Before we discuss the Emuna of Yosef, we must clarify what Emuna is all about. Emuna is usually translated as “faith,” and it is defined as the “belief” in the existence of God. Yosef’s Emuna, and the Emuna of a good Jew, as we will explain in the following lines, goes far beyond that kind of “faith”. Emuna is to remember God, think about Him and make Him present in our lives.
Now let’s talk about Yosef’s Emuna. There is a fundamental difference between Yosef and his ancestors. While HaShem spoke directly with Abraham, Isaac and Ya’aqob, He never spoke “directly” to Yosef. On the other hand we see that HaShem was very close to Yosef. The Tora tells us (Gen. 39:23) that thanks to His Divine intervention Yosef prospered in all his endeavors ואשר הוא עושה ה ‘מצליח.
Now, what did Yosef do to merit having HaShem near him, if God did not speak directly with him?
HaRambam, Maimonides describes a simple but very profound way to ensure that we are always under HaShem’s radar. Maimonides says that HaShem is as close to us as we are to Him. When we think of God and we make Him present, His Presence, כביכול gets “synchronized” with our thoughts of Him.
And this is exactly what happened to Yosef. In all circumstances in which he lived, Yosef had HaShem always in his mind.
Yosef made HaShem present when he was provoked by Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39: 9). As explained by our Hakhamim, Yosef saw a vision of his father, who reminded him that what could potentially happen with Potiphar’s wife, would not be correct in the eyes of HaShem.
In the worst moments of his life, when he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, and with no logical hope of getting out, Yosef did not forsake HaShem. Many people probably would had not persisted in their Emuna in a similar situation. Why? Because when someone is really bad, especially when one is the victim of an injustice, one might think that HaShem abandoned him, or that God does not exist, ח”ו. But Yosef persevered. He had HaShem present in those moments and he did not stop thinking about HaShem and mentioning him (40: 8).
When Yosef sees that his time of glory was coming, when he effectively interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, he also mentioned HaShem (Gen. 41:32). Any other person would have probably boasted of possessing a great wisdom and superpowers. But Yosef did not. He attributed to HaShem the dream’s interpretation.
And when Yosef finally got to the highest position, he also continued to think about God. HaShem was present in his mind and in his words when he forgave his brothers (50: 19,20). This is probably the most important achievement of a person of faith, remembering HaShem when one is rich and healthy. Many people fail in the challenge of wealth and welfare. They forget HaShem in those circumstances because they feel that now, they do not need God anymore in their lives, ח”ו. Our Hakhamim warned us about this phenomenon when they told us that “the challenge of wealth (remembering HaShem when one is rich) is more difficult than the challenge of poverty גדול נסיון העושר מנסיון העוני.
Now we can better understand why the Tora says that God was with Yosef. HaShem was with Yosef because Yosef had HaShem in his mind at all times. We also learn from Yosef that if we ever feel that Hashem is far from us, it is surely because we have moved away from Him.
