Mi-Ketz 5762

Shabbat Shalom-

There is an hermeneutic principle that the Torah speaks in the language of Men, preserving the nuances in human speech (BT Berakhot 31b, ad loc.). Now, Pharaoh dreamt of fat and skinny cattle arising from the Nile (41:2-4). In Egyptian, the word for cow is RNPT. The dream is interpreted to mean one year of plenty or famine for each cow. Coincidentally, the Egyptian word for year is also RNPT, adding support to an Egyptian origin of the story. I guess that means that if you told an Egyptian 'have a good RNPT' they might think 'have a good cow', that you want to be invited to their barbeque. Similarly, if you told an Egyptian "Don't have an RNPT, man", they might think you meant "Don't have a year, man" and become upset. I wonder if the English word 'year' was the basis for the story about the ears of corn, hmmm.

Hey, guess what? A skinny cow (my sister loves those) is at first called 'Dakot Basar' in 41:3-4 then 'Rakot Basar' in 41:19-20, first meaning thinly-fleshed and then meaning lacking or empty-fleshed. I wonder if that applies to supermodels who might be thin but are in some ways lacking.

And here comes the meat, pardon the expression, of this writing.

When things happen, there are two ways of viewing them that are not mutually contradictory, but have different effects upon one's conduct. One view sees God as cause of everything as the brothers did. "And each brother said to the other, 'But (surely) we are guilty on (account) of our brother whom we saw in his mortal trouble, and he pleaded to us, and we did not hearken-- Therefore, this trouble has come upon us.'"(42:21) On opening the sacks with money in them, "And he said to his brothers, 'My silver has been returned, and here is it in my sack.' And their hearts went out and they shuddered each to the other saying, 'What is this God did to us?'" (42:28) Lastly, Judah pleads "What shall we say to my lord, what shall we speak, and in what shall we be vindicated? God found out the iniquity of your servant. Behold, we are slaves to my lord, also ourselves, and also he in whose hand the chalice was found." (44:17)

The other view, Jacob's, sees the tragedy of his children as their own doing. "'You have made me childless! Joseph is absent, Simeon is absent, and Benjamin you will take from me-- that will be all of them!'." (42:36) On their returning to Egypt with the money, he instructs them, "And double silver take in your hands, and the silver that was returned to the top of your sacks, you shall return with your hands. Perhaps it was an error." (43:12).

Certainly Jacob believed in providence as much as his sons did, but he did not let that make him take a defeatist attitude. He believed that though God might be ultimately the source of every action, "All is in the hands of heaven except the fear of heaven." (BT Berakhot 33b) That is to say, we still have a share in the outcome of events for whatsoever cause they occur to us.

To drive this point home, we see that the dream's prophecy for disaster was conditional. "And the satisfaction-of-plenty in the land will not be known because of that hunger-of-famine afterwards, for it is very burdensome." (41:31). Immediately afterward Joseph gives instruction on how to avoid this tragedious famine. Though the stage may be set and the curtain raising, it is ultimately our actions which lead to divine redemption as is said, "Return to Me, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will return to you, said the Lord of Hosts." (Zechariah 1:3). One may understand this to mean "Return to Me with yourselves fully and I will return to you fully with all that is good."

Have a caring week!
Benjamin Fleischer
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