Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 26 Kislev, 5784
Parsha Va-Yeshev (Genesis 37:1 – 40:23)
Seventh Portion: Genesis 40:1 – 40:23

Happy Hanukkah! It is the second day – and it is a sabbath. Today is “Shabbatukka!”  Shabbat Shalom! My our rest today bring light to those around us!

As we reach the conclusion of Kislev and head to the new moon – we turn our eyes to a moon cycle in which we will receive what we have sown the past moon cycles since Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  May this next month be a good check in for us to make changes so that the next part of our year helps us live out our purpose even more! Let’s dig into the portion today!

We left off yesterday with Joseph being  put in prison.  The Pharoah’s Chamberlain’s Chamberlain is now a prisoner.  And. A prison is safe. We have no freedom in prison, but we also have no struggle or worry – beyond the lack of freedom. How will Joseph navigate it? So far, he gained favor with the warden. Let’s dig:

1Now it came about after these events that the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and the baker sinned against their master, against the king of Egypt.

2And Pharaoh became incensed at his two chamberlains, at the chief cupbearer and at the chief baker.

3And he placed them in the prison of the house of the chief of the slaughterers, into the prison, the place where Joseph was imprisoned.

4And the chief of the slaughterers appointed Joseph [to be] with them, and he served them, and they were a year in prison.

Ok. So the first thing that stands out to me is verse 3.

3And he placed them in the prison of the house of the chief of the slaughterers, into the prison, the place where Joseph was imprisoned.

The “prison of the house of the chief of the slaughterers.”

English teachers – please diagram that sentence?

It is the prison. Ok. Which prison? The prison of the house.  Ok. Which house. The prison of the house of the chief. Ok. Which chief.  The prison of the house of the chief of the slaughterers.

So. The dude’s house has a prison. The dude is the lead slaughterer.  Things have shifted in describing this place since yesterday when the Torah just said (in verse 39:20):

20So Joseph’s master took him and put him into prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were imprisoned, and he was there in the prison.

The word prison stands out to me. Because in verse 40:3, in case we didn’t realize it, this was a prison.

It is curious – why does the Torah repeat itself when it comes to Joseph’s prison?

In verse 39:20, “and he was there in the prison” seems awfully repetitive, doesn’t it?  “The place where the king’s prisoners were imprisoned” doesn’t seem AS repetitive because it tells us which prison (and what type of prison he was put in).  But “and he was there in the prison” seems unnecessary.  Which is why I am super curious about it.

In verse 40:3 “into the prison, the place where Joseph was imprisoned” seems double repetitive doesn’t it?

I am unsure why – but there is something here – what are your thoughts?  I don’t know I have answers here, yet.

But let’s keep going. Joseph is in the prison of the house of the chief of the slaughters, where he was imprisoned, in prison, in captivity, without freedom, no able to do what he wants, stuck.

Here’s what happens next:

5Now both of them dreamed a dream, each one his dream on the same night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison.

6And Joseph came to them in the morning, and he saw them and behold, they were troubled.

7And he asked Pharaoh’s chamberlains who were with him in the prison of his master’s house, saying, “Why are your faces sad today?”

So the cupbearer and baker had dreams. The Torah tells us this.   But Joseph in the morning sees both of them troubled.

8And they said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for it.” Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell [them] to me now.”

Joseph hears they’ve had trouble because of dreams – and he asks them to tell him their dreams.

On a personal note, as someone who believes in dream interpretation, and can interpret dreams when Hashem provides me those interpretations, this resonates a lot. Here are their dreams:

9So the chief cupbearer related his dream to Joseph, and he said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine is before me.

10And on the vine are three tendrils, and it seemed to be blossoming, and its buds came out; [then] its clusters ripened into grapes.

11And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I placed the cup on Pharaoh’s palm.”

12And Joseph said to him, “This is its meaning: the three tendrils are three days.

13In another three days, Pharaoh will number you [with the other officers], and he will restore you to your position, and you will place Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, according to [your] previous custom, when you were his cupbearer.

14But remember me when things go well with you, and please do me a favor and mention me to Pharaoh, and you will get me out of this house.

15For I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here too, I have done nothing, for which they have put me into the dungeon.”

Interesting interpretation.  Joseph saw the dream within the cupbearer as a predictive dream for what would happen externally.

If someone today told me that dream? This is how I’d interpret it:

The three tendrils represent the body, mind, and soul. The Pharoah’s cup represents who is sovereign in your life – you are destined to pour your body, mind, and soul into filling the King’s cup within you and regaining your sovereignty.

Just my thoughts. And – the Cupbearers dream could have meaning both/and.

And think about this. The destiny of the cupbearer? If we believe we are souls trapped in a body – he will birth a family that will likely be plagued generations from this point and will go through a lot of suffering because of Joseph’s family. Just sayin.  So yes – the cupbearer lived and served a purpose. Let’s keep going:

16Now the chief baker saw that he had interpreted well. So he said to Joseph, “Me too! In my dream, behold, there were three wicker baskets on my head.

17And in the topmost basket were all kinds of Pharaoh’s food, the work of a baker, and the birds were eating them from the basket atop my head.”

18And Joseph replied and said, “This is its meaning: the three baskets represent three days.

19In another three days, Pharaoh will remove your head from you and hang you on a gallows, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

Now my interpretation?

Again, the three baskets represent body, mind, and soul. However, unlike the cupbearer’s tendrils which produce flowers and growth, these three baskets represent PAST growth and are no longer growing or thriving. They have served their purpose. The birds represent external sources draining your body, mind, and soul – and that is not sustainable. You must change in order to continue to grow.

Just my thoughts.  Again – Joseph and I? Our interpretations are fully compatible with one another. It’s both/and not either/or.

Ok – let’s keep going:

20Now it came about on the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday, that Pharaoh made a feast for all his servants, and he counted the chief cupbearer and chief baker among his servants.

21And he restored the chief cupbearer to his [position as] cupbearer, and he placed the cup on Pharaoh’s palm.

22And the chief baker he hanged, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

23But the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, and he forgot him.

And Joseph predicted accurately. And. I’d argue. So did I.  Though I have the advantage because I know the end of the story. But here’s my takeaway from the dreams for all of us:

We have before us choice. Freedom. We can see our body, mind, soul as capable of growth and development. Or we can see them as having served their purpose already. We make this choice moment by moment. This decision is a life or death decision in each and every moment. We are BOTH the cupbearer AND the baker. We can decide to produce life and fill the kings cup within us; or we can chose to believe we have already served our purpose and allow others to drain our body, mind, and soul.  This is Spiritual Freedom and Liberation. This is the moment.

To close, someone inspired me to write this poem today.  They had written one similar and I responded with this:

Dear Hashem;

Thank you for this moment.
You made me who I was.
You made me who I am.
You will make me who I will be.
This moment you’ve brought me to?

Exists for us.

Thank you.

This is freedom. This is liberation.

As always, I would love your thoughts!

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 23 Kislev, 5783

Shabbat Shalom!

This morning I’ve been reflecting on the passage here and my thoughts from a year ago. What jumps out at me is how we can often get ahead of ourselves and rely on a future “certainty” as a path forward instead of it being a “possibility” and leaving things in the hands of Hashem.

How often do we cling to a future playing out and then get down and depressed when it doesn’t work out that way? How would our hearts change if instead of grasping onto a certainty- we look at it as mere possibility.

There are many ways Hashem can meet our needs. Remaining open is crucial.

If we feel like we are in a prison, we need to trust there are many possible ways out of it. We can rest knowing we are in good hands.

I’m also reflecting on my “prediction.” I’m not a prophet, but hey people; maybe Mashiach IS coming in 2325?

If that were true, what steps would we take today knowing this? And would those steps look any different than if we knew Mashiach was coming tomorrow? Because again; this isn’t about CERTAINTY. It’s about POSSIBILITY.

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Kislev 23, 5782

Shabbat Shalom!

Today we finish to Va-Yeshev. Yesterday we left off with Joseph in prison. It would have been a big scandal in town as Joseph was well known and respected.

Hashem was merciful to Joseph here because another big scandal occurred to take the attention off Joseph. The king of Egypt’s butler and baker committed an offense against the king of Egypt. Pharoah became furious at the two of them and gave them to Potiphar to put into prison: where Joseph was.

Potiphar assigned Joseph to be with them and attend to them. They were in custody for a while.

Then, both men had a dream on the same night: “they dreamed their own destiny.”

Joseph came in the next morning and they looked depressed. Joseph asked “why do you look so down?”

Let’s stop here for a minute. Because I have missed this nuance in the past when I read this. But Rabbi Schneerson makes an incredible observation;

“The natural reaction for Joseph, after being wrongly imprisoned, would be utter contempt for Egypt and its government. When Joseph was joined by the chief butler and chief baker – two of Egypt’s high ranking ministers. It would have been natural for Joseph to shun them and hate them.

But Joseph did the very opposite. Not only did he bear no grudge against Pharoah’s ministers, who were key members of the corrupt regime that had wrongfully imprisoned him, he took an active interest in their welfare. In fact, he was even sensitive enough to notice they had been troubled by their dreams, inquiring ‘Why do your faces look so down today?’

In hindsight, we see that from this single act of kindness, Joseph was eventually saved, leading him to save the entire Egyptian people from starvation!

This teaches us:

1. 1. The extreme importance of caring for others
   2. Never to underestimate the power of one single good deed.

Joseph’s sensitivity to another’s distress. A person whom he had every right to despise, led to the salvation of Egypt.”

Rabbi Schneerson’s words are really impactful here. I’ve read/watched/heard the story of Joseph many times. But I have never considered it from this perspective. Instead of anger towards Egypt, Joseph returned kindness, compassion and empathy.

How often do we miss this in our own lives? Even when we have a right to be angry, how often do we return kindness and compassion? As Rabbi Schneerson points out; it could very well save the nation!

Ok. Moving forward here. The Baker and Butler tell Joseph they are down because they had dreams but no one was there to Inerpret them.

Joseph tells them that interpretations come from Hashem and he’s interpret for them.

The butler went first. He told Joseph his dream; there was a vine, there were three tendrils, they blossomed and buds came out, ripening into grapes. He squeezed the grapes into Pharoah’s cup and gave the cup to Pharoah.

Joseph interprets the dream – tendrils were days, and in three days, Pharoah will restore the butler to his position, and will put the cup in Pharoah’a hand.

Now – Joseph does something here that is interesting. It seems as if he is either being very wise, or is jumping the gun and not trusting Hashem. He asks the Butler to remember Joseph when things go well, to mention Joseph to Pharaoh to get him out of prison. He explains his situation and how he is wrongly in prison.

The Baker saw that Joseph interpreted well. The Talmud says he knew this because the Butler and Baker each were given dreams that Interpreted the others’ dream.

The Baker tells his dream to Joseph. There were three baskets on his head; with the Pharaoh’s food in them. Birds were eating them from the baskets.

Joseph (almost nonchalantly) interpreted the dream: “basically you are going to die in three days. In a very gruesome way.

And then basically the portion ends with Joseph’s interpretations coming true.

And we are left with the Butler not remembering Joseph.

Rashi writes the idea that Joseph manipulated the situation and did not trust Hashem, Joseph served an additional two years. Rashi quotes Psalms 40:5; “Happy is the man who trusts in God and did not turn to the arrogant.”

Rabbi Schneerson again gives us additional wisdom here (in my opinion);

“In his commentary to verse 1, Rashi writes that Pharoah’s butler and baker were imprisoned “so that relief would come through them to Joseph, the righteous one.” This begs the question; if God’s intent in sending the butler and baker to be imprisoned with Joseph was “so that relief would come through them to him,” why was Joseph wrong to have ‘relied on the butler to remember him?’

While it is true that God sent the butler and baker to jail as a means of saving Joseph, Joseph nevertheless made a subtle miscalculation concerning the significance of their arrival. Joseph’s mistake was that he saw his newfound relationship with the butler and baker as the CERTAIN way out of jail, rather than a POSSIBLE means by which God would send salvation. Thus Rashi stresses; ‘Because Joseph RELIED ON the butler to remember him, he was compelled to be confined for two years’. Joseph should have relied directly upon God, who can send help in any possible manner imaginable, rather than relying on what HE THOUGHT was God’s chosen route of salvation.

Of course, Joseph was not wrong in attempting to find a natural, logical route by which God might save him. He merely erred in the significance that he attached to that route, attempting to ‘write a script’ on God’s behalf. Instead of relying on God to save him VIA THE BUTLER, Joseph should have depended on God to save him in whichever way GOD DEEMED FIT, while realizing that there was a distinct possibility that it might be through the butler.”

Whew. That’s a lot there from Rabbi Schneerson. I’m chewing on Rabbi Schneerson’s words in light of previous conversations about the Christian belief that Jesus is “the only way.” Is it possible that early on there may have been a miscalculation about Jesus being “the only way” instead of a “possible way?” And because of this miscalculation, the length of time before Mashiach comes and we are saved is two extra years (which could be 2000 years)?

And maybe that miscalculation occurred at the council of Nicea (which occurred on the Hebrew calendar of 4085), and the messiah will actually come 6085? Which would be the year 2325? I’m PURELY speculating here; I’m no prophet.

Just something I’m reflecting on. This story just struck me, given past conversations about Christianity. I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything; but it is certainly interesting to chew on.

Wow. Lots to chew on today. What do YOU think?

As always on Shabbat, see comments below for Haftorah portion thoughts.

Haftorah portion; Amos 2:6-3:8

This Haftorah alludes to the sale of Joseph. We also see a harsh rebuke by Amos to the Jewish people during the reign of King Jeroboam II.

Amos starts with saying there are three sins Hashem could forgive but not the fourth; “because they perverted Justice and traded the faith judgment of a righteous man for bribes of silver, and cheat the poor for a mere pair of shoes.”

Um. That’s pretty convicting given our current state of the judicial system.

And, Amos goes on to say how the corruption is in context of all the amazing things Hashem has done to save the Jews. Hashem protected the Jews from the Amorites, brought them out of Egypt, raised prophets, dwelt with them, and did so many amazing things for the Jews. The corruption of the judicial system was a giant slap in the face to Hashem.

Amos then tells us what the punishment for the Jews will be; “Watch, I will surely afflict you, who were ungrateful to Me! You will not escape Me, for I will afflict you in your own places.”

He continues “On that day, even the most courageous of the warriors will run away disarmed so he can run faster”

Amos then concludes with compassion, and rhetorical questions to get us to think;

“I loved only you, yet you sinned against Me. That is why I will punish you for all your transgressions.”

1. Do two people walk together without having arranged it before hand?
2. Does a lion roar in the forest and find no prey?
3. Does a lion cub cry out from its den without having trapped anything?
4. Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground if there is no snare?
5. Does a trap spring up from the ground if it hasn’t caught anything?
6. If a rams horn is sounded in the city to announce that the enemy is approaching, can the inhabitants fail to be terrified?
7. If there is a calamity in the city, can it not be God’s doing?

The answer to these questions is this; “The Almighty God does not do anything without first revealing His secret to His servants, the Prophets.

I’m reflecting on this. Where is Hashem speaking to me in warning? Hashem’s discipline should not be a surprise – He does it because we aren’t listening.

What aren’t we listening to? That’s the question I’m chewing on.