The parashah of this week (Miketz – at the end of) is a direct continuation of last week's. At the end of the parashah Joseph was forgotten by the servant in charge of serving Pharaoh's wine. After interpreting his dream, he asked to be mentioned to Pharaoh so he could be released from prison, but the servant of Arrest He forgot.
Thus begins this parashah (Bereshit 41:1), “At the end of two years and Arrest He had a dream...”. Those two years are the additional time that Joseph spent in prison for having relied on Pharaoh's servant (and not on God) to be released.
The obvious question is: what's wrong with relying on someone else? In fact, we see that Jacob did something similar: when he had to confront his brother Esau, at the risk of being killed along with his family, Jacob first sent him a gift, then called him “my lord” (Genesis 33:13). Why was Joseph punished for having a similar attitude?
The answer is that Joseph's spiritual level was so high that such behavior was inappropriate for him. At Jacob's level, which represents how God governs the world according to established rules, the right thing to do is to make every humanly possible effort to achieve the desired results. If, after that, God performs a miracle for the person, all the better, but from the perspective of the person, from Jacob's perspective, he should have prepared "vessels according to nature" to be able to receive the divine blessing.
On the other hand, Joseph represents a level that transcends nature; he should not have relied on it nor considered that his salvation could come from a servant of Pharaoh.
This also explains why the patriarchs, including Joseph's brothers, were shepherds, as they needed to be detached from worldly affairs to dedicate themselves to study and connection with God. Otherwise, the world would have presented an insurmountable obstacle, and the patriarchs would not have been able to maintain their spiritual level. Joseph, even as viceroy of Egypt, even as the one who decided who could and could not buy grain, involved in worldly affairs, could at the same time be in a very deep state of union with God.
In addition to this, Joseph realizes his full potential precisely in Egypt. Not only is his relationship with God unaffected in Egypt, but it is through exile and suffering that he sees his dreams realized (where his brothers kneel before him). It is precisely in Egypt, the most immoral place on earth at that time, that Joseph has his sons and names one of them Ephraim, because (Genesis 41:52) “God made me fruitful.” (Hifrani)) in the land of my affliction.”.
The lesson for everyone from this part of Joseph's story is that the soul descends into the body and into this world, into this exile, and this descent is not to make it suffer, God forbid, but to give it the opportunity to realize its potential. While God created countless spiritual worlds more refined and elevated than this material world where we live, the primary divine intention is here, in this world devoid of divine revelation, where spiritual darkness is very strong.
Similarly, it was through the exile in Egypt that the Jewish people received the Torah. Likewise, it is through life's difficulties and challenges—both in daily work and interpersonal relationships, as well as in the observance of Torah and mitzvot—that a person grows and develops. Failing to seize an opportunity is like Joseph relying on someone else for help: from his perspective, that was inappropriate. Given the chance to work in exile, a person should understand that only in this way can they reach their true potential and contribute to making this world a dwelling place for God.