miketz 2012
THE MAN IN THE WINDOW
Six years back, I was walking out of the Argentinian Shabbat minyan in Bayit Vegan,Jerusalem, after the morning prayers, when I heard my name called out in a strong Spanish accent. I turned around to see someone running after me, someone whom I had never made acquaintance. I kept on walking, but more slowly. This fellow caught up to me, and asked, “Are you related to Yosef Shabtai Farhi?” I told him that I had no idea, though my father once told me that most Farhis are related. This fellow, about twenty eight years old, was a collector of old books. He had found a book written by Yosef Shabtai Farhi in a rare ancient book sale inBuenos Aires. The book was (and looked) about 100 years old, and bore the name תקפו של יוסף . This book was written in a time where in Sephardic countries, the European Enlightenment, Reform and Conservative thinking, started to be the “in thing”. The author writes the entire story of Yosef according to all the midrashim, with all the emotions in story style, all in a beautiful rhyme. I read it with passion; it moved me to tears. In the introduction, the author writes that the reason he wrote such a book was for the teens of his generation that were faced with the new temptations of intermarriage. They, and I believe all of us as well, should learn from Yosef how to stand strong in the face of the trials and challenges the “new era exile” may bring. When we want to know how we can stand strong in the face of temptation, we can learn from Yosef, who provided us with the perfect model. Each word is a gold mine.
In the Talmud Sotah (36b), we find the following quote: “At that moment (when Yosef was at the height of his test with the wife of Potifar and about to sin), Yosef’s father’s “reflection appeared in the window. He (the visage) said to him, Yosef! Soon, your brothers will be written on the garments of the High Priest and your name will be among them. Do you want your name to be erased to be called an “agent of harlots”?
We must ask ourselves, who cares where in the bedroom of his master’s wife in Egypt Yosef saw his father’s reflection? What difference does it make if it was seen at the top of the bed or in the window?
The answer is amazing. Our rabbis tell us that Yosef had the exact facial appearance of his father. Yaakov. We can feel safe to say, then, that Yosef did not see his father’s face: he saw his own reflection in the mirror! He saw himself as he would be in the future. He saw what he could become. He saw that he could become like his father. He saw that his name could be written on the holy breastplate – and this is what G-d showed him in the window.
The reason why Yosef merited this “wake up call” was not without a firm base. The Midrash Rabba tells us that the following is how Yosef refused Potifar’s wife: “G-d regularly comes and chooses from the members of my family, from the best of them, someone to be brought up as an Olah sacrifice (Yitzhak). He regularly comes and reveals Himself in prophesy in the middle of the night. If I listen to you and sleep with you, G-d might come to me in the middle of the night and find me impure.”
This is the way, and the only way, a person can endure temptation. He must look ahead at what he could be, and see that this temptation will stop him from getting to his rightful destination. This lesson can be learnt from just one word that jumps out at us here in the Midrash. Every word is a gold mine. And every one of us is a gold mine, as well.
(adapted from R’ Doron D. Gold, אורחות מוסר )
KEEP DREAMING
One of the greatest gifts G-d bestowed on mankind is the ability to dream and imagine. Imagination is a tool that – when properly utilized – can transform the present into the future, helping us move from pain to pleasure, from confinement to liberty. It can trigger in us both the ambition and drive to do what seemed impossible. Unfortunately, many dreams have been destroyed because they were never “supported.” No less important than dreaming and imagining is learning how to support the dreams of those who are close to us. This ability may be needed by a parent who does not really know how to support the dream of a child, or a husband/wife who does not really know how to support the dream of a spouse, or a friend or mentor who does not want to crush the dream of one who has turned to him. Often, just listening properly can do so much good.
Let us go a bit deeper. Imagination is constructed mostly of ideas or information that we already know or experienced. We draw on personal experiences and past knowledge to construct the blueprints of our future. Everyone has gone through different life experiences and perceived things from their unique personal perspective. Thus, no two dreams or goals can be identical. This is why when someone tells us of a dream or an imagined future, it is so important to hear him or her out till the end. We should be looking for something in the dream that can be put into effect – even if it is only a minor element. This can bring out the greatest in the dreamer, and greatly encourage his or her success.
This uniqueness of dreams – both “sleeping and waking” dreams – can be seen in the story of Pharaoh’s dreams, and the difficulty of interpreting them. Pharaoh dreamt that he was standing on the bank of the NileRiverobserving seven scrawny cows devouring seven hefty cows. Then he dreamt about seven thin bundles of grain swallowing seven hefty ones. These dreams troubled Pharaoh, and he looked to his advisors for an appropriate interpretation. One advisor suggested that the dreams meant that Pharaoh would have seven daughters, and then bury all seven. Another advisor interpreted the dreams as meaning that Pharaoh would capture seven countries, and then seven other countries would throw off his yoke. But the interpretations did not satisfy Pharaoh, as the Torah reports: “No-one was able to interpret to Pharaoh” (41:8). In other words, the interpretations were valid dream interpretations, but not for Pharaoh’s particular dreams. Why not?
Another question: When Pharaoh’s chief steward finally told Pharaoh about Yosef, the “Revealer of Dreams,” didn’t he throw away a great opportunity to make it big? All he had to do was pay a visit to Yosef in jail and tell him that he tried his best to get him released – but to no avail. Then, the chief steward could have said to Yosef in an innocent voice: Oh, by the way, I had this really strange dream where I was standing on the bank of the Nile, and I saw seven thin cows swallow seven heavyset ones. And then another dream about seven thin stalks of wheat swallowing seven large ones. I would be forever grateful to you, Yosef, if you would interpret my dreams again, old buddy. And then, with the interpretations in hand, the chief steward could have run back to Pharaoh with Yosef’s authoritative interpretations – without crediting Yosef. Surely Pharaoh would have given him a reward fit for a king. Why didn’t the chief steward go this route? He could have been the hero of the story instead of Yosef!
The answer is revealing. Pharaoh had heard enough interpretations. But he had not heard, as Rashi explains, an interpretation appropriate for a Pharaoh. This was Pharaoh’s dream, and he believed that if it was his dream, then the interpretation should apply to him alone. If he dreamt it, there must be something in it that he could take action on – as a king. Seven daughters and seven funerals could happen to anyone, not only to a Pharaoh. And it was not something that required taking any action in the present. Neither was seven countries captured and seven countries rebelling. Pharaoh did not want to believe that his dreams were meaningless. He was determined to find out how he could make the most of them. None of his advisors were able to see out of themselves and into the psyche of Pharaoh. They simply could not see things from his point of view.
Now, the chief steward knew that if he would approach Yosef as if the dreams were his own, the interpretation would be one for a chief steward, not for a Pharaoh. This plan would simply not work. For this reason, he could only tell Pharaoh of the “Jew boy” who successfully interprets dreams.
Yosef himself had suffered from not being supported in his own dreams. He had revealed to his brothers his own dreams about them bowing down to him although he knew that this could get him into trouble. He did so because he believed that his dreams were nothing less than prophecy, and thus it would have been forbidden to conceal them. We can explain Yosef’s action on a deeper level. Yosef did not see in his dream of others bowing down to him any tinge of honor or fame seeking. This was not something for Yosef to act on as a seventeen year-old living at home. He did understand from his dream that he would one day have to be responsiblefor his parents and brothers. This was something for him to act on at present despite his youth and situation. This is why he would report his brothers’ actions to his father. He thought this was part of being responsible for them. His brothers, on the other hand, took his actions the wrong way, and felt that Yosef was attempting to edge them out of the picture and take over. They thought that Yosef was trying to distance them from their father Yaakov in order to become the sole inheritor and the next Patriarch of the Jewish People. They feared that this would undermine their spiritual growth and future. That is why they took pre-emptive measures against him. Yosef, in contrast, did not see his dream about rising to power as meaning anything more than taking responsibility. Yosef was punished for not being sensitive to their feelings.
Yosef, Revealer of Dreams, was brought to hear the dreams of Pharaoh. Due to his own bitter experience, he would be taking special care to try to see what such dreams could mean to a Pharaoh. Not what they could mean to Yosef. Yosef heard the dreams, and interpreted them according to Pharaoh’s life and position. The interpretation gave Pharaoh something to act on as well. If they would store grain during the years of plenty, then they could survive the years of famine. And the core dream was repeated to Pharaoh because they had to move fast. Pharaoh accepted this interpretation. And he commented that Yosef was the smartest person he had ever met because Yosef was able to hear someone else’s dreams from that person’s perspective. He listened so well that he was able to figure out exactly what Pharaoh needed to understand.
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We, too, can make better use of our dreams. Imagine if every dream we had of being successful actually came true! We would dream much more often! There is something true about every dream. We just have to tap into it. And we must listen very carefully to what we can take action on – and try to make those things happen.
Let’s also listen carefully to the dreams of our children. Let’s listen carefully to the dreams of our spouses. And let us listen carefully to our own dreams. We would then all be much more successful.
Shabbat Shalom, Yosef Farhi
