Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Since Hashem has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You will be in charge of my court, and by your orders will all my people be provided for. Only by the throne will I outrank you.” Pharaoh said to Yosef “I hereby confer on you power over all Egypt.” (Bereishis 41:39-41)

At the beginning of Parshas Mikeitz, Yosef has been in prison for twelve years. Pharaoh dreams about fat cows being swallowed by emaciated cows then another about healthy ears of corn being swallowed by shriveled corn. He’s bothered by these dreams and isn’t satisfied by the interpretations of his advisors. Pharaoh’s master sommelier then recommends he bring Yosef for an interpretation. Swiftly, Yosef is taken from his imprisonment and brought before Pharaoh where he says that the dreams foretell seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh is so enthralled by Yosef’s insight that he not only grants Yosef his freedom, he elevates him to the second in command over all of Egypt.

It’s quite bizarre that within a few sentences in the Torah, Yosef doesn’t just go from rags to riches, he goes from impoverished to empowered. What was so spectacular about Yosef’s interpretation? The Alshech points out that Yosef’s advice isn’t so innovative. Any farmer or cattle rancher who hears about seven cows or corn being eaten by withered and skinny cows or corn might likely come to the same conclusion, that famine is coming. And so Yosef’s advice to store up the abundance for the years of shortage is a no brainer. Why were Pharaoh’s professional interpreters getting it wrong? (Rashi says on Bereishis 41:8 that his interpreters were saying the dreams meant Pharaoh would have seven daughters but then he’d have to bury seven daughters. Another commentary says Pharaoh would conquer seven nations but then seven nations would rebel against him.)

The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out what Yosef saw that no one else could. Verse 41:3 says “Then seven other cows, ugly and scrawny, emerged after them from the Nile River, and they stood next to the good-looking cows on the bank of the Nile River.” If the cows represent years of abundance and famine, how can abundance and famine “stand next to” each other? They can’t. You can’t have a bank account that has a million dollars but also be flat broke. Just like it can’t be noon and at the same time be midnight. These are contradictions, paradoxes. Two elements that cannot coexist. 

Human nature is to ignore or explain away the things that don’t make sense. You see a movie but then there is one bizarre sequence full of abstract symbolism. You don’t get it, so you ignore it, and enjoy the rest of the film. We hear a troubling piece of news that disturbs our world view so we invent an explanation in our minds which must explain the oddity. In these cases, we ignore the thing we don’t understand or explain it away so we can move on with our lives. 

This is why Pharaoh’s advisors had to ignore the obvious prediction about the famine. They couldn’t rectify the paradox of the cows standing next to each other. But Yosef doesn’t dismiss the paradox. He zeros in on it. If during the years of plenty, Egypt can keep in mind the coming famine, it’s as if they are living in both abundance and scarcity. Yosef implements policies of rationing and stockpiling, something you’d only do when there are shortages. It’s like they are living in a time of famine when crops are booming. But then when the famine does come, everyone in Egypt has what to eat, as if they are living in a time of plenty. From Yosef’s engagement with the contradiction, he was able to give the solution, so much so that Egypt was literally living the paradox of famine and plenty at the same time.

How did Yosef understand the key to dream interpretation? In the Torah, Yosef humbly gives the credit to Hashem (Bereishis 41:16). But Yosef also knew the essence of dreams. In dreams paradoxes are prevalent. You can be at home in Los Angeles, then step out your door and you’re in Russia. You can be having a sophisticated philosophical debate with your toddler and Napoleon. While you’re in the dream these paradoxes make perfect sense. In Hebrew, the word for dream is chalom, which comes from the root chet, lamed, mem, which means to connect disparate elements into a functioning whole. Hebrew understands that the nature of dreams is that through these jarring paradoxes, there is a deeper truth. The Baal HaTanya wrote in the 1700s “What’s an example of a dream-like paradox? A boat flying in the air.” Well that certainly sounds like something a pair of brothers would dream up in 1903. How else would you describe a modern commercial airplane? Dreams can give us the inspiration of how to solve the paradox. Inventors and writers sleep with notepads by their beds because they understand this. Yosef understood it too. 

Why did Pharaoh not just take Yosef’s advice, say thank you, and send him on his way? Why did Pharaoh instead make Yosef the most powerful man in Egypt under him? On days of celebration, before grace after meals, there is a custom to sing Psalm 126, Shir HaMalos. In it, it says, “When Hashem will return the captivity of Zion, we will see we were like dreamers.” Meaning that the existence we’re living in right now is like a dream. How? We are walking paradoxes. Sometimes with tremendous courage we will admit a difficult truth and nobly face the consequences. Then the very next day fudge a few details on our taxes. We can love our spouse intensely, but at the same time despise them because they won’t put the cap back on the toothpaste. 

We are a holy soul bound in the clothes of an animalistic body. A walking contradiction. And we are all seeking answers to rectify the parts of ourselves we’re not proud of. I once opened up to a family member about something I was struggling with, something I had barely spoken aloud to even myself. This family member couldn’t handle it. They didn’t know what to do with it and almost lashed out at me for sharing it. That led to a repression and a denial on both our parts for several years. Any help we seek that demands we suppress, amputate, or compartmentalize a part of us isn’t a real solution. Real, Divine wisdom understands you at your core and heals everything. It doesn’t condemn the paradoxes, it engages with them to understand the deeper truth. This is why Pharaoh trusted Yosef immediately. Obviously surrounded by yes-men and people unwilling to engage in reality, when Pharaoh encountered not only a difficult truth, but also a solution which solved the paradox, it resonated profoundly. 

We live in a world of contradictions. Some of us are sleeping through life. It might as well be a dream. But a Rubik’s cube isn’t solved if just a couple of squares don’t match up. Most people don’t want to undo the puzzle and make everything realign. But it is when we engage and struggle with the things that don’t make sense, that’s when everything opens up. That’s when the mystery gets solved, that’s when the movie finally makes sense, that’s when the world witnesses innovation. We can only reach Divine Truth through the paradoxes. Don’t let them disappear like a dream in the morning.

This post was taken from a D’var Torah by Rabbi YY Jacobson. Please watch it for more insights I couldn’t include. The post is dedicated to the souls lost at the tragedy of Bondi Beach. May their neshamas have an aliyah.