Fortunate is the man who places his trust in Hashem and does not turn towards the haughty.
(Tehillim 40:5)
Fortunate is the man who places his trust in Hashem – This refers to Yosef, and does not turn towards the haughty – for as a result of his asking of the butler, “remember me and mention me,” Hashem added two years to his imprisonment. (Medrash)
This medrash is very hard to understand for in the first part it refers to Yosef as the example of one who places his trust in Hashem however, it immediately continues stating that he was punished for turning towards others for his salvation.
The Beis Halevi explains: To enable us to climb the ladder towards true bitachon the Torah allows us to perform hishtadlus – natural efforts to obtain our needs. This is in order to make it easier for us to trust in Hashem’s ultimate salvation. Therefore, the level of hishtadlus one is permitted to perform is dependent upon his level of bitachon. The higher one’s level of trust in Hashem, the less hishtadlus he is expected to perform. Our medrash teaches us that because Yosef had reached such a high level, becoming the very example of one who places his trust in Hashem, even the hishtadlus of merely saying a few words to one who, it seemed clear, was sent by Hashem to be a conduit of his salvation, was considered, on his level, a lack of trust in Hashem.
Other parts to this series: Inspiration in Bitachon
