BS”D

Miketz – The Dream Merchant

Dr M Bank

A Guten Erev Shabbos. I would like to reflect on this week’s parsha, that in the first three sentences, once again we get a tremendous insight into how infinitely important every word of Torah is, and how it doesn’t only speak to a person who lived that moment or to the people around him, but it also speaks to us today. I would like to call this week’s dvar Torah, the Dream Merchant. The one that was raised from the prison to the palace bekerev ayin, in the blink of an eye. This is a remez to what is going to happen to Israel at the end of days. All the Jews across the world are going to be raised from the prisons and pyramids. What happened in Egypt 2,500 years ago is going to be nothing like the Geula at the end of days. For anybody that is in captivity, Jonathan Pollard, or the Jews held in captivity by Hezbollah or by Iran, in the most helpless hopeless conditions, in the most squalid prisons where any day the edge of a sword. In a split second when Geula comes, H’ will release them and their captors will surely perish. Anybody who takes a Jew prisoner is punishable by death. It is an incredible insight that the wine butler of Pharaoh who was released two years earlier after the interpretation of the dream merchant, Yosef, with his amazing dream coat that caused him so much trouble, had to stay in prison for an extra two years for the words that he said. How much more careful do we have to be about the words that come out of our mouths. We he to thank H for the good land that he has given us, and we mustn’t trade in it, because it is not real estate for us to trade, its unreal estate, its our pathway to heaven. Many of the mitzvos cannot be done outside Eretz Yisrael. Learning Torah is good, but the learning is for the doing. That can only be done here. The Vilna Gaon, the greatest genious for many generations dreamed of coming back to Eretz Yisrael. Moshe Rabbeinu cried out to H 100 times until H said dayenu, no more. He forbade him to even pray to come to Eretz Yisrael. Anyone that wants to come home almost is less than 24 hours away. Every week before Shabbos Kol Am Yisrael, almost, could be home. Both in Torah and in the physical.

So we contemplate what happened to Yosef. 2 years to the day, Pharaohs birthday was on Rosh Hashana, and his dream was on the very same day, 2 years later. It is said that the dreams of the Kings are of national and international importance. It had to go through Pharaoh, and it had to be such a dream that even when you went back to sleep again, it came back to haunt you double. What was this whole episode with the dream. Pharaoh dreamt that he was standing over the river. Its an interesting word ‘the river’ – Yeor, because the Nile river, throughout Torah, is always referred to as ‘the river’ because it is absolutely vital in Egyptian life and survival. According to Rashi, the word Yeor means canal. This name was used for the Nile because Egyptian farmers dug a network of canals from it to irrigate the land. We look to the prayers of Sukkos and we see that at the end of days, when Mashiach Tzidkeinu is here, all the nations of the world will bring their offerings to the Beis Hamikdash, really an ingathering of Am Yisrael from the nations. The nations are coming even now to make some sort of public demonstration on Sukkos in Jerusalem. Of course, without the Beis Hamikdash, its all preparation. Not the real thing. Every nation will have to bring offerings. Any nation that does not, their rain will be locked up for the coming year. So the question is asked about Egypt – they do not get any rain anyway. They get all their gashmius from the Nile river. If they do not bring offerings, H-shem will lock the Nile river. Even for a nation like Egypt that doesn’t have a prayer for rain, for obvious reasons, H still keeps the the artery of their survival open. But, if they rebel, then H-shem will lock up the Nile as well. The Pharaoh dreamt that he was standing on the river. His thoughts were directed towards the river whose annual overflow determined exactly the fate of agriculture in the coming year, according to Rav Hirsch. The Nile was the source of Egypt’s prosperity. We see this in the plague of blood when they cried out. A famous document was found 100 years ago, written on parchment, that was in a museum in the Netherlands, which syas “the Nile has bene turned to blood, what will become of us?”. In the plague of blood, the first plague to strike Egypt, their first god, so to speak, was struck dead by our G-d. They creid out because this was such a severe blow, it was a death blow to their whole economy and existence. Imagine, no water for a week. No possibility of water. Everything that one drinks is blood. Of course you cannot drink it. That shows the power of the first blow to the Nile river. So we see in our parsha, Pharaoh is standing on the river, reflecting upon it. They saw the Nile as the source of prosperity, as their god. G-d wants the whole world to recognise the true source, G-d Himself. Pharaohs position over the Nile hints at his arrogance, considering himself superior to the god of Egypt, their god. He considered himself the god of gods. He saw himself walking on the water. In a strange way, History repeats itself so often, we see that this was not the only time a person was ‘walking on water’ and then claimed that he was a god. Nobody ever saw Pharaoh in the bathroom, giving the impression that he did not go to the bathroom. What he did was, he would go to the Nile. He would do his necessary things in the river. In the plague of blood, all the fish in the Nile died and in the plague of frogs, they all died in the Nile. There was a tremendous stink in the land. This was a bit of a symbol for the Pharaoh. You make a stink over there, its not a problem for H-shem to save it all for one special day. “Behold, out of the river emerged seven cows over beautiful appearance, robust flesh, grazing in the marshlands. Behold seven other cows emerged after them out of the river. Of ugly appearance like they had never seen before, with very thin flesh. They emerged from the river and ate the cows of beautiful appearance. Pharaoh awoke and was quite shocked at this dream. It was a violent, deeply disturbing dream. He tried to sleep again to shake it off and had a second dream. Seven ears of grain were sprouting on a single stork, which is unusual because it is usually one on one. These were healthy and robust. Then behold, seven thin ears were growing, scorched by the east wind”. The east wind would come from the desert and blow across the whole desert. It was so dry and full of sand that it would destroy what was left of the wheat. So Pharaoh knew about those winds. “The seven thin ears swallowed up the seven healthy ears. Behold, this had also been a dream. His spirit was agitated. In the morning he summonsed all the necromancers of Egypt and all the wise men”. Everybody that had ever been successful in some kind of transcendental meditational para-nevuah so to sepak – palm reading and crystal ball reading which is all forbidden. Pharaoh related his dream to them but none could interpret the dream to Pharaoh. My question is, why? A person can tell another person what he dreamt. If he doesn’t know what the dream is, how can he know that other people do not know the true interpretation of the dream? If Pahraoh did not know what the dream was, how could he know that everybody else was wrong but Yosef was right? How can he say to Yosef, take reign, take control of this country. You are now the mightiest person in the word besides the King. You have total rule over this country. I only have one thing above you, that I hold the ring, the seal, but even that I allow you to use in my name for everything, but I will hold on to it. Literally, Yosef went from the prison to the pace in a split second. It is incredible. No Jew in the world is allowed, even with a sword at his throat to give up hope. We understand from Yosef flight to fame that nothing is impossible in the eyes of H-shem. The wine pourer, who had already once nearly lost his head for agitating the Pharaoh like the baker who was executed for a tiny little pebble in a tiny piece of bread that got to the Pharaohs table. If the wine was poisoned or bad the tasters, who had to taste the food themselves, would perish. Sometimes it would depend which glass they tasted. It was Russian roulette. Occasionally Pharaoh would give them both cups. They never knew where it was coming from. He knew that the tinniest mistake carried the death sentence, all the more so for cheekiness and all the more so for giving bad advice. Pharaoh was sitting on top of millions of people – the biggest nation in the world back then. Like Russia, America and China all bound into one. That t\was the power of the Pharaoh. He was the King of the civilised world. The butler made a confession reminding Pharaoh when he had imprisoned him in the house of the butcher – a euphemism for the chief executioner. He butchered people and would come home at night with his clothes dripping from the blood of people he had beheaded. Yosef had to clean his clothing and take care o his home. Imagine the predicament of Yosef when he was thrust into prison. It was death row. The butler said, “the chamberlain of the bakers and I both dreamt a dream. There was a youth, a Jew, who was a slave of the Chamberlain of the butchers. We told him the dream and he interpreted the dream for us. It was just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. I was restored to my post. The chamberlain of the bakers was hung”. Pharaoh summoned Yosef, who was rushed in from the dungeons. I just want to quickly explore the whole inyan of the chamberlain and cup bearer. Rashi says that there were a lot of interpreters but none of their interpretations satisfied Pahraoh. How could Pharaoh be sure? The cup bearer seeing Pharaoh’s agitated state realsied that he would be in grave danger if he did not reveal his knowledge and somebody else did. Pharaoh also seemed so upset that he could perish, a new King could take the throne and bring about a revolution which could cost the cup bearer much more than his own position, his life. In the circumstances, the cup bearer decided that it was in his own interest to remember Yosef. He was a vehicle for the exact ratzon of H’. To explore how the cup bearer presented it is also very revealing. He had to make a point of showing his great devotion to the King, according to the Radak and Ibn Ezra. He describes Yosef in the most derogatory and disgusting way possible then, and possibly today. Cursed are the wicked because even their favours are incomplete. “A youngster, a kid – ignorant and unfit for distinction or recognition. A Jew, a foreigner, who does not even understand our language and doesn’t understand our ways, all the moreso. Eved – he is a slave. It was written in the laws of Egypt, that a slave can neither be a ruler, nor even wear the robes of a ruler. According to Rashi, the Chamberlain chose his words very carefully in order to completely destroy the reputation of Yosef since evil people live in line with their personalities. Now already we see that the wine pourer was one of the first historical, and possibly hysterical, antisemites. The stage is set that if the dream merchant is trading in false goods, then he will also lose his head and he wouldn’t be a risk to the wine pourer. He doesn’t think it will be a success, but if the Pharaoh wants to look into this matter, then let it be known to one and all that the wine pourer has no confidence in this Jew, that is a slave, a young kid and he shouldn’t have been left in the prison and should have been executed already. How ironic that Yosef asked for his help and was punished with 2 additional years in prison. If a person has the key to the prison door, should he sit back and refuse to unlock it until H-shem opens the door. Should he refuse to get up until somebody carries him out. If a person sees an opportunity that is an opening of hope, should he take it or wait for a divine sign? This is a tremendous question. It depends on the madrega (level) of the person, whether he is with H and for H’. If a person believes he has to do effort, according to the way a person goes, so H’ takes him. Yosef was a total eved H’. He was one of the greatest examples of all world history. Even in the darkest moments with Potifera, the chief executioner’s wife, he cried out I can’t be with you because maybe the servants will come, maybe your husband will hear, maybe it is an insult to the Egyptians that a jewish boy will have relations with the wife of an Egyptian, it will be a terrible example, then he saw a vision of his father Yaakov’s facve on the kise hakavod and said that’s it. It was obvious he constantly had this vision of H’ before him. So he said, that’s it, My G-d forbids it and nothing else counts. He paid for it with his jacket. In a plsit second H can turn things around, so it is forbidden even for split second to give up faith – bitachon and emuna. However helpless the situation is, we have to believe in one thing. That H-shem will save am Yisrael through all the darkest moments in world history.

Pharaoh summonsed Yosef, rushed him up from the dungeons, made him change his clothing. Imagine, there was Yosef languishing in prison for 12 years with no contact with his family or friends. There was nobody trying to rescue him or communicate with him. He was lost to civilisation to the best of his knowledge. His dreams seemed hopeless. All of a sudden, Pharaohs servants whisk him away from prison, change his clothing. He doesn’t know if this is for life or death – maybe he is going before the crowds to be executed. He is dragged before the Pharaoh. ‘I had a dream…and it was good’. No, not exactly that type of dream. But Pharaoh did see behind the mountain and what he saw was terrifying. He could not rest. He said, “I dreamt a dream and noone can interpret it. I heard it said of you that you comprehend dreams and you can interpret it”. Look at how the onus was thrust on Yosef. What does a person say? ‘Thank Mr Pharaoh, whatever it is I’ll tell you the answer’. That is what the advisers to the President would say. “I’ll tell you my opinion”. Yosef responds, “that is beyond me”. Hopw can he answer Pharaoh by saying, “that is beyond me”? Forget about it. There is no way that I can interpret your dreams, its impossible. All those wise necromancers tapping into avoda zara, and having been 100% successful in the past. What do you want from me? Yosef responds “It is G-d who will respond”. Listen to this. Can we understand the emuna of Yosef? He is so sure H will help. Can we begin to comprehend the level of Yosef. If he gets it 1mm wrong like all the previous people who got it wrong, who lost their heads for it, how much moreso, Yosef. He is knocking on heaven’s door. If he gets one word wrong… would you like to stake your reputation on this? Could you say, I’m not so confident, please pick on the guy next to me. Look in the Yellow Pages under dream merchants. Forget about me, I had a dream once but I lost it. Really when we look at Yosef, we see incredible bravery, absolute truth and walking with H-shem constantly. “It is beyond me. G-d will respond with Pahraoh’s welfare”. It is known already that Rosh Hashana is of international importance. H-shem will give him the koach and nobody else to interpret his dreams. This is a matter of curiosity.

Pharaoh said, “in my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the river. Behold out of the river seven cows of beautiful flesh and ruddy form, grazing in the marshlands. Suddenly seven other cows emerged, scrawny, inferior cows. I have never seen inferiority like this in all my days in Egypt. The skin cows ate up all the healthy cows. They came inside the thin cows but there wasn’t even a hint that they came inside of them. The appearance remained as inferior as it was at the beginning. There was no place for the fat cows inside the skinny cows. If a snake eats a large animal or a lion eats its prey, you can tell. For these animals there was not even a remez. “There I was and I saw seven ears of corn sprouting full and good”. This was an incredible seven-fold blessing so to speak. Seven thin ears scorched by the wind were growing after them. The seven thin ears of grain ate up the seven good ones. I told the dream to all the necromancers and not one of them could explain it to me”. Just to put a little cherry on the top, he said ‘they could not explain it, so I have done away with them. How do you feel about that? Do you want to continue with this?” So lets explore. Yosef said to Pahraoh, the dreams that Pharaoh had are one dream. H-shem has shown Pharaoh that there will be seven good years and seven years of famine. How I it that when Pahraoh told the necromancers, the chartumim, the worshippers of idolatrous forces and star gazers. Why didn’t he mention the wise men? He was not surprised wise men could not interpret the dream based on logic alone. He was only disappointed that the idolatrous fortune tellers who used forbidden magic to decipher dreams, this time they were unable to do it, according to HaEmek Davar.

Now we see the answer to both questions, how the Pharaoh was so sure that on the one hand all the previous interpretations were wrong and that Yosef was spot on. He interpreted the dream so accurately that he was able to tell Pharaoh the course of action he would need to take to save the country from a disastrous famine. An unprecedented thing was going to happen in Egypt. Not only that a foreigner, a youth, a slave, everything derogatory according to Egyptian values would be appointed. Everything in Egypt would have to be subjected to H-shem’ will, the ruler, the government, everything to make the impossible possible. So we see over here, what was it that Yosef told Pharaoh? If you look carefully at the beginning of the parsha, it says that Pahraoh dreamt he was on the river. As we explained, he figured that he could walk on the river. When Pharaoh told his dream he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile. Yosef replied, with all due respect to the Pharaoh, that is not correct”. Everybody was shocked at this impudence. Nevertheless he continued. Pharaoh described the cows. Yosef again responded, “No, they were not inferior. They were skin and bones”. Pharaoh was getting agitated. “How can you tell me what I was dreaming. Were you in my dream? Were you spying on my dream? How can you know these things? Its never happened before”. Then we return to the exact start of the whole thing. “It is beyond me” sid Yosef to the Pharaoh. “It is H-shem who will respond to Pharaoh’s welfare”. H-shem is not just telling him what will be but also what he must do to guide the country through the impossible seven and seven. All the star gazers had fallen into a trap. When Pharaoh said ‘on the banks of the driver’ nobody stopped him. Pharaoh was not watching world history go bye. He was standing ‘on the river’. The dream had three levels of interpretation. The scriptural, Pharaoh’s account and finally Yosef’s correction of Pharaoh’s dream from ‘al sfas hayeor’ to ‘al ha ye’or’. Yosef corrected Pharaoh as to the content of the dream. Pharaoh was absolutely overwhelmed. He could tell that Yosef was no beginner but that Yosef had nevuah and that nobody else would be able to navigate the situation any further. The years of famine would be so severe that they would forget the seven years of plenty. The two dreams meant that this was imminent and H-shem would start the seven years of famine immediately, as soon as Pharaoh had had the dream.

Yosef finished the interpretation as follows “you must find a discerning and wise man and set him over the people of Egypt”. Let Pharaoh appoint overseers, collect the produce of the approaching good years, to amass food in the cities and safeguard it”. Archaeologically, the stones of the wheat cities that Yosef set up have been discovered recently.

According to Egyptian law, slaves could not be appointed to a high position. The Midrash explains that the advsiers and magicians complained – will you set this person over us, who was bought for twenty pieces of silver? Pharaoh realised that only Yosef could implement the master plan for the world and their national salvation. Pharaoh wanted to make an exception to that law, because Yosef could only function if he was approved by the aristocracy. He therefore had to speak in their presence. Yosef’s suggestion found favour in the eyes of Pharaoh and all his servants. Yosef transmitted the Kedusha of ShemH-shem. The Pharaoh said, “since you have informed us of all this, there can be no-one as fitting as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and by your command shall all our people be sustained. Only in the seal shall I outrank you. I have put you in charge of all the land of Egypt. He put the ring with the seal on Yosef’s hand, gave him fine garments and placed a gold chain on his neck. He also had him ride in the second Royal chariot. They proclaimed before him ‘Avreich’ and thus he became known throughout the land of Egypt”. This was the dream that Yosef had – that he was coming to Egypt. Not for his own kavod but to save his family, to save the world. This was the same dream, in a remez, that Yaakov had when he gave Yosef his first coat, preparing him for Royalty, preparing him for the moment, that he would be able to act for the dignity of royalty, and that he would be able to handle all the complications of jealousy. He was able to understand the inherent dangers of taking power. He did it all for the sake of H-shem. Therefore H-shem made his ratzon His ratzon.

Ultimately, today, H-shem has thrust us into a unique turning point in world history where we are coming back to Torah, coming back to Eretz Yisrael, coming back to the greatest time possibly in world history, that we are able to fulfil the nissei of HaKadosh Boruch Hu, the we are able to be mefarsem the Torah of H’shem, Udvar H’shem Miyerushlayim and of course Dvar Yerushlayim Me H-Shem. These are unique tiumes for us to catch the waves, to catch the light. Just as it is on Chanukah, in even the darkest moments, we were able to light up the world with the light of Torah. Then the whole world will say, “What a great and awesome nation this is”, not because we are great or awesome, but because H’s blessing is great and awesome. Then Am Yisrael will come back to all these great blessings that H had in mind for us, ‘Vayehi bayom hahu yiyhe H-shem Ehad Ushmo Ehad”. May we be zoche to see these miracles and blessings soon in our days, the return of Am Yisrael from allthe Egypts of the world, and the return of H’s blessing to all the nations of the world and the Geula Shleima, Moshiach Tzidkeinu, Har hamoria, to the Mishkan, Moshe Rabbeinu, Aaron HaCohen, serving H’shem with Kol Am Yisrael, tehiyas hameisim, all the tzaddikim rising up to serve H-shem as was predicted in the beginning of time for the end of time. And may we all be zoche to a Shabbat Shalom, Kol Am Yisrael and the whole world.