Unquestionably, Yosef’s home life was difficult. Being reviled and shunned by his brothers, regardless of its appropriateness or misguided nature, did not provide the setting for a happy home life. He had every reason to want to forget the hardships that he had endured in his father’s home. Yet, he did not remonstrate over it, because he understood that it had been Hashem’s will, as part of a larger Divine Plan. He bore his brothers no ill will and carried no grudge. As the Baal Akeidah explains, he thanked Hashem for enlightening him concerning his difficult past. Now, it all…

Yosef was only supposed to be in prison for ten years, because he had spoken lashon hora, slander, against his ten brothers. Why did he stay for two more years? Chazal explain that his reliance on the sar ha’mashkin, chamberlain, bespoke a failing in his level of bitachon, trust in Hashem. An individual of Yosef’s spiritual level knows better than to rely on people. It is all up to Hashem – or nothing. Only the Almighty has the power to save. Indeed, whatever a man catalyzes requires Hashem’s complete assistance. In his sefer Yado Bakol, Horav Eliyahu m’Izmir, raises a…