(5-6 Minute Read)
Genesis 41:1 – 44:17
Miketz begins two years after the release of the chief cupbearer pursuant to Joseph’s interpretation of his dream. At this point Pharaoh himself had two dreams. Seven sturdy and healthy cows came out of the Nile. As they were grazing, seven gaunt and sickly cows devoured the healthy cows. In the second dream, seven solid and healthy ears of grain grew on a stalk. But then seven thin and scorched ears of grain grew behind them and swallowed up the healthy ears of grain.
The following morning, Pharaoh was very anxious. He called all of the magicians, but none were able to interpret his dream.
The chief cupbearer reminded Pharaoh that previously he had been angry with him and cast him into prison. He related that he and the chief baker both had dreams that were correctly interpreted by a Hebrew young man.
Pharaoh sent for Joseph; he was rushed out of the dungeon and properly groomed. Pharaoh inquired if Joseph could truly interpret dreams.
Joseph replied, “Not I; it is the Most High Who will answer Pharaoh for his welfare.”
Pharaoh described his two dreams to Joseph. Joseph explained that the healthy cows and ears of grain represented seven years of abundance which would be consumed by seven years of famine, symbolized by gaunt cows and scorched ears of grain. Joseph further suggested that Pharaoh appoint a man of wisdom over Egypt in order to set aside a portion of the years of abundance to enable Egypt to survive the following famine.
The plan pleased Pharaoh and his courtiers, and Pharaoh gave Joseph authority over all the land of Egypt as his viceroy. He clothed Joseph in fine clothes and gold, and gave him a royal chariot. He further gave Joseph, now thirty years old, the name Zaphenath-paneah, and gave him Asenath the daughter of Potiphera as a wife. Two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were born to Joseph.
Joseph collected a massive reserve during the years of plenty. But a famine spread over the whole world, and many came to Joseph for food, both from Egypt and beyond.
Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to procure food in order to survive the famine. He did not send Benjamin, however, fearing that disaster might befall him.
Joseph’s brothers came to him as the viceroy of Egypt who dispersed the food rations. They bowed low to Joseph, and he remembered his dreams. Joseph acted like a stranger to his brothers, demanding to know where they came from and accusing them of being spies. Joseph’s brothers ardently denied the accusation, explaining that they were all sons of the same father, but their youngest brother was still at home with their father; another brother was “no more.”
Joseph instructed his brothers to send one of them to bring Benjamin to Egypt to verify their story. In the meantime, the rest of them would be held in prison. After three days, Joseph stated that because he revered the Almighty, he would release them to return to bring food to their families. However, one of them would remain in detention until they returned with Benjamin.
The brothers moaned to each other in Hebrew that they were being Divinely punished on account of their brother. Reuben retorted that he told them not to harm the boy, and now they were faced with the reckoning for his blood. Since Joseph used an interpreter, they did not realize that he understood them. Joseph turned away from them, weeping.
Joseph later took Simeon from among his brothers and bound him for prison. He also secretly ordered that their money for payment should be returned to them and placed in their sacks of grain.
As the brothers returned home, they discovered their money in their bags. They were greatly fearful of the possible implications.
The brothers returned to Canaan and told their father all that had happened and also the demand by the viceroy of Egypt to see Benjamin. They also recounted finding their money inexplicably in their sacks of food.
Jacob was distraught. Reuben offered to allow Jacob to kill his own two sons if he did not return from Egypt with Benjamin. Jacob refused, saying that since Joseph was no more, the loss of Benjamin would kill him with grief.
The famine was severe. Jacob again told his sons to go to Egypt to buy food. They protested, reminding their father of the request of the viceroy of Egypt. An argument ensued, and finally Judah asked Jacob to send Benjamin in his care. If Judah did not return with the boy safely, then he would stand guilty before his father forever.
Jacob reluctantly consented, sending them with gifts for the viceroy along with double payment to cover the previous purchase.
When Joseph saw his brothers return with Benjamin, he ordered a feast to be prepared and that they should be brought to his house. The brothers were initially frightened, fearing that being brought to the viceroy’s home was because of the money in the sacks. At the entrance of the house, the brothers tried to explain to Joseph’s steward about the money, and they offered double the payment. The steward put them at ease, saying that the Most High must have provided them with wealth. He then brought Simeon out to them.
The brothers waited in Joseph’s house, spreading out their gifts for him. When Joseph came home, they bowed low and presented the gifts. Joseph greeted them and asked them if their father was still well. Joseph further saw his youngest brother and confirmed that he was, in fact, Benjamin. Joseph hurried away from them and wept.
As the meal was served, Joseph separated his brothers from the Egyptians according to local custom. He lined them up from the oldest to the youngest, and gave Benjamin portions several times greater than his brothers.
Joseph instructed his steward to again return his brothers’ payments back in their grain sacks. He further told him to place his silver goblet in the sack of the youngest brother.
The brothers departed with their bags of provisions. Joseph sent his steward to overtake him and demand why they repaid good for evil by stealing the silver goblet.
The steward did so. The brothers strongly denied any wrongdoing, declaring that if the silver goblet was found among any of them, he should die. And the rest of them would become slaves of the viceroy. The steward countered that only the man who had stolen the silver goblet would be apprehended and enslaved; the rest would be free to go.
As the steward searched, he found the silver goblet in Benjamin’s bag. The brothers tore their clothes in grief and returned to the city.
Judah and his brothers threw themselves on the ground before Joseph. Joseph criticized them for the alleged “evil deed.”
Judah answered, “How can we plead? The Almighty has uncovered the crime of your servants. We will be your slaves.”
Joseph countered, saying that only the thief of the silver goblet would be enslaved. The rest of the brothers would return to their father in peace.
Our chachamim, rabbinical sages of blessed memory, have asked an interesting question about this parasha, Torah portion. The question posed is, “Who is the real hero of the story of Joseph?” One obvious answer is Joseph. Another answer is Judah, who later in the upcoming parasha expressed repentance and pleaded on behalf of his family. But one rabbinical opinion is that the chief cupbearer is actually a key “hero” of the story.
The idea is presented that the chief cupbearer put himself at great risk by mentioning Joseph to Pharaoh. In order to explain to Pharaoh that Joseph could interpret dreams correctly, he also had to remind Pharaoh that the ruler of Egypt had previously been enraged at him and had him thrown into prison (i.e. Bereishit / Genesis 41:9-10). Following this perspective, the cupbearer had a choice to either remain silent for his own benefit, or to mention Joseph at great risk to himself. The cupbearer chose the latter, which makes him a “hero” of the story. If the cupbearer had put his own wellbeing first, then Joseph might have languished in prison until the day he died.
Another interesting note relates to the description by the chief cupbearer of Joseph. The first term that is used to describe Joseph is “a Hebrew young man.” Joseph had established himself so much as a Hebrew, i.e. a Jew, to such a level that even a person who encountered him for just a short while was most impressed by this aspect of his identity. Most prominent in the persona of Joseph, even more than his status as a slave, prisoner, or assistant warden, was his obvious and apparent dedication to his religious and ethnic heritage as a Hebrew, or a Jew.
This notation is especially pertinent because we see that even at the darkest time in his life when Joseph could have very understandably been furious at the Most High for what had happened to him, Joseph didn’t reject the Almighty. In fact, it seems that even in that dark and terrible situation Joseph unwaveringly and overtly maintained his loyalty to the Eternal One as well as his Jewish heritage as a Hebrew.
Another fascinating aspect of the story noted by certain rabbis is the contrast between Reuben and Judah, particularly in their offers to their father, Jacob, to be responsible for the welfare of Benjamin. In Bereishit / Genesis 42:37, Reuben requested that Benjamin be put into his care, and even pledged to allow Jacob to kill his own two sons if he failed to return Benjamin in safety. Later in Bereishit / Genesis 43:8-9, Judah also asked his father to place Benjamin in his care, but his offer was different. Judah stated that if Benjamin did not return safely, then he personally would be held guilty forever.
Besides the obvious observation that Reuben’s offer to kill his own sons was absurd, some rabbis have noted the deeper nuances at play in the narrative. Reuben apparently had no real comprehension of the dynamics of his father’s grief. After all, how would killing Jacob’s grandchildren possibly alleviate the loss of both Joseph and Benjamin? That would merely compound Jacob’s grief.
Diving deeper into the back story of Reuben, we see that he violated his father’s concubine, Bilhah, possibly as an attempt to balance out the dynamics between “Team Leah” and “Team Rachel.” More than that, we see that Reuben was very concerned about his mother’s emotional welfare, as is evidenced by the provision of the dudaim, or mandrakes, in Bereishit / Genesis 30:14, etc. Quite possibly in a spirit of vindictiveness and revenge, Reuben sought to ruin his father’s relationship with Bilhah. Perceiving that his mother, Leah, had been destructively wronged in her relationship with Jacob, Reuben wrought an act of destructive wrong on Jacob’s relationship with his other wife, Bilhah. We see this type of mentality surface in Reuben’s discussion with his father about the welfare of Benjamin. Reuben, only thinking in terms of vindictive revenge, sought to strike a pact of sorts with his father that would “grant permission” to Jacob to repay Reuben’s failure to safeguard Benjamin with an ensuing “destructive wrong,” i.e. the execution of his own two sons.
Jacob, however, had no interest in such an arrangement. Despite his own imperfections, such destructive vindictiveness against his own sons and grandchildren had no relevance or appeal to the persona of Jacob.
In this context, Judah later raises the issue of Benjamin’s safe travel to Egypt with a different approach and background. The Torah details in Bereishit / Genesis 38 that Judah had already lost two of his own sons, a tragedy which presumably made him distinct among the brothers. Judah came to his father as the only one of his sons who could truly understand his father’s grief over the loss of Joseph and the danger of also losing Benjamin. After all, Judah had been so distraught and concerned about the deaths of his first two sons that he feared the marriage of Tamar, his daughter-in-law, to his third son, erroneously believing that his son might die from it. Only Judah properly understood his father and commiserated with him in an acceptable fashion; only Judah could relate to Jacob as another grieving father who would desperately seek to protect the life of his youngest son.
Additionally, Judah had something he could offer Jacob as “collateral” that none of the other brothers could. After the disgracing of Reuben with the Bilhah affair, and after Jacob’s displeasure with Simeon and Levi after the assault on Shechem, Judah was currently the anticipated heir of the highest hereditary blessings from Jacob. When Judah declared that he would stand guilty before his father forever if Benjamin did not return home safe, he was probably emphasizing that his failure would undoubtedly result in his loss of all blessings from Jacob, much as had happened to his three older brothers. Realizing that Judah could truly understand his grief and concern, and having spent his entire life being fixated on the receipt of Divine blessings, Jacob could value and accept Judah’s offer to guarantee Benjamin’s safety. If Judah couldn’t ensure Benjamin’s safe return home, then none of his sons could. Hence Jacob ultimately acquiescenced in Bereishit / Genesis 43:14, saying, “…as for me, if I am to be bereaved, I will be bereaved.”
One important factor we see from the story of Joseph, especially as described in Miketz, is the fact that the Almighty engineers every aspect of the universe to work together for ultimate good. Obviously the act of Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery is terrible. But, as Joseph noted later in Bereishit / Genesis 50:19-20, “G-d intended it for good.” Joseph commented that the Eternal One was able to use the hateful act of his brothers to put Joseph in a position to help many others, especially during the time of severe famine.
For many of us, seeing good in misfortune or tragedy can be, quite understandably, very challenging. Indeed, in some cases we are not even privileged to see how good can arise out of the bad. A very poignant example of this can be seen with the Nazi Holocaust of over six million Jews in the mid-twentieth century. Millions of people died without ever witnessing what “good” could have possibly come from that. And while it hardly justifies or “makes up” for the Holocaust, within a few years of that great tragedy the modern State of Israel was created on our ancestral homeland. Arguably, without the Holocaust, the State of Israel might not exist.
This is the premise at hand. Obviously the Almighty does not condone or support such atrocious actions as the selling of Joseph into slavery or the Nazi Holocaust. But we see that the Eternal One can use anything in the universe to achieve His will and bring about good, even acts of evil.
May the Holy One, Blessed be He, grant us the strength and the courage to always put our Jewish heritage at the forefront of our identity. May we ever seek to do what is right, especially promoting the welfare of others who are oppressed, even when it might not seem to be in our best interests. May we always seek to understand and commiserate with others properly, and certainly avoid destructive vindictiveness. And may the Holy One, Blessed be He, ever assist us to remain faithful and loyal to Him and the Torah, even in our darkest hours of life, and may we be privileged to see the good that inevitably rises from the evil.
