Parashat MiKeitz

At first glance, Parashat MiKeitz’s opening seems an aside to Yoseif HaTzadik’s travails. We first detail the two dreams Paroh dreamt, and then ten pasukim later connect the dreams to Yoseif. This is the transition we expect, for Yoseif had already set up the means by which he would be redeemed in last week’s parasha. Hashem sent him the Sar HaMishkim and the Sar Ha’Ofim, gave each a dream, and filled Yoseif with the Ruach necessary to interpret each dream. Therefore, when Paroh can’t explain his own nightmares, the Sar HaMashkim naturally comes to his rescue – and Yoseif’s rescue for that matter – with timely advice.

But if we look at the very first words of the parasha, we see that these two stories’ connection is much more explicitly foreshadowed. VaYihee MiKeitz Shnasayim Yamim, and it was after two years. The pasuk makes clear reference to Yoseif’s additional time in jail. But why? Perhaps the Torah wants to show us that Paroh’s dreams did not occur immediately after he let the Sar HaMashkim free:

“ViLo Zachar Sar HaHashkim Es Yoseif VaYIshkacheihu” Beraishis 40:23

(why does the pasuk need to state both that the Sar HaMashkim didn’t mention Yoseif [to Paroh] and also that he forgot him? The language is redundant!)

ViLo Zachar: On that day.

VaYishkacheihu: Afterwards. Since Yoseif relied on [the Sar HaMashkim] to mention him [to Paroh], he had to remain improsioned for another two years, for it says in the pasuk “Ashrei HaGever Asher Sam Hashem Mivtacho ViLo Panah El Rehavim,” praiseworthy is the man who places his trust in Hashem and does not turn to the Mitzrim, who are called Rehav (arrogant) [for assistance].

Rashi, Beraishis 40:23

But this doesn’t explain why the Torah should mention Yoseif’s punishment in Parashat MiKeitz. If it were so important for the Torah to tell us that Yoseif remained in jail two years after the Sar HaMashkim was freed, we would expect to find out in the last pasuk of Parashat VaYeishev! Instead, the Torah uses this fact to build chronological context to a story that has plenty of context already. As soon as the Sar HaMashkim introduces the Na’ar Ivri Eved, it becomes crystal clear how our parasha ties into last week’s story. Perhaps most to the point, in a parasha that details Yoseif’s successes and ascension to power, there is simply no need to know about the punishments he has already overcome.

Perhaps by immediately connecting the story of Paroh’s nightmares to the story of Yoseif’s stay in prison, the Torah hopes to bring other similarities to light. If we look closely at the two dreams of Paroh, we find an interesting similarity to the pair of dreams shared by the butler and baker. After his first dream, Paroh simply awoke and thought nothing much of his nightmare. But after the second dream, the pasuk states “ViHinei Chalom.” The mifarshim explain that Paroh understood the significance of having the same dream repeat in a single night; like one would only ask for advice after having a recurring nightmare, Paroh only asks his magicians for interpretations after having dreamt both dreams.

In similar vein, the dreams of the butler and baker come in a pair, yet they are also referred to as a single Chalom. VaYachalmu Chalom Shneihem, VaYomeru Eilav Chalom Chalmnu, they said to [Yoseif] we have dreamt a dream. Just like by Paroh, the two officers recognize the unity of their dreams because they coincidentally dreamt similar things on the same night. Therefore they continue, U’Fosair Ein Oso, we know these dreams mean something, but we do not know what they mean.

This concept is brought out most explicitly in our parasha, not by the Sar HaMashkim or Sar HaOfim or even Paroh, though they all do refer to the concept, but rather by Yoseif himself. VaYomeir Yoseif El Paroh, Chalom Paroh Echad Hu.

Paroh knows very well he had one dream, and his magicians each give him a single interpretation for a single dream as well. They predict he will have seven daughters and bury seven daughters, conquer seven nations and lose seven nations. When Yoseif steps before Paroh, Paroh even prefaces, “Chalom Asher Chalamti,” it’s a single dream for sure. And Yoseif thinks he’s genius by getting up and saying, “Before I can interpret your dream, I must explain that it’s really one dream. The sevens stand for seven years each and add up to only 14 years, not 28. It’s a single dream.” Apparantly, Paroh is astounded by Yoseif’s ingenuity and appoints him viceroy, but Yoseif is quite clearly just faking his way to power! Shouldn’t Paroh just have realized that Yoseif was simply making the obvious sound more prophetic or emphatic?

Maybe even more bizarre is Paroh’s immediate rejection of his magicians’ explanations. Rashi says that Paroh did not find ease of mind with their interpretations. He seems to assume that there are correct interpretations of the dream and incorrect interpretations of the dream. But when a Navi interprets his Nevua or his dream, doesn’t the interpretation stick, whether it is positive or negative? This was exactly why Chulda HaNiviah was favored over Yirmiyhu as an interpreter towards the end of Bayis Rishon! So how can Paroh pick and choose whichever interpretation he likes?

When Yoseif offers his interpretation, he concludes with a lengthy description of how to avoid suffering in the seven years of blight. What purpose does Yoseif’s solution in his effort to interpret the dream, why should Yoseif bother himself to deal with Paroh’s problems? The answer to this question, the mifarshim bring down, is that every dream has its respective purpose. If Yoseif had simply offered an interpretation, much like the other magicians had, his predictions of food and famine would have been purposeless and useless. What separated Yoseif’s description from the rest was not that he looked at it as one dream instead of two, but rather that he looked at the dream as practical advice.

With this understanding, everything fits into place. When Yosef declares “your dream is really one dream,” Yosef isn’t suggesting that every other magician really thought Paroh dreamt two separate dreams. Yoseif means something totally different. Because Paroh’s dream is one dream, it also bears a single purpose, a single direction. To tell Paroh he would have seven daughters and his seven daughters would die, one would have to reason that Paroh dreamt two dreams! The first dream would have to move Paroh from point A, status quo, to point B, having seven daughters, and the second dream would return him to point A. This is why Paroh was so certain that his magicians could not be correct, and this is why Paroh did not find ease of mind in their interpretations, for their interpretations were certainly amusing and interesting, but there was absolutely nothing Paroh could act upon. However, Yoseif followed his dream with detailed instructions, with directions Paroh could follow to take advantage of the upcoming events, and for that Paroh recognized Yoeif’s genius and considered his interpretation correct.

Let’s stop for a moment and account for what we now know. Yoseif interprets Paroh’s dream correctly because he recognizes that the meaningful information within a dream is only meaningful if it can be acted upon to move the dreamer from status quo to a new status. In Paroh’s case, the awareness of the upcoming years of plenty and famine helped Paroh store enough food in the good years to provide the world with sustenance over the poor years. Furthermore, Paroh was soon not only the ruler of Mitzrayim but rather the entire world. And that’s much grander than conquering a mere seven countries.

But there’s something else Yoseif realizes about the significance of dreams. He says to Paroh, “ViAta, Yaireh Paroh Eesh Navon ViChacham ViShesahu Al Eretz Mitzrayim,” in order to deal with the famine, appoint the wisest man you know over Mitzrayim, and Yoseif continues with his plan to collect and store grain. Perhaps Yoseif wasn’t implicitly referring to himself, but regardless, Paroh immediately appoints Yoseif to the job, claiming, “Acharei Hodi’ah Elokim Osichah Es Kol Zos Ein Navon ViChacham KaMochah.” Whether Paroh is correct or not, it certainly seems as if Yosief is taking unfair advantage of the current situation, playing off of Paroh’s fears to earn himself a spot next to the throne. And his suggestion could have certainly backfired. How was Yoseif so sure that his interpretably selfish proposal wouldn’t royally insult Paroh?

Certainly, Yoseif was not trying to act innocent while appointing himself to the throne. Paroh wasn’t that foolish and probably would have been insulted if he thought Yoseif was manipulating the dreams for his own benefit. Instead, Yoseif reasoned to Paroh “You need me here to interpret your dream, so there must also be some reason why I need to be here to hear the dream, why Hashem has granted these talents and abilities specifically to me. Perhaps what the dream suggests is that someone with my particular skills is the perfect man to act upon your dream and help earn you power over the entire world.” This Paroh thought was a brilliant read into the dream.

Unfortunately, this new notion that the interpreter of the dream should try to relate himself to the dream itself creates new problems with our read of last week’s story. We saw how Rashi chastises Yoseif for putting his trust into a Rehav instead of into Hashem, but is that really what Yoseif did?

“In three more days, Paroh will take stock of you and return you to your perch, and you shall place Paroh’s goblet in his hand as was once decreed that you be his butler, so that you will then mention me to yourself once you have benefited [from my interpretation], and you will do kindness for me and mention me to Paroh and he will take me from this house…”

Beraishis, 40:13-14

Of course Yosief puts his trust into the Sar HaMashkim! Hashem sent him the Sar HaMashkim to get his name mentioned to Paroh. Hashem gave him this interpretation to the dream, and so Yoseif knows this is what Hashem wants him to do. Yosief knows this is Hashem’s master plan to get him out of the jail. If this is considered trusting Rehavim, then why was serving as Paroh’s viceroy any better? He was relying on the power and decrees of Paroh to establish his own name around the world!

But remember, the Sar HaMashkim wasn’t the only one whose dream Yoseif had to interpret. Having already contrived his way out of prison, Yoseif hastily turned the Sar Ha’Ofim’s dream aside, foretelling his imminent execution. If dreams are not only meant to be known but also to be acted upon, there is a serious flaw with Yoseif’s interpretation of the Sar HaOfim’s dream. Sure, Yoseif accurately predicted that the baker would be hanged, but he failed to look for the significance of this fact, the role this knowledge could potentially play in the context of all three men’s predicaments.

Rashi comments on the redundancy of Parashat VaYeishev’s final pasuk, ViLo Zachar Sar HaMashkim Es Yoseif VaYishkacheihu, that one term refers to the immediate forgetting, and the other term refers to the long term memory lapse. However, Rashi uses an interesting word; instead of saying ViLo Zachar LiAlter, that the Sar MaMashkim didn’t mention Yoseif to Paroh immediately, Rashi says he forgot Bo Bayom, on that day. What significance did that particular day carry?

For starters, Bo BaYom refers directly to the day the Sar HaMashkim was released, Paroh’s birthday. But more than that, Bo BaYom was also the day the Sar Ha’Ofim was hanged. Of course, the Sar HaOfim’s inevitable death doesn’t have much of an effect on either Yoseif or the Sar HaMashkim. But what if the Sar Ha’Ofim’s dream was not to be interpreted that he would be executed, but rather that he would be sentenced for execution? That would change everything! All of a sudden, Yoseif would give the Sar Ha’Ofim a chance at life, the Sar HaMashkim could walk into Paroh’s chamber and plead on behalf for his good friend the baker. But if the Sar HaMashkim were going to save his friend, he would have to act fast, he would have to act Bo BaYom. He would also have to mention Yoseif, mention how he know about the Sar Ha’Ofim’s sentencing, and that would surely involve the mentioning of Yoseif to Paroh. Hence, ViLo Zachar Bo BaYom. Amazingly, look what happens when the Sar HaMashkim finally does mention Yoseif to Paroh:

And the Sar HaMashkim spoke to Paroh saying, “Today, I recall my sin. Paroh got angry at his servants, and placed me in jail with the cheil executioner, along with the Sar Ha’Ofim. And we dreamt a dream one night, he and I…”

Beraishis, 41:9-11

The baker has been dead now for two years! What relevance does he have to the Sar HaMashkim’s recollection of Yoseif? Perhaps we see here how fond the Sar HaMashkim truly was of his friend the Sar Ha’Ofim, and how difficult it was to mention Yoseif the Jew, the Na’ar Ivri Eved. Perhaps Yoseif overlooked the ungraciousness of the Sar HaMashkim. Maybe Yoseif thought the least the Sar HaMashkim could do in return was mention him to Paroh. But a Rehav, an arrogant Mitzri like the Sar HaMashkim, had no trouble putting his own personal conveniences in front of Yoseif’s. The only person the Sar HaMashkim would save from Paroh’s hand was a person he personally cared about, namely the Sar Ha’Ofim.

We can now recognize a tremendous maturation in Yoseif over those two years. When he encountered the dreams of the butler and baker, he understood very well that the dreams had significance, but he was too busy tending to his own personal needs to consider the needs of the Sar Ha’Ofim. Yoseif’s description of how and why the Sar MaHashkim should get him out of jail is as long as the two dreams’ interpretations combined! Had he tried to save the Sar Ha’Ofim too, had he considered why Hashem brought him two distressed people with two dreams, then maybe he would have been saved a lot earlier.

Yoseif was therefore punished with two additional years in prison, and it was those years when Yoseif internalized these most valuable lessons. What happened over those two unaccounted years? Yoseif’s maturation. And without attaining that higher level of maturity, what would Paroh’s dreams have looked like to Yoseif? He probably would have succumbed to the same mistakes he made in prison. Instead of foretelling a potential famine that could be prepared for, the predicted blight would have been imminently destructive – just as the baker’s death sentence was – and all of Mitzrayim would have died out. Instead of asking for a position as viceroy to help save the nation, Yoseif probably would have asked for some trifling reward in return for his accurate interpretation. All of a sudden, the fact that Paroh’s dream occurred two years after the Sar HaMashkim was released from prison doesn’t just put chronological context on our story; it helps us define Yoseif’s present character and maturity.

Fortunately, Yoseif learned his lesson quickly enough, in time to save Mitzrayim and in time to reach the level of power he was destined to achieve. But most importantly, in time to teach the same lesson to his brothers. Years back when he first dreamt his own pair of dreams, both he and his brothers made this very mistake. Not once did Yoseif consider how his brothers would react to the dreams, nor did his brothers consider whether there could be some positive outcome to Yoseif’s rise to power, like his ability to provide them with food in a time of severe famine. Neither looked past his own personal needs; Yoseif wanted to rule and the brothers did not want to be slaves. Through the charades Yoseif plays with his brothers, ultimately kidnapping Binyamin, testing whether any of the brothers would risk his life for his half-brother’s sake, Yoseif tries to teach us that when approaching the troubles in the world, it is far more important to consider the needs of others.