Chasidut zu Bereschit 41:33
וְעַתָּה֙ יֵרֶ֣א פַרְעֹ֔ה אִ֖ישׁ נָב֣וֹן וְחָכָ֑ם וִישִׁיתֵ֖הוּ עַל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
So ersehe sich denn Pharao einen klugen und weisen Mann und setze ihn über das Land Ägypten.
Kedushat Levi
At the time when Joseph advised Pharaoh to appoint wise and insightful men to collect parts of the harvest of the good years and store it for use during the seven years of famine, thus implying that the hardship of these years could be counteracted by human endeavor, (Genesis 41,33-36) all the commentators question who had appointed Joseph to volunteer advice to Pharaoh?
However, we must examine Pharaoh’s dream and the manner in which he related it to Joseph in greater detail. The Torah’s objective report of the dream describes him as dreaming that he stood “above” the river. (41,1). This was an arrogant Pharaoh, who, according to our sages, considered himself as a deity, owner and creator of the Nile river, economic mainstay of the whole land of Egypt. In 41,17 this Pharaoh had humbled himself by telling Joseph that in his dream he had been standing on the banks of the river. Joseph, who knew what Pharaoh had really seen in his dream, realized that this king had undergone a change of heart since the time he had had the dream. Joseph had not offered an interpretation of the dream as related by Pharaoh, but as dreamt by Pharaoh. He had therefore left himself an opening, allowing for a change in G’d’s decree on the basis of Pharaoh no longer being as arrogant as he had been at the time when he had dreamt the dream. When Joseph spoke about an איש חכם ונבון, “wise and full of insight,” this was hyperbole for a tzaddik. He meant that when the need arises such a man would intervene on behalf of Egypt at G’d’s court and plead for G’d to rescind the decree of such a disastrous famine.
He explained to Pharaoh that G’d is not interested in bringing disasters on His creatures, but in order to prevent such disasters there had to be at least one tzaddik who would pray to Him for deliverance of the people among whom he resided. This was the reason that Joseph brought his father to Pharaoh so that Yaakov could bless him. Yaakov assured Pharaoh that in spite of Joseph having predicted seven consecutive years of famine, this decree would be changed so that in the following year seed planted would grow as the Nile would again overflow its banks as was customary in normal years. The reason that Joseph himself, also a tzaddik had not personally prayed for a cancellation or softening of G’d’s decree, was that he was in the employ of the Egyptians, and as such he was not independent but bound by Egyptian laws. His father Yaakov, was a free agent. Moreover, when Yaakov arrived in Egypt he had brought with him a whole clan of monotheistic people, all of whom were obedient to G’d’s laws so that Yaakov, when praying, could point with pride to the number of G’d fearing people he had raised, all of whom would be directly affected by return to normal life in Egypt after cessation of the famine.
However, we must examine Pharaoh’s dream and the manner in which he related it to Joseph in greater detail. The Torah’s objective report of the dream describes him as dreaming that he stood “above” the river. (41,1). This was an arrogant Pharaoh, who, according to our sages, considered himself as a deity, owner and creator of the Nile river, economic mainstay of the whole land of Egypt. In 41,17 this Pharaoh had humbled himself by telling Joseph that in his dream he had been standing on the banks of the river. Joseph, who knew what Pharaoh had really seen in his dream, realized that this king had undergone a change of heart since the time he had had the dream. Joseph had not offered an interpretation of the dream as related by Pharaoh, but as dreamt by Pharaoh. He had therefore left himself an opening, allowing for a change in G’d’s decree on the basis of Pharaoh no longer being as arrogant as he had been at the time when he had dreamt the dream. When Joseph spoke about an איש חכם ונבון, “wise and full of insight,” this was hyperbole for a tzaddik. He meant that when the need arises such a man would intervene on behalf of Egypt at G’d’s court and plead for G’d to rescind the decree of such a disastrous famine.
He explained to Pharaoh that G’d is not interested in bringing disasters on His creatures, but in order to prevent such disasters there had to be at least one tzaddik who would pray to Him for deliverance of the people among whom he resided. This was the reason that Joseph brought his father to Pharaoh so that Yaakov could bless him. Yaakov assured Pharaoh that in spite of Joseph having predicted seven consecutive years of famine, this decree would be changed so that in the following year seed planted would grow as the Nile would again overflow its banks as was customary in normal years. The reason that Joseph himself, also a tzaddik had not personally prayed for a cancellation or softening of G’d’s decree, was that he was in the employ of the Egyptians, and as such he was not independent but bound by Egyptian laws. His father Yaakov, was a free agent. Moreover, when Yaakov arrived in Egypt he had brought with him a whole clan of monotheistic people, all of whom were obedient to G’d’s laws so that Yaakov, when praying, could point with pride to the number of G’d fearing people he had raised, all of whom would be directly affected by return to normal life in Egypt after cessation of the famine.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy