The הר צבי questions the extraneous wording of the posuk, for it seems that the words , ויהי שם בבית הסהר , and he remained there in the prison, are unneeded. The posuk had just stated that he was placed in prison, so obviously he was there? Also, what's the point in saying מקום אשר אסירי המלך אסורים , the place where the king’s prisoners were confined? What's the difference which prisoners were there?
Additionally, when Yosef asks the winemaker to remember him to Pharaoh, he asks him to remember him & get him out of הבית הזה, this house. However, he finishes the sentence by saying, “ I didn't deserve to be thrown into the בור, pit.” First, he calls it a house & then a pit. Why the difference?
The הר צבי explains that there are two types of imprisonment. If one is imprisoned for committing a crime, he has to remain until he can be proven innocent or until he serves the time for committing the crime. Then, he goes free. The second type of imprisonment involves the person who didn't commit any crime but is merely imprisoned at the whim of the king. For him, there is no set time for his release & actually very little hope that he will ever be released.
This is what the Posuk is telling us. Yosef was in the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. The seemingly extra words, that he remained in prison, are telling us that he was to be there forever .
Therefore, he asked והוצאתי מן הבית הזה , just get me out of this house where the king’s prisoners sit with no hope. Get me into the regular jail where I can have a judgment prove my innocence & be freed.
Imagine, Yosef was in a prison with no hope of ever seeing the light of day; one where every moment was absolute torture. Yet, one morning, he is concerned with two other inmates who looked upset.
Instead of focusing on his own problems, he turns to them & says four words that would, in the words of Rabbi Gideon Shloush, change history forever. He says, מדוע פניכם רעים היום , why are your faces downcast today? He noticed that something was bothering them & instead of looking the other way, he asked what's wrong. This led to his interpretation of their dreams; to his interpretation of Pharoh’s dream; to being freed & finally, to becoming the second to the king. Because he saw someone else's pain, he uttered four words that changed the course of history.
There's a story told about the בית הלוי. One Shabbos, someone came to him very agitated & upset, telling him that his daughter was in labor for three days & was in grave danger. He asked the Rav to daven for her.
To the man's great surprise, the Rav asked him if he had made kiddush yet. He answered no.
If that's the case, make kiddush with me, then wash & eat the meal with me. The man sat with the Rav & ate with him. The rav spent much time entertaining and conversing with this man. At the end of the meal, the Rav asked the man if he had enjoyed himself. When he answered yes, the rav said, “now go home & see how your daughter is.”
A short while later, the man comes running back announcing, “my daughter had a son. Both she & the baby are fine. Now I have to understand, why did the rav make me sit & make kiddush and eat the meal?”
The Bais Halevi answered that it's a posuk which says והתענג על ה ויתן לך משאלות לבך and delight in Hashem, for He will grant you the desires of your heart. Therefore, I asked you to eat so you would be calm and enjoy yourself. Then Hashem would grant your desires for good.
Yosef’s actions instruct us to look out for someone else, for he, even in his own miserable plight, noticed someone else who was down. The Bais Halevi, too, knew how to bring someone up so he could be helped. We, then, should also do something if we see someone who's down, so that we can bring them up!
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