Miketz: dreams come true

The parsha ends with the discovery of  the planted chalice.  Joseph's complaint is not that an object that has great value on the open market has been stolen. His complaint is: 

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ יוֹסֵ֔ף מָֽה־הַמַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עֲשִׂיתֶ֑ם הֲל֣וֹא יְדַעְתֶּ֔ם כִּֽי־נַחֵ֧שׁ יְנַחֵ֛שׁ אִ֖ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּמֹֽנִי׃ 

Joseph said to them, “What is this deed that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me practices divination?”

The object he used for looking into the future had been taken. 

We know this is a ruse. We heard Joseph set it up.  He told his chief servant to plant the chalice in Benjamin's food sack  Benjamin did not steal anything, he was framed and we know it.  I hear the  story of Benjamin's mother stealing Lavan's crystal ball in the background; an appeal to a family tradition 

But did Joseph mean it when he implied that he uses this chalice for divination? Did Joseph indeed practice this idolatrous art? Or was the statement  part of the show? 

One meaning of divination involves foretelling the future.  It would seem to be an activity that is on the spectrum from probabilistic  reasoning about future outcomes to  intuition and dreams.  It echoes the start of the story the Joseph's dreams of dominance. Were these "prophetic" dreams divinations? As the parsha ends, the dreams  come true:  Joseph dreamed that all 11 of his brothers, represented as stalks of wheat, would  bow to him,. Now they do exactly that: 

וַיָּבֹ֨א יְהוּדָ֤ה וְאֶחָיו֙ בֵּ֣יתָה יוֹסֵ֔ף וְה֖וּא עוֹדֶ֣נּוּ שָׁ֑ם וַיִּפְּל֥וּ לְפָנָ֖יו אָֽרְצָה׃

When Judah and his brothers reentered the house of Joseph, who was still there, they threw themselves on the ground before him.

The wheat in young Joseph's dream is apt.  Food security is the issue that drives the subservience. 

Circumstances - Joseph's ascent to viceroy of Egypt, the famine - allowed the plot to play out. But Joseph assured that the dream would be fulfilled in detail. He arranged to have his brothers captured with the chalice in the bag of Benjamin. They are brought back to the home of viceroy, Tzafnas Paneach, nee Joseph, in a state of terror and guilt.  The first thing they do is show obeisance to the powerful accuser. They all bow to Joseph.  The dream comes true.

 There is no mention of the collateral damage: the prolongation of Jacob's suffering. Joseph could have ended it years earlier had he sent a message back home. He did not. The bothers are, of course, primarily to blame. The story would have unfolded differently had the brothers told their father the truth. It would have expiated a part of the guilt, it would have helped with the ongoing suffering.

Joseph fulfills that great meta-fantasy, he makes  dreams come true.

The parsha opens with Pharaoh awakening from his dream of seven scrawny cows eating seven beefy cows; and seven withered ears of grain eating seven robust ears. Joseph's interpretation leads to his ascent. I have considered the possibility that  Joseph's forecast actually contributed, or caused, his interpretation of Pharaoh's dream to come true. Joseph predicted years of plenty, when grain would need to be stored  to provide for the upcoming  years of  famine. This motivated increased production.  The increased production lowered prices, leading to more production to maintain income at the lower price. The land was farmed without mercy.  After seven years it was depleted.  Production fell. The famine begins. 

Was Pharaoh aware of this cause and effect aspect Joseph's vision ( within his own vision)? He gave dominion over 20% of the national output to this foreigner, plucked from prison.  Did he really do it based on the interpretation of some dreams? Perhaps he saw a way to consolidate his power, to change the nature of his rule.  He would move from power based upon might and enforcement to become the feudal lord, the owner of his subjects and their land. That was the dream.  Joseph made it come true, in detail. 

Chanukah  celebrates the Hasmonean dream of political and religious independence. The Hasmoneans  were also upstarts who seized power and made their dream come true.. for a while. That is how dreams are: possibly true  for a while. 

Even when circumstances are favorable, dreams come true only with great effort.