Because That If….?
Whilst imprisoned, Yosef sayid the following to the butler:” כִּי אִם זְכַרְתַּנִי אִתְּךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר יִיטַב לָךְ וְעָשִׂיתָ נָּא עִמָּדִי חָסֶד וְהִזְכַּרְתַּנִי אֶל פַּרְעֹה וְהוֹצֵאתַנִי מִן הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה – Remember me when things go well with you, and please do me a favor and mention me to Pharaoh, and you will get me out of this house.” (40:14).
The words כִּי אִם do not really belong here, as the translation above clearly shows – they do not add or change any meaning in the Pasuk. כִּי אִם translates loosely as “because that”. Certainly this translation is not helpful in understanding the Pasuk What is it then there for? As we have seen many times, it must be because we have not understood the context clearly enough.
There is a story told by the Brisker Rav in the name of his father R’ Chaim Brisker about the Rav of Kovno. The story occurred at the time that Napoleon’s armies were marching through Eastern Europe.The lords and gentry wanted to please Napoleon as his armies passed through their lands, and they wanted to honour him by making a lavish evening whereupon they would bestow gifts and treasures to him. The province’s leaders each took their turn to present him and his delegation with their offerings, and after a while, he noticed none of the Jewish community were represented. He was relatively good to the Jews, and was involved in their emancipation, and questioned why there were no Jewish leaders at the gathering. The pronvince’s leaders shuffled around uncomfortably, and explained that they did not feel the Jews to be members of society worthy of honouring Napoleon. He flew into a rage and insisted they bring a Rabbi, and the gentry grew nervous. They sent for the Rabbi from the nearest town, who happened to be the Rav of Kovno. He was rushed to the ball and Napoleon requested that he say something truthful, something he considered was lacking in the previous speeches. The gentry were quaking at this point.
The Rav referred to that week’s Torah portion, Vayeshev, and said that he had never understood why the Pasuk had said כִּי אִם until the sequence of events that had unfolded that night had enabled him to have an audience requested by Napoleon. He explained that without context, we do not see the bigger picture, with regards to what Napoleon was doing in this far flung corner of Europe. He said that things do not just happen coincidentally. Everything is ordained, everything is planned in Heaven. Yosef was saying to the butler that he was innocent, and certainly that was the case: how does one prevent a fly falling into the wine as it is being drunk? But nevertheless he was imprisoned. For what purpose?
כִּי אִם, “you are here because (I.e. – in order) that you must remember me when things go well with you”.
The Rav then proceeded to tell Napoleon that the reason he was near Kovno was because the Jews were being oppressed terribly, and he was here to save them. Napoleon applauded, and he saved them by removing the gentry’s stewardship over the Jews (albeit temporarily!).
Everything happens for a reason, sometimes we only realise this at the end.