of either trouble or joy—if of trouble, of unprecedented trouble; if of joy, of unprecedented joy. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani made a further distinction that wherever "and it came to pass" (, vayehi) is found, it refers to trouble; where "and it shall be" (, vehayah) is found, it refers to joyous occasions. But the Rabbis of the Midrash objected that says, "And the Lord was (, vayehi) with Joseph"—surely not an indication of trouble. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani answered that reported no occasion for joy, as in , Joseph recounted, "They . . . put me into the dungeon." A Midrash taught that reported the source of the kindness that Joseph showed in his life. The Midrash taught that each of the righteous practiced a particular meritorious deed: Abraham practiced circumcision, Isaac practiced prayer, and Jacob practiced truth, as says, “You will show truth to Jacob.” The Midrash taught that Joseph stressed kindness, reading to say, “The Lord was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him.” Genesis chapter 40 Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman taught that the Sages instituted the tradition that Jews drink four cups of wine at the Passover seder in allusion to the four cups mentioned in , which says: "‘Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.' And Joseph said to him: ‘This is the interpretation of it: . . . within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when you were his butler." Rabbi Eleazar deduced from the report of that "the chief baker saw that the interpretation was correct" that each of them was shown his own dream and the interpretation of the other one's dream. In medieval Jewish interpretation The parashah is discussed in these medieval Jewish sources: Genesis chapter 39 Reading the words of , "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian," the Zohar taught that wherever the righteous walk, God protects them and never abandons them. The Zohar taught that Joseph walked through "the valley of the shadow of death" (in the words of ), having been brought down to Egypt, but the Shechinah was with him,