It states in this week's parashah (40:23), ולא וישכחהו יוסף את המשקים שר זכר, "The sar hamashkim didn’t remember Yosef and he forgot him." The pasuk seems to be saying the same thing twice because זכר ולא, "he didn’t remember Yosef," and וישכחהו "he forgot him," share the same meaning!
The Chidushei HaRim zt’l explains the repetition to mean that they forgot one another. יוסף את המשקים שר זכר ולא, the sar hamashkim forgot Yosef, וישכחהו and Yosef forgot the sar hamashkim.
We aren't surprised that the sar hamashkim forgot Yosef. But we should be impressed that Yosef forgot the sar hamashkim. Yosef's forgetting the sar hamashkim demonstrates a very high madreigah of bitachon. Yosef was in prison for ten years, and this was perhaps his first ray of hope to be released. Most people in Yosef's place would be thinking about the sar hamashkim all the time, wondering whether he spoke to Pharaoh on their behalf. But after Yosef did his hishtadlus, he didn't think about the sar hamashkim anymore. Yosef knew that ultimately it was solely Hashem who could save him, so he forgot about the sar hamashkim.
The Rebbe of Radzimin zt'l, (Bikurei Aviv) asks, "Why did the brothers need to show Yaakov the blood-stained coat? (see 38:31-34). When Yaakov would see that Yosef wasn't coming home, he would assume, on his own, that Yosef was killed! The answer is that had Yaakov not been shown the blood-stained coat, Yaakov would have had bitachon that Yosef was still alive, and Yaakov would have had bitachon that Yosef would return home. Yaakov’s perfect bitachon would have drawn Hashem's assistance. The Mitzrim would have surely sent Yosef home. And then, Yosef would reveal to their father that his brothers sold him, and Yaakov would be angry with them. Therefore, they slaughtered a goat, dipped Yosef's coat in its blood, and sent it to their father." They were protecting themselves from what would occur if Yaakov had bitachon.
We see from this vort the power of bitachon. The story of Chanukah also teaches us the power of bitachon because the Chashmonaim won the war against the Yevanim since they trusted in Hashem. The Chashmonaim were kohanim, and כהן is gematriya בטחון.
Many people say עליון בסתר יושב (Tehillim 91) after lighting Chanukah lecht, which talks about bitachon. מחסי 'ה אתה כי, "You Hashem are my shield. לילה מפחד תירא לא, therefore I am not afraid.” The Abuderham writes that we don’t find the letter 'ז in this kappitel because when one trusts in Hashem, he doesn’t need זיין כלי, weapons.
The Midrash Chanukah (quoted by the Rokeiach) relates that Gaskalgus (others say it was Bagris) was the general of Yavan, and he led an enormous army. They arrived in Eretz Yisrael and found twelve Chashmonaim preparing to fight the battle with them. The general scoffed at them, "Fools! You want to battle with my enormous army!?"
The Chashmonaim prayed to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and Hashem seized seventy malachim in heaven, hit the malachim with a fiery whip, and warned them to protect the Jewish nation. When a Greek soldier shot an arrow at the Jewish people, a malach would intercept the arrow and shoot it back at the soldier who shot it, straight in his heart. The Chashmonaim saw these miracles and said, 'ה לנו ילחם, "Hashem is fighting this battle for us!"
When one of the kings of Yavan was killed, the malachim took all his money and threw it into Jewish homes. (The Yidden couldn’t take the money themselves because of all the corpses...)
Eliforni gathered an army of 120,000 mighty warriors, 22,000 archers, and camels carrying endless food supplies. In the past, Eliforni had conquered many large, powerful countries. The Yidden heard that he was approaching, and they became terrified. They shouted and prayed to Hashem, together with their wives and children, and they did teshuvah while fasting. The kohanim wore sackcloth, and even the mizbeiach was dressed in sackcloth.... They shouted to Hashem, and they fell on their faces.
Then the Yidden ran after their enemies and killed many of them." With their tefillos and with their bitachon, they won wars against their enemies again and again.
