SAN DIEGO — In Parshah Mitketz, the story of Josef continues. Pharaoh has two frightening dreams. In the first dream, there are seven healthy cows grazing in a lush field, followed by seven skinny, starving cows. The skinny cows eat the healthy ones. In his second dream, there are seven healthy stalks of grain followed by seven skinny ugly ones. The skinny grain eats the healthy ones. Pharaoh searches for someone to interpret his dreams.
The cup bearer remembers Joseph and tells Pharaoh about his ability to interpret dreams. Pharaoh sends for Joseph. He explains the dreams to Pharaoh. There will be seven extra good years of harvest. But when that ends, there will be seven years of terrible famine with no food to be found. Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of the food.
Joseph does his job well. He saves up enough food during the good years to feed everyone during the bad years.
During the bad years, Jacob and his sons run out of food. Jacob sends ten sons to Egypt to ask for food. He keeps his youngest son home because he loves Benjamin so much. The sons go to ask Joseph for food. He recognizes his brothers immediately, but they don’t know who he is. Joseph calls them spies and demands they go home and bring back Benjamin to prove they’re not spies. One brother has to stay in Egypt until they return.
The brothers go home and eventually convince Jacob that they must return with Benjamin. They promise they will bring Benjamin home safely. Joseph gives them food and sends them on their way, but still doesn’t tell them he is their brother. He has his servants hide a silver cup in Benjamin’s bags. Then he accused them of stealing the cup. Joseph tells them they can return to their home, but Benjamin must stay to be Joseph’s slave.
What does this mean: There are a few different things going on in this Parshah. The beginning shows how Joseph didn’t give up. When he was called to help Pharaoh interpret the dreams, he agreed to do so, and was rewarded. The middle shows how Joseph’s good plans to save extra food paid off during the famine.
The last part shows us Joseph’s true character. His brothers threw him in a pit to die, then sold him off as a slave. It was their fault he wound up in a prison. He could have been really angry with them. He could have refused to give them food, or even had them thrown in prison. Joseph had a good heart. While he did tease them a bit by not telling them who he was, and by hiding the cup in Benjamin’s bag, he caused them no real harm. We are left with a cliff-hanger, waiting to see what happens to Benjamin, but we already know Joseph is so glad to see his brothers he goes into another room to cry for joy.
What you can do: This Parshah shows us how important family is. What Joseph’s brothers did to him was horrible. But Joseph was able to forgive his brothers because they were his family. If someone in your family makes you really angry, take some time to cool down. Then talk to them. It’s okay to tell them you’re mad, but be sure to tell them what they did that made you angry. Then try to work it out together.
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Marcia Berneger is a retired elementary school teacher as well as a teacher at Torah school. She is the author of such children’s books as Buster the Little Garbage Truck, and A Dreidel in Time.