Listen/Read For Good Karma – The story of Yosef’s struggle and redemption is super inspiring – I shared some of these lessons about this week’s parashah after my mom passed away two years ago – I hope it brings you some solace and light
We read of Pharaoh that “in the morning, his spirit was troubled. He sent for & summoned all the magicians of Egypt & all the wise men. Pharaoh told them his dream, but no one could interpret them to Pharaoh”
Pharaoh’s wise men did interpret the dreams, but not in reference to him as a Pharaoh, instead as a king, so he was unsatisfied with their interpretations. Rashi explains their interpretations as such: Pharaoh would beget seven daughters & bury seven daughters. It was only Yosef that was able to not only interpret the dreams incorporating every aspect of the dreams that Pharaoh had shared, but was able to fill in the parts Pharaoh had left out & offer practical advice so as to keep Egypt in good standing, thus saving Pharaoh & his kingdom. Yosef saw the seven healthy cows in the dream as good & the scrawny cows as evil, something that always exists in the world, where the evil scrawny cows consume the healthy cows in a way that sometimes it seems that evil conquers good. But Reb Natan explains that Yosef, a tzadik, is always able to overcome evil even if it has been “swallowed up” by evil. The Lubavitcher Rebbe reminds us that evil is transient while good always remains intact. The wise men told Pharaoh that Yosef’s interpretation didn’t make sense, that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of a famine, because the cows co-existed, so that would clearly not be correct. Yosef explained that they would have to put away food during the years of famine, taking advantage of the good days & storing them in the same way one should with good deeds in this world. & in this way, when the bad/evil befell them there was good to fall back on. So, too, we should store up good deeds, so the evil that exists will be met by good at the same time.
Thanks for reading!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom! – Erez
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