In our reading this week, Yosef (Joseph) refuses the advances of his master’s wife, and is thrown into jail. He was entirely innocent, and she had lied about what transpired. He would have been fully justified to wallow in his own sorrow, dealing with no one. Instead, he remained so confident, pleasant, and energetic that the minister in charge of the prison made Yosef his deputy, placing him in charge of the prisoners. The Torah testifies that “the minister of the prison did not see anything of what was in his own hands” [39:23] because he had full confidence in Yosef. Yosef continued to put in his best effort, and Hashem helped him.
Later, both the minister of drinks and the minister of baking were accused of wrongdoing toward the king. They were thrown into prison, and while there they both had dreams they could not understand. “And Joseph came to them in the morning, and saw them and they were upset. And he asked… ‘why are your faces sad today?'” [40:7]
Rabbi Meilech Beiderman, a well-known influencer in Israel, asks: how did Yosef’s redemption begin? What did he do that enabled him to be brought out of jail? It started with Yosef seeing the sad faces of the ministers, and asking what was wrong. Instead of focusing only on his own problems, he still saw another person who was down, and was immediately concerned and wanted to help. And this is what started the entire process of redemption.
The lesson is obvious; the Torah is telling us that concern for others can have life-changing impact, not only for those whom we help, but for us ourselves. That is a tremendous model for us to follow.
And as I was writing this, I realized something else: the best translation I could think of for how Rav Beiderman is known, a משפיה (Mashpia), is “influencer.” That term has actually been in use for many centuries, but it meant those influential within their families or over trends in society. Today, an “influencer” is someone who develops a large following on social media and then uses their prominence to hawk products.
When religious people in Israel, though, think of an “influencer,” they mean someone like Rav Beiderman, influencing his listeners to always show concern for others. Another well-known Mashpia is Rav Tzvi Meir Silberberg, whom I knew during my own time studying in Israel, when he was still unknown to the larger public. I was able to see myself what a remarkable person he was, “up close and in person.” Today I can say that what he speaks about in front of hundreds of people, and in his books, is how I saw him conduct himself in daily life. What he shows the public is merely who he is deep inside, and that is precisely why people gravitate to him.
How fortunate we are, as a people, that these individuals are our influencers!
