Spiritual and
Ethical Issues For the next number of weeks, Dr. Tamari's column will focus on an important and sadly neglected area of Torah Life. We hope that Dr. Tamari's words will not only be of academic value, but will also impact on a "Tachlis level" to help improve our behavior as individual Jews and as Klal Yisrael. Yosef and his Brothers [3] The Sages have mixed feelings about dreams and their spiritual value or meaning (Berachot 55a). Some hold that dreams have no effect, being merely expressions of the desires of a person's heart, others, that their significance lies in the mouth of the interpreter, while some hold that they actually foretell good or bad futures. The Rambam (Hilkhot De'ot 7) clearly states that it is one of the forms of prophecy when G-d appears to the prophet in a dream. We have to relate to the whole episode and its consequences in the light of this view of Yosef's dreams. We are told of two dreams and each one of them is different not only in its content but also in its interpretation and reception by the brothers and by Yaakov. The first dream is of the brothers binding stalks of wheat so that they can be collected into larger sheaves. Yosef describes his bundle arising and those of his brothers bowing to it or as walking around it in homage. All the twelve brothers are working together, so that Yosef, unlike his brothers did not see in it a disruption of the principle of the unity of the Abrahamic family, destined to become a nation. "Not only did his bundle stand up, showing his rise but the text adds 'and it stood erect', of its own accord, showing that Yosef did not desire his greatness nor that they would confer it on him. Rather it was Divine Providence" (Abarbanel). Sforno sees the standing erect as a reference to the length of his reign, 80 years, which is the longest reign mentioned in the Tanach. The agricultural scene of harvest and gathering of sheaves is part of the spiritual change envisaged by the Patriarchs. "The evil son in the Haggada asks: 'What is this service to you?" The previous generations, Adam, Sheit, No'ach, Shem and Eiver had sought their service of G-d and His Avoda in withdrawal from the materialism of everyday living. Now the Avot, by their involvement in flocks and herds, by digging wells for water, and by their planting and harvesting, were teaching a new kind of Avoda; that Avodat Hashem concerned the sanctification of materialism not its eradication. Such service the Rasha could not envisage" (Shem MiShmuel). "The ingathering of the wheat sheaves is in conflict with the usual economic activity of the sons of Yaakov who are repetitively shown in the text as shepherds. To them therefore, the dream showed a radical change from their normal life style and social structure and they hated Yosef for foretelling the demise of their present way of life. This is similar, to the hatred by certain circles before the Holocaust, of the religious Zionists teachings that the physical existence, the lifestyle and institutions of Eastern European Jewry faced destruction and change" (Rabbi Yosef Ber Soloveichik, Boston; Iturei Torah). The brothers understood that this dream symbolized that Yosef's rule over them would be through their dependence on him for their parnasa. A different perspective was introduced by the second dream, where the sun, the moon and 11 stars bowed down to Yosef. Here there was no more allusion to national unity but a definite reference to spiritual superiority symbolized by the involvement of the heavenly bodies. While the brothers could relate with natural hatred to the idea of being dependent on Yosef for their material sustenance, the idea of his spiritual superiority as symbolized by this second dream, filled them with jealousy. " When the brothers saw that Yaakov taught Yosef a special aspect of Torah, they feared that this meant that like Ishmael and Eisav they were merely the husk that would be cast aside, and so were jealous of him". (Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetsky). In introducing his dreams, Yosef uses the form of speech used by many prophets introducing their prophecies. This shows that he did not relate to them merely as flowing from the promptings of his own heart or as reflecting a youthful daydream. If there was any such doubt in his mind, we would find evidence of protest at his mission such as we find with Moshe or Yirmeyahu. "Rather, he was convinced that they were words of prophecy. This explains why he found it necessary to tell them to his brothers, even though he knew full well that telling them would only serve to increase their anger and displeasure. However, not to reveal his dreams would mean transgressing the injunction forbidding a prophet to hide his prophecy" (Vilna Gaon). Their response to Yosef was: "Would you then be a king [as a result of your sustaining us] or a ruler over us [because of your spiritual superiority]?" "It is written in Ovadia (1:21): "For the Kingdom is G-d's and He rules over the nations"; G-d is now King of Israel since we accept His Kingship willingly, whereas He rules over the nations forcibly. However it is written in Zecharia (14:9): "G-d will be King for ever"; in that day the whole world will freely choose Him as their King" (Vilna Gaon). [The Parshat Lech L'cha Homepage]
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