Few topics dominate public discourse more than debates over economic policy and its potential to drive growth. Yet beyond the statistics and strategies lies a profound question: how do we ensure that economic systems protect and promote human dignity?
Joseph’s leadership during Egypt’s famine offers a timeless model for navigating this balance. As the famine tightened its grip, Joseph centralised resources under Pharaoh’s control. The Egyptians, desperate for survival, pleaded: “Buy us and our land for bread… and we will be slaves to Pharaoh” (Bereishit 47:19). Yet Joseph refused to reduce the population to outright slavery. Instead, he implemented a system closer to genuine employment rights.
The Meshech Chochma suggests that Joseph’s own experience as a slave profoundly influenced his policies. Having endured the degradation of servitude, Joseph was determined to preserve the Egyptians’ dignity. His leadership reminds us that practical solutions must never come at the expense of moral responsibility.
Moreover, while Pharaoh gained ownership of the land, the people retained 80 percent of their produce, with the government receiving only 20 percent. This tax structure was revolutionary. Before Joseph’s reforms, the norm in Egypt – and across the ancient world -was the opposite: rulers claimed the majority share, leaving individuals with little. Joseph recognised that people are more motivated when they retain autonomy and can reap the rewards of their own labour. By ensuring dignity and providing conditions where hard work yielded results that people would benefit from, Jospeh supported the population through a crisis with economic reform and increased human dignity.
This theme echoes in Jacob’s final blessing to Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Menashe, in parsha Vayechi: “God, before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, God who sustained me as long as I am alive, until this day, may the angel who redeemed me from all harm bless the youths, and may they be called by my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and may they multiply abundantly like fish, in the midst of the land” (Bereishit 48:15-16).
The Talmud (Pesachim 118a) draws a striking insight from this blessing: “Sustenance is harder than redemption,” teaches Rabbi Yochanan. How could an individual’s effort in earning a livelihood surpass the spiritual grandeur of redemption for the world?
Our sages explain that while redemption can occur through intermediaries – such as angels, as Jacob mentions in his blessing – sustenance requires direct human effort and God’s blessing. The juxtaposition of “the angel who redeemed me” and “God who sustained me” highlights this point. Sustenance demands a delicate partnership between hishtadlut (human initiative) and bitachon (trust in God).
Joseph’s leadership serves as a timeless reminder that economic systems must not only meet immediate needs but also honour justice, compassion, and human dignity. On a personal level, we, too, are called to navigate the balance between effort and faith, recognising that sustenance is a shared endeavour between human effort and Divine blessing.
