Miketz
Genesis 41:1-44:17
Kings I 7:40-50
Our chapter begins with a familiar scenario — that of waking up from a bizarre dream and wondering what it meant. To add to the oddness of the situation, Pharoah has a second dream that is almost an exact echo of the first, though this time it is grain that starts fat and is eaten by the lean ears, not by cows. This is an odder image yet; though cows are not cannibalistic, at least they can eat, unlike ears of grain.
Understandably, due to both the content and the repetition, Pharoah is unquiet because of his dreams, so he seeks an interpretation from his advisers. He knows there is some great import to that night’s sleep but cannot understand the message himself.
Here is the first inkling we have of the necessity of Joseph: Pharoah receives messages, but he cannot act without a mediator for the revelation. One wonders if perhaps his position as ruler is compromised here. Should not one so powerful be able to understand his own dreams?
You will recall from last week that Pharaoh’s two servants (baker and cupbearer) had similarly disturbing dreams. In their case, it was two separate dreams, one good and one not so good. They also involved symbolic ingestion (of bread by birds) to denote a not-good outcome. Note for later that the chief cupbearer’s dream involved no one eating or drinking, but merely the acceptance of an offering to do so.
In Pharoah’s dreams, the good and the distressing are intermingled, posing a real problem to the magicians and wise men of Egypt.
Just as the dreams of the servants lead to unthinkable or fabulous outcomes, so do the dreams of Pharoah: If misinterpreted, the entire country could fall into ruin and famine. There is an urgency to Pharoah’s action as if he knows, even without access to the answer, that his future is balanced between these dreams.
The cupbearer solves his problem and that of Joseph, too. He, himself, was in prison facing restoration or impalement, and his gratitude for the relief offered by the young Hebrew is great — three fewer days to worry about the impending ending of his life.
His gift to Pharoah is accepted in the dream and in reality: He has something that no one else can give, something that will bring relief and joy, along with a certain abdication of personal responsibility. Pharoah takes the proffered solution, with its implication that it is a solution not only to the riddle of the dreams but also to the real situation they reflect.
Joseph demurs. Clean and groomed for the first time in a while, he answers Pharaoh, saying, “Not I! God will see to Pharaoh’s welfare.” This is and is not true; for in the correct interpretation of both the dreams, Joseph without being asked comes up with a solution that includes an individual who in some measure takes the place of Pharoah during the upcoming years of preparation and crisis.
One would think that the overseers would be able to report directly! But Joseph comes with the authority of God, and it is that spirit that moves Pharoah from dream to action, and to appointing this young unknown man as the head of all of the wealth of Egypt’s produce for the next 14 years.
With his insight and a bit of chutzpah, Joseph gains power, family and freedom. He who has been confined to pits, slavery and prisons now emerges into the light of the Egyptian sun. As he clearly saw the travesty coming to the land, so he now gets to admire, travel and engage with the land, becoming so much an Egyptian that his own brothers are unable to recognize him later in this parshah.
So we learn of the power of trust in the Divine: Though most of us will never have an experience quite like Joseph’s, still the open heart coupled with a clever mind can create wonderful advantages for all. May we, too, live in blessing as we weather this time of “cows” and “ears of grain,” so that prosperity and love can be fostered and all people may have food, shelter and water.
Rabbi Elisheva Salamo is the spiritual leader of Keddem Congregation in Palo Alto.