Parshios Miketz & Chanukah
Yosef Recognizes His Brothers
The main point in this week's parsha is that Yosef recognizes his brothers
while they don't recognize him. The obvious reason for this is that Yosef,
pursuing the fulfillment of his heavenly dreams, is looking for his
brothers, while they, the brothers themselves, are not partners with Yosef
in the dreams and therefore they cannot imagine that they are bowing before
Yosef.
There are dreams that are private, personal, and many times impossible to
share with others. However, sometimes there are dreams that are so
transcendent and affect generations and nations that they must be shared
with others. Yosef's dreams are of this very nature. The brothers
misinterpreted Yosef's words as being an attempt to rule over them and
control them. The dreams however truly implied that Yosef would save Yaakov
and his family in a time of hunger and crisis.
Yosef wished that his dreams would be shared by his brothers as well. The
brothers, who saw those dreams as being malevolent, did not want any part in
their fulfillment or accomplishment. On the other hand, Yaakov does share in
Yosef's dreams and though he reprimands Yosef for his attitude towards his
brothers, he guards the message of the dreams and is somehow certain that
they will be fulfilled.
Someone who does not share in the dream will find it difficult to identify
with the dreamer or even to recognize affinity with him. Yosef who wishes
his dreams to be their dreams immediately recognizes his brothers. The
brothers, who as yet do not share Yosef's dreams, cannot really recognize
him or identify with him.
The Jewish people over the ages have dreamt many dreams. Some of them were
private dreams. As such, they did not really have a lasting effect. However,
there were grand, national, and even universal dreams that were part of
Jewish tradition and society. These dreams included the return to the Land
of Israel, establishing a just and moral Jewish society based on Torah
values, and a general commitment to further civilization and improve human
society.
The test of the Jewish continuity and loyalty was whether the individual Jew
shared in these great dreams. Those who did not eventually could no longer
recognize their own brothers. Because of this, these Jews eventually became
negative forces in Jewish society and in world society as well.
Jewish education over the ages not only taught Torah knowledge and Jewish
tradition but it also implanted within the Jewish soul and mind the visions
and dreams that are the lifeblood of Jewish survival. Many of the problems
that exist in today's Jewish society, here in Israel, but especially in the
diaspora, result from the fact that Jewish dreams are no longer shared by
many Jews.
This explains much of the negativity and bitterness that is unfortunately
present in the Jewish world. We need to see the dreamers as heroes and the
visionaries as being the true leaders of our people. Yosef still lives with
his dreams, his stubbornness, his hopes and his goodness. May we, his
brothers, be wise enough to recognize him in our midst.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanuka,
Rabbi Berel Wein
