Rabbi Frand on Parshas Miketz
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 309, "Lo
Sechanaim" Giving Gifts to Non-Jews.
Good Shabbos!
Help Wanted: Ish Navon V'Chachom -- Bureaucrats Need Not Apply
Our Parsha begins with the story of Pharoah's dream. Yosef interpreted that
the seven thin cows swallowing up the seven fat cows symbolized seven good
years that would be followed by seven lean years. To prepare for this
impending famine, Yosef suggested the establishment of a governmental agency
to collect food during the years of plenty and distribute food during the
years of famine. The specific language of the suggestion was "Now let
Pharoah seek out a 'discerning and wise man' and set him over the land of
Egypt" [Bereshis 41:33].
The author of Shay Le'Torah asks the following question. Why did Yosef
stress the attributes of wisdom and understanding in describing the
individual who should be in charge of the new agency? The task required a
bureaucrat par excellance. It would seem that the most important qualifying
attribute for the director of the new agency should have been excellent
organizational skills, rather than wisdom or intelligence.
The answer is that Yosef felt that this situation required someone who was a
Chochom [wise person]. "What is the definition of a Chochom? One who
foresees what will be." [Tamid 32a] When a country is enjoying seven years
of plenty, rare is the person who can imagine that the bubble is going to
burst -- that products, which are now in abundance, will become scarce
commodities.
People who lived through the "boom years" of the 1980s when it was so easy
to make money in real estate, have difficulty imagining a market where one
can not sell anything, or even rent anything. In the "good old days" when
gas was 35 cents or 40 cents a gallon, surplus oil was burned off at the oil
wells. They had too much. They did not know what to do with it all.
"Unproductive wells" which were not producing 100 barrels a day, were
abandoned. Later, when we all stood in the gas lines, we looked back and
thought, "We remember the fish that we ate..." [Bamidbar 11:5]. We
remembered the good old days when we could just pull up and the attendant
would wash our windows and check our oil.
The same thing was true in Egypt. When grain was so plentiful, it was very
difficult to convince people that it was necessary to save, to put away for
tomorrow. Who would be able to inspire the people that the "good times"
would not last forever? It could not be done a bureaucrat. Only a "wise and
discerning individual" might prove equal to the task. The task required a
"Chochom" who could see the future and help others perceive the future and
convince them of the reality of that future. That is why only someone of the
caliber of Yosef met the qualifications for the job.
No Tzitzis In The World To Come
There is an interesting incident told about the Gaon of Vilna. When on his
deathbed, he began to cry. His students asked him why he was crying. The
Gaon picked up his Tzitzis, held them in his hand and told his students as
follows: "We are living in the 'seven fat years'. The 'seven fat years' are
this world. For the price of a pair of Tzitzis - consisting of a thin little
garment with some strings - a person can acquire 'worlds'. One hour of
repentance and good deeds in this world is superior to all of life in the
next world [Vayikra Rabbah Chapter 3]. However, the World To Come is the
'seven years of famine'. In that world there are no more Mitzvos. There is
no tzitzis; there are no Tephillin, there is no learning Torah. True, there
is reward in the World To Come, but there is no opportunity to do Mitzvos."
A person has to be a "Chochom" to realize that we are in the 'Go-Go' days
now. Now it is easy to 'grab' a recitation of Krias Shma, a proper Shmoneh
Esrai, an act of kindness, or a good deed. However, human tendency is to
waste money when it comes so easily, to waste oil when it is so plentiful.
Only when the resource becomes scarce do we look back remorsefully, while
stuck in the gas line, and say "How stupid we were! We did not save! We did
not put away!"
This is how people may feel, Heaven Forbid, in the World To Come. "How
stupid we were. We had the opportunities. They were just lying around
waiting for us." That is why the Gaon picked up his Tzitzis while on his
deathbed and started to cry - because there are no more Tzitzis in the World
To Come.
When we read Parshas Miketz on Shabbos, let us think about the seven fat
years and the seven lean years. It is a nice story about the cows and the
Egyptian agricultural cycle of millennia ago. But it has a contemporary
message for all of us. It is time to act, time to grab. We are in the midst
of the seven fat years. One day they will end. We will look back and say,
"we wasted them". We will feel silly and stupid, because the opportunities
were lying in the streets and sitting on the shelves, and we failed to take
advantage of them.
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas
Miketz are provided below:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
