Parashat Va'yai'shev

This week’s portion, Va’yai’shev (literally, “and he resided” as in “and Ya’akov  resided in the land where his father has lived”) is a very interesting portion. Much shorter than its predecessor, Va’ye’shev is a succinct, wonderfully-written first episode in a three-part series focusing on one person: Yoseph, Ya’akov’s beloved son.  Yoseph  is particularly important to Ya’akov as he is one of only two sons that Rachel, his beloved wife for whom he worked 14 years, gave him. 

The portion begins with a description of Yoseph, who is seventeen when we meet him, and – precisely like his mother Rachel – is described as both “handsome looking” and “a feast for the eyes” (Gen. 39:6; compare Gen. 29:17 (same exact description of his mother Rachel)). It is not a surprise, therefore, that this most-beloved, favorite son of Ya’akov feels somewhat superior to his ten older brothers. Dressed in his unique multi-colored garb, this young man is also – as we learn at the beginning of the portion – the one brother who constantly run to tells his parents about the misdeeds of his brothers, “slandering them [in the eyes of their father]” (Gen. 37:2) And since every action has a reaction (especially in tight-knit families), it should come at no surprise that the brothers, too, “hated him and did not speak to him.” (Gen. 37:4)

  After this initial description of Yoseph – which is not all that complementary – the portion continues to describe his two dreams.  The notion of dreams returns at the end of the portion, where we meet Yoseph as a prisoner in an Egyptian jail, interpreting dreams for the local cabinet members who are also imprisoned. Other than those two sets of dreams, which “bookend” this week’s portion, we also encounter a very interesting story about Yehuda – Yoseph’s big brother – and his extremely able and sophisticated daughter-in-law, Tamar.  Unfortunately, I have room this week to discuss only the first of these three fascinating stories – that of Yoseph’s dreams.

I. Yoseph’s Dreams

Yoseph is well known today as the first “dream solver” – the person who may interpret the meaning of any dream presented to him. Long before Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams (1899) – in which Freud has claimed to “provide proof that there is a psychological technique which allows us to interpret dreams” – the biblical Yoseph realized that dreams consists of our subconscious manifestations of desires, fears, and wishes.  But before turning to the dreams of others – like any good therapist – he had to deal with his own.

Yoseph’s dreams may be considered simple – even simplistic – in comparison to the more complex dreams he later deciphers; they are quickly understood by his own family members – brothers and parents alike.  In the first of these dreams, Yoseph and his brothers are binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly Yoseph’s sheaf stands tall while all the others’ sheaves are gathered around it and bow to it.  (Gen. 37:7) Indeed, the dream is simply portrayed, visibly powerful, and clearly understood.  The brothers’ reaction, too, is also quite expected:  “And the brothers have said: Do you intend to rule over us like a king? To govern us like a ruler? And they have continued to despise him both for his dreams and his words.” (Gen. 37:8)

Yoseph’s second dream is not more sophisticated, though certainly more daring. This time, he removes his kingdom from the simple farm into the heavenly skies. In this second dream no less than the sun, the moon, and all eleven planets [an astonishing astronomical bit of information, considering the time it was written; more on that later] are all bowing down to him. Hearing about this new level of aspirations, even Yoseph’s own loving father cannot stand idle: “And his father scolded him and said: what is this dream you dreamt – should myself and your mother and all your brothers bow down to you? And his brothers were jealous of him, and his father kept that in his mind.”  (Gen. 37:9-11).

II. Why Did Yoseph Reveal His Dreams?

Let us pause for a moment and consider Yoseph’s situation. He knows full well, even before revealing his first dream to his brothers, that he is far from being his brothers’ favorite. Indeed, by the time the second dream comes around he can be certain that even his adoring father is likely to be upset with him for reporting its content. Yet he goes on to reveal the content of both dreams to his brothers and his father. Why did he do that? The traditional midrashim simply saw Yoseph as a either too naïve or too young and ignorant to understand the ramification of such a move as revealing the content of his own dreams. Yet everything we learn later about Yoseph suggests the exact opposite – that he was neither naïve nor stupid; that he was, in fact, one of the shrewdest, smartest, and most practical figures to roam Genesis’ pages. This young man, who was immediately liked by everyone who laid eyes on him – men and women, high-ranked officers and lowly prisoners alike – was able to successfully climb the social and political  ranks of the only regional superpower and to become, at an extremely young age of 30, the first-ever “Vice President” to the King of Egypt himself. Smart, sophisticated, polished, and with keen political instincts, Yoseph was everything but naive. That should give us pause: Why would such a person knowingly antagonize both his brothers (who hate him to begin with) and his parents (who adore him) by telling them the content of his condescending dreams? Let us examine those dreams again, more closely.    

1. First Dream: In the Field

We begin the account of the first dream. By the time he had it, we already know several things about Yoseph: First, of all the brothers, he was the most beloved by Ya’akov (and had the wardrobe to show for it). Second, the other brothers hated him, and for good reason. Third, and importantly, the brothers’ animosity was so severe that they had stopped any communication with him – they did not speak to Yoseph at all. Finally, they were bigger than him – stronger both as individuals and as a team. Considering all these factors combined, it is clear that Yoseph’s approaching of his brothers to tell them about his “superiority complex” dream – a dream that can be understood only as a direct provocation – seems more like a suicide mission than a smart, politically-savvy move.

Note also that the first dream is a bit more subtle than the second: Here, the brothers’ sheaves bow to Yoseph’s sheaf; but they themselves do not bow to him.  It is only in the second dream where the sun, moon, and eleven planets actually bow directly to Yoseph – to him, not to his planet. Is that important? Can those dreams be interpreted differently?

2. Second Dream: The Sun, Moon, and Eleven Planets

Of all the biblical dreams, Yoseph’s second dream is my favorite.  Perhaps because it was depicted by Walt Disney in his masterful adaptation of Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer's Apprentice” in the movie Fantasia (the only piece, by the way, to be reproduced in the 2000 version of the film.) And while the original story about the mischievous helper of the magician, authored by the famous German poet Goethe, says nothing about Yoseph’s dream (see http://german.about.com/library/blgzauberl.htm), the animated depiction by Disney has Mickey Mouse dreaming about himself as standing on a very tall cliff, surrounded by gushing waters, and ordering the sun, moon, and planets around him to obey all his commands (conveyed by the magic stick). Thus Mickey’s only “dream” in that story is directly based on Yoseph’s second dream in our portion.

Another reason why I like this dream is because of the profound cosmological knowledge it contains. Recall the period in which the dream is being reported – very little astronomical data is said to be known at the time. Yet the dream picks the number 11 for all the planets; this, until recently, has been considered the exact number depicted by NASA to describe the same phenomenon. 

(see http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm). I doubt this is a mere coincidence.

Then again, we must consider the fact that here Yoseph is about to irritate not only his brothers, but also his beloved mother and father. Why would he do that? He already made this mistake once – must he repeat it a second time, with even worse ramifications?   

III. The Dreams “Interpreted”: Yoseph, A Man of Faith

I think that the “interpretation” of (or the explanation for) the revelation of both dreams is one: Yoseph reported them “as is,” without refinement, to both to his brothers and parents not because he was naïve, but because he considered them to be divine interventions.  Indeed, every time Yoseph is asked later about dreams and their interpretation, he always invokes God. (see, e.g., Gen. 40:8; 41:16; 41:25). And dreams in which God was involved also played a major role in the life of his father Ya’acov. I venture to guess that the story of Ya’akov’s most famous dream – “Jacob’s Ladder,” which was shortly reviewed in a previous post – was told over and over to the “chosen son.” Thus, when Yoseph begins to have dreams of his own he clearly senses that God has finally come to him as well. That is the reason he told the dreams’ content – without omitting any of the details – to both his brothers and his father. That is the reason he even dared to challenge the very authority of his beloved father; he truly felt this was God’s calling. Perhaps he was right. Recall that when asked to “solve” one of the dreams later in his life, Yoseph does not hesitate to tell a (former) senior official at Pharaoh’s court that he is about to be hung; this, too, could have been considered a foolish (not to mention life-threatening) move, considering the position Yoseph was in; yet he preferred to tell the truth the way he saw it – as God ordered him to do. 

I think this is one of the Portion’s most important, and often overlooked, lessons: Yoseph was neither Naïve nor stupid, neither arrogant nor too shy; he simply took dreams as a serious manifestation of divine intervention. Seen in that light, I think we may be able to better understand Yoseph’s actions in the beginning of this portion. More broadly, though Yoseph is never mentioned as a great hero of our tradition – never mentioned within the same line as the three fathers, Moshe, or any of the important prophets – Yoseph was truly a man of faith. Yoseph believed in God, and was willing to risk his life and reputation, time and again, to do what he considered to be God’s will. And that, to me, is a true Jewish hero.       

Shabbat Shalom,

Doron