Vayeshev

When the brothers sold Yosef, the Torah informs us what the Arabs were carrying in their caravan. וגמליהם נשאים נכאת וצרי ולט , and their camels were bearing spices, and balsam, and birthwort.  

Rashi, in an effort to explain why the Torah felt the need to give us that information, explains that it was in order to teach us the reward that's due Tzadikim. Arabs normally carry foul smelling cargo while in this caravan, in the merit of Yosef, they were carrying spices.  

The אוצרות התורה asks the obvious question. At a time like this when Yosef was just sold as a slave by his brothers , he's being torn away from his father to a uncertain fate not knowing if he'll ever return home, does he really cares about the smell?  

The gemara in Berachos says that the fourth beracha in benching of הטוב והמטיב was established in Yavne commemorating the people that were killed in Beitar. דאמר רב מתנא אותו היום שניתנו הרוגי ביתר לקבורה תקנו ביבנה הטוב והמטיב. As רב מתנא said, on the day the murdered in Beitar were buried, they established the beracha of hatov v' hamaitiv: הטוב שלא הסריחו , the one who is good that they didn't rot והמטיב שניתנו לקבורה ,the one who does good that they were able to be buried.

I once heard a question about this from Rabbi Frand , who asked how can this be a cause for celebration? The Beis Hamikdash had been destroyed; the people were being prosecuted by the Romans;  Beitar, a city destroyed fifty-two years after the destruction of Jerusalem, had been the last stronghold of the Jews, now was destroyed & tens of thousands of Jews murdered, which began the great exile of nearly two thousand years.  Finally, they are allowed to go in & bury their dead.  Is this a reason to thank 'ה for his benevolence? Should we be overjoyed to the point of adding a beracha to benching?

Answered Rabbi Frand, after the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, the Jews felt that 'ה was done with them; He no longer wanted them as his people so they were depressed & forlorn. However, once they came to Beitar & saw that, by way of a miracle, the bodies hadn’t decayed & were fit for burial, they saw that all was not lost. 'ה still loved them which uplifted & rejuvenated their spirits. That's why they established the Beracha of  הטוב והמטיב for they now realized that 'ה really never left them.

The sefer גדולת מרדכי says, it’s like the patient who is in a coma with the family waiting for the slightest movement. One twitch of the eye is cause for celebration, not because the patient is better but because there's hope.

So too by Yosef; it is true he was just sold by his brothers and didn’t  know what was going to happen or if he would remain alive. Therefore, when he smelled the spices & realized that 'ה had made a miracle, even one so minor, it showed him that 'ה was still with him & that small glimmer of hope - recognition that he wasn't alone & would be protected - is what kept him going. We have to learn that no matter what's happening, we must find the little bit of good & know that 'ה will always be there for us!