Genesis 41:1–44:17
Haftarah: Kings I 3:15-4:1
Summary:
Joseph’s imprisonment finally ends when Pharaoh dreams of seven fat cows that are swallowed up by seven lean cows, and of seven fat ears of grain swallowed by seven lean ears. Joseph interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of hunger, and advises Pharaoh to store grain during the plentiful years. Pharaoh appoints Joseph governor of Egypt. Joseph marries Asenath, daughter of Potiphar, and they have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Famine spreads throughout the region, and food can be obtained only in Egypt. Ten of Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to purchase grain; the youngest, Benjamin, stays home, for Jacob fears for his safety. Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they do not recognize him; he accuses them of being spies, insists that they bring Benjamin to prove that they are who they say they are, and imprisons Simeon as a hostage. Later, they discover that the money they paid for their provisions has been mysteriously returned to them.
Jacob agrees to send Benjamin only after Judah assumes personal and eternal responsibility for him. This time Joseph receives them kindly, releases Simeon, and invites them to dinner at his home. But then he plants his silver goblet, purportedly imbued with magic powers, in Benjamin’s sack. When the brothers set out for home the next morning, they are pursued, searched, and arrested when the goblet is discovered. Joseph offers to set them free and retain only Benjamin as his slave. (What will happen? It's a cliffhanger, to be continued next week!)
What lessons can we draw from this . . . ?
Most of this week’s portion is, essentially, part two of a three-portion story arc. Because the denouement occurs next week, I’ll focus on a different part of the portion: dreams.
Joseph is introduced to us, last week, as a “na’ar”, a youth. And, indeed, Rashi, citing Genesis Rabbah, tells us that “na’ar” here is used deliberately – to tell us that Joseph acted childish, like a superficial teenager, self-absorbed, that he was focused on his looks so that he would appear handsome.
Joseph goes on to have a dream, which he shares with his brothers, who react quite negatively. And then, what is the very next thing that happens? Joseph goes and has another dream, which he shares with his brothers.
Is Joseph childish or naïve here? Or both?
As this week’s portion opens, Joseph finds himself in front of Pharaoh who is troubled by two dreams. Rabbi Ari Kahn describes how Joseph deals with this situation:
Joseph never lost his belief and trust in God. Quite the opposite: God is always in his thoughts and in his words. He speaks of God to the libidinous Mrs. Potifar. He speaks of God to his fellow inmates [and] perhaps most impressively, he speaks of God to Pharaoh, a man who thinks of himself as a deity. A lesser man than Yosef would have carefully crafted his speech to endear himself to the Egyptian leader. Yosef is given an opportunity to position himself as an adviser to Pharaoh; his freedom, if not his very life, hinges upon this dialogue. Rather than taking credit for his ability to interpret dreams, rather than talking up his own skill and insight, Yosef explains that he does not possess any personal talent; it is God who knows all. Rather than highlighting or aggrandizing his ability, which is so crucial for Pharaoh, he takes no credit; Yosef instead demurs and speaks only of God. This was certainly a dangerous strategy to employ when dealing with Pharaoh -yet it succeeds.
Is Joseph childish or naïve here? Or both?
Perhaps now we get a sense of what it means that Joseph is a “na’ar”. He never loses his youthful idealism. (How many boys, me among them, had fantasies with a baseball bat, starting our own narrative inside our heads, “it’s two out in the bottom of the ninth inning…”)
The difference is that Joseph held on to those dreams.
And in this week’s portion, Joseph goes further: he can interpret the dreams of others. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks highlights the significance of this:
leaders interpret other people's dreams. They articulate the inchoate. They find a way of expressing the hopes and fears of a generation. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was about taking the hopes of African Americans and giving them wings. It was not Joseph's dreams that made him a leader: it was Pharaoh's. Our own dreams give us direction; it is other people's dreams that give us opportunity.
There's one other important aspect to this story.
Some of the rabbinical commentaries ask the question: was Pharaoh's dream really that hard to interpret? He already had expert dream interpreters that were, presumably, pretty good. What was so insightful about Joseph's interpretation?
The classical answer was that Joseph recognized that the two dreams were the same, and that the repetitive nature of the dreams mean that action needed to be taken soon.
And Joseph had a plan.
And that makes all the difference in the world. Anybody can have a dream. Youths are full of dreams. But can you hold onto your dreams? And, better yet, can you put them into action? And, even better, can you help articulate others' dreams and put them into action?
Joseph was able to do all that. That's why he is first described as a "na'ar". When he was concerned with his looks, it's not that he was self-absorbed with the superficiality of appearances, it was because he was imagining himself to be a leader (just like I imagined myself to be a baseball star), and that it was proper for a leader to look nice. When his brothers criticized him for his dreams, he kept right on dreaming.
Joseph was childish only to the extent that he dreamed and kept on trying to live those dreams.
And that is one of the lessons of Joseph. As Rabbi Sacks sums up: "Dream dreams; understand and articulate the dreams of others; and find ways of turning a dream into a reality."