This week's Miller's Musings was sponsored:לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם
ד''בס
One can only imagine the shock on the face of the ill-fated
baker. Pharaoh’s ex-butler has just had
his dream interpreted and received the glad tidings that he is soon to be
reinstated in his former position. But
when the pitiable baker requests his turn at an interpretation, the results are
entirely different, being told by Yosef that his end is nigh. Yosef’s predictions transpire to be as
foretold and indeed the butler is restored to former glory and the baker meets
his untimely end. But what was the difference
between the two? Why did Pharaoh pardon
one and sentence to death the other?
Mistakes
are part and parcel of being human and they regrettably often not only impact
ourselves but also those around us. When
this occurs the factor that determines whether those affected forgive us, is
our general attitude at all other times.
If we have shown that we ordinarily give of our best efforts and care deeply
about our task, then we can be excused for our mistakes, based on the
assumption that we will strive to ensure they never reoccur. In the butler’s dream he himself squeezed the
grapes to give wine to Pharoah, signifying his commitment to his work. The
baker’s dream in which his bread was already in the basket and had been
produced without him, reveals his indifference to his post in Pharaoh’s employ
and therefore a likelihood of further errors.
This, says Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, was why one was pardoned and the
other condemned. The butler could be
trusted in future undertakings, the baker could not.
Even when
our acts are full of sincerity and are well-meaning, there are times when we
slip up and stumble. Whether we can be
forgiven by Hashem or not depends on our attitude towards our purpose and
responsibilities. Do we give it all
we’ve got or is a half-hearted attempt at success enough for us? Are errors of judgement a momentary lapse or
something indicative of a deeper rooted lack of significance placed on these
acts in our minds? If it is the former, we are likely to be excused, for we can
be relied upon to try and resolve any issues that led to our failure. But if we show that we don’t truly care about
doing what is right, then why would be absolved, just for this to happen again
due to our apathy! Hashem sees our
interest or disinterest and reacts accordingly, and so do those we are close
to. If we want to be forgiven for the
mistakes we make we must show how much it really means to us. Likewise if we want our children to overlook
our flaws, they must first see how much effort we expend in trying to do it
right the rest of the time. All can be
forgiven, except simply not caring enough.
*May we try
to make this Shabbos the greatest Shabbos it could be*
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