פרשת מקץ תש"ל - חלום פרעה

"... and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh."

R. Yehoshua of Sakhnin in the name of R. Levi: They would interpret it, but their voices would not enter his ears. "The seven good cows are seven daughters that you will beget, and the seven bad cows are seven daughters that you will bury." Likewise they said, "The seven good sheaves are seven kingdoms that you will conquer, and the seven bad sheaves are seven ministers that will rebel against you."

"...and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh."

"I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it"

Alshich raises the difficulty:

Why did Pharaoh not say, "and there is none that can interpret it to me"; like it is stated above, "but there was none that could interpret them to Pharaoh"; and as the Sages, may their memory be blessed, said, "They would interpret it, but not to Pharaoh."

"and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof"

"And he sent and called" – to inform you that each and every nation that stands in the world is granted five wise men to serve it. Moreover, the Holy One, blessed be He, gives it three things: wisdom , understanding and strength. As so did the evil Sannacherib say (Isaiah 10:13), "By the might of my hand have I done this, etc." But when the Holy One, blessed be He, judges the world, He takes them away from it, as it is stated (Obadiah 1:8-9), "I will make the wise vanish from Edom, understanding from Esau’s mount.

Your warriors shall lose heart, O Teman." And why so much? So that Joseph will come at the end and attain greatness. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "If Joseph comes first and interprets the dream, this [will not earn] him praise. The magicians will be able to say to him, 'If you had asked us, we would have already interpreted it for you [the same way].'" Rather, [Joseph] waited for them until they tired him out and extracted his spirit. And afterwards Joseph came and brought it back [to him]. About this did Solomon say (Proverbs 29:11), "The fool extracts his entire spirit" – these are the wise men of Egypt; "but the wise man lowers it back" – this is Joseph, as it is stated (Genesis 41:39), "there is no one wise and understanding like you."

"and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh."

"And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, 'Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the spirit of God?'"

Abarbanel raises these two difficulties on our verses:

(On verse 8:) And this is difficult; as why did their interpretations not sit with his heart, and why did Jospeh's interpretation sit with his heart – as Pharaoh did not know the discipline of interpretation. So with what was it nevertheless known to him that they were not interpreting properly and that Joseph's interpretation was true?

(On verses 37-38:) What did Pharaoh see to say to his servants, "Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the spirit of God," and that he said to him, "there is no one wise and understanding like you," and that he made him the master over his entire household and ruler over the entire land of Egypt – before he knew whether his words would be substantiated and whether the thing would come to effect as he had interpreted or not?! As behold, the chief wine steward did not do a thing [for just this reason], when [Joseph] interpreted his dream positively. As maybe the thing would not be as he had interpreted it to Pharaoh. And if so, why did he raise him before the thing was tested? And he also [prematurely] gave him a wife from the notables of the land.

"And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh: ‘for God hath made me forget (nashani) all my toil, and all my father’s house.’"

... [Joseph] put into his heart that – in that the Lord was with him – he was not brought down there for naught; but rather to precipitate the [arrival of the] Divine Presence in Egypt, such that he was Its 'chariot.' And so he saw that the Lord was with him. And therefore when he was in the house of his master, he did not inform his father – to redeem him form his master. And [so it was] in this way, regarding all of the times [that he was in Egypt], it was as if he was silent. As behold, the intellect would suggest that at least when he was still in the jail, he would assuage his father's worrying with a carrier to run with a letter from his hand. However since he stopped himself to not reveal [anything to his father], he therefore called his firstborn son, Manasseh – meaning, it is good to praise the Lord, "for God made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house." As I was given the strength to forget this through him... As if not, I would have told my father's household. But the Lord [granted him a child] so that his father would not redeem him from his distress with all of the wealth of his house, and that [he not] command him to return to his land. And [then] the entire preparation of the exile which He, may He be blessed, prepared by having His Divine Presence come to Egypt with Joseph as its chariot would have been spoiled. And this is [the meaning of] "for God made me forget..."

R. Yaakov Tsvi Mecklenburg:

And in truth, the greatness of the righteousness of his heart with God prevented him from fulfilling the commandment of honoring his father (and to tell his father that he was alive); in the same way that all of his behavior towards his brothers at this time – even though at first glance it appears as one who is taking vengeance upon them... – in truth [was] only because of his righteousness, to not do anything against the will of his Maker. For so was the decree from the Most High which He showed him in a prophetic dream – "and they bowed down to my sheave" (Genesis 37:7). And he did it with great wisdom and deep counsel, that they would not fulfill these bowings and this submission in front of him while knowing that he was Joseph – as this would have been a great embarrassment for them. Surely to save them from this did he made great efforts that they should fulfill [the dream] without knowing that he was the one to whom they were bowing. [This is] as the verse testifies – "And Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamt about them" (42:9), as explained there. Likewise was Joseph concerned in his heart about informing his father, at the beginning of his being brought up, that he was alive and was the ruler of the country – lest the decree of the Most High about the bowings of the sheaves and the eleven stars be nullified. Behold it is for this reason – even though he was personally yearning to honor his father with the good news – that he nevertheless needed to strain with great strength to nullify the commandment of honoring his father (in the same was as there is no room for the commandment of honoring one's father if, through it, he nullifies one of the commandments of the Lord)... Behold, in order to fulfill the will of his Maker, he was obligated to forget the honor of his father from his heart, even though he found himself obligated to honor him every instant... Hence he called his son, Manasseh, "as the Lord made me forget..." – He is the one who assisted me that I not think about the honor of my father; as if he was forgotten from my heart. And most of the usage of forgetting is just about not putting one's attention to something; in that it is not [sufficiently] important in his eyes to put his mind to it (hence, he "puts it to the side"). And he said, "all of my father's house," to include all those connected with his father, as they were all equally good in his eyes. And he did not have a grudge in his heart about what they did to him; as he said to them afterwards (Genesis 45:8), "It is not you that sent me here, but rather God." And [about] that which he said, "all of my toil" – his intention was not that with the status of being raised up, he forgot all of the heartaches which he had before his entering into all of this honor. For in fact his intention even at the time of his toil when he had the status of a slave – even though he was forced to be involved in things that were unnatural for him – [was that] this toil was not a strain and a burden upon him; as he accepted it with a joyful heart and gave thanks to Him, may He be blessed, that He helped him spiritually that he should not think of it as a strain, but rather to do it with a good heart. So all of the great toil was as removed and forgotten [even] in its time.