PHARAOH’S “I” AND G-D’S “I”
When Pharaoh was disturbed by dreams that none of his subjects could decipher, Joseph successfully interpreted them as a warning of impending disaster. The dreams predicted seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Joseph counseled Pharaoh to store food in the seven years of plenty so that the country would have sufficient supplies of food during the years of famine.
Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph’s interpretation of his dreams, and his advice, that he appointed him Viceroy; second in command of the entire country.
In his appointment of Joseph, Pharaoh declared:
I am Pharaoh. Without your permission, no man may raise his hand or his foot in the entire Land of Egypt.
The Midrash comments on this verse, focusing on the word “I”:
From the “I” of a human being you can derive the “I” of the Holy one, blessed is He. If the “I” of a human being, of the wicked Pharaoh, who said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh,” brought Joseph to all this honor, how much more so when the “I” of the Holy One, blessed is He, will arrive [we will see the fulfillment of]: “I made [you] and I will bear you, I will carry you and I will rescue you” (Isaiah 46:4)!
The simple meaning of this Midrash is that Pharaoh prefaced his elevation of Joseph by asserting his authority with the word “I.” Pharaoh was a mere mortal and an evil one to boot. Yet his declaration of “I” brought so much honor to Joseph. How much more so will G-d’s declaration of salvation, which begins with the word “I,” come to fruition.
We must try to understand why the Midrash found a need to support G-d’s promises by reference to Pharaoh. Even a small child knows that human beings are fickle; even the most powerful monarch cannot give an absolute guarantee of anything. In contrast, even a small child can appreciate that G-d’s power is infinite and His word is absolute. Why the need to base G-d’s “credibility” on Pharaoh’s? It even appears sacrilegious to equate the two.
CONNECTION TO CHANUKAH
The Chassidic work, Arugas Habosem, finds a deeper meaning in this Midrash by way of a discussion of Chanukah, which always coincides with the reading of this Parsha.
The Greeks were intent on eradicating all Jewish practices, but they initially focused on banning three Mitzvos: Circumcision, Rosh Chodesh (observances related to the New Moon) and Shabbos.
We can understand why the Greeks wanted to outlaw circumcision and Shabbos. These Mitzvos are fundamental to Judaism. Their observance has been equated to all the other commandments put together. To suppress Judaism, the Greeks wanted to separate it from its strong foundations. Why, then, bother with the observance of Rosh Chodesh, which appears to be a rather insignificant part of Jewish life? What about Rosh Chodesh irritated the heathen Greeks?
THE NEW MOON
AND KING DAVID
The Talmud associates the ritual of blessing the New Moon with King David. In this ceremony, which occurs before the full moon on the 15th of each lunar month, we declare the immortal words, “David king of Israel live on!”
What is the connection between King David and the New Moon?
The moon, unlike the sun, waxes and wanes. So too the fortune of the Jewish people has waxed and waned. And precisely when we think our fortunes have reached rock bottom, we discover that the moon begins to shine brightly in an ever-increasing manner.
This is the power vested in King David and his descendants, the leaders of the Jewish people through Moshiach, who will bring an end to the waning of our light throughout our long Galus.
We can now understand what we mean when we recite the Blessing of the New Moon prayer: “The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun” concerning the future Messianic Age.
This is not just an astronomical change but, more importantly, a spiritual one. There will be no further decline of our fortunes. Our existence will wax and increase without any need for a subsequent decline.
This is very much in the spirit of Chanukah, in which we increase the light every night. On the first night we kindle one light, the second night two and so on. It is also important to recall that the name Joseph means “to increase.”
“DAVID KING OF ISRAEL LIVES ON FOREVER”
We can now understand why the Greeks were intent on banning the observance of the New Moon. They knew, either consciously or subconsciously, that the Jewish people had a history of bouncing back from adversity, as expressed in the prayer which declared “Dovid melech Yisroel chai v’kayam-David King of Israel lives on forever.” Although the dynasty of King David was dormant in the Second Temple period, the Greeks correctly realized that the Jewish people could experience a total reversal of their decline, which would mean the end of Greek political and social domination.
The Greeks therefore decided to ban the observances associated with the New Moon, which they knew inspired the Jews and elicited the power of their sovereignty over their own lives and destiny.
To the Greeks, banning the observance of Shabbos was crucial. They understood that Shabbos gave the Jews the power and stamina to thrive throughout the week. They also knew that circumcision was the sign of Jewish distinctiveness, which they tried to eradicate. But their greatest enemy, arguably, was the observance of Rosh Chodesh, as it symbolized the triumph of the Jewish people and Judaism over all obstacles.
In short, the Greeks were doing everything in their power to suppress Judaism. Their greatest fear, however, was the coming of Moshiach, which would herald the permanent rise of Torah ideals and permanent destruction of Greek pagan values.
UNQUALIFIED FOR THE JOB!
We can now return to the Torah’s discussion of Joseph’s meteoric rise to power.
If anyone was not qualified to become prime minister, second only to the King himself, it was Joseph. He was both a foreigner and a slave. Our Sages inform us that there was a rule in those days that a slave could never assume political power in Egypt.
Joseph was not only a slave but also a lowly prisoner; a convict accused of a heinous crime against his master, a minister of Pharaoh. His religion was different; his culture and language were different. Everything about Joseph militated against him assuming high office.
And yet, Joseph rose to the top.
COMFORTING MESSAGE
The story of Joseph is a comforting message in our exile. No matter how low we may have fallen in our spiritual lives, weighted down by all the arguments against us, G-d will cast aside these arguments, no matter how rational and justified they may seem, and take us out of Galus.
This is precisely what occurred in the Exodus from Egypt. The Midrash tells us that Egypt’s guardian angel complained to G-d that we were not worthy to be redeemed from Egyptian bondage. Indeed, according to the Midrash, even G-d’s own attribute of judgment argued that we were unworthy to be liberated for we were not so different from our Egyptian counterparts. Many Jews had degenerated into idol worship during their slavery. G-d overruled all the negative arguments and liberated us from Egyptian Bondage.
Chassidus explains that the very name of Passover conveys the message that G-d passed over and overruled His own system and liberated us.
And so it will be with the future Redemption; G-d will dismiss any and all arguments that dictate that we are not ready for the Final Redemption.
To be sure, our situation is infinitely better than that of the generation of the Exodus. They lived at the beginning of our journey towards bringing the world to a state of perfection. We, however, live at the tail end of that journey and are supported by the accumulated goodness and holiness of our forebears and thousands of years of Mitzvos performed under the most trying conditions. In addition, the widespread dedication to Judaism in recent times, despite the pressures of persecution and assimilation, makes our generation eminently qualified to greet Moshiach.
The message conveyed by the Midrash’s comparison of our Redemption to Pharaoh’s assertion of authority to appoint Joseph as Viceroy is that G-d will overlook our worst faults, the way Pharaoh overlooked Joseph’s faults. Pharaoh’s decision to elevate Joseph, despite his glaring shortcomings, catapulted him into the most powerful position in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.
When Pharaoh prefaced his promotion of Joseph to Viceroy by saying the word “I” he asserted his royal prerogative to overrule all the laws of Egypt that would have denied Joseph’s appointment as Viceroy.
We can now understand why the Midrash compares Pharaoh’s saying “I” to that of the “I” of the Almighty. Pharaoh had to override and overrule all the formidable arguments that would have disqualified Joseph from any position of power.
Similarly, G-d too will ignore and overrule any and every argument that would delay the Final Redemption.
To be sure, our mission today is not to sit back and passively await the Redemption. On the contrary, we must continue to make every effort to earn the Redemption.
Moreover, if G-d is willing to transcend His own “Nature” to redeem us unconditionally, whether we are worthy or not, we should reciprocate and transcend our own nature with a most powerful unconditional expression of love for G-d, His Torah and Mitzvos, permeated with unconditional love for our fellow.