Parshat Vayeishev
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

Parshas Vayeishev begins with two dreams and ends with two dreams. Parshas Miketz begins with two more dreams. All of these dreams involve Yosef. What is the message behind this pattern?

Yosef - as leader and protector of the Jews in Mitzrayim - was aware that he had a special mission, and that whatever happened to him and his nation was all part of Hashem's master plan. "And he said, 'I am Yosef your brother whom you sold to Egypt. But now, do not feel bad, and do not despair that you sold me, for God has sent me here before you to sustain you. For there will be two more years of famine...God sent me before you to create a refuge in the land and to support you...'" (Bereshis 45:4-7) So, too, after Yaakov's passing, we read, "And his brothers approached him (Yosef) and fell before him, saying, 'Behold we are servants to you.' And he replied to them, 'Do not fear, for am I in the role of God (to judge you)? You thought evil toward me, but God considered it to be good, in order to sustain this people at the present time.'" (Ibid. 50:18-20)

Yosef was able to perceive human experiences on a deeper level. What appeared to be bad was really often for the goal of an underlying, yet-undisclosed good, and that which seemed unreal - existing only in the potential - was revealed to Yosef. "And Yosef said to his brothers, 'I will die, and God will take you out from this land to the land He promised to Avrohom, Yitzchak and Yaakov.'" (ibid. v. 24) Although the Jews did not have freedom to depart Egypt when Yosef uttered these words, and they were about to descend to the depths of slavery, Yosef knew that it was all part of a temporary phase leading to redemption.

Yosef's supernatural sense of vision is symbolized by his dreams and interpretation of dreams. Dreams represent a level of understanding which is beyond reality. They indicate that there exists a separate level of perception.

It is therefore most fitting that Yosef is introduced to us through dreams, and that his dreams and interpretation of dreams form the basis for his relationship with his brothers and serve his ascension to the throne, for they personify him as a visionary Jewish leader in the most literal sense.

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