Parashat Va'ye'shev Gen. 37:1 - 40:23

Much shorter than last week’s portion, Va’ye’shev is a succinct, wonderfully-written portion revolving around one person: Joseph, Jacob’s beloved son. Joseph (or Yoseph) is so dear to Jacob, as he is one of only two sons that his beloved wife Rachel gave him. He is seventeen when the portion opens, and – precisely like his mother – he is described as both “handsome looking” and “a feast for the eyes” (Gen. 39:6; cf. Gen. 29:17 (same exact description of his mother Rachel)).

Not surprisingly, this favorite son feels superior to his ten older brothers. As the portion begins, he’s already presented as a whistle-blower, a person who brings reports of their bad behavior as herders to their father (already a strong social faux-pas). Since every action has a counter-action, it should come at no surprise that the brothers, too, “hated him and did not speak to him.” (Gen. 37:4) The portion then “bookends” with two sets of double dreams: the first dreamt by Joseph, the other interpreted by Joseph. In between these two sets, we encounter a very interesting story about Judah – Joseph’s big brother – and one very smart daughter-in-law named Tamar. Unfortunately, I have room this week to discuss only the first of the three fascinating stories. I will be happy to discuss the other two should you ask separately.

Joseph’s Dreams

Joseph is known to us today as the “dream solver” – the go-to person in question of deciphering dreams. 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 Joseph realized that dreams our subconscious manifestations of desires, fears, and wishes. But before all that – he had his own dreams.

Those dreams are considered simple – even simplistic – compared to the ones he deciphered, and are well understood by his brothers. In the first, Joseph and his brothers are binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly Jeseph’s sheaf stands well upright while all the other sheaves gathered around it and bow to it. (Gen. 37:7) Simply said, visibly powerful, and clearly understood. The brothers’ reaction? Also quite expected: “Are you like a king ruling us, or a Governor governing us? And they hated him even more for his dreams and stories.”

Joseph’s second dream is not much different. This time, it is no less than the sun, the moon, and the eleven planets which are bowing down to Joseph. Again, quite simple. Hearing about this dream, even his loving father cannot stand idle: “And his father scolded him and said: what is this dream you dreamt – should me and your mother and all your brothers come to bow down to you? And his brothers were jealous of him, and his father kept that in his mind.” (Gen. 37:9-11).

Was Joseph Really That Naïve?

The traditional account, therefore, is that Joseph was at best naïve and at worst stupid when he approached his brothers and told them about his dreams. Yet everything we learn later about Joseph suggests the exact opposite – he was neither naïve, nor stupid. This young man, who was immediately liked by everyone who met him – men and women, high-officers and prisoners alike – climbed through the ranks at a very young age to become the first-ever foreign “Vice President” of the only Superpower in the region. He was smart, sophisticated, polished, and had very sharp political instincts. All that made me think again about the traditional account. Let us try and review those dreams again.

First Dream: In the Field

We begin the account of the first dream when we already know few things about Joseph: First, of all his sons, Jacob loves him the most. Second, the brothers hate him for that. Third, the brothers don’t even speak to him anymore. With these in mind, Joseph approaches them to talk about his dream in what seems like a suicide mission: He is about to tell them about his “superiority-complex,” as if they didn’t know enough. Now put yourselves for a second in Joseph’s shoes: Suppose you had a dream putting you in charge of your ten older brothers who hate you; would you go and tell them about it?

Note that the first dream is more subtle compared to the second: Here, the brothers’ sheaves bow to Joseph’s sheaf; but they themselves do not bow to him. In the second dream, the sun, moon, and eleven planets bow directly to Joseph – to him, not to his planet. Is that important? Can those dreams be interpreted differently?

Second Dream: The Sun, Moon, and Eleven Planets

Of all the biblical dreams, Joseph’s second is my favorite. Perhaps because it was depicted by Walt Disney in his magnificent adaptation of Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer's Apprentice” in his Fantasia films (the only piece to be presented in both the original and the 2000 version of Fantasia.) While the original story, authored by Goethe, says nothing about Joseph’s dream (see http://german.about.com/library/blgzauberl.htm), the animated depiction by Disney has Mickey Mouse dreaming himself to stand on a huge rock, ordering the sun, moon, and planets around him to obey all his commands with the magic stick. This could not be a mere coincidence.

Another reason why I like this dream so much is because of the profound cosmological knowledge it contains. Recall the period in which the dream is being reported – very little

Astronomical developments are known to be published. Yet the number 11 for planets – until recently, the exact number depicted by NASA to describe the same phenomenon (see http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm) – in addition to the moon and the sun, strikes me as an amazing coincidence.

So What Were These Dreams, After All?

I think that Joseph reported the dreams “as is” to his brothers not because he was naïve, but rather because he considered them to be divine interventions. Indeed, every time Joseph is asked later about dreams and their interpretation, he always invokes God. (see, e.g., Gen. 40:8; 41:16; 41:25). And dreams – and God – played a major role with his beloved father. I venture to assume that the story about Jacob’s most famous dream – “Jacob’s Ladder,” which was discussed in a previous post – was told over and over to the “chosen son.” When he began dreaming, he clearly felt that God is finally beginning to look upon him, too. That is why he told their content to his brothers; this is why he even dared to challenge the authority of his father; he truly felt that this was God’s calling. Perhaps he was right.

Since Joseph’s time, many a people appear in our midst, trying to report about their divine dreams. Today, we usually treat them as insane. Perhaps we should take a closer look.

Shabat Shalom,

Doron