Devar/5770/Mikets
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< Devar | 5770
עברית
וַיַּעַן יוֹסֵף אֶת-פַּרְעֹה לֵאמֹר, בִּלְעָדָי: אֱלֹהִים, יַעֲנֶה אֶת-שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה. (בראשית מא:טו,טז)
English
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph: 'I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it; and I have heard say of thee, that when thou hearest a dream thou canst interpret it.
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying: 'It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.' (Gen 41:15,16)
Here one may discern the difference between the mystical world of Egypt, and the world of trust in the Holy One, blessed is He, of the Children of Israel. The Egyptian idea was that Pharaoh was a sort of god. Indeed, still human, but also a god. With this approach, it is possible to imagine it possible that other humans could also achieve godhead and to know everything about a particular field. Pharaoh saw Joseph in such a way: after all the years he spent in Egypt, and succeeded more than anyone else -- he succeeded even while in jail! -- there was no doubt that Joseph was also some sort of god, and perhaps he had the power to interpret the secrets of dreams which Pharaoh's soothsayers were unable thus far to interpret.
Joseph answered him, "it is not in me"! I am not the one who interprets dreams; rather, it is only God Who interprets them. If He wishes, He will inform me of the interpretation of the dream. And with this statement Joseph disclosed to Pharaoh a fundamental principle of the Jewish religion: that God in His benevolence reveals His will to humans by means of righteous flesh and blood people. And that despite a person achieving a very exalted level and receiving prophetic instruction from God, nevertheless he remains a human and not a god. And by his statement he likewise denied the validity of the religion of Egypt as well as of all the various kinds of idolaters forever after.
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