CHOCHMAS NASHIM: MIKETZ, SHADOWS OF THE PAST AND FUTURE
By: Suri Davis
I am getting feelings of de ja vu and whispers of the future in this week’s Torah portion. Two weeks ago, Joseph has two dreams, one of them has to do with sheaves of grain. His brothers’ bundles of sheaves bow to his sheaf.
In this week’s torah portion, we have Pharaoh’s dreams, one of them having to do with sheaves of grain as well. There are an infinite number of object of which one could dream, why do both Joseph and Pharaoh dreams contain sheaves of grain.
I researched, this issue, but could not find an answer. So I pondered…It was decades since Joseph had had his dreams. He was sold to a multitude of masters, was seduced, thrown in jail and forgotten…ostensibly. He is on the journey G-d has planned for him, but is in the dark, as we all are, as to how it will all play out. Does he remember his dream of many years ago? As he sits in jail, could he ever imagine that his dream of long ago, meant anything other than a fatuous fantasy of a boy?
But then Pharaoh sets forth to Joseph the details of his dreams, one of which contains sheaves of grain. A light goes off possibly in Joseph’s mind, which hearkens back to the dream of his youth, wherein he dreamed also of sheaves of grain. Is it meant as a spark of de ja vu to touch off in Joseph his memory of the long ago dream wherein his brothers sheaves would bow to his? Possibly a message from G-d, I am here, this is from me, this is your destiny, redemption is on the way, hang in there.
It is through his G-d-given ability to interpret dreams, that Joseph works his redemption, his hishtadlus/natural efforts, which work with G-d’s plan for his redemption and elevation to second to king. Sheaf to sheaf, the connection is made, G-d reveals, redemption is at hand.
This in my mind, is confirmed by looking at Perek Shira, the holy book which discusses how each thing that G-d created praises G-d:
Sheaves of wheat: Song of the ascent, from the depths I call you, G-d
Sheaves of barley: A prayer of the afflicted man when he swoons, and pours forth his supplications before G-d.
The other grain sheaves say: “The meadows don sheep and the valleys cloak themselves with fodder, they shout joyfully and even sing.” A description of the abundance of cattle and land upon which to graze, great blessings from G-d.
Taken together it is like the Psalm 126, he who sows in tears will reap with joy.
Joseph’s dream of sheaves is a precursor to his being thrown into a pit and sold as a slave and two decades of chaotic turbulence before his redemption.
Pharaoh’s sheaves is a precursor to Joseph’s redemption from jail, and his G-d given ability to interpret dreams comes as a medicine to the ailment of the forthcoming famine, which will grip the entire region. Then Pharaoh trusts the Jew thrown into jail, and Joseph, in a seeming instant, becomes second to the king, answerable only to the king himself.
PART TWO: The Torah mentions nothing superfluous or extraneous, then why a detailed description of Joseph’s coronation:
- He is dressed in royal garb
- He is given the king’s ring
- He is placed on a horse and brought before the kingdom announcing his appointment.
Where do we see this description of the appointing of a Jew to a position of second to a gentile king?
Yes, Joseph’s decedent, Mordechai, to whom this was done by King Achashverosh. Mordechai, who was slated to be hung on Haman’s tree, becomes second to king!!
Sparks of the past, hints of the future.
The pintele yid, that latent light built in to every Jew’s soul. It takes but a spark to light it, like the little pitcher of pure oil discovered in the defiled temple. It was to last but one night, but it enflamed the souls of all Jews for eight days and for all generations to come.
Use the oil of Chanukkah to spark and stoke your soul. Set it aflame. Invite others to light with you so you may stoke their souls and spread the light and warmth of Judaism to our brethren as a torch to ignite the world, as we are a light unto the nations.
Shabbat shalom. Freilich Chanukkah.
-Suri