Tehillimandpoetry

Parsha Mikketz

by Mishkan David

Yosef and His Brothers

Shalom, friend! It is always good to see you each time we talk about our family stories, and how we ended up out here in the desert.

Have you noticed that Moshe has begun to slow down a lot in his stories? The first night, he covered all of Creation in one sitting! Then, he spent one night telling us about how the whole planet became wicked, and Hashem cleansed everything with the Flood. We slowed down a bit to focus on Father Avraham for a few sittings, then sped through Yitzchak and Ya’akov. Now, we are slowing waaay down, spending a great deal of time talking about Yosef, Ya’akov’s favorite son.

I keep wondering why Moshe spends so much time on some people, and not so much on others. Maybe we can think about that question, and work together to come up with an answer. Hopefully, Moshe will tell us himself, one of these days.

Until that time, though, let’s find a seat, and listen in on the next installment of Campfire Torah!

It’s all about the Dreams!

“Last time we got together, we spent a lot of time talking about Yosef and dreams. He started off with dreams of his own family bowing down to him, and ended up interpreting the dreams of two men in prison. Would you believe it? We’re back to more dreams tonight! But not Yosef’s dreams. This time, the dreams belong to Pharaoh, the king of Mitzrayim/Egypt.

“It seems that Pharaoh had two dreams that were pretty much the same in concept, but using different imagery. The first showed seven fat, healthy cattle, followed by seven lean, sickly looking animals. The sickly cattle ate up the healthy ones, so one could not tell there had ever been any healthy cattle. The second dream was the same idea, but using stalks of grain.

“As usual, the magicians and soothsayers of Mitzrayim were unable to interpret the dreams. Pharaoh was at a loss.

“But do you remember how we ended up last time? Yosef had told the royal cupbearer that he would be restored to his job in the court. All Yosef asked him to do in return for interpreting his dream was to mention Yosef to the king, and hopefully get him moved out of the prison.

“Well, wouldn’t you know it! In two whole years since getting out of prison, the cupbearer had enjoyed his freedom daily—and not once did he ever show any gratitude to Yosef by telling Pharaoh about Yosef!

“Finally, the fellow made good on his promise not to forget Yosef. He told Pharaoh about his experiences in prison, and how Yosef had been able to interpret the dreams of himself and the baker.

“Pharaoh called for Yosef, who proceeded to give the interpretation of the two dreams, making sure to give credit to Hashem. He told Pharoah that his dreams indicated there would be seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. More than that, Yosef also provided a recommendation for how to survive this hardship—save twenty percent each year during the years of plenty, and save it for use during the years of hardship.

“Yosef also recommended that Pharaoh identify a man “full of understanding and wisdom”, and appoint him to take charge of the entire program. To Yosef’s shock, Pharaoh pointed at him!

“’You have proven yourself to be a man of understanding and wisdom, and you have proven yourself throughout your time in Mitzrayim. I choose you to oversee this rationing plan! In fact, you will be second only to me in all of Mitzrayim.’

“Pharaoh then set up Yosef as the vice-President of Mitzrayim. Yosef had all the best of everything, and everyone in Mitzrayim acknowledged his high position. He took a wife there, the daughter of an Egyptian priest. During the seven years of plenty, they had two children—M’nasheh (“Forgetfulness” and Efrayim (“Fruit”;).

Yosef, “Mister Big Shot” Now

“Yosef had gone from being hated by his own brothers, thrown into a water cistern, to being the second-in-command in the world superpower of the day! All in just thirteen years. Truly, his career was meteoric!

“Yosef made good on his plan, preserving a ration for the years of famine. The storage bins contained so much grain, they lost count of it all! Still, it would not be enough. But, in the day of famine, Mitzrayim was the place to be, of all the nations in the area of the Middle East and Northern Africa. Nobody else had known to prepare for the hardship, and so everybody went to Mitzrayim to find food.

“Everybody… including the family of a certain man named Ya’akov.

Here Come da Sons!

“Ya’akov sent his ten older sons down to Mitzrayim in order to buy food. Only Binyamin was kept home, both to help his elderly father and because he was the youngest. Mind you, he was about fifteen years old at that time—not exactly a toddler, but still the youngest of his brothers and the one reminder of his mother, Rachel.

“When the men arrived in Mitzrayom, Yosef spotted them immediately! But he didn’t make himself known to them right away. But they didn’t recognize him—he had grown out, been weathered a bit by hard work, and he no longer looked like the young man they sold into slavery.

“Now, we might expect Yosef to immediately rush out and greet his brothers, but he had another purpose in mind. He wanted to find out what was truly in the hearts of his brothers. Did they still hate him? How had life treated them? Had they matured while he was gone?

“So, Yosef treated them harshly. He spoke roughly to them, and challenged them, even accusing them of being spies! Of course, he knew better all the time. He was just making them jump through some hoops to see how they would react. Yosef asked them about their family, and after they told him the status of Ya’akov and Binyamin, he gave them a challenge.

“He told the brothers to leave one of them as a hostage, while the rest of them went home to get Binyamin. They were all crushed! They knew their father would never allow that to happen. But after sitting in prison for a few days, they concluded that this was their punishment for mistreating their brother, Yosef. They decided to do what was asked. Shim’on agreed to stay, while the rest went back home to Ya’akov.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

“The men arrive home, told the story of what had happened, and related the instructions Yosef had given them.

“For awhile, Ya’akov refused to send the brothers back down to Mitzrayim. He was crushed to lose even one of his sons. But Shim’on had been one of the troublemakers, with his brother Levi. Perhaps he had brought this upon himself, in a way. Maybe he was receiving the due penalty for the mass murder he had committed many years prior. And Ya’akov was determined not to lose his beloved youngest son in a hostage exchange.

“But, the famine continued. Eventually, Ya’akov forgot himself, and told his sons to go buy some food in Mitzrayim. You know how they responded, right? They reminded their father that they needed to take Binyamin with them if they wanted to come back alive.

“Now it was time for Y’hudah to step up to the plate. He had been the one to suggest selling Yosef. Now, he made the protection of Binymin his personal responsibility. He offered to be accountable for the boy’s life.

“Reluctantly, Ya’akov sent his sons back into the lion’s den. He had them take gifts and more money to bribe officials in the land of Mitzrayim. He sent them off with the blessing of Hashem, and then resigned himself to the potential loss of all his sons.

A Banquet Fit for a King!

“When they arrived, Yosef was thrilled to see his brothers return. So thrilled, in fact, that he had to leave the room once or twice while he wept over the bittersweet reunion. Still hiding his identity, he prepared a feast for them. Shim’on was brought out to join them for the banquet. They were seated according to their age—“How did he know?” And Binyamin was given special treatment, as the honored guest of the Egyptian vice-President!

“Now, you would think at this point that the games would have come to an end. But Yosef wasn’t quite through, yet. He had another plan in mind, another hoop for his brothers to jump through. How he went about it seems almost cruel to us, but he had a wonderful goal in mind as he set up the next task for them.

We Were Framed!

“Yosef pretended to allow all his brothers to leave. But this time, he had their packs filled with both the food they had requested and the money they had brought to buy it. On top of all that, he put a special silver goblet—one that was easily identifiable as belonging to Yosef—into Binyamin’s pack. Then they men were sent on their way.

“After they left, Yosef had some of his men go and accost the brothers on the road. The guards accused them of stealing from Yosef. They searched the brothers (it almost reminds one of Lavan’s searching of Ya’akov’s goods), and they found the goblet they knew to be hidden in the packs.

“They returned to Mitzrayim, where Yosef confronted them over their “crime”.

“But you know something? The whole scheme was just a way to keep his favorite little brother with him while the others went home. You see, Yosef had a bigger plan. He didn’t just want to visit with his brothers for a few hours. He planned to establish his family with him there in Mitzrayim. He had already achieved power, wealth, and position there in that land. He had a wife and children. He was a real “macher”! All he needed was to bring the rest of his clan down to be with him. But he knew he had to do so in such a way that his brothers would understand this was all happening according to the dreams he had when he was just a child!

A Real Cliff Hanger

“And so, Yosef sent his brothers home once again. This time without their youngest brother, Binymin. What a way to face their father!

“Come back next time, my friends, to hear the rest of the story about Yosef’s plan to reunite his family.

http://www.mishkandavid.net/wordpress/?p=2536

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Posted with permission from Mishkan David

This week's portion:

Mikketz (At the end):

B'resheet (Genesis) 41:1-44:17

Haftarah: 1 Kings 3:15-4:1

Suggested Apostolic Scripture Readings:

Acts 7:9-16 (specifically 11-12)