The nature, meaning and implications of dreams feature heavily in the narrative of Yosef, foretelling his eventual dominance over his brothers and also providing the means for his rise to power in Egypt.
As Judaism Reclaimed examines, it appears from various commentaries that there are three distinct categories of dreams. First there are regular 'frivolous' dreams, which are a synthesis of the mind's images and ideas drawn from the dreamer’s previous conscious states. Then there are 'chalomot tzodekot', meaningful dreams such as those which were divinely inspired in Yosef's story. Finally, there are dreams that contain prophecy and which are treated as an entirely different order of experience.
This distinction between frivolous and meaningful dreams is highlighted in a fascinating explanation by the Netziv of the behaviour of Yosef's brothers in response to his dreams. The brothers initially respond with hatred to what they assume to be 'frivolous’ dreams, reflections of the delusions of grandeur which they believed Yosef to have been harbouring during his waking hours. However, their father Ya'akov takes the dreams seriously: an indication that they are divinely inspired. At this point the brothers’ hatred (“vayisne’u”) gives way to jealousy ("vayekanu") as they are forced to concede Yosef's superiority but nonetheless struggle to come to terms with it.
The special dreams which feature throughout Yosef's story are divinely-inspired experiences, which generate a feeling of certainty that the dream is true and requires an explanation. Pharaoh’s dreams concerning the cows and ears of grain seemed to require the input of considerable wisdom and understanding in order to unlock their interpretation. In a fascinating video (linked in the comment), Rabbi David Fohrman of the Alphabeta website offers an outstanding insight into how Yosef might have deduced the meaning of these dreams.
Rabbi Fohrman points out that the Torah’s description of Yosef in this passage is both a linguistic and thematic echo of an earlier stage of his life. While his early years had seen him being stripped of his special garment and separated from a great person by being cast into a pit [bor] on account of his dreams, the start of Miketz uses similar language to describe Yosef being taken out of a bor, given respectable clothing and taken to the king on account of Pharaoh’s dreams.
When we look at the content of the dreams themselves, the parallels to Yosef’s life become even more chilling. Focusing on the dream of the cows, Rabbi Fohrman notes the loaded terms used to describe the contrasting appearance of the two sets: yefot mar’eh (beautiful form) and dakot (thin/weak). These terms, he argues, evoke earlier biblical descriptions of the matriarchs Rachel and Leah respectively; the grazing of these siblings together (vatir’ena ba’achu – see Onkelos) recalls Yosef, son of Rachel, grazing his sheep together with the children of Leah at the start of last week’s parashah. When the weak “Leah” cows swallow the beautiful healthy “Rachel” cows, Yosef understands that this first dream parallels his own life experience – in which he was “swallowed” and disappeared by Leah’s sons in a perfect crime. But could this parallel to his own life help him understand the divine message that he was to convey to Pharoah concerning the fate of Egypt?
Crucial here is Yosef’s insight: “The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears of grain are seven years; it is one dream. And the seven meager and ugly cows coming up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears of grain, beaten by the east wind, will be seven years of famine.” (41:26-27)
The very first contribution of Rachel and Leah to the biblical narrative comes in the form of two sets of seven-years that Ya’akov was made to work for their hands in marriage. Once Yosef had been inspired to understand their significance in the cow dream, he was able to use this key to unlock the second dream concerning grain and convey its relevance to Egypt’s upcoming years of plenty and famine. In terms of its basic key it was, after all, “one dream”.
Rabbi Fohrman concludes with a question to his audience: while we recognise that we live an era devoid of prophecy and open miracles, might God still be offering us guidance and inspiration through our life experiences? If so, are we sufficiently attuned and perceptive to be aware of an interpret this?
First posted on Facebook 18 December 2022, here.
