Parshas Mikeitz
1. In the account in our parsha of Pharaoh's dream — how the magicians were unable to interpret the dream — and in the lengthy account of Yosef's interpretation, there are several difficulties raised by the commentators on the Torah1:
a) Yosef's interpretation — that "שבע הפרות הטובות" ("the seven good cows") and "שבע השבלים הטובות" ("the seven good ears of grain") indicate seven years of plenty, and "שבע הפרות הרקות והרעות" ("the seven lean and bad cows") and "שבע השבלים הרקות שדופות הקדים" ("the seven empty ears, blasted by the east wind") indicate seven years of famine — is seemingly a simple interpretation, one that can easily be deduced and understood from the dream itself:
"פרות יפות מראה ובריאות בשר" ("cows handsome in appearance and healthy of flesh") are the result of an abundant growth of grass and of produce in general — and so they are, quite simply, evidence of a time of plenty (satiety); and certainly healthy, good ears of grain point to a good crop of grain — a time of plenty. Conversely, bad cows show that there is not enough food; and all the more so, thin ears blasted by the east wind are clear signs of a time of hunger; and similarly with the other details of the dream.
Pharaoh saw in his dream how the cows were coming up out of the river — and the river, the Nile, waters the land of Egypt2, so that the growth of produce and the food of the land of Egypt depend on it3. Since the good cows and ears came first, it is simply understood that first there will be a time of plenty in the food of the land of Egypt, and afterwards the bad cows and ears — a time of famine4.
Since they (both the cows and the ears) were seven in number, it is understandable that this indicates seven growings of ears (grain), for each growth and sprouting of grain happens once a year (which comes about through plowing, etc., up to threshing, with the seven good cows — seven times in seven years)5.
According to all this it is altogether not understood: (a) How is it that the magicians of Egypt did not understand so simple a thing, and interpreted the dream with an interpretation that "לא היה קולן נכנס באזניו" ("their voice did not enter his ears") (Pharaoh's)6? (b) What did the great wisdom of Yosef's interpretation consist of, that it aroused such enthusiasm in Pharaoh that he made him second to the king7?
b) Immediately after Yosef finished telling Pharaoh the interpretation of the dream, Yosef continued — and with an emphasis that this is a continuation of what came before, by beginning with a connective vav — and gave Pharaoh advice (and at length): "ועתה ירא פרעה גו' יעשה פרעה ויפקד גו'" ("Now let Pharaoh seek out… Let Pharaoh do this, and appoint…")8. Seemingly: how does Yosef come to involve himself in affairs of the kingdom? Pharaoh asked him to interpret the dream for him, not for advice on conducting the kingdom9.
[Commentators10 say that Yosef added the advice "Now let Pharaoh seek out…" because with it he explained to Pharaoh the reason and purpose of G‑d's having shown Pharaoh in a dream "אשר האלקים עושה" ("what G‑d is about to do")11 — that it was not for nothing, to cause him distress (and the like), but with the intent that "Pharaoh seek out… let Pharaoh do this and appoint overseers…".
But this is not sufficient, for then Yosef should have said explicitly that the reason G‑d showed him this is for the sake of "Now let Pharaoh seek out… let Pharaoh do…"12.]
c) Since "ותפעם רוחו" ("his spirit was troubled") (Pharaoh's) was because he had no interpretation of the dream, and because of this Yosef was brought from the pit — then after Yosef interpreted the dream, the verse13 says "וייטב הדבר בעיני פרעה" ("The matter was good in the eyes of Pharaoh…"), (including, or only) Yosef's advice. First and foremost it should have said "the interpretation was good in the eyes of Pharaoh…"14 (and this is not mentioned at all!).
d) Most puzzling of all: since these three questions are difficulties (also) in the plain meaning of Scripture, why do we find no explanation or answer to these difficulties in Rashi's commentary on the Torah — he who is the foremost of the plain-meaning commentators and explains every difficulty in the plain meaning of Scripture, as is known15?
We must therefore say that the explanation of all the above is self-understood according to the plain meaning of Scripture16, or that it is alluded to in Rashi's commentary.
2. This will be understood by first considering Rashi's comment on "ואין פותר אותם לפרעה" ("but there was none who could interpret them for Pharaoh"): "פותרים היו אותם אבל לא לפרעה .. שהיו אומרים שבע בנות אתה מוליד שבע בנות אתה קובר" ("They did interpret them, but not for Pharaoh17 … for they said: 'You will father seven daughters; you will bury seven daughters'"). This is seemingly not understood:
a) Why does Rashi need to spell out what the magicians' interpretation was, rather than suffice with explaining what is relevant to the plain meaning of the verse — "They did interpret them, but not for Pharaoh, for their voice did not enter his ears and he had no satisfaction from their interpretation"?
b) The source of the explanation "for they said, 'Seven daughters…'" is the Midrash18 [in the verse there is no hint of this interpretation19]. But in the Midrash it says that this interpretation applied only to the dream of the seven good cows and the seven bad cows, and afterwards the Midrash continues: "וכן אמרו שבע שבלים הטובות שבע מלכויות אתה מכבש שבע שבלים הרעות שבע אפרכיות מורדות בך" ("And so they said: the seven good ears — you will conquer seven kingdoms; the seven bad ears — seven provinces20 will rebel against you"). Why does Rashi depart from this and say that the magicians gave only one interpretation21? [Especially since, quite simply, it stands to reason that Pharaoh's two dreams indicate two matters — which is why Yosef had to justify his interpretation: "ועל השנות החלום גו'" ("And as for the dream being repeated…") — and accordingly it is reasonable that the magicians interpreted it as two matters]22.
The explanation of this is that the question itself is the answer: Rashi chooses specifically this interpretation of the magicians because it alone fits the plain meaning of Scripture; and therefore — according to the plain meaning — the magicians gave only this one interpretation. Accordingly we also understand the magicians' error, which caused them not to interpret the dream simply (seven years, etc., as above, section 1); and consequently also the great novelty of Yosef's interpretation, as will be explained below.
3. From the precise wording of Rashi's commentary it is also understood that according to Rashi one cannot say (as in the Midrash) that Yosef's novelty lies in (the opening words of) his interpretation, "חלום פרעה אחד הוא" ("Pharaoh's dream is one")23 — unlike what the magicians assumed, according to the Midrash's explanation, namely that the dream of the cows and the dream of the ears were two different dreams with separate interpretations, and that for this reason they did not interpret the dreams according to their plain meaning24:
Rashi says explicitly "for they said: 'You will father seven daughters; you will bury seven daughters,'" and does not add a separate interpretation for the second dream25. This proves, as above, that according to Rashi — the plain meaning of Scripture and not its Midrashic interpretation — the magicians, too, understood26 that the dream consists of one matter and one content27.
4. The Abarbanel28 adds (to what was said above in section 3) that the difference between the magicians and Yosef lay in the general nature of dreams and their interpretation: The magicians knew the wisdom of dream interpretation, and how the imaginative faculty operates, such that what one sees in a dream is only a parable and imitation of other matters, etc.; so they interpreted this dream too as meaning that the cows and ears are not literal, but a parable and allusion to seven daughters (and seven kingdoms). Yosef, by contrast, understood through Ruach HaKodesh (not (only) through the natural wisdom of dream interpreters) the truth: that this dream was not like other dreams (which are bound up (also) with the "imaginative faculty," and are therefore a parable and imitation)29, but a notification from Above; consequently it is understood that the cows and ears are to be taken literally30.
In the approach of the plain meaning and the simple sense of Scripture, however, and in Rashi's commentary on the Torah, we do not find distinctions between kinds of dreams, or different ways and kinds of dream interpreters.
[Especially since we have already learned earlier in the Torah that dreams indicate, and are interpreted, in a simple way (not by allusion, and remote allusion):
(Beginning with) Yaakov's dream31: "ויחלום והנה סולם מוצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה והנה מלאכי אלקים עולים ויורדים בו" ("He dreamt, and behold, a ladder was set on the ground and its top reached heavenward, and behold, angels of G‑d were ascending and descending on it") — which means literally that the angels who had accompanied him in the Land of Israel up to outside the Land ascended to heaven on this ladder, "and angels of outside the Land descended…" to accompany him outside the Land.
Similarly: "וארא בחלום והנה העתודים העולים על הצאן עקודים נקודים וברודים" ("I saw in a dream, and behold, the he-goats mounting the flock were streaked, speckled and spotted")32.
Moreover (similar to our matter): Yosef's dreams33: "והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלומים בתוך השדה והנה קמה אלומתי וגם נצבה והנה תסובינה אלומותיכם ותשתחוין לאלומתי" ("Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also remained standing, and behold, your sheaves surrounded it and bowed down to my sheaf"). Yosef's brothers understood this simply, to mean that they would bow down to him (and in connection with sheaves and grain34); and similarly with the second dream35.]
And certainly, according to the plain meaning, interpreting the dream as referring literally to seven years of plenty and of famine (and that it concerns all of Egypt) is far simpler and more readily apparent at first glance than saying that it (concerns only Pharaoh, and) is a riddle and a remote allusion to an altogether unrelated matter.
5. The explanation of this: The main difficulty in the dream (because of which the magicians did not interpret the dream literally — that the good cows, etc., indicate plenty and food, etc.) lies in the continuation of the dream: "והנה שבע פרות אחרות עולות אחריהן מן היאור רעות מראה ודקות בשר ותעמודנה אצל הפרות על שפת היאור" ("And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, bad in appearance and thin of flesh, and they stood beside the cows on the bank of the river"). If the bad cows indicate another seven years that follow afterwards, how can they be together with the good cows, which allude to the earlier, past seven years of plenty36? One year comes only after the previous one has gone37.
Therefore the magicians, in their wisdom, devised the interpretation "You will father seven daughters; you will bury seven daughters"38, because in this interpretation both matters can occur at one time — "you will father seven daughters" at the very same time that "seven daughters you will bury"39:
In those times, a king especially, and all the more so Pharaoh40 king of Egypt — a king in a land like Egypt, where people were "שטופי זמה" ("steeped in immorality")*40 — had many wives and many concubines.
Thus there could be "you will father seven daughters" and at the same time "you will bury seven daughters" — other seven daughters, not the ones that "you father" at that time.
[And the interpretation of "ותאכלנה" ("they devoured") and "ותבלענה" ("they swallowed") is also understood, for the pain and anguish over the seven daughters "you will bury" swallows up and takes away the joy over the (seven daughters) "you will father."]
By contrast, "you will conquer seven kingdoms, and seven provinces will rebel against you" is something altogether uncommon to happen at one time, as is understood — a king does not go out to wage war simultaneously against seven kingdoms41; first one conquers one country, and afterwards one goes on to conquer a second country, and so on.
And this is why Rashi brings the magicians' interpretation "You will father seven daughters; you will bury seven daughters," and does not suffice with the basic explanation "their voice did not enter…": with it he alludes to and emphasizes the reason why they did not interpret the dream literally — as referring to the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine — as Yosef afterwards interpreted it.
6. Accordingly it is also understood that it was in this that Yosef's novelty consisted42. Therefore, immediately after interpreting the dream to Pharaoh according to the plain content of the dream (that the seven good cows and the seven good ears are "seven years of plenty," and the "bad" ones are "seven years of famine"43), he had to explain how it was that Pharaoh saw the bad cows in the manner of "they stood beside the cows on the bank of the river" (because of which the magicians gave a different interpretation, as above)44:
And therefore he added — not as a separate matter, but as a continuation and an essential part of the interpretation — "ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם גו' ויפקד פקידים על הארץ וחמש את ארץ מצרים בשבע שני השבע, ויקבצו את כל אוכל השנים הטובות הבאות ויצברו בר גו' והיה האוכל לפקדון לארץ לשבע שני הרעב" ("Now let Pharaoh seek out a man of understanding and wisdom… and appoint overseers over the land, and prepare the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty; and let them gather all the food of these coming good years and store up grain… and the food shall be a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine"). For with this it is understood and resolved how both sets of seven years can be together:
When, right at the beginning of the seven years of plenty, one already takes care of and provides for the period of the seven years of famine, and already then stores of grain are gathered for the seven years of famine — this means that while the seven years of plenty are here, the seven years of famine are already present (together with them) — in thought, in feeling, and in practical action.
And likewise the other way around: during the seven years of famine, the "seven years of plenty" are (as it were) present at the same time, since one then eats from the grain of the seven years of plenty.
Accordingly we understand and can explain the wording of the verse, "וייטב הדבר (the advice, not the interpretation itself) בעיני פרעה ובעיני כל עבדיו" ("The matter was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants"), and why Pharaoh's praise of Yosef was "אין נבון וחכם כמוך" ("There is none as understanding and wise as you") (without emphasizing his chief quality in the case at hand — as an interpreter of dreams). For Yosef's great wisdom did not consist in the interpretation of the dream in itself — that the seven good cows indicate seven years, etc. (for that no wisdom is needed, as above). Yosef's achievement was that with his wisdom he bound together, within the interpretation, the seven years of plenty with the seven years of famine — how the two periods can be together — and precisely through this the truth of his interpretation was confirmed.
In other words: "There is none as understanding and wise as you," because through this he showed how the dream itself had indicated to Pharaoh45 (not only what G‑d is doing, but) also what Pharaoh must do: "Now let Pharaoh seek out…"46.
7. The explanation in the inner dimension of the matter: Pharaoh's dreams and Yosef's interpretation were the cause and the beginning of the Egyptian exile (and afterwards of the redemption from Egypt)47 (as is understandable also simply, for they brought about that Yosef became the ruler over the land, and this caused Yaakov and his sons to come to Egypt). From this it is understood that the content and interpretation of the dream allude to, and give expression to, the matter of exile and redemption.
The explanation of this: It is explained in Chassidus48 on the verse49 "בשוב ה' את שיבת ציון היינו כחולמים" ("When the L‑rd will return the captivity of Zion, we will have been like dreamers") that exile is likened to a dream: just as in a dream there can be a combination of two opposites, so too with a Jew in the time of exile — two opposites can then come together in his conduct: love for G‑dliness (during prayer), and preoccupation with business in worldly matters during the course of the day.
And therefore in Pharaoh's dream — which indicates (and is the beginning of) exile50 — there was openly the joining of the two opposites: "they stood beside the cows" — the seven years of plenty together with the seven years of famine, as above. For in addition to the fact that the whole nature of time in general is specifically one after the other — one time coming after another, as indicated by its very names: past, present, future — there are, in particular, two such kinds of time that are opposite in their content: years of plenty and years of famine. This alludes to the joining of the two opposite matters — love for G‑dliness (years of plenty51) together with the preoccupations52 of earning a livelihood (years of famine).
8. Based on the above, it is understood why Yosef's interpretation consisted mainly in the linking and joining of the two opposites.
The discourses53 explain why it was specifically Yosef who was an interpreter of dreams: Although the revealed reason why two opposites can be joined during sleep (and in a dream) is that the intellect does not function then, and only the imaginative faculty remains — and similarly in the time of exile, when the supernal mochin in general, and those of the soul in particular, do not shine openly — the inner reason54, however, is that the root of the time of exile is specifically in a higher level (than a time that is not exile): in the level of Igulim ("circles"), which transcends any division into above and below (just as in a literal circle there is no beginning and no end)55.
Therefore this level becomes enclothed (in concealment) in a dream — not when the power of Chochmah and intellect shines, from whose standpoint there is division56.
And this is why Yosef was an interpreter of dreams: since Yosef's root is from (the world of) Igulim, he therefore had the power to remove the concealment and the garment in which the level of Igulim is clothed, so that it should be openly revealed here below — as it is Above, in its root.
Accordingly it is understood why the essence of Yosef's interpretation was the joining of the two opposites, the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine, for it was precisely in this that the dream's root in the level of Igulim found expression.
And Yosef's interpretation gave the empowerment for the Redemption — that is, that the concealment and garment of (the dream, as it exists in) exile should be removed, and the makifim and Igulim should be revealed as they are in themselves.
The perfection of this will be in the Future to Come, when the assurance "ולא יכנף עוד מוריך" ("Your Teacher will no longer be concealed")57 will be fulfilled — without a garment — and "ביום ההוא יהיה ה' אחד" ("On that day the L‑rd will be One"): "just as I am written, so am I pronounced"58.
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Mikeitz 5732 and 5734)
Notes
1) Bachya on our parsha, 41:8. Akeidas Yitzchak, Gate 29, question 2. Abarbanel on our parsha, "the fourth question." And elsewhere.
2) Rashi at the beginning of our parsha.
3) Cf. Bereishis Rabbah 89:4: "He hinted, he hinted to him…"
4) Accordingly it is understood why he first saw the dream with the cows and afterwards with the ears. See also Bereishis Rabbasi of R. Moshe HaDarshan on our parsha, 41:4.
5) See R. Saadia Gaon on our parsha, 41:2; Midrash HaGadol ibid.; Daas Zekeinim of the Baalei HaTosafos ibid.; Abarbanel cited above. And elsewhere.
6) Rashi 41:8 (from Bereishis Rabbah 89:6).
7) Regarding the answers of the commentators — see below in the text and in note 16.
8) Our parsha 41:33 ff.
9) Ramban on our parsha, 41:4. Abarbanel cited above, "the eighth question." Alshich on our parsha, 41:33 (first question). Kli Yakar ibid., end of v. 26. Ohr HaChaim ibid., v. 33. And elsewhere.
The Ramban's answer (and similarly in the Ralbag and in the Ohr HaChaim's second answer there) — that it is the interpretation of "and the cows devoured" — cannot be said according to Rashi (as is also explicit at the end of his words), for Rashi explains (41:30) that "'and all the plenty will be forgotten' is the interpretation of the swallowing" (see Re'em and Gur Aryeh on verse 4, and elsewhere).
The Abarbanel's first answer — that a prophet cannot suppress his prophecy and will strive to say what he saw and what follows from it, etc. — is not in keeping with the plain meaning (which is Rashi's approach). Cf. Yosef's words (41:16), "G‑d will answer"; and see ibid. 41:38–39.
10) See the second and third explanations in the Abarbanel here, s.v. "Ve'atah yeireh"; Gur Aryeh, Kli Yakar and Ohr HaChaim cited above. And elsewhere.
11) 41:25, 28.
12) Furthermore: what is the wondrous wisdom in Yosef's advice, "and prepare the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty … and let them store up grain…," which is simply understood to be what one must do if one knows in advance that seven years of famine will come after seven years of plenty — as the commentators ask.
13) 41:37. And see Sforno.
14) Cf. Vayeshev 40:16.
15) As is also evident from the fact that where there is no explanation according to the plain meaning, Rashi writes "I do not know" — as in Parshas Toldos 28:5, and in many places (cited in Likutei Sichos vol. 5, p. 1, gloss to note 2).
16) In Chiddushei u'Peirushei Maharzak (on our parsha, 41:2) he explains that this is Rashi's intent in explaining the dream — its interpretation — in verses 2 and 4, "it is a sign of the days of plenty… 'and they devoured' is a sign that all the joy will be…": to teach us that everything Yosef said in interpreting the dream was through his wisdom, natural wisdom, and the dream indicated everything to one who understands, only that the counsel of the magicians was made foolish in order to bring Yosef to the high position he attained, etc. (similar to the explanation of Radak at the beginning of our parsha; Bachya cited above; see also [OCR unclear] on 41:8; and so too in Rashi's commentary on Bereishis Rabbah 89:6).
But according to the plain meaning, it is most puzzling that such a great miracle — that so simple an interpretation (seven years…) was hidden from all the magicians of Egypt — is not alluded to in the verse, nor even in Rashi!
Note further: a) Accordingly, Yosef's interpretation should have been alluded to (at least) in the other details of the dream as well. b) As for his explanation of verses 2 and 4, "a sign…" — "handsome in appearance" (verse 2) is not mentioned in Pharaoh's words when he recounted the dream to Yosef. c) "And they devoured" is not explicit in Yosef's interpretation (only the swallowing — see Rashi 41:30).
See also Akeidas Yitzchak cited above, that one cannot answer as in this answer of the Maharzak.
17) To explain the seemingly superfluous word "for Pharaoh."
18) Cited in note 6.
19) For what the Ra'av (Bartenura) writes here, "from the word 'paros,' which is from the expression 'be fruitful and multiply'…" (see also the Gra), and similarly in Kli Yakar s.v. "Vayesaper lahem," is not alluded to at all in the verse or in Rashi.
20) So it reads in the text before us (the first time, "kingdoms"); in some manuscripts in the Albeck edition, "provinces" both times.
21) As emphasized by the fact that he did not add "etc." at the end of his citation of the Midrash's explanation.
22) See below, note 25, the answer of the Re'em. And see Kli Yakar cited above.
23) 41:25.
24) Chizkuni 41:8. Tzror HaMor and Sforno ibid. Abarbanel, and in many places.
25) — Which is why he did not add "etc." (as above, note 21). It should be noted that what the Re'em writes — that according to Rashi, too, they spoke of four provinces, and Rashi omitted it because the Sages said this only according to those interpreters who thought they were two dreams, but now that it is already known that both are one dream he mentioned only the interpretation they gave regarding the cows — requires great examination: how can one say that Rashi cites the words of the magicians in a way that fits his own view and Yosef's interpretation!
*) And certainly what he concludes is insufficient — "for he only needed to mention it in order to explain the superfluous 'for Pharaoh'" — for that purpose there was no need to bring an example, as above in the text.
26) Accordingly we understand Rashi's comment further on (verse 26), "They are all only seven, and the fact that the dream was repeated twice…" — for to the magicians, too, "Pharaoh's dream is one"; and Yosef's statement that "they are all only seven" is only a preface to explaining and resolving "the fact that the dream was repeated twice…"
27) It is forced to say that the whole novelty and wisdom of Yosef's interpretation is only "And as for the dream being repeated to Pharaoh twice, it is because the matter is established by G‑d, and G‑d is hastening to do it" (41:32). Note that Yosef's own dreams (Vayeshev 37:6 ff.) were also in the manner of "the dream being repeated," yet they were not fulfilled until after twenty-two years (see Rashbam, Chizkuni and Riva on our parsha, ibid., for the distinction; but it is not mentioned at all in Rashi). See below, the gloss to note 46.
28) See also Akeidas Yitzchak, s.v. "Velazeh ani omer."
29) See there in the Abarbanel (earlier) at length (s.v. "Ve'omer shehachalomos") about several kinds of dreams, etc.
30) In the Abarbanel there, the difference between the magicians and Yosef is also in a third matter — whether the dreams pertain to Pharaoh himself or to his land as a whole.
31) Vayeitzei 28:12, and Rashi.
32) Ibid. 31:10.
33) Vayeshev 37:5 ff.
34) See Likutei Sichos vol. 10, p. 116, note 10.
35) Note that the Abarbanel there (s.v. "Ve'amnam hapisronim") writes that Yosef's brothers understood his dreams by means of the wisdom of interpretation (and this, after all, the magicians of Egypt also knew).
36) One cannot say that they considered this detail of the dream to be among its "idle matters" (similar to what is explained below, note 38), for this detail contradicts the general content of the dream — that the bad comes after the good, in the manner of "they devoured" and "they swallowed," i.e., the good is nullified when the bad arrives (unlike the detail of the river according to their interpretation (see the note cited below), where the difficulty is only that it has no interpretation).
37) Rashi was not satisfied with the explanation of the Ramban (41:3) and others, that "'they stood beside the cows' — at their side and near them; this is a sign that there will be no interruption between the years of plenty and the years of famine…," for this is already alluded to in "came up after them out of the river," and "they stood" means, simply, that they were together. See Kli Yakar at the beginning of the parsha (s.v. "Vehinei omed"): "for the expression 'they stood' indicates…"
38) Although according to this, the detail in the dream "and behold, he was standing by the river. And behold, out of the river came up… seven other cows came up after them out of the river…" has no interpretation at all* — it may be said: the magicians held that this part of the dream was not true (see Rashi, Vayeshev 37:10), for since the land of Egypt is watered not by rain but by the river, how could both good food — good cows — and bad food — bad cows** — come up out of the river (cf. Toldos Yitzchak (by R. Yitzchak Karo) on our parsha. Also according to the plain meaning, the two times (stated explicitly in the Torah) that there was famine in the land, there was no famine in Egypt (Lech Lecha 12:10; Toldos 26:2; and Rashi). But see Ramban on verse 2 (and several commentators) that the river would rise only a little, etc.***). Therefore they understood and interpreted that the emphasis in the dream is not related to the river but to Pharaoh standing by the river — "You will father seven daughters…". And here Yosef introduced a novelty: "The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years… and the seven lean and bad cows… are seven years…" (repeating and emphasizing the matter of "years"): that the fact that from the same river came first good and then bad is because they are "seven years" — the character of each year differs from the one before it, similar to "in that year" (Toldos 26:12, and Rashi), and from this also comes the change in the river (cf. Rashi on verse 26).
*) The Yedei Moshe on Bereishis Rabbah (89:4) explains the Midrash this way: their words did not enter his ears because their interpretation had no connection to the river — unlike Yosef's interpretation, of which it says "he hinted, he hinted to him…".
**) Accordingly it is all the more understood why, when Pharaoh recounted the dream to Yosef, he omitted (41:19) that the seven bad cows also came up from the river. See also Alshich here (41:17), Kli Yakar cited above, and others, that he omitted this deliberately; and there, that he changed and omitted several things, etc. And see Bereishis Rabbah [OCR unclear] on our parsha, 41:2. But see below, note 42.
***) Perhaps it may also be said according to this: since the not-good food (the bad cows) comes not because of the river (that its water is not as it should be, and the like), but because of the absence of the river — that the water is not in the measure needed — how then does this fit with "other (bad) cows came up out of the river," which attributes the bad to the river? But this is forced. See Bereishis Rabbah ibid.: "Similarly, famine comes only from the river."
39) And not "them you will bury."
40) Cf. Lech Lecha 12:15.
*40) Rashi on Lech Lecha, ibid. 19.
41) Cf. Rashi (Lech Lecha 14:9), that even four against five proves "that they were mighty."
42) Although when Pharaoh recounted the dream to Yosef he did not repeat the detail "they stood beside the cows…," it may be said that Pharaoh's account was the same as the dream, only the verse did not repeat it, as the Ramban writes (41:3). But see the sources cited above, the second gloss to note 38.
43) For this was (as Rashi explains, 41:26) only a preface to explaining "the fact that the dream was repeated twice…" (as above, note 26), and he needed this because according to the magicians' interpretation there was no interpretation for this. Therefore it did not enter Pharaoh's ears [in addition to its not being according to the plain sense — see Rashi 41:12, s.v. "Ish kachalomo": "according to the dream and close to its subject"].
44) See also Chizkuni and Sforno, 41:3.
45) Accordingly the question above (note 12) is simply answered — for the wisdom is not in the advice itself.
46) Similarly regarding what is written, "And as for the dream being repeated to Pharaoh twice, it is because the matter is established by G‑d, and G‑d is hastening to do it": the wisdom is not in the interpretation itself, "because the matter is established…," but this is a preface to the advice "Now let Pharaoh seek out…" — the whole reason G‑d showed him is that "the matter is established," and therefore "Now let Pharaoh seek out" immediately, etc.
*) Unlike Yosef's dreams, which were fulfilled only after several years, and of which it is not said that "the matter is established by G‑d…," since they were not two dreams of exactly the same content — for in the second dream there was something new: that also "the sun and the moon (his father, etc.)… were bowing down to me."
47) See Alshich on our parsha, 41:33: "for on this dream of Pharaoh, and on Yosef being ruler over the land… depended the redemption of Israel from the Egyptian exile, which was then beginning." This is explained in Ohr HaTorah on our parsha, ibid., p. 1 ff.
48) Torah Or, Vayeshev 28c ff. Toras Chaim, our parsha, 74b ff. Ohr HaTorah ibid. (vol. 6), 1100b ff. And elsewhere.
49) Tehillim 126:1. See Yahel Ohr ibid.
50) See Toras Chaim ibid.: "But behold, in the Midrash it is said: 'and Pharaoh was dreaming'…"
51) See Toras Chaim ibid., column c.
52) [OCR unclear] — that he is lacking in bitachon, etc., and in his bond with G‑dliness, Who nourishes and sustains… in His goodness, with grace and kindness (which awaken the love of G‑d, etc.). See the maamar beginning "Mayim Rabim" 5738, ch. 2 (printed in Likutei Sichos vol. 20, p. 276; Sefer HaMaamarim Melukat vol. 1, p. 273).
53) Torah Or ibid., 29a. Toras Chaim, Vayechi, maamar beginning "Ben Poras Yosef," ch. 3 ff. Ohr HaTorah on our parsha, ibid., 1152a ff.
54) See the maamar beginning "Inyan HaChalomos" of the Alter Rebbe (Sefer HaMaamarim 5562, pp. 94–95), that "the matter of a dream is contrary to nature."
55) See also Sefer HaMaamarim 5678, p. 132.
56) Cf. Abarbanel ibid., s.v. "Ve'omer shehachalomos," that true dreams are found… through Divine Providence more among youths and simpletons than among the wise, because…
57) Yeshayahu 30:20.
58) Pesachim 50a.
Key Lesson
Yosef's wisdom lay not in reading the dream but in joining its opposites: while the years of plenty are here, one already provides for the years of famine. So too in exile, a Jew can bind the inspiration and love of G‑d gained in prayer to the preoccupations of the workday, carrying the "plenty" into the "famine" — and this very joining of opposites draws down the hidden level that will be fully revealed with the Redemption.