Dreaming and Rising to the Top

Parshat Miketz

by Rabbi Avi Billet

“Strange as it seems there’s been a run of crazy dreams” sings the narrator in the musical about Joseph. And it seems that what is most needed is a dream interpreter. What a strange time to live in when people who are not prophets receive messages from the Master of the World that are, in their own way, prophetic.

 Rav Amnon Bazak wrote his analysis of the dreams of these parshas pointing out the stages of the dreams in what looks like a developing pattern.

Yosef's Pharaoh: Old or Young?

Parshat Miketz

By Rabbi Avi Billet

We are well aware of the ages of Yosef and Yaakov in their journeys  through Egypt. Yosef was 17 when he was sold, 30 when he stood before Pharaoh, and 39 when his brothers came to Egypt looking for food.

                

Yaakov was 108 when Yosef was sent to Egypt, and he tells Pharaoh in Vayigash that he is 130, after Pharaoh asks him “How old are you?”

                

The question is, how old was this Pharaoh? Not knowing which of the Egyptian Pharaohs he was, nor exactly when Yosef was elevated to viceroy, we can not say with any certainty.

                

But in reading the narrative, the possibility lends itself that Pharaoh was much younger, in line with the reality that some of the Pharaohs were boys when they assumed the leadership of ancient Egypt.

                

Does it really matter how old he was? Probably not. But his age, especially if he was much younger, does explain many of the questions we may have in trying to understand how Pharaoh took such a liking to Yosef so quickly.

                

His impetuousness caused him to throw his Chief Cupbearer and Chief Baker into prison. And even such a youthful obstinance could call for the death of his Chief Baker. Especially if he relies heavily on the advice of others. 

                

He celebrates a birthday. He doesn’t trust any of his advisors when it comes to interpreting his dream. He meets Yosef, a young, handsome, seemingly trustworthy man. He develops an instant accord with him, and takes his advice to such an extent that he gives Yosef the keys to the kingdom putting him in charge of all the food for the years of Plenty.

                

Was Pharaoh incapable of using someone in-house? Was he unable to supervise the efforts himself?

                

If we view him as a youth, relatively inexperienced, we can understand why Pharaoh feels the way he does towards Yosef. Everyone else who speaks to him patronizes him. Everyone else thinks they are working in his best interest. And he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like being babied, being pampered, and being treated as if any idea which he thinks of won’t work because he is merely a youth.

                

Yosef comes along, and treats the king in the manner the king wants to be treated. As a human being. As an equal. As a king. As a ruler. Especially one who is capable of making his own decisions.

                

In a sense, we can suggest that Pharaoh is looking to make Yosef as the father-figure he is lacking in his life. Yosef even states, when he reveals himself to his brothers, “God has made me a father to Pharaoh, and a master over all of Egypt.” (45:8) And this is why, when Yosef makes his suggestion to Pharaoh, that Pharaoh should appoint a man over the food undertaking (41:33), putting in Pharaoh’s hands alone the decision of whom to choose – not making it dependent on the insights of his advisors – Pharaoh is enamored and enraptured and feels Yosef will be the best person to fill the role. He’ll be a personal confidant to Pharaoh, an outsider who understands the king, who has been through a different kind of school of hard knocks (though for Yosef it was prison, while for Pharaoh it was taking control of Egypt at such a young age).

                

I can’t prove this theory. The only evidence I’ve found referring to Pharaoh’s age actually has him as a much much older man (see Torah Shleimah on 47:8) – but there is no evidence in ancient Egypt (that I am aware of) to support an over 100-year old Pharaoh.

                

The lesson to take from this is either that young people need mentors, or that they need to be given a chance. If Pharaoh was younger, and was looking to Yosef to be his mentor, the relationship worked splendidly.

                

And if, in fact, Yosef was younger, then he was given the chance he needed to exercise his talents in a field where he could shine. The opportunity afforded to him by Pharaoh may have come from an attitude that says, “I’ll give this kid a chance. And if he messes up, he’s expendable. But if he proves himself, and the first impression he has given is correct, then we will all benefit from his success.”

                

Based on how the tale of Egypt’s, and the world’s survival at that time follows in the Torah, it seems everyone did benefit from Yosef’s success.

                

If only the world can still acknowledge what Yosef (or those who identify with his nationality) contributes to the world, the Jewish people and the State of Israel would be appreciated by all of humanity.

"Put the Money in Their Bags"

A great "Yosef" - Rabbi Joseph Grunblatt - passed away last Shabbos. His funeral took place on Sunday and the hespedim are available for viewing here. His passing is a true loss to the Jewish people. An incredible rabbi, talmid chochom, humble and magnanimous. תנצבה.

Parshat Miketz

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Book collectors often have many books on their shelves that never move from their place. But sometimes it is the thin volume you never look at that contains gems of insight and wisdom.

            

In recent years I have found this to be true of a book I purchased when I was in yeshiva. The author is Yeshayahu Moleyoff (not sure how that is spelled in English), and it is one volume on Bereshit – I don't even know if he has more – called "Meotzarot Bereshit." The book seems to be self-published.

            

He asks the following question: Why did Yosef give the money back to his brothers both times they purchased food?

            

For a very long time I thought Yosef was underhandedly doing what anyone in his position would likely do for family. "I don't need your money. Please. It's on me." Because even if Yosef didn't want to reveal himself until he had uncovered what he needed to find out about them, perhaps he did not feel the need to overburden his father financially when he (Yosef) didn't need the money, and presumably, particularly on account of the famine, his father needed every penny he had.

            

The question can be strengthened when we consider that most commentaries who address this issue focus on the "how" and not the "why." He put the money in – perhaps by displacing some food, forcing them to come back sooner. He put the money in the bottom of all bags, except for Levi's, in whose bag the money was placed on top. Levi, after all, was lost without Shimon, his partner in crime, and any feeling of fear over discovering the money would be felt by Levi first. This is by design.

            

Of course, these two approaches - to return the money graciously versus to "get them" - contradict one another, and Yeshayahu Moleyeff notes that even if Yosef had the first thought in mind (to kindly return the money he did not need) there is no way he did not anticipate the kind of reaction his brothers had: they would be fearful and feel something afoul over discovering the money they thought they had paid back in their bags.

            

He therefore suggests that Yosef was trying to deliver a subtle message to the brothers both times. First when they had lost Shimon, and when they were going to get Binyamin. And second, when Binyamin's bag was set up as the guilty one containing Yosef's cup.

            

That message was one of "Midah k'neged midah" – measure for measure.

            

They had received money over the purchase of Yosef as a slave, and they were now receiving money when Shimon was left behind as a slave and when the signs were pointing to the possibility that Binyamin might become a slave as well.

            

More poignantly, if things did not pan out well, they were all on the brink of becoming slaves themselves. They come to this recognition themselves in 43:18 and even offer themselves as slaves at the end of the parsha, when Yosef threatens to take Binyamin as a slave.

            

Midah K'neged Midah, therefore, is the running theme here. Yosef is not looking to make his brothers slaves. It is enough that he has seen them bow (in fulfillment of his dreams), that he knows the power he holds, and that they are willingly accepting his kingship over them. It is only that he wants to see how they will react when the circumstances themselves are set up all over again. When they see money being handed to them in exchange for their efforts to bring Binyamin down to Egypt. When they see money being handed to them when Binyamin is being set up to be arrested for stealing from the king.

            

In 42:21 they lamented not that they had sold Yosef – they still thought they were in the right in doing so. (This is a much longer discussion.) But they lamented how they had ignored his screams, and had dealt with him coldly.

            

In essence, Yosef set the stage as best he could to mirror what had taken place 22 years earlier. A young, innocent, son of Rachel was going to be placed in the precarious brink of becoming a slave to Egypt forever. The money has been exchanged, the boy is helpless and guilty in the eyes of those judging him, and it is up to the brothers to demonstrate compassion. To look out for their brother. To do everything within their power and then some to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.

            

This is the mark of a true baal teshuvah. When the circumstances lend themselves for the bad action to be repeated, and the former sinner chooses a different path, he is considered penitent.

            

Yosef HaTzaddik was using God's favorite form of punishment – measure for measure. And with the brothers' collective action, and Yehuda – who was most responsible for the idea of the sale – standing up to do everything in his power to defend Binyamin (in next week's parsha), we see how the brothers are ready to be reunited, and the next stage of their collective history can finally commence with the reunions that will take place when Yaakov and his greater family come down to Egypt.

p.s. We can take this thought and apply it to the Hanukkah experience as well. The Greek occupation and the influence they exerted over the people of ancient Israel could only be overcome when the Jewish people were put in touch with the conflicting ideology, coming to the conclusion that Judaism was and will always be the best thing for the Jews.

Just as Yosef remains a highlight of the Israelites' time in Egypt, the 200+ years Hasmonean dynasty is a highlight of the Jewish experience in Israel during a time of foreign occupation and the 2000 year exile that has followed since the destruction of the Temple.

           

Shimon – A View of a Flawed (Member of the) Tribe

Parshat Vaychi (also good for Vayetze, Vayishlach, Vayeshev, Miketz)

by Rabbi Avi Billet

By and large, the tribe of Shimon does not fare well in the Biblical story. The second of Yaakov's sons is completely bypassed for any leadership role.

The Yalkut Shimoni notes (Shoftim 42) that the tribe of Shimon, "Never had a judge nor a king, on account of the sin of Zimri."

In our parsha, Shimon and Levi are grouped together in Yaakov's blessing – though theirs is hardly a blessing – when he says, "Shimon and Levi are a pair… they have killed men with anger, maimed bulls with will. Cursed be their rage, for it is fierce, and their fury, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, scatter them in Israel."

Their having killed men with anger refers to their decimation of the city of Shechem. Otherwise the blessing is cryptic until the end, which predicts their portions in the Land of Israel: Levi gets none – only cities, while Shimon's portion is within that of the tribe of Yehuda.

At the end of the Torah (Devarim 33), Shimon is the only tribe not blessed by Moshe, which Ibn Ezra blames on the Baal Pe'or incident (Bamidbar 25). Ramban rejects this notion, suggesting it is disgraceful to think Moshe did not bless a tribe. It is only because Moshe mentioned Yosef as Ephraim and Menashe, and had achieved the magic number of 12 tribes, that the smallest tribe (Shimon) was left out of the Torah's account of the blessings – more for practical reasons than as punishment.

When one looks into Shimon – the man and the tribe – as depicted in the Torah and Midrash, the picture is far less than flattering – quite reproving, in fact.

His role in wiping out the city of Shechem (along with Levi) is criticized. He and Levi are credited with having the discussion to kill Yosef (37:19-20 – many midrashim and Targum Yonatan), while Shimon is identified as the one who threw Yosef in the pit (Bereshit Raba 84:16). We know Levi is exonerated, on account of the status Shevet Levi carries until today – having Moshe and Aharon and all those who did not participate in the Golden Calf as their forebears establishes Levi's status as the tribe of holiness forever.

Like Cham, son of Noach, who is eternally linked with his son Canaan (and cursed in this manner by his father), Shimon is also linked with Canaan in his lineage. Of all the descendants of Yaakov who descended to Egypt, only one (other than the tribes themselves) has a depiction of his mother attached to his name: Shaul ben HaCanaanit, apparent son of Shimon.

What was his story? Why was he singled out in this way?

The Midrash (Rabati) presents three options: Shimon was the only one of the brothers to marry a Canaanite (otherwise, according to Ramban, they married Egyptians, Amonites, Moabites, Yishmaelites, and Bnei Keturah following Avraham's and Yitzchak's rule of avoiding girls from the cursed nation); 'The Canaanite' refers to Dinah, on account of her encounter with Shechem – Shimon had one child with her (as an accession to her concern that she'd never marry), and then ended their union; Shaul was later Zimri.

With reference to his being Zimri (or the ancestor of Zimri), the Talmud in Sanhedrin 82b explains his name being Shaul ("lend") "because he lent himself [easily] to commit a sin," and Ben HaCanaanit, "because he engaged in a Canaanite act of licentiousness." (How he lived for 250 years is a different question.)

According to those who suggest he was the son of Dinah, either Shimon was the father (see above), or Shechem was the father (Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch). [Some say Yosef's wife was the product of Dinah and Shechem – Targum Yonatan 41:45] Rav Hirsch credits Shimon with raising Shaul, noting a precedent that a Jewish mother (Dinah the "Canaanit") establishes her child's acceptance into her family as he receives her status. That Shimon is listed as his father must then follow the Talmudic ruling (Sanhedrin 19b) that one who raises a child in his home is as if he fathered him.

The Tzror Hamor (R. Abraham ben Jacob Saba) presents a fascinating insight to Shimon, from the moment he was born. Leah saw all that would transpire with Shimon in a prophetic vision – the Zimri/Kozbi story, the union with a Canaanite that would produce Shaul, and therefore the proclivity Shimon has for "zimah." (licentiousness). This is why when she names him (29:33) she says "God heard I am hated," as if to say, "God heard, and got angry." He gave me "this," meaning "If only he hadn't given me 'this' because he is destined for sin…"

His name can be read "Sham Avon" - sin is on him. The natural proclivity for sin was punished when most of those who died at Baal Pe'or were of the tribe of Shimon. The Malbim explains (Bamidbar 26:12) that the entire family of Ohad (son of Shimon) was wiped out, and that Yemuel and Tzochar changed their tribal family names to Nemuel and Zerach to avoid a similar fate – all results of the Baal Peor story.

This portrayal of the destiny of the tribe of Shimon is very depressing. When we consider that the sons of Yaakov are all considered holy, how do we reconcile Shimon's unenviable status of being the worst of the lot?

We see that no one is perfect. Some people have devils in them from the moment they are born. For some people it comes out in spurts, for some it lays dormant, and for some it comes out in later generations – after all, it seems to be embedded in the genetic code.

For those who are preprogrammed this way, their challenge is to overcome their proclivities as best as possible. It's not easy – it never is – but with recognition of the problem, and properly seeking help and guidance, a person has a fighting chance of living a productive life.

For those on the outside, we need to be as helpful as we can, reserve judgment until such time that judgment is fairly warranted, and give the benefit of the doubt as much as possible. Those who say Shimon did a kindness in taking Dinah when she thought noone ever would are clearly judging Shimon favorably.

Living amongst flawed people is a challenge. But we dare not play God with their destiny – some will do bad and will always be bad, some will challenge their nature and be amazing people, and some will recognize their errors and do teshuvah.

How we choose to view and accept or reject them is our challenge – to be fair and honest with all the information we can gather.

Good luck to us all.

Yosef's Strategy: Family, Not Dreams

Parshat Miketz

by Rabbi Avi Billet

There are many ways to analyze Yosef's strategy with his brothers – what was his intent, his plan, and his goal in having them go through all the "tzurres" he gave them over their younger brother and their father. The superlatives run from "cruel" to "brilliant" and from "vindictive" to "well thought out."

            

Ramban justifies all the suffering Yosef causes his father saying Binyamin needed to come without Yaakov for the first dream to be fulfilled.

But I don't understand the need for it at all. Yosef had two dreams – the first that "We were working in a field" when their bundles bowed to Yosef's bundle. He did not specify how many bundles bowed. The second dream was that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed to Yosef.

            

As soon as his ten brothers come in, they bow. Yosef sees them and recognizes them. (42:6-7) It seems to me that the first dream has been fulfilled! There was never any indication that Binyamin's bowing is a necessity for the fulfillment of the dream! Furthermore, if the dream was like a prophesy, why would Yosef need to do anything to align things to happen the way he saw in his dream? God will take care of it!

            

If he wants to find out if his father and brother are alive – fine! Then he should ask that, reveal himself, and tell them to bring the family down because there will be a few more years of famine. But he doesn't even do that! He accuses them of being spies! Their response is that they are the sons of one man – therefore, not spies.

            

He repeats an accusation that "You've come to find where the land is exposed!" Rabbi Chaim Paltiel explains Yosef's comment, adding "If you were brothers you might have left someone home! Since you all came, it indicates you plan to attack us!" And their response is that "We are 12 brothers, the youngest is with our father today, and the other one is missing." And Yosef confirms, "This is what I was saying – You are spies!"

            

He never asked about Binyamin – they offered the information to prove their innocence.

            

If dream number one is fulfilled, all that’s needed is for the family to know that Yosef is alive and well, and that he is ruling in Egypt, and that he will take care of them as long as there is a famine – as long as they come down to Egypt. This takes place in 45:26-28.

When they all come down, "the sun, moon and eleven stars" will bow, and Yosef's second dream will be fulfilled. Three chapters in the Torah don't need to happen.

There is a possibility that Yosef wanted to see how his brothers care for Binyamin. But does it really matter? By the time it's all over, Yosef says to his brothers "You did not send me here. God did…" (45:8) This indicates that Yosef is at peace with what happened, because it was meant to happen – it was the only way his dreams could be fulfilled – and he bears no ill will to his brothers. And if they have any problems with Binyamin, who has survived until now (to allow fulfillment of his second dream), they'll have no way to harm him because Yosef will protect him.

I think that all of Yosef's actions have nothing to do with the dreams. Sure, he remembers them, but they are from a bygone era, when he had a different life, when he was a young punk, with no experience, who had dreams of grandeur because of how he was favored by his father.

But those days are long gone. Ramban points out that Yosef never wrote a letter to his father, though he surely could have. Rav Yoel Bin Nun and Rav Yaakov Medan have debated in the pages of Megadim (periodicals of Herzog College in Israel) why Yosef chose the "non-communication" route. The question boils down to what was going through his head.

Once Yosef was in a position to communicate with his family on account of their unknowingly coming to him, all Yosef wanted was Binyamin: innocent Binyamin, his only full brother, the only one he felt he could trust. That was his end goal. When he says in the last verse of the parsha that Binyamin would stay while the rest could "go in peace to your father," he meant every word. How could he know what was coming next – Yehuda's appeal (the longest in the Torah) that made the entire ordeal about Yaakov's health?

When the brothers told Yosef, "We are twelve: one is home and one is missing" they used the word "Ei-neh-nu" (איננו) to describe Yosef's status. The word could mean missing, gone, or dead (see 5:24). Yosef understood it to mean "missing," which indicates no one cared about him in all the years he was gone. But the term, as used (see 37:30, 42:13,32,36, and then in 44:30-34) indicates a deep caring for one who is missing. What changes for Yosef is 44:28, when he hears for the first time that his father thinks he is dead - that Yosef misunderstood the word's meaning when it referred to how his father viewed him.

Was he vindictive? Was he justified? Everyone in the story learns a very profound lesson. The only way to treat family members is through living life with no regrets (42:21-22). Only when the family unit is 100% supportive of one another, and no individual or group ever makes rash decisions or gangs up on another does a family have a chance to survive, thrive, and move mountains.

May we be blessed to have extensive, unified families who do everything to build one another up, with respect and most importantly, with the right emotional support. 

At First Sight

Parshat Miketz

by Rabbi Avi Billet


There are a number of mitzvoth which appear in the Torah multiple times: Shabbat, holidays, kosher animals, Shmittah (Sabbatical year), Eved Ivri (Hebrew servant), not to "cook a kid in its mother's milk." Even bris milah, tzitzis and tefillin each appear at least twice. Sometimes there are differences in the repetition, and the repetition usually serves a purpose.

When it comes to narrative, however, the Torah rarely repeats a story. Last week we read the story of Yosef and Potiphar's wife, and when she told her husband the tale, we are told "She said, 'This is what he did to me,'" (39:19) and as the text does not elaborate, we can assume she embellished the details. We need not know what she said, as all we need to know is that Yosef ended up in prision.

After Moshe is given the signs of the snake, the whitened hand, and to pour water from the river to turn it to blood before the people, he does so – the Torah does not repeat the details (Shmot 4:30)

But the two most blatant examples of repeated narrative are the story of Eliezer finding Rivkah (Chapter 24) and Pharaoh's dream here in Chapter 41.

In Eliezer's retelling of his own story, he changes some details to make the story and the setup more palatable to Rivkah's family. He achieves his goal: he convinces them of the divine hand in his trip, they agree to let Rivkah go with him, and Rivkah the wife for Yitzchak whom Eliezer was appointed to find.

But in our narrative, Pharaoh's dream is told to us, and then he repeats it to Yosef for interpretation with a few changes as well.

In his dream Pharaoh was standing "on the river," the first cows were "y'fot mareh," the second cows are "raot mareh v'dakot basar" and they stand next to the first cows. The cows who were "raot mareh v'dakot basar" ate the cows that were "y'fot hamareh."

In his retell Pharaoh stands "on the edge of the river," the first cows are "y'fot toar," the second cows are "dalot, v'raot toar m'od, v'rakot basar," and Pharaoh adds "I have never seen such bad looking cows in Egypt". The cows who were "rakot and raot" ate the first cows. The cows were completely swallowed, but it was not detectable because they looked as they had before [this last sentence is entirely new and was unapparent from the dream itself.]

In the second dream, the stalks are "briyot v'tovot" (healthy and good). The second stalks are described as thin and scorched by the east wind. They consumed the "healthy and full" stalks.

In the retell they are "m'layot v'tovot" (full and good). The second stalks are described as thin and scorched by the east wind, but are also "tz'numot" (shriveled). They consumed the "good" stalks.

Why the differences? Unlike Eliezer, Pharaoh isn't trying to convince Yosef of anything.

Or is he?

The Midrash Sechel Tov suggests Pharaoh dreamt the interpretation to the dream along with the dream, but forgot it. How else could he know that Yosef's interpretation was the correct one? Surely others tried interpreting it for him. Once he heard Yosef's interpretations, however, it triggered the memory, and he knew it was correct.

This line of thinking makes a lot of sense when we consider that Yosef's interpretation should have ended with verse 41:32 when he said "The reason that Pharaoh had the same dream twice is because the process has already been set in motion by God, and God is rushing to do it." But Yosef continued and said, "Now Pharaoh must seek out a man with insight and wisdom, and place him in charge of Egypt."

How did he get away with this bold statement?

Because when Pharaoh first laid eyes on Yosef, a memory was triggered that told him "This is the man who will interpret, this is the man I must keep close to me."

In other words, Pharaoh wanted Yosef to interpret correctly and to suggest a man be appointed, and Pharaoh presented the dreams with his own commentary in order to help Yosef produce the interpretation Pharaoh could not pull out of his subconscious mind.

First impressions are very powerful. Sometimes you meet someone for the first time and feel kinship, or feel this person is a person you'd like to get to know better. And sometimes there's a feeling you can't put your finger on that tells you this person will be a lifelong friend. There are many married couples who will tell you "they knew" when they first met, even if they did not hear bells and whistles or experience what Hollywood calls "love at first sight" (a concept I don't believe in).

Because Pharaoh wanted this encounter to work out (as he immediately set in motion in 41:38-35), he took the steps he needed to in order to give Yosef the chance to "earn" being close to him, the reward he carried for the rest of their days.

The Kallah and the Shver

This can also be read in the Jewish Star (check out their new layout!)

Parshat Miketz

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Shortly after Yosef is given his new title, he is introduced to his new wife – Asenath bat Poti Phera, the priest of On. Paroh, King of Egypt was the shadchan.

As Yosef was not really given a chance to polish up his own shidduch resume (though "Viceroy" is pretty good "yichus"), or to check out his bride's before they wed, we may wonder what brought these two people together, other than their illustrious matchmaker? And who is this two-named individual (Poti Phera – see Sofrim 5:12, Yerushalmi Megillah Chapter 1, 1:9) who now becomes the father-in-law of the new viceroy of Egypt?

The classic interpretation is that Poti Phera is Potiphar, Yosef's former master. Midrash Rabba (86:3) says the word "Phera" means he pulled himself towards pagan idolatry. The gemara (Sotah 13b) says Potiphar's name was changed because he had become emasculated ("Phera" means his masculinity had been "removed," a divine punishment he received for having eyes for Yosef). Most commentaries follow the latter interpretation, quoting Rashi who takes the lead in this direction.

Parshat Miketz - Soulmates

Read this in the Jewish Star or right here
Parsha: Pharaoh finds a soul mate
Parshat Miketz
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Issue of December 18, 2009/ 1 Tevet 5770

On the eve of his birthday the Egyptian monarch has two dreams that vex and try his sanity. “In the morning he was very upset. He sent word, summoning all the symbolists and wise men of Egypt. Paroh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could provide a satisfactory interpretation.” (41:8) (Shadal notes that his dreams take place exactly two years after his birthday party of 40:20.)

Rashi quotes the Midrash that his interpreters gave all sorts of interpretations surrounding the number seven, but none was satisfactory to him.

If Paroh employed so many interpreters, and if their magical powers were uninspiring to Paroh, what made Yosef’s interpretation so acceptable? Why would his attempt make Paroh flip the table so drastically so as to turn a slave into the second in command of all Egypt?

Imagine someone in the mailroom coming up with a single good idea, only to be named CEO within five minutes. In most cases, even if the boss appreciates the contribution, the most the employee could reasonably expect is a nice bonus. Maybe he’ll get a promotion. But the owner of the company is not likely to place the inexperienced mail sorter in the top rank of the company!

Nechama Leibowitz quotes a Midrash in which Paroh says, “Just as I saw the dream, so I saw its interpretation.” Similarly, Sekhel Tov records, “He was immediately reminded of the interpretation of the dream, that this was as Joseph had interpreted. He had forgotten it, but now remembered.”

In other words, Paroh was intuitively aware of the correct interpretation to his dreams. He merely needed to hear it presented to him the way he knew it to be true, in order for his take on the situation to be confirmed.

In this light, perhaps when Yosef came along and presented the truth to Paroh, he was no longer a slave-prisoner, parallel to the mailroom sorter of our parable (no, I am not equating the two), but he became an extremely close confidant to Paroh.

Paroh saw in him a person with whom he had a naturally close kinship. Not only could he hear the king out and understand his innermost thoughts, but he could also provide a plan of action in line with the king’s plans and needs for ruling his country and taking care of his people.

This unique bonding of souls was particularly suited for a human monarch who, if our understanding of ancient Egyptian culture is correct, fancied himself a deity. How could a human who tries to pass himself off as a god deal with his human frailties? He can if he finds a human being who understands him, who sees him for who he is and the image he must present, yet who relates to him in a way no other human can.

Paroh said to his advisors, “Can there be another person who has G-d’s spirit in him as this man does?” Paroh said to Joseph, “Since G-d has informed you about all this, there can be no one with as much insight and wisdom as you. You shall be in charge of my government, and food will be distributed to my people by your orders. Only by the throne will I outrank you.” Paroh then formally declared to Joseph, “I am placing you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” Paroh took his ring off his own hand and placed it on the hand of Joseph. He had him dressed in the finest linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck. He had [Joseph] ride in his second royal chariot, and [those going] ahead of him announced, ‘The Viceroy!’ [Joseph] was thus given authority over all Egypt. Paroh said to Joseph, “I am Paroh. Without your say, no man will lift a hand or foot in all Egypt.” (41:38-44)

We see as well, after Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, how his relationship with Paroh has developed over seven years:

“Now it is not you who sent me here, but G-d. He has made me Paroh’s vizier, director of his entire government, and dictator of all Egypt. Hurry, go back to my father, and give him the message: Your son Joseph says, ‘G-d has made me master of all Egypt.’ Come to me without delay.” (45:8-9)

Not everyone merits the privilege of such a wonderful and close relationship with another human being. Some people find it in a spouse. Some have a close friend and confidant. Some have such a relationship with one or both parents, and some have this kind of relationship with a son or daughter.

It does not have to be about finishing each other’s sentences. But it is about being completely in sync, completely understanding, and completely relating to the other person’s experience, to the point that you feel like soul brothers, soul sisters, or in the case of a spouse, soul mates, perhaps.

More important than interpreting dreams correctly is connecting with the other person, to the point that the other person feels you fill his or her life with power, strength, and encouragement to take on all of life’s challenges, and every blessed new day.