explains that if
Pharaoh hadn’t changed Yosef’s name,
everyone in Mitzrayim would call him

Yosef, and the brothers would be afraid
to come before him.
The Chofetz Chaim zt’l also teaches this
lesson and explains that if the brothers
didn’t come to Yosef, Hashem’s plan (by
the Bris Bein Habesarim) that Bnei
Yisrael would go down to Mitzrayim
wouldn’t have
occurred. So,
Hakadosh Baruch
Hu put in
Pharaoh’s mind to
change Yosef’s
name so that the
Yidden would
come to
Mitzrayim.
So, we see that
even the thoughts in Pharaoh’s mind are
from Hashem.
A poritz once told his Jewish employee,
“You are fortunate that I support you
because what would you do without me?
Your entire parnassah comes from me.”
The Yid replied, “You don’t support me;
Hashem does.”

This response enraged the poritz.
Angrily, he said, “You’re fired. You no
longer work for me. Now let’s see if
Hashem supports you.”
Sometime later, the poritz sat in his
room, counting gold coins. He bit each
coin to make sure it was real. His pet
monkey, who
was always with
him, watched the
poritz do this,
and the monkey
copied what the
poritz did. Only
the monkey
didn’t realize
that the poritz
was just biting
the coins. He
thought he was eating them, so the
monkey did the same. He swallowed
many coins and died.
The poritz, who didn’t know why it died,
told his servant, “Throw the corpse into
the house of the Yid who doesn’t believe
that I support him.”
He did this to humiliate the Yid. The
monkey fell with a crash, its stomach
opened, and the many coins rolled
out.
On the night of the seder, the poritz
came to the Yid’s home, assuming it
would be dark and cold, without any
food. To his surprise, he encountered
a well-lit home with plenty of food.
He was forced to admit that Hashem
provides parnassah and nobody else.
This story is customarily repeated
before Pesach on Shabbos
Mevorchim Nisan. We tell it now
because it portrays people’s desire
that others should think they help and
support them, not realizing that
everything is from Hashem.
This is found in this week’s parashah
when Pharaoh appointed Yosef king
over Mitzrayim. He told Yosef
(41:41) “See that I have appointed
you over the entire land of
Mitzrayim.”
He wanted Yosef to think that he
appointed him to this high rank and
that all of Yosef’s honors came from
Pharaoh. But Yosef told his brothers
(45:8) “And now, you did not send
me here, but Hashem and He made

me a father to
Pharaoh, a lord over
his household, and a
ruler over the entire
land of Mitzrayim.”
Yosef recognized
that his honor came
from Hashem and not from Pharaoh.
Yosef, the ruler of Mitzrayim, told his
brothers that if they bring Binyamin
(42:34), V’es Haeretz Sischaru, “You
may travel around the land,” they may
roam the land of Mitzrayim as free
people. Rashi explains that the root of
the word Sischaru is to “go around.”
Rashi explains that businesspeople are
called Socharim because “They go
around looking for merchandise.”
It is noteworthy that businesspeople are
named for their looking for merchandise
and not for their primary profession,
which is to buy and sell.
The explanation is that parnassah comes
from Hashem. Their hishtadlus is to go
around, from here to there, and Hashem
sends them their parnassah.
This week’s parashah states (41:14)
“They rushed [Yosef] from the dungeon.”
The Rebbe of Ostrova zt’l (Toldos Adam,
Chanukah, 7th night) writes:
“Let’s think about this: Yosef was in
prison for so long. He didn’t see sunshine
for years. There were no breaks and off
days. After twelve years, there’s finally
hope. He could speak to Pharoah and
plead for his case! Why would they need
to rush Yosef out of the dungeon? We
would assume that Yosef would run with
all his strength to speak to Pharaoh and
plead for his life. But it states that
Pharaoh’s messengers rushed Yosef out
of prison. This is because Yosef
HaTzaddik believed and understood that
everything is from Hashem, including
his freedom. It won’t happen a moment
earlier or later than was planned Above.
So, why rush for no reason?”
Yosef’s high level of bitachon is evident
in this story. For example, when Yosef
deciphered Pharaoh’s dream, he didn’t
mention his plight to Pharaoh at all! He
didn’t tell Pharaoh that he was enslaved
for no reason, and so on. This is because
he knew that it was Hashem that would
save him, and not Pharaoh.