Parashat Hashavua: Miketz

Can bad times get so bad that they swallow up the good times, without even leaving a trace? Initially, this does not seem to be the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams in parashat Miketz. First, Pharaoh dreams that “they – the bad looking and thin cows – ate the seven fine looking, healthy cows / וַתֹּאכַ֣לְנָה הַפָּר֗וֹת רָע֤וֹת הַמַּרְאֶה֙ וְדַקֹּ֣ת הַבָּשָׂ֔ר אֵ֚ת שֶׁ֣בַע הַפָּר֔וֹת יְפֹ֥ת הַמַּרְאֶ֖ה וְהַבְּרִיאֹ֑ת.” (Gen. 41:4) He then dreams of seven healthy and seven thin ears of corn, and that the “seven thin ears swallowed the seven healthy, full ears / וַתִּבְלַ֙עְנָה֙ הַשִּׁבֳּלִ֣ים הַדַּקּ֔וֹת אֵ֚ת שֶׁ֣בַע הַֽשִּׁבֳּלִ֔ים הַבְּרִיא֖וֹת וְהַמְּלֵא֑וֹת.” (Gen. 41:7)

In Pharaoh’s retelling of his first dream to Yosef, however, he adds an important detail: after the thin cows ate the larger ones, “it was not evident they were inside, as their appearance was as bad as at first / וְלֹ֤א נוֹדַע֙ כִּי־בָ֣אוּ אֶל־קִרְבֶּ֔נָה וּמַרְאֵיהֶ֣ן רַ֔ע כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר בַּתְּחִלָּ֑ה.” (Gen. 41:21) Perhaps this is what he dreamed initially – even though the Torah didn’t say so – or perhaps it is already his own interpretation. Either way, Pharaoh adds this only in his retelling of his first dream and not the second, where he simply repeats that “the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears / וַתִּבְלַ֙עְןָ֙ הַשִּׁבֳּלִ֣ים הַדַּקֹּ֔ת אֵ֛ת שֶׁ֥בַע הַֽשִּׁבֳּלִ֖ים הַטֹּב֑וֹת.” (Gen. 41:24)

It is Pharaoh’s retelling of his first dream that Yosef finds most compelling. After the good years, he interprets, “seven years of famine will rise after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate the land / וְ֠קָ֠מוּ שֶׁ֜בַע שְׁנֵ֤י רָעָב֙ אַחֲרֵיהֶ֔ן וְנִשְׁכַּ֥ח כׇּל־הַשָּׂבָ֖ע בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְכִלָּ֥ה הָרָעָ֖ב אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃.” (Gen. 41:30) According to many commentaries, this point is emphasized through an apparent redundancy in Yosef’s interpretation: after having just said that the abundance will be forgotten, he adds that it “will not be known due to the famine that follows, because it will be very severe / וְלֹֽא־יִוָּדַ֤ע הַשָּׂבָע֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ מִפְּנֵ֛י הָרָעָ֥ב הַה֖וּא אַחֲרֵי־כֵ֑ן כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד ה֖וּא מְאֹֽד.” (Gen. 41:31)

Thus, it seems, the bad would be erasing the good without even leaving a trace. Rabbi Yehudah Lev ben Betzalel (the Maharal, Prague, 1524-1609), explains that “something forgotten is sometimes remembered, so it says “‘it will not be known,’ meaning that nobody will have any knowledge of it whatsoever / ודבר שהוא נשכח לפעמים יקרה שהוא נזכר, לכך אמר ׳ולא נודע׳ שלא יהיה נודע כלל בשום ענין השובע.” (Gen. 41:30) His contemporary Rabbi Mordechai ben Avraham Jaffe (Prague 1530-1612) elaborates in the commentary Levush HaOrah that it would

not be remembered the way people remember the good and success they had before, which they talk about and remember in stories when life is difficult, enjoying that they had it… Here, the famine would be so severe that they wouldn’t retell the plenty because they would forget it as though it never happened… And even if they were eating from whatever remained from the plenty, they wouldn’t sense the food because they couldn’t be satisfied during the famine…; they wouldn’t feel it and it would be as if they hadn’t eaten anything

ישכח ולא יזכרוהו כדרך בני אדם הזוכרים טובם ועושרם שהיה להם מכבר ודרכם לספר אותו ולזוכרו בסיפורים בעת דוחקם ויתהנו בו שהיה להם זה… בכאן כ"כ יהיה זלעפות הרעב שלא יזכרו את השובע כי ישכחוהו כאלו לא היה… אף אם בעת הרעב יאכלו מאותו המועט שנשתייר מן השובע לא יודע בתוכו כי לא ישביענו בעת הרעב…לא ירגישו בו וכאלו לא אכלו כלום. (Gen. 41:30)

So what was to be done? Enter Yosef to see to it that Egypt’s fate was not sealed. He goes beyond interpreting the dreams to advise that for the sake of storing and distributing food, “Pharaoh should seek a man of understanding and wisdom, and place him in charge of the land of Egypt / וְעַתָּה֙ יֵרֶ֣א פַרְעֹ֔ה אִ֖ישׁ נָב֣וֹן וְחָכָ֑ם וִישִׁיתֵ֖הוּ עַל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃.” (Gen. 41:33) This was a risky move by Yosef; not only could Pharaoh have been offended by Yosef going beyond his role as interpreter, he might have also felt threatened by the suggestion that someone else should be “in charge of the land!” Instead, Pharaoh echoes Yosef’s exact words in not only accepting his advice but also appointing Yosef: “there is no one so understanding and wise as you / אֵין־נָב֥וֹן וְחָכָ֖ם כָּמֽוֹךָ,” (Gen. 41:39) he says, “and by your word shall all my people be fed / וְעַל־פִּ֖יךָ יִשַּׁ֣ק כׇּל־עַמִּ֑י.” (Gen. 41:40)

Understanding and wisdom, it seems, will be the bulwark against forgetting the good that was and losing the ability to endure bad in order to return to good again. In his commentary Chiba Yeteira, Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin (US/Israel 1945-2020) writes that “someone who is wise knows what was before, and someone with understanding can take that knowledge to create something new / כי חכם יודע את מה שהיה לפניו אבל נבון מחדש דבר מתוך דבר.” (Gen. 41:33) According to Rabbi Henkin, however, Yosef “couldn't have had prior knowledge of years of plenty and famine because they were something new, so ‘understanding’ is mentioned first / ברם אצל יוסף לא היה לו ממה ללמוד על שנות השובע והרעב שהיו דבר חדש, ולכן נבון קודם.”

Then what enabled Yosef to save Egypt and the region, when nobody could have had the necessary wisdom? Yosef of course had “ruach Elohim / the spirit of God,” which he regularly acknowledged and even Pharaoh recognized. (Gen. 41:38) The Chatam Sofer (Hungary, 1762-1839) offers that the person had to be someone from outside Egypt, like Yosef, who was not subject to the decree condemning Egyptians. (Gen. 41:31) One can understand this to mean that Yosef had the broader perspective necessary to meet this challenge. More than anything else, it seems to me, what enabled Yosef were his life experiences, how he has been left for dead twice and came out of both situations alive. As a result, Yosef did possess the wisdom essential for this situation, the ability to remember the good of the past – and the potential for the future – even at the worst possible times. He would not be one of those who would forget and have no knowledge of the abundance; he would remember it, put the memory of it to good use, and believe that with the right approach it could return.

It is worth noting that what saves Egypt here – Yosef being there to overcome memory loss and a knowledge gap – reemerges much later as a fatal Egyptian flaw when “a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Yosef / וַיָּ֥קׇם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף.” (Ex. 1:8) There, at the end of the era when Bnei Yisrael thrived in Egypt – the era that begins this week – Pharaoh is determined to “be wiser than / הָ֥בָה נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה” than Bnei Yisrael (Ex. 1:10), and things were so bad for so long that only “God remembered / וַיִּזְכֹּ֤ר אֱלֹהִים֙.” (Ex. 2:24)

May we be blessed with the wisdom and understanding to overcome even the most difficult times, to maintain a sense of perspective about what was and still is good, and may that perspective inspire and guide us as we look forward to better times ahead.

Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head