Vayigash: enslavement

Vayigash: enslavement

 

The slave may be a volunteer. 

At the end of Vayeshev, the people volunteer to be slaves rather than starve to death.  Joseph accepts the offer for Pharaoh.

the status of Joseph's brothers is not clarified in this transaction.  We are told that the priests were exempt from slavery. We are not told of any other exemption ( including the Bnei Yisroel). 

 

I heard the story of a man who, during the Holocaust, volunteered to work in a concentration camp to avoid starvation.

 

Where does the slavery come from?

There  is the curse that Noah gives Ham, but the manifestation of the curse is not clear immediately. Cosider the construction of the tower of Bavel. Was slave labor used?  was the diversity of language a way to avoid enslavement?  The eved word was used to describe Adam's relationship to the land. Note that the Egyptians sold themselves along with the land. There is an idea that the ownership of land begets freedom. 

 

The story of Joseph and his brothers leading to the enslavement of Brei Yisrael is also a story of brothers selling each other.  It seems that brothers betraying one another is a requirement for slavery.  Usually slavery arises by  a sibling selling another sibling as a slave. The brothers ( led by Yehuda in this endeavor) sell Joseph.  The brothers offer themselves as slaves, if they are caught with the Joseph's goblet. The parsha begins with Yehuda offering to trade his servitude for Benjamin's. 

 

We are slaves to our biology.  We are slaves to our circumstances.  We are slaves to our dreams and the reality that distorts their realization.

 

Prior years:  

Yoseph establishes the new political/economic order

 

substitutiary sacrifice

Miketz: Gd's plan

Miketz: Gd's plan

 

 The word miketz contains the word ketz: the end.  Ketz seems different from sof, another word for the end.  Ketz implies  an anticipated end, a completion. It is the word associated with the end of days, the messianic era.

Ketz implies the unfolding of the divine plan.

 

In Miketz we see this unfolding.  Pharaoh has a dream and the master of dreams is delivered from prison. There is a sense that Gd planted the dream.  Joseph even says that the dream constituted Gd showing Pharaoh what Gd planned to do.  Pharaoh did not have a dream, he was given a vision that was part of plot to elevate Joseph and enslave the children of Israel.  Could Pharaoh have ignored the dream, or found another to interpret it? We do not know. Free choice is a precious illusion; so is the Divine plan.

 

Another small observation: Yosef and Aisov sound very similar. Yosef's behavior toward his brothers resembles what Yaakov feared from Aisov.  Just as Yaakov bows to Aisov, the brothers bow to Yosef.  Just as Yaakov sent a mincha to Aisov, the brothers bring a mincha to Yosef.

 

Patterns, destiny, fate...

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.

Vayeshev: Dreams

 Vayeshev: Dreams

 

Dreams play a central role in Vayeshev.  The dream of Joseph, the dreams of the wine steward and baker suffuse the chapter.

In each situation, the significance of the dream is different.

 

The consequence of  the  wine steward's dream devolves from its interpretation.  Joseph spins the dream positively. Thus, at Pharaoh's birthday party, the wine steward looks happy and confident.  He looks like it would be appropriate to restore him to his previous position. (Barabus?)

The baker is frightened by his interpretation.  he looks scared and nervous.  He looks like he could make another error.  off with his head!

 

In this vein, the dream of Joseph reflects Joseph's self confidence.  His dreams reveal that he believes that he will triumph over those around him And he does!

Perhaps the confidence comes from the Coat of many colors, and the gift of the coat comes from Joseph's position as a Ben Zikunim which Onkelos translates as Bar Chakim, perhaps it refers to the idea that his child-rearing technique improved?