“I Have a Dream”
Lest we think that the process of Redemption will negate everything we stood for in the days of exile, this week’s Torah portion informs us that the contrary is true. The dream/exile itself contains the solution. Within the chaotic state of affairs that characterize a dream and the period of exile, there is a powerful hidden energy that only a dream/exile can contain. Within the confusion of exile there are the Mitzvos we do, the Torah we study, the families we raise, the jobs we have, that are themselves the building blocks of the Redemption.
Was Joseph Presumptuous?
Joseph was cruelly thrown into prison, where he interprets the dreams of the king’s baker and butler. Having helped the butler, who was to be restored to his position, Joseph asked him to mention his plight to Pharaoh.
This week’s Torah portion entitled Miketz (the end) begins with Pharaoh’s twin dreams in which he sees meager cows and stalks swallowing up fat cows and stalks, and their meager appearance does not change.
When Pharaoh could not find a sensible interpretation for his dreams, his butler told him of Joseph’s dream interpreting ability. Joseph was promptly brought before Pharaoh and interpreted his dream as a reference to seven years of plenty that will be followed by seven years of famine. These years of famine, Joseph informed Pharaoh, will be so harsh that the people will forget the seven years of plenty.
After successfully interpreting the dream, Joseph then proceeds to advise Pharaoh what to do to avert the catastrophe. During the seven years of plenty the people should store food for the seven years of famine.
Commentators raise the question as to why Joseph volunteered advice to Pharaoh. After all, Pharaoh had just asked him to interpret his dream. Wasn’t it presumptuous for Joseph to offer unsolicited advice?
Standing Together
The Rebbe explains that Pharaoh’s dream itself contained the solution to the problem. When Pharaoh saw the seven fat cows and seven lean cows they were standing together on the river bank. This suggested that the seven good years and seven lean years would somehow occur at the same time. How could that be? How could we have seven fat years and seven lean years simultaneously?
Joseph, therefore, proposed an ingenious solution. By preparing for the seven lean years during the seven fat years, it would be considered as if both periods coincided. After all, the food for the seven lean years was being stored during the seven years of plenty. And during the seven years of famine they were nourished by the food that grew and was stored during the seven fat years.
We can now appreciate why Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph. It was not only his ability to interpret the dream that impressed him; it was his ability to see the solution to the problem predicted by the dream, contained within the dream itself.
Finding the Solution in the Problem of Exile
The lesson for our times is obvious.
Our Sages liken the exile to a dream because of the confusion and contradiction that are inherent in a dream. Exile is a time when – as in a dream state – our thinking processes are clouded. Redemption is therefore appropriately compared to the process of awakening.
But, lest we think that the process of Redemption will negate everything we stood for in the days of exile, this week’s Torah portion informs us that the contrary is true. The dream/exile itself contains the solution. Within the chaotic state of affairs that characterize a dream and the period of exile, there is a powerful hidden energy that only a dream/exile can contain. Within the confusion of exile there are the Mitzvos we do, the Torah we study, the families we raise, the jobs we have, that are themselves the building blocks of the Redemption.
Rather than negating the exile, Redemption will enable us to finally access and fully appreciate the hidden potential we now possess.
Indeed, the Hebrew word for Redemption, Geulah, contains the very same letters as the Hebrew word for exile, Golah. The only difference is that Geulah has an extra letter aleph that stands for G-d the master of the universe.
As we stand on the threshold of the new age of Redemption, we should savor every moment of accomplishment in our present state of exile. For it is the hidden energy that we now possess that will become manifest in the near future. The more we tap into the hidden spirituality contained within us and our environment now, the quicker qe will hasten the Redemption and the deeper our understanding of it will be.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Miketz by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
