Ra'anana Community Kollel - Parshat Vayeishev 5764

Me and My Bundle

Rabbi Binyomin Lipson

In the beginning of this week’s parshah the Torah tells us that on two separate occasions Yosef had dreams which alluded to the eminence he was destined to achieve over his brothers.

In the first of these visions, Yosef saw himself and his brothers out in the field harvesting wheat. After each of them had gathered a sheaf, the brothers’ sheaves bowed down to Yosef’s. In the second dream, Yosef saw eleven stars prostrating themselves to a twelfth, once again alluding to the supremacy that he would eventually possess over his brothers. Seemingly, both of these dreams spoke the same message in extremely similar ways. What did the second dream add that had not already been revealed by the first?

There is additional question which also arises in the narrative of the dreams. While Yosef related both of these dreams to his brothers, in each case their reaction was completely different. After telling them his first dream, the Torah tells us, “. . . and they increased their hatred towards him because of his dreams . . .” However, when Yosef told his brothers about his second dream we are told, “And his brothers envied him . . .” What was unique about Yosef’s first dream that elicited his brothers’ hatred, and what was it specifically about the second that made them jealous?

The Beit Halevi explained that the reason that each of these dreams elicited a different reaction from Yosef’s brothers was because each one represented a different aspect of his future greatness. While in the first dream, the sheaves of wheat alluded to the fact that Yosef would gain supremacy over his brothers in material wealth, to the extent that when they were starving they would be forced to depend upon him for their basic sustenance, the stars depicted in the second dream were a sign that Yosef was also destined to surpass his brothers in the realm of spiritual achievement as well.

In addition to helping us understand the specific purpose of each dream, this explanation also clarifies the reason that Yosef’s brothers reacted differently to each one. Many people live with the subconscious illusion that the very fact that a particular person has been successful in his business dealings and has managed to amass stores of wealth somehow indicates that he is a better person. However, Yosef’s brothers knew very well that in truth, material achievement isn’t really an achievement at all. In the world around us we have all seen people with every possible factor working in their favor failing miserably in their financial ventures, and others who we would have assumed were doomed to failure enjoying fruitful endeavors. The only explanation for this phenomenon is that material success does not depend upon one’s intelligence or intuition. Rather, Hashem in His ultimate wisdom and all-encompassing perception determines what a person needs to fulfill his life’s mission, and while one is sweating away “making money” Hashem hands down that which has already been set aside for him or her. In this regard, when Yosef told his brothers about the first dream, it only aroused hatred on their part to think that they would one day become dependent upon their younger brother for sustenance.

However, in the area of spiritual achievement and character perfection, each person forges his own way by using his free-will to choose the correct path in life. Unlike in the area of material success, when it comes to looking at the kind of person that one has succeeded in becoming during his lifetime the credit is all his. Thus, when the brothers heard the second dream which depicted Yosef’s future spiritual greatness, it is fully understood that they felt jealous of this great achievement.

Interestingly, this difference between a person’s physical and spiritual accomplishments is also discernable in the content of the dreams themselves. While in the first dream which alluded to his material success Yosef told his brothers, “. . . and your sheaves gathered around and bowed to my bundle . . .”, in the second which told of his ultimate personal greatness he told them, “. . . the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing to me . . .” From here as well, we can see that in Yosef’s mind there existed clear distinction between what I have and who I am.

To a great degree, it was these two opposite measuring sticks of self-definition that lay at the core of the battle which raged between the Greeks and the Chashmonaim at the time of the Chanukah miracle. While the Greeks used wisdom to enhance people’s external beauty and physical perfection, the Jews sought to build people’s inner essence into something beautiful and worthy of praise. As we begin our celebration of Chanukah this year, let’s take some time to identify those aspects of our lives which are part of the real us and evaluate just how much priority we have been giving to their enhancement.