5784/2023
In Parashat Mikeitz, Yosef is taken out of prison to interpret
the dreams of Paroh. Similar to when he interpreted the
dreams of the Sar HaMashkim and the Sar Ha’Ofim, Yosef was
believed that his interpretation was correct. Why is that? Why
did the Egyptians believe such a low-ranking person? In fact,
when the Sar HaMashkim describes Yosef to Paroh, he refers to
him as בד׳׳ֶ עֶ֚ ריִ֗ בְ עִ ערַ נַ֣׳׳,” a boy, slave, and a Hebrew” (BeReishit
41:12). A slave was the lowest one could go in ancient Egyptian
society, so why would anyone believe him?
If we go back several Parshi’ot, we find Yaakov Avinu in a
similar position. He makes a deal with Lavan that he will get
any sheep that are speckled and Hashem helps him become
very successful even though Yaakov agreed to get the “bad”
sheep. So too here, Yosef claims before he tells Paroh his
will d-G but ,me Not “,׳׳ִּב ְל ָעָ֑די ֱאֹלקים יֲַעֶ֖נה׳׳ :interpretations
answer” (ibid. 41:16). He does his portion of the work and puts
the things that are out of his control into Hashem’s hands. Yosef
was able to recognize that everything is from Hashem
But why didn’t Paroh listen to the Egyptian interpreters who
were considered the country’s greatest minds? Rashi (ibid
41:8) writes that Paroh was distressed by the interpretations
of the Egyptian interpreters as they didn’t address him being
king, and he thus did not think they were accurate.
Another explanation is brought from the Bechor Shor. He says
that Yosef’s interpretation came only from Hashem, and Yosef
is just saying what Hashem wants him to say. Here Yosef is just
being the messenger, and therefore he can’t get into trouble if
he is incorrect in his interpretation. The Egyptians, however,
most certainly could be punished for falsehood.
The Ibn Ezra similarly says that Paroh listened to Yosef because
he was humble and made sure Paroh knew that it wasn’t Yosef
interpreting but rather it was Hashem. He affirmed that his
explanation wasn’t from a physical being, like the Egyptians
claimed, rather it was from a supernatural source. Everyone
else claimed their interpretation was from themselves, but
Yosef was different, he was, as the Sar HaMashkim called him,
.עברי an
The Tur comments that Yosef was different because he just
wanted peace with Paroh. Whereas the other Egyptians wanted
to achieve high positions as reward, Yosef just wanted to get
out of jail because he was wrongfully convicted. We see from
the Tur that whoever was wrongfully convicted, Hashem will
put him in a higher position than the one who jailed him
.
Similarly, the Orach Chaim writes that Paroh thought that Yosef
would explain the dream like everyone else when he came out
of jail. By Yosef saying that his words were really the words of
G-d, he reversed Paroh’s thoughts and ultimately impressed
him.
We can learn a lot from this small section of the Parashah. Just
like Yosef didn’t credit himself for his interpretation, so too we
have to always say and know that Hashem is controlling and is
involved in everything we do. We also need to have the same
humility that Yosef had by only looking for peace and not to
show off or advance positions because, ultimately, Hashem will
put you wherever He wants you to be.