Results tagged ‘ Mikeitz #2 ’

Mikeitz #2

Mikeitz
 
In this week’s parsha Pharaoh experiences 2 troubling dreams.
 
In the first dream (41;1-4), 7 cows of poor appearance (skinny) ate 7 cows of beautiful appearance (healthy). Immediately after (41-5-7) he had a second dream where 7 thin stalks of grain ate 7 healthy stalks of grain. Yosef interpreted the dream (41;29-32) to mean that there would be 7 years of great abundance in the land of Egypt followed by 7 years of famine.
 
The question arises: Why was Yosef able to interpret the dreams correctly but Pharaoh’s necromancers weren’t (see: 41;8)?  
 
Additionally, the Maharal (37;12) states that Yosef’s brothers were led to selling him because they “pastured themselves.” How do we understand this?
 
Rabbi Yochanan Zweig explains that Yosef’s brothers were very stressed because there was a lot of hatred for Yosef “around the house.” For example, Rashi (37;4) relates that the brothers weren’t even able to speak to him due to their hatred. As a result, in order to relieve their stress, Rabbi Zweig explains that the brothers went out to the field and ”grazed themselves.” This helped them successfully calm their stress. And how grazing successfully relieve their stress? Rabbi Zweig explains that the grazing gave the brothers pleasure, and when one gives themselves constant pleasure they are able to take their mind off their troubles. Therefore, the brothers “grazed themselves” as a means to give themselves pleasure in order to forget about their troubles. 
 
However, a problem arises one’s troubles get confronted and they get reminded of all their troubles. This is what happened with Yosef’s brothers, as when they were grazing themselves Yosef came to visit them (see: 37;19). The torah (37;19) states that when the brothers saw Yosef coming towards them in the fields that they all said to each other ”Look! That dreamer is coming!” Meaning, by seeing him coming they were reminded of all their troubles which stemmed from the dreams. As a result, Rabbi Zweig explains that the brothers sought to kill him in order to get rid of their stress.
 
Rabbi Zweig explains that when people feel stressed and troubled they tend to even deny good things. And why is that? Rabbi Zweig explains that when one has high expectations and they are let down they feel completely devastated. As a result, when people are feeling down they often deny even good news because it’s easier to cope with failure when one has low expectations.
 
Lastly, Rabbi Zweig explains that Pharaoh’s necromancers were actually able to interpret the dreams correctly. Why then did they give the wrong interpretations? Rabbi Zweig explains that they didn’t want to tell Pharaoh that he would have 7 years of famine for they thought that would destroy his kingship and that he would therefore deny their interpretations. As a result, they came up with interpretations in which Pharaoh would be able to cope with, but Pharaoh was able to prove them all wrong.

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