This Week’s Torah Portion: Mikeitz – מִקֵּץ (Genesis 41:1−44:17)
The Hebrew month of Kislev is the month of dreams, and in this week’s Torah portion, Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, rising to become his trusted advisor. May we have the courage to follow our dreams, especially when things feel impossible.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Mikeitz – מִקֵּץ (Genesis 41:1−44:17)
“And Pharaoh called Josef Zaphenath-Paneah, and gave him Asenat, daughter of Potifera’, priest of On, for a wife.” Genesis 41:45)
Joseph gets an Egyptian name, an Egyptian wife who is an Egyptian priest’s daughter, swears by Pharaoh’s name (Pharaoh is also a god), and dresses like an Egyptian. Thanks, God, for allowing him to forget his ancestral home.
Joseph is the paradigm of assimilation, and yet he is also the paradigm of success, saving his family’s lives and saving the entire world from hunger.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Mikeitz – מִקֵּץ (Genesis 41:1−44:17)
Pharaoh’s dreams are a message from God, telling him that Egypt will have great abundance followed by great famine, and the abundance will not have any effect on the famine.
Joseph manages to create a system that will prove the dreams wrong and break the message from God. Joseph proves that in the partnership between God and us, God wants us to prevail!
This Week’s Torah Portion: Mikeitz – Hanukkah – מִקֵּץ – חֲנֻכָּה (Genesis 41:1−44:17)
Hanukkah or Shabbat? What is a bigger Mitzvah? What should come first? What do I do if I can only celebrate one of the two? What Jewish values are more important?
Seems obvious; after all, we have Shabbat every week, and we celebrate it all the time, and Hanukkah only once a year.
And Hanukkah is the second most popular Jewish holiday in the world, right after Passover.
Shabbat candles, which stand for domestic peace, take priority over Hanukkah candles that proclaim a Divine-human military victory. The private realm of the home takes precedence over the public realm of politics and religion.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Mikeitz – Hanukkah – מִקֵּץ – חֲנֻכָּה (Genesis 41:1−44:17)
“Joseph named his first-born Manasseh, meaning, “God has made me forget completely my hardship and my parental home.” (Genesis 41:51).
Joseph marries the daughter of an Egyptian priest, changes his name, dresses like an Egyptian, and thanks God for allowing him to forget his father’s home. He truly assimilates and changes everything about his identity, yet when he encounters his brothers in the next Torah portion, he says “I am Joseph,” teaching us that you can never hide who you truly are.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Mikeitz – מִקֵּץ (Genesis 41:1−44:17)
The story of Joseph and his brothers became a Broadway musical. It shows how dramatic is the story, maybe the biggest drama in Genesis.
In his youth, Joseph is a dreamer, and foolish enough to tell his brothers he was dreaming about being their ruler.
The drama is that by trying to prevent Joseph from fulfilling his dreams, by selling him as a slave, the brothers actually ensured the dreams would be fulfilled.
But there is a much bigger drama in this story. Joseph is the only person in Genesis that manages to change. The annoying spoiled teenager, the dreamer, becomes the saver of the world, and the second in command in the biggest empire in the world. He literally saves Egypt and the rest of the world, including his own family, from famine.
Change is so difficult, especially changing who we are, the way we act, Joseph manages to change who he is, and becomes what he ought to be. He manages to overcome his own faults, and by that he manages to help create a better world!
This Week’s Torah Portion: Mikeitz (Genesis 41:1−44:17)
Joseph is a dreamer of dreams – always was, always will be.
In his youth, Joseph’s dreams all revolve around himself. And when he shares them with others, he seems either unaware or unconcerned about the impact they will have on the lives of those around him.
As Joseph grows, there grows within him a recognition of the significance of other people’s dreams. He listens to their words and interprets there meanings, but still he lacks the empathy to understand how these interpretations will affect the lives of others.
Through Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph learns to enter into the dreams of others for good: seeing what others must see, saying what others fear to say. Joseph learns that the dreams and fears of others matter to his life, and that through our lives we can make a difference in fulfilling the best of our dreams together.
We are all Joseph, still dreaming of a better world and sharing such dreams with others, but still needing to enter those dreams to bring them to fruition, still believing in a greater redemption which awaits us and all the world. It says in the Talmud: “May the world we live in be the world of your dreams.” (Talmud Berachot 17a) May this be our blessing. Amen.
Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s two dreams and predicts seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. (41:1-32)
Pharaoh places Joseph in charge of food collection and distribution. (41:37-49)
Joseph marries Asenath, and they have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. (41:50-52)
When Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to buy food during the famine, Joseph accuses them of spying. He holds Simeon hostage while the rest of the brothers return to Canaan to retrieve Benjamin for him. (42:3-42:38)
The brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin and for more food. Joseph continues the test, this time falsely accusing Benjamin of stealing and declaring that Benjamin must remain his slave. (43:1-44:17)
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