| ב"ה וַיַּחֲלֹם יוֹסֵף חֲלוֹם (בראשית לז, ה) AND YOSEF DREAMT A DREAM (BEREISHIS 37:5) A Jew and His DreamsIn Parshas Vayeishev we read about Yosef's two dreams that foretold that his family would one day bow before him. In the first dream, Yosef and his brothers were represented by the plant kingdom: eleven sheaves of wheat bowed to Yosef's sheave. In the second dream, his family was represented by the solar system: the sun, the moon and the stars. Like Yosef, Pharaoh too had two dreams, which we read about in Parshas Mikeitz. Pharaoh's dreams had identical themes as well, both foretelling seven years of plenty that would come upon Egypt, followed by seven years of hunger. And also in Pharaoh's dreams, the imagery changed from one dream to the next. In Pharaoh's first dream, the years of plenty and famine were represented by fat cows and emaciated cows, while those same themes were represented in his second dream by healthy ears of grain and gaunt ears of grain. Notably, Yosef's series of dreams featured celestial beings—the sun, the moon and the stars, whereas Pharaoh's did not. In addition, Pharaoh's dreams "deteriorated," as it were. His first dream involved animal life, whereas his second dream featured a much lower form of life—the vegetable kingdom. In contrast, Yosef's dreams progressed—from the earthly to the heavenly. The contrast between these two sets of dreams highlights the differences between these two dreamers. Pharaoh's dreams were devoid of anything "heavenly," symbolizing a person whose mind is wholly engrossed in his earthly pursuits. It comes as no surprise that such a person gradually becomes more and more entrenched in his material obsession, as represented by the "degenerative" sequence of Pharaoh's dreams. Yosef's dreams, however, were different. Because a Jew, even as he goes about his routine in the physical world is simultaneously thinking about the Heavenly aspects of his life—his spiritual development and G-dly purpose. Yosef therefore dreamed of the earthly as well as the Heavenly, and in an order of "progression," because his life as a whole was in a constant state of growth. —Likutei Sichos, vol. 3, pp. 805-806 | |
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