How Did the Egyptian Enslavement Begin Under Yosef's Watch?

The shiur opens with a compelling historical question: Rashi (רש"י) teaches that the Egyptian enslavement began immediately upon Yaakov's death, yet Yosef lived and served as Mishneh LaMelech (viceroy) for another 54 years. Yaakov died when Yosef was 56 years old (he came to Egypt at 17 and his father arrived 39 years later, living in Egypt for 17 years), and Yosef died at 110, meaning he held power for over five decades after his father's passing. The Torah (תורה) gives no indication that Yosef lost his position. How then could anti-Jewish decrees and enslavement begin under the watch of such a powerful Jewish leader who clearly loved his people? Rabbi Zweig offers two possible explanations for this paradox, both suggesting that Yosef's political power was substantially diminished despite his continued title. The first possibility draws an analogy to Winston Churchill, who despite his brilliant wartime leadership was voted out as Prime Minister after both World Wars. Perhaps the Egyptians held a similar mentality—that Yosef was the perfect leader for a crisis (the seven years of famine and their aftermath) but was no longer necessary or appropriate for peacetime governance. After all, Yosef was brought in specifically for an economic emergency. Now, 17 years after the famine, Egypt was flourishing economically. Moreover, according to Rashi, Yaakov had blessed Pharaoh with control over the Nile's inundation, giving Egypt mastery over its agricultural cycles. With economic prosperity secured and the crisis long past, the people may have felt Yosef's services were no longer needed. He may have been reduced to a ceremonial figurehead without real power.