VaYigash - Trusting the Righteous

In parshas Vayigash the full power of the righteous is displayed. Yosef is put in absolute control over his family and over Egypt. When Yehuda offers to be a slave in Egypt the physical power of Yosef is displayed. When the brothers cheerfully report Yosef’s power and prestige, his moral power is displayed. When the Egyptians sell themselves to be servants of Pharaoh, Yosef’s physical power is displayed. When they acknowledge that he saved their lives and wish to find favor in his eyes, the moral power of Yosef is displayed. Yosef respects the honor of the priests by not forcing them to be servants to Pharaoh. Even so the only power greater than him is the throne of Pharaoh. This also hints that the only power on Earth greater than him  is the throne of the holy One, blessed be He.

The real power of Yosef is his ability to perceive the will of Hashem and his desire to fulfill it. This tends to be seen through the role of dreams in his story. He correctly sees in the dreams of sheaves and stars bowing to him that he has been appointed leader of the family and tries to live up to it. During the famine, when the brothers actually bow down to him, he responds by coercing them to accept his leadership. He could have simply sent them away or let them starve, but this would have been contrary to the will of G-d.

Another aspect is seen with the dreams of the wine steward and the baker. The dream of the wine waiter is that of a living man, who loves his work in this world, in that he sees a growing plant and places a cup of wine in the hand of Pharaoh. The baker sees his job as a heavy load on his head. The vision of the birds eating his cakes indicates that he is spiritually dead, even though he is physically walking around. The waiter is also kind of dead in that he is sitting in jail. Through the interpretation of dreams,Yosef has the power to transfer the residual life force of the baker to the waiter. He does so and the waiter is restored to his position and the baker is killed.

In the dream of Pharaoh, Yosef is given great power. He uses it to save the lives of those that do his will and let those that do not die of starvation. However it is more than this. The wine steward and Pharaoh do well because they like Yosef and trust him because he is a man of G-d. The brothers run into difficulties because they don't understand, trust, or like Yosef because he is a man of G-d. However they eventually do tshuva.

The lesson of the story of Yosef is that once a person is established to be chacham and a tsadik, one should like him and trust him, even though at times he may seem difficult and peculiar. Even for a person who is very distant from faith, trust in the righteous will bring a shower of blessings.

לע"נ  הסבא אהרן בן יוסף ז"ל נלב"ע כז טבת תשכו

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