* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
How does the Torah define success? This is what the Torah tells us:
“God was with Joseph and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. And his master saw that God was with him and that God granted success in everything he undertook… God blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of God was on everything he had, in the house and in the field…”
Yosef was sold as a slave to Potiphar the Egyptian. How is it possible for a slave to be successful? We learn from these verses that Yosef is able to advance because his boss sees that God is with him, bringing an abundance of blessing to his household and all that he possessed.
Yosef is successful because he remains loyal to his values, and in the idolatrous society of Egypt, continues to declare his faith in God and to live accordingly. He is successful because anyone who encounters him is, in essence, meeting God through him.
The first person who is called successful in the Torah challenges us to assess how much we are connected to our values and faith, and to what extent these values are apparent wherever we go.
May all of us become successful in the truest sense of the word.
