Parshat Miketz

 This page is dedicated to categorizing and slightly expanding the blurbs of each article on the parsha. Instead of presenting here per how things were written chronologically (in the order of the years each was written), the goal is to divide in the order of the narrative's subject matter.

Miketz:

Pharaoh's Dreams and Finding out About Yosef

Blame Game - Taking Responsibility for our own indiscretions - After Pharaoh tells his servants of his dreams, the Sar HaMashkim recounts his own indiscretion that put him in prison to meet Yosef. However, rather than saying what he did, he blames Pharaoh ("I recall my sin/error. Pharaoh got angry with me and sent me to prison...") This concept of blaming others for our own flaws is taken to a contemporary soapbox on many people being unable to turn off their phone during prayers. Yes - we know you are not calling yourself. But you didn't turn off your phone, which caused the rest of us to hear every bing, ding and ping that came into your phone during davening. It's not their fault - it's YOUR fault for not turning off your phone!

Yosef and Pharaoh

When Things Are Beyond Our Control? - While some things in life are within the purview of our control, many things are beyond our control. Certainly when it comes to external influences that impact our experiences, we must pause and reflect on how we will react and respond, and hopefully rise to the challenge of what these realities lay before us. Yosef did exactly that through being sold into slavery, existing in prison, and eventually rising to the position he attained after interpreting Pharaoh's dream. 

The Power of Elokim, Who Runs the World - The utilization of different names of God in the conversation between Yosef and Pharaoh (and using other examples of the utilization of these names) was meant to convey an important message to Pharaoh over who is really in charge. Pharaoh's famously referred to themselves as gods. Yosef was trying to pre-empt this with the Pharaoh he encountered (with whom he'd have a long professional and personal relationship).

Dreaming and Rising to the Top - Yosef figures out his own dreams to help Pharaoh figure out his. Noting how every dream we've seen in this parsha and in Vayeshev had a number in it, Yosef figures out from Pharaoh's dream that his number has arrived. This helps him be so bold as to suggest that a person (ahem ahem) would be most fitting to take charge of the food storage project Egypt will be undertaking. 

Why the Book (in its Original Form) is Better than the Movie and the Translation - an insight into Yosef and Paroh getting old business off the table before discussing Paroh's dreams. The word לאמר ('laymor') has a unique meaning that helps Pharaoh be more receptive to Yosef's interpretations, considering the circumstances which landed him in prison in the first place. 

Paroh finds a soulmate in Yosef - Different factors contributed to Pharaoh understanding that Yosef's interpretations were correct. But he also seems to have "known" that this was going to be the case. One approach is that he dreamed the interpretation along with the dream, so hearing it triggered a memory. A different approach is raised in the very next article...

At First Sight - How did Pharaoh know Yosef's was the correct interpretation? He may have dreamed that Yosef would be the one to interpret his dreams. Seeing Yosef triggered a memory that cause him to want Yosef to get it right. His subsequent changes in the narrative of the dream helped Yosef come to the interpretation that was most satisfying to Pharaoh.

How Old Was Yosef's Pharaoh? - Without knowing for sure which Pharaoh of ancient Egypt was the Pharaoh in Yosef's time, this is pure speculation on the age of Pharaoh, and what the relationship between Yosef and Pharaoh is about when we consider the different possibilities in that realm. There were boy kings in Egypt, and kings of every age who ascended to the throne of Egypt. While one of the longest reigning kings in Egypt was Pepi II/Neferkare (between 64-94 years), and the second longest reigning king was Rameses II, it is unlikely either of them reigned when Yosef was in his position for an almost unprecedented 80 years! Those who reigned that long, however, typically ascended to the throne as a child. Without the facts we don't know. But the difference in age makes for a fascinating conversation

Yosef's Kallah and Shver - Poti Phera and Asenath - A walk down Midrashic lane to understand more about the people brought into Yosef's life when he became second in command, and was given a wife. Is PotiPhera the same man as Potiphar, or is he someone else? What is Asenath's background and lineage? How do both of them contribute to advancing Yosef's status in Egypt?

The Famine

Yosef and his Brothers Round 1

Identifying the Source that a Minyan is Ten Men - in a discussion that goes into more of a halakhic and hashkafic space, we look at the brothers of Yosef's entry to Egypt, and their efforts to possibly find Yosef, as a source for a minyan meaning 10 minyan. Going through some of the other suggestions in the teachings of Chazal, we conclude with a Chiddush about the "Spies" (often associated with the concept of a minyan), suggesting there is a significant misunderstanding that has been pointing us in the wrong direction. 

Pre ReUnion - Premonitions of Jewish History - What does it mean for a family to look out for one another? How do the brothers, and specifically Reuven and Yehuda, stand up to the challenge and rise to the occasion?

Relationship Between Yosef and Leah's Four Oldest Sons - Spanning several parshas, including Miketz and Vayigash, we aim to nail down how the relationships Yosef had with the oldest brothers helped advance the narrative as it unfolds in Miketz

Shimon - Flawed Tribe - Shimon's specific imprisonment in this Parsha is one piece of a larger analysis of the personality and history of this most troubling of the tribes. 

Yosef's Strategy - Family Not Dreams - What was driving Yosef in his encounter with his brothers? Was he looking to make sure his dreams would be fulfilled? Is that what drove the seeming obsession with having Binyamin brought to Egypt? Or was Yosef more focused on bringing the family back together? This is a much larger question in general when it comes to understanding Yosef's goals. But it also teaches us what our values should be when it comes to family.

Yosef and his Brothers Round 2

Hail Yosef, the Chief.... Crier? - Yosef cries many times in the Torah's narrative, the first two times being in our Parsha. (the second time is when he sees Binyamin) What does crying symbolize in the Torah? Is is simply an emotional response to a stimulus (as it is for most of us), or is there something else going on with all the crying?

Yosef Lifts His Eyes - To see what? - seeing Binyamin having been brought to Egypt triggered a reaction in Yosef. What were his hopes (as with others in the book of Bereshis who "looked up") in lifting eyes - is there a plan? Or does a different kind of inspiration come from this simple move?

"Put the Money in Their Bags" - What was Yosef trying to achieve by returning the money to his brothers? Since he did it first after he had imprisoned Shimon and second before he was going to set the trap to imprison Binyamin, it seems he had a deeper design than simply not wanting to profit from his family. What was the message?