Remember the story? Joseph, wrongly imprisoned, interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's chief butler. He asks the butler, once restored to his position, to remember him and mention him to Pharaoh. But, as Genesis 40:23 tells us: "And the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." Ouch.
But what's really going on here? Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives deep into this verse, and it's far from a simple oversight.
The Midrash paints a fascinating picture. The butler wasn't just forgetful; he was actively prevented from remembering! Each day, he'd set up reminders, conditions that would trigger his memory of Joseph. But, the Bereshit Rabbah tells us, an angel intervened, reversing those conditions every single time. He'd tie knots in his garments as a reminder, and the angel would untie them. Talk about divine intervention!
So why the cosmic interference? Why couldn't the butler just do what he promised? The answer, according to the Midrash, is profound. God didn't want Joseph's salvation to depend on the whims of a royal servant. As the text puts it, "You forget him, but I will not forget him."
This leads to a beautiful, sweeping reflection on God's unwavering presence in times of seeming abandonment. The Midrash launches into a series of rhetorical questions that echo through Jewish history. Who expected Abraham and Sarah, in their old age, to have a child? Who expected Jacob, crossing the Jordan with only his staff, to become wealthy? Who expected Joseph, after all his trials, to become a king?
The list goes on. Moses, cast into the Nile. Ruth, the Moabite proselyte, becoming the ancestor of kings. David, the shepherd boy, ascending the throne. Yehoyakhin, freed from prison. Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, emerging unscathed from the fiery furnace. And on and on, a litany of seemingly impossible transformations, each a testament to God's power to uplift and redeem.
It's a powerful reminder that even when human help fails, when we feel utterly forgotten, divine providence is still at work. As the Midrash continues, who expected deliverance in the days of Haman? Who expects the exiles to return in glory? Who expects the fallen booth of David to be raised again, a reference to the messianic age from Amos 9:11?
The passage culminates with a vision of ultimate unity and redemption. "Who expects that the whole world will become one group," the text asks, echoing the messianic hope of a world united in service to God, as Zephaniah 3:9 describes: "For then I will convert all the peoples to a pure language, for all of them to call in the name of the Lord, to serve Him with a common effort."
It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day disappointments, the moments when we feel overlooked and abandoned. But the story of Joseph, as interpreted by Bereshit Rabbah, offers a powerful counter-narrative. It reminds us that even in our darkest moments, even when we're completely forgotten by those around us, we are held, remembered, and ultimately redeemed by a force far greater than ourselves. So, the next time you feel forgotten, remember Joseph, remember the butler's knots, and remember that you are not alone.