Our parsha opens with Pharaoh's dreams which trouble him and he is informed that Yosef can interpret them for him. He releases Yosef from prison to have him interpret his dreams. Yosef interprets the dreams as representing seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine; then he offers Pharaoh advice. ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם וישיתהו על ארץ מצרים, and let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. Then he gives him an outline of how to prepare for the years of famine.
The commentators ask why is it that when Pharaoh asked for a dream interpretation, Yosef interprets but then also offers advice on how to deal with what's coming. Why would he offer unsolicited advice?
Rav Tzvi Hirsch Farber explains with a parable. Two princes, each obsessed with his own honor, were traveling on the same train. When they got to the station, an orchestra was playing. Each one was convinced that the orchestra was there for him. Unable to agree, they decided to ask a Jew who was nearby. The Jew, who didn't have a penny for the upcoming holiday, was shocked when the noblemen asked him to arbitrate their argument. He asked them for fifty rubles as an arbitration fee and then told them that the musicians came not for either one them but for him, so he would have money for the holiday.
Yosef thought to himself, why would Hashem give Pharaoh this advance notice of the famine? It must be so that I can come to power. Therefore, he offered the advice that Pharaoh accepted as the posuk tells us ויאמר פרעה אל יוסף, and Pharaoh said to Yosef , אחרי הודיע אלקים אותך , after Hashem made known to you all this , אין נבון וחכם כמוך, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.
The Maharal asks why, on Chanukah, do we commemorate the miracle of the oil? Where do we find any holiday that we celebrate because we were able to do a mitzvah? We normally celebrate because Hashem saved us from death. Even on Chanukah, when we say על הניסים , we don't mention the oil only that the small army of the Maccabees was able to miraculously defeat the great Greek army. Why, then, is Chanukah commemorated with the miracle of the oil?
He answers that, of course, we celebrate Chanukah because we defeated the Greeks. However, since people might think that the victory wasn't miraculous, Hashem made the miracle of the oil which was quite obviously a miracle. That's what we commemorate, for that shows us that just as the oil was a miracle so, too, the war was won by miracle. We have to be able to deduce one thing from the other. This is why the sefer מעגלי צדק explains the words בני בינה ימי שמונה, “for those with understanding those who can understand one thing from another and recognize from the miracle of the oil the miracle of the war , ימי שמונה, we have a holiday for eight days”.
We see a recurring theme between the parsha and Chanukah, that we have to be able to see more than what's on the surface and use it to our benefit. We have to be נבון וחכם, wise and discerning. There's an incident that happened to the Rambam that emphasizes this point. A delegation of noblemen came to the sultan to inform him that his trusted Jewish doctor was planning to kill him! The sultan didn't know what to do. On the one hand, he didn't believe it for the Rambam was his close friend who had saved his life many times before. On the other hand, everyone was telling him this so he was getting worried for his own life.
After debating and getting advice on what to do, he decided to let the Rambam seal his own fate. He would make a lottery with two pieces of paper. On one he would write death, and on the other life; whichever the Rambam picks out will happen to him.
Now, the one in charge of the lottery was no friend of the Rambam, so he decided on a brilliant idea - he would just write death on both pieces of paper. He was so proud of himself for his ingenuity, that he made a party for all his friends and bragged so publicly about what he was going to do, that word reached the Rambam.
On the day of the lottery, there was an overflow crowd at the courthouse waiting to see what would happen to the Rambam. They bring out the tray with two pieces of paper on it and told the Rambam to choose one. Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed one and swallowed it. He announced to the crowd, “you all saw that the tray had two papers, one saying death and one life. Now that I swallowed one, let's look at the other; if it says life, then you know I swallowed the one that says death and I deserve to die. However, if the one on the tray says death, then you know I swallowed the one that says life and I deserve to live. The sultan, who understood what had happened, was so impressed with the Rambam's genius that he said, "how great is the G-d of these people, that he gives them wisdom and saves them from all harm!"
The commentators ask why is it that when Pharaoh asked for a dream interpretation, Yosef interprets but then also offers advice on how to deal with what's coming. Why would he offer unsolicited advice?
Rav Tzvi Hirsch Farber explains with a parable. Two princes, each obsessed with his own honor, were traveling on the same train. When they got to the station, an orchestra was playing. Each one was convinced that the orchestra was there for him. Unable to agree, they decided to ask a Jew who was nearby. The Jew, who didn't have a penny for the upcoming holiday, was shocked when the noblemen asked him to arbitrate their argument. He asked them for fifty rubles as an arbitration fee and then told them that the musicians came not for either one them but for him, so he would have money for the holiday.
Yosef thought to himself, why would Hashem give Pharaoh this advance notice of the famine? It must be so that I can come to power. Therefore, he offered the advice that Pharaoh accepted as the posuk tells us ויאמר פרעה אל יוסף, and Pharaoh said to Yosef , אחרי הודיע אלקים אותך , after Hashem made known to you all this , אין נבון וחכם כמוך, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.
The Maharal asks why, on Chanukah, do we commemorate the miracle of the oil? Where do we find any holiday that we celebrate because we were able to do a mitzvah? We normally celebrate because Hashem saved us from death. Even on Chanukah, when we say על הניסים , we don't mention the oil only that the small army of the Maccabees was able to miraculously defeat the great Greek army. Why, then, is Chanukah commemorated with the miracle of the oil?
He answers that, of course, we celebrate Chanukah because we defeated the Greeks. However, since people might think that the victory wasn't miraculous, Hashem made the miracle of the oil which was quite obviously a miracle. That's what we commemorate, for that shows us that just as the oil was a miracle so, too, the war was won by miracle. We have to be able to deduce one thing from the other. This is why the sefer מעגלי צדק explains the words בני בינה ימי שמונה, “for those with understanding those who can understand one thing from another and recognize from the miracle of the oil the miracle of the war , ימי שמונה, we have a holiday for eight days”.
We see a recurring theme between the parsha and Chanukah, that we have to be able to see more than what's on the surface and use it to our benefit. We have to be נבון וחכם, wise and discerning. There's an incident that happened to the Rambam that emphasizes this point. A delegation of noblemen came to the sultan to inform him that his trusted Jewish doctor was planning to kill him! The sultan didn't know what to do. On the one hand, he didn't believe it for the Rambam was his close friend who had saved his life many times before. On the other hand, everyone was telling him this so he was getting worried for his own life.
After debating and getting advice on what to do, he decided to let the Rambam seal his own fate. He would make a lottery with two pieces of paper. On one he would write death, and on the other life; whichever the Rambam picks out will happen to him.
Now, the one in charge of the lottery was no friend of the Rambam, so he decided on a brilliant idea - he would just write death on both pieces of paper. He was so proud of himself for his ingenuity, that he made a party for all his friends and bragged so publicly about what he was going to do, that word reached the Rambam.
On the day of the lottery, there was an overflow crowd at the courthouse waiting to see what would happen to the Rambam. They bring out the tray with two pieces of paper on it and told the Rambam to choose one. Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed one and swallowed it. He announced to the crowd, “you all saw that the tray had two papers, one saying death and one life. Now that I swallowed one, let's look at the other; if it says life, then you know I swallowed the one that says death and I deserve to die. However, if the one on the tray says death, then you know I swallowed the one that says life and I deserve to live. The sultan, who understood what had happened, was so impressed with the Rambam's genius that he said, "how great is the G-d of these people, that he gives them wisdom and saves them from all harm!"
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