Vayechi: Jacob vs Joseph

There is a major problem in the parsha. Who has the power? Who is feeding everyone? Who is the richest person in the world? Joseph. 

Who is giving the blessings? Jacob.

What does Jacob own? Maybe his burial plot, maybe Shechem,a place of bad luck that he is afraid to return to, but Jacob offers a set of promises for a distant future, a pie in the sky, Zionism?

The parsha is called "And he lived".  The move to Egypt allowed life to continue despite the famine.  Exile allowed the Israelites to make a living.  But Jacob presented them with their dreams, a future in which each person's destiny would be fulfilled, some deeper meaning of life would be realized. 

Meanwhile, the brothers have pledged themselves to be slaves to Joseph ( and thus Pharoah) ... twice.   When Joseph's chalice is found in Benjamin's sack, the brothers offer their servitude.  Again, when they beg Joseph for forgiveness (pretending that Jacob had instructed them to entreat Joseph) they offer themselves as slaves.  Is this the slaving contract?  Jacob was right, one brother would enslave the  other(s), but it was not (yet) Esau, it was Joseph carrying out His dream

Vayigash: approach and avoidance

Warning::  I am reading Freud. 

 A major theme in Freud's work seems to be ambivalence.  Many emotions contains  their opposites. This parsha strongly reflects that.  There is no doubt that Yehuda is ambivalent when he approaches Joseph to offer himself as a slave in exchange for his half-brother  Benjamin.  I can feel his trepidation, going before Viceroy of Egypt and his doubts  about fulfilling his costly promise to his father, rescuing another favored son at the cost of his own life.

 The name of the parsha,its first word, Vayigash ( Oh my gosh!) is the essence of ambivalence.  To approach is come closer, but not to arrive, not to conclude.Avoidance is implicit in approach. 

Jacob's descent, with his clan, to Egypt was hard for him.  He wanted to stay in the Promised Land, as his father, Isaac had done.  Although Jacob had already left to escape Esau's wrath ( at the instruction of his mother), he had hope to merit dwelling in the land until his death, like his father had.  He was also afraid of participating in the fulfillment of the prophecy given to Avraham at the Brith  between the parts ( Bereshith

15:13) :

יג  וַיֹּאמֶר לְאַבְרָם, יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע כִּי-גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם, וַעֲבָדוּם, וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם--אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת, שָׁנָה.	13 And He said unto Abram: 'Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Perhaps Yaakov thought that the opressing nation was Esau, and so he avoided going to Seir.  But Jacob and his family were forced to go to Egypt, and fooled into stayng there willingly.

Notice where the Israelites went: Goshen, the same root as Vayigash, (The nun makes the word an  abstract noun denoting quality and state .) The state of approach, the state of ambivalence. 

What is the use of ambivalence in the context of fate?

Miketz: Life is but a dream

This weeks parsha deals with realities generated by dreams. The first sense of  miketz is the end of a (bad) period of time, the two additional years of Joseph's imprisonment...after he had "interpreted" the dreams of the royal wine steward and baker.  These 2 years must have had a dream like aspect for Joseph, and like a dream, he awakened from it, the dream ended.  When Pharaoh awakens from his dream, the word is the same... Vayikatz.

Joseph interprets the Pharaoh's dreams and is thereby elevated to viceroy ( and CEO) of  Egypt.The Tzena Urenah  quotes the observations of the Bechai and the Todoth Yitzchak that in Miketz, the Pharaoh is not called the king of Egypt.  I speculate that the dream of the Pharaoh was to be the king, and Joseph showed him how!

Pharaoh has capital  He is buying grain, all the grain that the farmers can produce.  So the farmers produce as much grain as they can sell, ignoring the depletion of the land.  Meanwhile, there is so much grain that the price falls, forcing more production and more land depletion  and ultimately ... a famine.  The famine had been predicted ( and, in part generated) by the new purveyors of grain, the new sustainers of the people, the (new) king and his viceroy.  Turning the dream into reality.  I have a dream. 

The remainder of the parsha deals with Joseph turning his old dreams into realities. Why all the effort? Because in the end, the story is the material for countless dreams and dreamers.

Vayeshev: dream fulfillment

Vayeshev: dream fulfillment

Even before the first dream, the dream of the bowing sheaves, Joseph is hated by his brothers because of the special attentions of his father.  Before Joseph expresses his first vision  that his destiny will be to rule over his brothers, he is established as his father's favorite ( replacing the firstborn, especially after Reuven's faux pas),

The dreams of domination arise from his circumstance.  His father has made him a prince among his brothers, his brothers already resent his dominion.  The dreams confirm the facts. 

When the brothers throw Joseph into the pit, Reuven imagines a road to his redemption in the family.  He will save Joseph from the other brothers. He will return Joseph to their father.  Only 2 ( or 3, Benjamin) sons will remain in good standing.  Reuven could share the glory.  But his plan is inadequate, he underestimates how quickly a person can be sold out and enter into the world of human trafficking. So he participates in the conspiracy instead. O fortuna!

Note: how can Jacob, who fooled Isaac by wearing Esau's clothing  (supplemented by goat hair),  be fooled by a torn coat and goat blood?  He is the author of the trick that fools him.

Finally, there are the dreams of the butler and the baker.  The dreams come at the end of a year of imprisonment,  three days before Pharaoh's birthday bash ( when he always elevates and demotes his servants?)  That knowledge may have helped Joseph interpret the three tendrils and the three loaves as 3 days.  After the interpretation, the butler looks happy,  he is expecting elevation...and he gets it.  The baker is terrified. Pharaoh sees guilt in his terror and hangs him.  Self fulfilling?  

Shammai used to say:...And receive every person with a pleasant countenance. Perhaps this was Joseph's secret.