Miketz

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach! Here's a little Hanukkah gift for you: Part Two of Joseph's Story! So Joseph is still in jail, interpreting dreams for his fellow inmates. Coincidentally, Pharaoh is having nightmares of his own. Pharaoh hires Joseph to interpret what he dreamt and here is what he saw: First, Pharaoh saw seven healthy cows and seven starving cows. The starving cows were so hungry that they ate the healthy cows! Next, Pharaoh saw seven healthy stalks of grain and seven withered stalks. The same thing happened, the withered grain ate the healthy grain! But what did it all mean? Joseph told Pharaoh that God was going to bring seven years of good harvest and seven years of famine. When he suggested that Pharaoh hire someone to keep track of the amount of food in the kingdom, Pharaoh hire Joseph on the spot! Joseph was the new Viceroy of Egypt which basically means he was the the Vice President. Since Joseph was Pharaoh's new right-hand man, he got jewels and robes, a beautiful Egyptian wife and even an Egyptian name. After seven successful years of stockpiling food, the famine came. It spread so far, that people were immigrating to Egypt since they had enough food to spare. Joseph's family was among these immigrants and they were suddenly bowing at his feel and begging for food. Joseph's dream from when he was a teenager was finally coming true! Sure his family was finally giving him the respect he deserved, but he had worked so hard to cover up his past that he was very emotional. In fact, Joseph had changed so much in 20 years that his family didn't recognize him! He won't reveal himself until next week's story but in the meantime, Joseph is an emotional wreck when his dreamlife comes crashing down and was as if he was in a bubble since his life was so perfect. First he was a jerk to his family, then he was nice, and then he was a jerk again and in-between he had to leave the room a few times so his family wouldn't see him cry.

Everyone has that point in their life when they are ready to leave their family but Joseph's experience was more dramatic (and traumatic) than most people's. If you already know the story, you know that everyone kisses and makes up (sorry spoiler) but as of right now we can see that Joseph is a complex dude that needs to sort out his internal issues. We all have internal conflicts that we think about, even as we change on the outside, but just because we look different doesn't mean our feelings are different. Take time this week to keep a dream journal and interpret what your sub conscience is telling you. Dreaming is your brain's way of sorting through information and working out problems so the best thing to do is listen to your body.