From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 3:42 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Miketz, 5768
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
By Rabbi Joshua (drowsily known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
This week's parsha begins with the dream of Pharaoh and Yosef's
interpretation of it. Interestingly, although Yosef was only asked to interpret
the dream, after doing so he goes on to give Pharaoh advice as to averting the
effect of the famine years foretold in the dream. Why did Yosef do this?
Ramban, among other commentators, writes that Yosef saw the advice he gave
within the dream itself, in one way or another, and by giving his advice he was
merely completing his interpretation of the dream. There is, however, another
explanation, cited by Rabbi Avraham, son of the Rambam, in his Torah
commentary, which, beyond explaining the verses, tells us what kind of person
Yosef was, and why he met such success in Egypt. The Rambam's son writes that
his friend, Rav Avraham HeChassid, used to explain that Yosef was, by nature, a
compassionate person, and he was concerned about the fate of the Egyptian
people during the coming years of famine. Fearing that Pharaoh himself would
not know how to avert the catastrophic effects of the famine, he offered him
advice on famine - management. This concern, said Rav Avraham HeChassid, was
reflected in Yosef's final words to Pharaoh after giving that advice, "so
that the land shall not perish in the famine."
We have, in the past (see Netvort to parshas Miketz, 5761) expanded on
the approach of Rav Avraham HeChassid, but I would like to focus on another
question, which we have not previously dealt with. That question is, what led
Yosef to fear that Pharaoh would not take steps to prevent his nation from
suffering the ravages of famine foretold in his dream? After all, a number of
commentators, including the Malbim, tell us that Pharaoh rejected the
interpretations of his dreams offered by his own interpreters because they
interpreted the dreams as having to do with Pharaoh's private life, while he
believed that when he dreamed, he dreamt about matters pertaining to his role
as king of Egypt. This is derived from the verse, "And there was no one who
interpreted it to Pharaoh (Bereishis 41:8)," meaning, there was no
one who interpreted the dream as being relevant to Pharaoh as Pharaoh. Why,
then, did Yosef think that Pharaoh would not provide for his people?
I would like to answer our question based on an answer given by Rav
Yosef Salant, in his Be'er Yosef, to a different question concerning Yosef's
interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams. Rabbi Salant mentions that according to
some commentators, Yosef's advice to Pharaoh was actually part of the interpretation
of the dream. However, says Rabbi Salant, we still need to understand why Yosef
told him to appoint someone over the produce of Egypt during the seven years of
plenty, and not rely on Phaaoh's own administrative abilities. He answers that
the fact that Pharaoh woke up after his first dream, which concerned the cows,
and then went back to sleep and dreamed about the sheaves, indicated that he
would be, figuratively, sleeping throughout the denouement of the dreams,
leaving the administrative matters to someone else. Thus, according the Be'er
Yosef, Yosef viewed the fact that Pharaoh woke up after his initial dream and
then went back to sleep to dream some more as part of the scenario that he was
meant to interpret. Based on this premise, I believe we can understand why
Yosef feared that Pharaoh would not make the proper provisions for his people
in order to avert the coming disaster.
I would like to suggest that the very fact that Pharaoh was able to go
back to sleep after having a dream which had potentially fearful implications
for his nation indicated to Yosef that he did not really care about the general
welfare of that nation. If the dream, which he understood had implications for
his role as the Pharaoh, did not cause him to stay awake at night, he could not
care enough for the potential victims to actually do something to avoid their
possible suffering. Pharaoh's reaction to his dream is, in this respect,
reminiscent of Yonah's reaction to the impending disaster at sea that he was
facing along with his fellow passengers on the boat. Yonah simply went to the
recesses of the boat and found a place to sleep. The captain of the ship then
went over to Yonah and said, "why are you sleeping?" (Yonah, 1:6).
This complaint of the captain was not addressed to Yonah alone, but to all
people, throughout the generations, who seek to escape the crises facing
them by entering a lethargic slumber, and proceeding to dream their lives
away. Perhaps this is what the Rambam was alluding to when he wrote, in his Laws
of Repentance, that the sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is a kind of
wake-up call, telling people to arouse themselves from their spiritual slumber
and return to God. According to the rabbis, in fact, the night that Pharaoh had
his dream was the night of Rosh Hashanah, just before all mankind is judged
before God and its portion for the coming year is determined. Yosef understood
that if Pharaoh could go back to sleep after experiencing the dream that he
did, at the time of year that he did, he could not possibly care enough about
his people to take the necessary precautions to avoid their future suffering.
Therefore, Yosef, in his great compassion for the Egyptian people, as human
beings created in the image of God, proposed to Pharaoh that he appoint someone
else to guide the nation through the difficult times to come.
Best wishes to all for a joyous Chanukah from all of us here at Netvort.
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