Yosef HaTzaddik sits in the dreadful pit in the prison. He has already been there for ten years, and for even one moment he does not stop believing in Hashem Yisbarach. He is certain that at any moment his salvation can come. And when an opportunity presents itself, his fellow inmate is going to become a minister in the government of Pharaoh, then he also makes his hishtadlus. He asks the chief cupbearer (40:14), ‘כי אם זכרתני... והזכרתני’ - “For if you remember me... and you will mention me.” But with HaKadosh Baruch Hu this action does not find favor, and it is decreed upon him to remain in the pit for another two years, and at their end the salvation arrived in a surprising manner (41:14), ‘ויריצוהו מן הבור’ - “and they hurried him from the pit,” without any hishtadlus on the part of Yosef.
And now to matters of the day, ’יוונים נקבצו עלי אזי בימי חשמנים‘ - “Greeks gathered against me then, in the days of the Chashmonaim.” (Maoz Tzur) The wicked Greeks wanted to destroy the people of Israel by uprooting the religion, and to the great pain of the heart there were many of the people of Israel who followed them and became “Hellenizers.” But there were also many who did not agree to go in their evil path and gave over their lives, and certainly there were also those who prayed to HaKadosh Baruch Hu that He should save them. But the salvation still did not come. And if we think that this was a short period, that is not so. Rather, it was several decades that the Greeks ruled in the Land of Israel, persecuted us and harassed us in every possible way, killed without mercy anyone who dared to oppose them and did not obey their decrees. And nevertheless, the salvation did not come, until the sons of the Chashmonaim arose and did an illogical act. But that was their hishtadlus. They went out to fight the Greek army, which was the strongest and largest in the world, and then HaKadosh Baruch Hu performed a miracle for them and delivered them into their hands.
Seemingly there are here two contradictory messages. Yosef HaTzaddik is punished for making a logical hishtadlus, whereas with the Chashmonaim the salvation does not arrive until they make a hishtadlus that is not logical. The answer to the question is a great foundation in faith. In matters that pertain to physicality we must believe that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will send what is needed at the time and at the correct moment. But when it comes to spirituality, and particularly to the fundamentals of Judaism, one does not wait. Rather, one does everything that one can, even if it is “certain not to help.” The general principle is: in matters of physicality it is possible to rely on faith, but in spirituality one must act with everything that is possible.
- Tiv HaMoadim – Chanukah, Tiv HaTorah - Mikeitz
