There are many ways to connect the dreams of Ya’akov and Yosef, but I saw an interesting idea pointed out by Moshe, blogging on the parsha at ToratMoshe, that was particularly interesting for me. He notes that Yosef, unlike his father, actually saw his dreams come to fruition. He was given a clarity that Ya’akov never was. But with this clarity was also an obligation to bring it about. Moshe writes the following:
The Zohar says that a dream un-interpreted is like a letter unopened: the message is there, but has no effect until it is read. But even Prophecy is merely a signpost. It says: if you take this road, this will be your destination. But it requires that we actively take the road.
How does Yosef embody this? How does he actively “take the road?”
Moshe proposes one answer: he sees his own dream from parshat Va-yeishev come true when his brothers bow down to him on their trips to Egypt. After Yosef confrims that, indeed, his dreams are a reality, he realizes that he does have a level of prophecy and insight into the future. And he decides to take an active role in setting up the long term history of the Jewish nation. How? By imprisoning Shimon. Why is this necessary? Because Shimon and Levi are the closest of the brothers. They are bonded in a way the others are not; it is they who schemed together against Shechem and Hamor; it is they who most care for the well-being of their sister Dina when she was raped; and it is only by separating them that Yosef can be assured all the brothers will return to Egypt to redeem the brother he takes captive. Yosef knows that Levi would not abandon Shimon. [I like this interpretation, but am not sold on its validity. After all, it is Reuven and then Yehuda who stick up for Shimon and take the responsibility for their brothers later in the story. That does not mean Levi did not play a role, as obviously not everything is recorded in the Torah, but it might imply that Levi’s role ranked third at best.]
I have another answer in addition to Moshe’s: Yosef actively takes the road with Pharaoh’s dreams as well. Moshe points out elsewhere that the Torah doesn’t say Yosef was the only one that could interpret Pharaoh’s dream. On the contrary, the dream was understood by Pharaoh and all his advisors. The phrase the Torah uses – ein-potar – means in a Talmudic sense that the advisors couldn’t resolve the difficulty. They knew a seven-year famine was coming but didn’t know how to stop it. That is what was unique about Yosef – he interpreted and acted on the dream. So we see in regards to two different dreams, Yosef can be seen to interpret and actively involve himself in creating the necessary (good) outcome.
Based on this understanding, it can also be understood why the same three Torah portions (Yayeishev, Mikeitz, and Vayigash) are always read around Hanukkah. As Rav Mordecai Elon describes, Hanukkah is the precious jewel (my words, not his) of the Oral Torah. It is where Talmudic logic and the innovation of the Jews is at its finest. Hanukkah is a completely Rabbinic holiday, codified nowhere in our bible. Even Purim – with Megilat Esther – is in the bible. But the book of Macabees…it is not found in Tanakh. Rather, it is an innovation of Torah by the Rabbis. Hence, we say a bracha (blessing) when we light the Shabbat candles: Blessed are You Lord, King of the Universe, Who has commanded us…. We say “Who has commanded us” despite that fact that it was in fact not God, but the rabbis who created the mitzvah of Hanukkah, because it shows the active role that we must take in the evolution and creation of Torah. Perhaps these rabbis learned this important lesson from our forefather Yosef in this week’s parsha, when he took an active role in preventing mass starvation and in helping his brothers learn to stick together as one.
But it is also important to remember a balance of innovation and faith, of submitting to the fact that, quite frankly, we often just don’t understand so many things that take place in the world that we live in:
The tribes were involved with the sale of Yosef;
Yosef was immersed in mournful thoughts about his separation from his father;
Reuven was involved with mourning over his sin;
Ya’akov was mourning for Yosef;
Yehuda was busy taking a wife for himself (Tamar);
And the Holy One, Blessed be He, was busy creating the light of Mashiach (the messiah).
- Bereishit Rabbi 85:2
No matter how bad or crazy or wrong things seem, God is still there and God still is watching over us. And somehow, someway, in the end we will realize that yes, indeed, everything that we might not understand today is, nonetheless, a part of His plan.
Take an active role in what you can. Creatively apply and innovate the Torah; create your own chiddush (insight) just as Yosef and the Rabbis of Hanukkah did. But also humbly recognize that we simply can’t know everything. Nor, I might add, would life be nearly as rewarding if we did.
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