Miketz: The Process of Becoming מִקֵּץ Genesis 41:1 - 44:17

(1) After two years’ time, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,(2) when out of the Nile there came up seven cows, handsome and sturdy, and they grazed in the reed grass.(3) But presently, seven other cows came up from the Nile close behind them, ugly and gaunt, and stood beside the cows on the bank of the Nile;(4) and the ugly gaunt cows ate up the seven handsome sturdy cows. And Pharaoh awoke.(5) He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven ears of grain, solid and healthy, grew on a single stalk.(6) But close behind them sprouted seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind.(7) And the thin ears swallowed up the seven solid and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke: it was a dream!

יפות מראה BEAUTIFUL TO THE SIGHT — This was an indication of a period of plenty, when people show themselves well-disposed one to another, for no-one then envies another person’s prosperity (cf. Genesis Rabbah 89:4).

ויהי מקץ..ופרעה חולם, while he was dreaming about all kinds of matters of no relevance, matters reflecting what he had experienced during the course of the previous day, he also dreamt something totally unrelated to matters he could relate to, i.e. he saw himself standing on the banks of the river. The word חולם in the present tense, as opposed to חלם in the past, recalls Daniel’s statement as well as the Talmud’s statement in Berachot 55 that generally the subjects one dreams about are unfinished business of what one had been thinking of in the course of the previous day.

And the essence of the trait of humility is that one contemplates that all the accomplishments that he has are not from the angle of his deeds and his wisdom, but rather that the Creator, blessed be He, effects this accomplishment from the angle of His kindness. And then he merits the aspect of inspiration from the Divine Presence, the aspect of prophecy. And that is [the meaning of] that which is written (Genesis 41:16), “Not I, God will address the peace of Pharaoh.” And Onkelos translates [it as], “It is not from my wisdom; rather the address to the peace of Pharoah will come from before God.” [Its] explanation is that Yosef had the aspect of humility, so he merited the aspect of inspiration from the Divine Presence, the aspect of prophecy.

(8) Next morning, his spirit was agitated, and he sent for all the magician-priests of Egypt, and all its sages; and Pharaoh told them his dreams, but none could interpret them for Pharaoh.(9) The chief cupbearer then spoke up and said to Pharaoh, “I must make mention today of my offenses.(10) Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and placed me in custody in the house of the prefect, together with the chief baker.(11) We had dreams the same night, he and I, each of us a dream with a meaning of its own.(12) A Hebrew youth was there with us, a servant of the prefect; and when we told him our dreams, he interpreted them for us, telling each of the meaning of his dream.

And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream (Gen. 41:7), when a person awakes from a sleeping time and behold, it was a dream [halom], which suggests “He returned and healed [halim].” Based on this reason, we read the Torah portion in question on Hanukkah, because the Torah is advice as is written, I have advice [and sound wisdom; I am insight, I have strength] (Proverbs 8:14) – it advises a person how to serve God and to return to [God] (omitted)[*The notation נשמט ("omitted") appears in the Hebrew text in all editions.]. Therefore it is forbidden to use [the Hanukkah candles’] light, since a person can turn in no direction other than to God alone – not for the sake of this world and also not for the sake of the next world.

(13) And as he interpreted for us, so it came to pass: I was restored to my post, and the other was impaled.”(14) Thereupon Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was rushed from the dungeon. He had his hair cut and changed his clothes, and he appeared before Pharaoh.(15) And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it. Now I have heard it said of you that for you to hear a dream is to tell its meaning.”(16) Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “Not I! God will see to Pharaoh’s welfare.”

IT IS NOT IN ME. Biladai (it is not in me) is a compound of two words. It is not in me refers to And I have heard say of thee that when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it (v. 15). When Joseph heard Pharaoh say this he replied, it is not in me, but God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace via my interpretation. Others say that when Joseph heard Pharaoh say, thou canst interpret dreams, Jospeh replied, I am not (it is not in me) the interpreter; God is, and He will give the king an answer of peace.

(17) Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile,(18) when out of the Nile came up seven sturdy and well-formed cows and grazed in the reed grass.(19) Presently there followed them seven other cows, scrawny, ill-formed, and emaciated—never had I seen their likes for ugliness in all the land of Egypt!(20) And the seven lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven cows, the sturdy ones;(21) but when they had consumed them, one could not tell that they had consumed them, for they looked just as bad as before. And I awoke.

You should appreciate that dreams are caused by one or several of three factors. 1) because of the food a person consumed prior to going to sleep. 2) because of certain thoughts which he entertained before dropping off to sleep. 3) in order to reinforce and provide encouragement to a person’s emotional balance.
The food a person consumed produces a sense of haughtiness and results in some kind of vapour rising to a person’s brain. Dreams which are engendered through this phenomenon are to be totally disregarded; they do not contain any message to the person who dreams them. When a dream is the continuation, albeit in his subconscious, of thoughts he had entertained on an ongoing basis prior to dropping off to sleep, such dreams are the type which were dreamt by Nebuchadnezzar as mentioned by Daniel 2,29 when he said to the King that his thoughts came to him while he was contemplating the future. Seeing he had done so, G’d used this as the appropriate time to reveal some of the future to the King in his dream. Finally, the third cause of a dream, the cause we have termed חזוק הנפש. This is the kind of dream to which it always pays to pay attention as it is a reflection of the dreamer’s personality. Dreams which are the result of a person’s imagination draw images for him during his sleep of matters which had already been the subject of his thinking and planning during his waking hours, matters which had already coalesced in his planning and thinking. During sleep, when a person’s emotions are not interfering with his thought-processes, the factors which prompted him to pursue a certain course of action while he was fully awake are reinforced and engraved in his imagination. Such dreams are not the result of wishful thinking, but are in the nature of a minor prophetic vision. This is what the sages had in mind when they said (Berachot 57) that a dream is 1/60th prophecy. These kinds of prophecies are granted to young children and feeble minded persons (Baba Batra 12) precisely because their minds have not yet been filled with all kinds of images during their waking hours which would have left an impression on their minds even while they were asleep and as a result of which it would be impossible to tell whether such dreams are inspirational or a continuation of what they thought while awake. Dreams of such a nature are granted both to the righteous and to the wicked; they are not due to the dreamer having been immersed in thoughts of such a nature previously; they are not self-induced. G’d wanted to let Pharaoh have such a dream in order to frustrate his advisers and professional dream-interpreters in order to elevate Joseph to the position of viceroy of Egypt, i.e. King, except in name.

The numbers five, six, and ten are mnemonics for the categories to follow. The Gemara says: There are five matters in our world which are one-sixtieth of their most extreme manifestations. They are: Fire, honey, Shabbat, sleep, and a dream. The Gemara elaborates: Our fire is one-sixtieth of the fire of Gehenna; honey is one-sixtieth of manna; Shabbat is one-sixtieth of the World-to-Come; sleep is one-sixtieth of death; and a dream is one-sixtieth of prophecy.