Judaism :: Parshat Mikeitz

Look at how the personality of Yosef develops. He starts off as an arrogant young man, full of himself, comfortable telling tales to his father about his brothers and quite uninhibited in recounting dreams that clearly describe how he will rule them. Even if we accept the traditional idea that he was a spiritual and saintly man, so imbued with the Divine spirit that his sense of Divine mission was overpowering, we are still bound to wonder why he was so insensitive that he failed to appreciate how offensive his dreams were to his brothers and father.

Adversity changes him, or brings out the best in him. He is sold as a slave. From the luxurious and, perhaps, indolent life of a rich man's favorite son, he becomes a menial, at the lowest level of society. But instead of bemoaning his fate and sinking into depression, he takes pride in his work and soon becomes a trusted manager of other slaves and of the whole of his master's household.

When he is falsely accused and sent to jail, again, instead of being passive and depressed, he rises from the depths and becomes a manager there, too. Wherever he is he makes the best of it. He is now no longer an indulged, self-centered child.

When he stands before Pharaoh as the newly discovered interpreter of dreams, he has a reputation as a successful dream reader. He says that he is merely acting as the mouthpiece of God and the interpretations come from God and not man. This, in itself, establishes his credentials as a man of faith, not just a follower of habits learned at home.

But his real gifts emerge when he goes beyond the dreams and beyond Pharaoh's original remit. His advice is his own initiative, and it is this that catapults him into a prominent position and success. It is grasping the opportunity, using initiative that marks him out as a great man. This is a lesson to us to use our own talents to overcome adversity.

The real test comes in how he relates to the very brothers who actually wanted to see him dead. The tables are turned and it sometimes appears to us that Yosef takes unfair advantage of his position, drawing out the process of reconciliation, playing cat and mouse. He almost seems to be enjoying the agony he causes to his brothers and, indirectly, also to his father. Furthermore one is bound to wonder why in his position he did not send a note home to his father reassuring him that he was still alive.

Perhaps Yosef was aware that he was carrying out a Divine mission, that he was a "tool" of greater forces that man is not completely in control. This is also how Yaakov must have felt when he heard of Yosef's dreams, and how Yosef, himself, must have felt because he too repeats the assertion that the dreams and their interpretation are messages that come from another source. So on one level we are not in control. But on another we are. Had Yosef not been a man of integrity and self-control, then even with his gifts of interpretation he would not have got as far as he did. So there are areas where we have a real influence over what happens to us.

And so in his dealings with his brothers, Yosef must have felt the need to emphasize to them the extent of their dependency. From being arrogantly in charge and "on top of the world", they now needed to adjust to a new reality. In addition, they needed to come to accept the extent of his power and to be prepared to accept the fact that now he was in charge. But many commentators argue that the process of "repentance" and the need to "expiate" were also necessary, and that what happened had a cathartic effect, and was beneficial in ensuring that the tribes stuck together during exile and buried their rivalries and tensions.

It's a sad afterthought that this unity lasted barely a generation after Yehosua's invasion. The tribes fell out and soon there were two rival Jewish kingdoms that fought each other and were eventually destroyed. Unity has never been our strong point.

About the Author:
Rabbi Jeremy Rosen received his rabbinic ordination from Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He studied philosophy at Cambridge University, and also holds a PhD in philosophy. He has worked in the rabbinate and Jewish education for more than forty years, in Europe and the US, and is currently director of the Yakar Educational Foundation in London.
http://www.jeremyrosen.com/index.html