Miketz
Genesis 41:1-44:17
Numbers 7:24-35
How often is it given to us to have the option to truly and well prepare for major changes in our lives? This week’s parshah begins with that opportunity, though it comes veiled in mystery.
We remember the situation: Pharoah has two strange dreams that seem to mean the same thing — and of course, one should always pay attention when something comes to one twice. In each, seven happy, full cows or ears of grain are engulfed by seven thin and poorly looking ones. This all happens as Pharoah stands by the Nile, the source of life.
No Egyptian is able to help him figure out what these dreams actually mean. Now, we realize that this is a set-up for Joseph to finally come into his own. He, the dreamer of dreams, the interpreter of dreams, the one who sees past the symbol and to the future, will at last have his opportunity to see his dreams become reality. He does so with consummate skill, and trust in the Divine guidance.
Called up from jail, where he has been both wrongly incarcerated and has once again moved into a position of trust, he stands before the greatest ruler of all, and interprets the dream to mean that there will soon be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. To which he adds, without being asked, his personal advice: because Pharaoh had the same dream twice means that the matter “has been determined by God,” and that it will happen soon. He suggests that the Egyptians store excess grain from the years of plenty to eat during the years of famine. Pharaoh agrees, and puts Joseph in charge of his court.
It is interesting that Pharaoh cedes the authority so easily, trusting in God, or in Joseph. Perhaps this is a mark of Joseph’s divinity, that he can make a problem go away in such a miraculous fashion — in other words, the appointment of one man will lead to the salvation of an entire people. So does God with Moses, at the other end of this story.
Back to Jacob — does he know as he is being led to the royal chamber, that his hour of transformation has come? Still a servant, and yet now a servant to only the most high, and to all humanity. His destiny is written between the sky and the water, between the depths of the pit and of jail, of false accusation and servitude and the highs of freedom, the court and anonymity. He is, in fact, the perfect person for this job. Coming as a helper, he knows the value of service. Walking with his mother’s desperate love, his father’s desire, he knows his own greatness.
It is no wonder that he takes his new name, Zaphenath-paneah, with aplomb. Rashi thinks that his new name means “revealer of secrets” — which fits in so many ways. He has had the time to hold the truth that he knew from a very young age (he is only 30 when he becomes Pharaoh’s right-hand man). Now it is the time for action.
I believe most of us know we are destined for something — a chance meeting, a childhood interest, a way of seeing the world helps to shape our lives, and sometimes in ways that we do not expect. I imagine that many of us would love to have the assurance and fortitude of Joseph, the clear knowledge that his destiny will be good and rewarding.
And yet as we watch him through the troubling developments of his life, and in the next few chapters as he re-establishes his relationships with his family, I feel he teaches us also of the profound effect of faith. Trust in God is what he shows, and what in the end, along with his own personal gifts, brings him to his final position.
Even after his death, the Midrash says, his body is carried in the ark with the Ten Commandments, which holds for us the truth of truths — that we are all capable of living our lives in a godly way, and that trust and love and faith are there, ever to guide us.
Rabbi Elisheva Salamo is the spiritual leader of Keddem Congregation in Palo Alto.