Gen. 41:1-44:17
Précis: At the end (mikketz) of two years of Joseph’s imprisonment, Pharaoh dreams of cows and ears of corn. The butler who had shared Joseph’s cell now remembers him and calls him from prison. Joseph predicts seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh is so impressed that he appoints Joseph as his chief vizier and Joseph goes about storing grain during the times of plenty.
Joseph marries Asenath and they have two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. When the famine comes, Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to purchase food. Joseph has them brought in while he remains in cognito. He accuses the brothers of spying, and sends them home after they leave one brother hostage and promise to return with their youngest brother, Benjamin. Upon their return, the brothers (including Benjamin) meet the still-unrevealed Joseph. Joseph has their bags filled not only with grain but also with the money used to purchase the grain and has a gold cup hidden in Benjamin’s belongings. When they are “caught” by Joseph’s men, they learn that whoever stole the cup would become Joseph’s slave, while the others would return to their homeland. On this cliffhanger, the parasha ends.
Gen. 41:15-16 “And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it. Now I have heard it said of you that for you to hear a dream is to tell its meaning.’ Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, ‘Not I! God will see to Pharaoh's welfare.’”
Rabbi Andy Shapiro Katz has suggested that our tradition has a skeptical opinion of dream interpretation (Torah Sparks 12/8/18). Many commentators wonder why Pharaoh could not find among his advisors anyone who could make sense of his dreams. Rashi summarizes Midrash Rabbah in this verse, which suggests that Pharaoh’s advisors focused on Pharaoh’s own personal future, and thus he turned to Joseph because he believed that the dreams were about his nation.
Katz then cites Shmuel David Luzzatto (Italy 1800-1865) that Pharaoh’s advisors did understand the nature of the dreams, but all failed to offer any suggestions for how to deal with the outcome. Pharaoh wanted more than an interpretation: he wanted a solution. This is reinforced by the fact that the word used for “interpretation (“pitron”) in contemporary Hebrew is “solution.”
If we read the story this way, when we are faced with a difficult vision of the future, our goal is not only to understand it, but to make plans for overcoming that evil vision. As Katz suggests, “the goal is not only to understand it, but also to come to grips with it without being paralyzed. This requires making a compromise between idealism and pessimism, between the future we hoped for and the dark truth in front of us.”
The United States today faces a bleak future of pandemic, hopefully to be tempered by a vaccine in the coming year. But we also face serious economic and political divisions, a loss of confidence in our institutions, racial strife and inequality, and rising anti-Semitism. We can hide our heads in the sand, or we can work and plan on ways and means to overcome the darkness ahead. Joseph tells us in this verse that interpretation (which can also mean solution) comes from God. We only have to listen to that still, small voice to eventually prevail.
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