Miketz

“And Yosef remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them, and he said to them , ‘You are spies, and you have come to this land to see the hidden fortifications of the land.’” (Breishit 42:9)

“’Of them’—this means that Yosef remembered that his dream dealt primarily concerning the brothers.” (Rashi, ibid.)

On the surface, it seems strange that Yosef should identify his dreams as primarily concerning his brothers. Were not the dreams statements about his eventual attaining greatness? Why then, would he see in them reference to his brothers?

One could explain Rashi’s comment by recognizing that Yosef had already attained that greatness as second to Pharoah. Hence, his rememberance must have been concerning the second issue in the dreams, the brothers subservience.

However, by explaining Rashi’s comment somewhat differently, we can see an entirely different approach to the issue of Yosef’s dreams. Earlier, when telling his dreams to his father and brothers, Yosef had said, ‘Please listen (“shimu na”, lit.) to this dream which I have dreamt’. His father then rebuked him. The midrash comments on this, “The Almighty said, ‘(Just as Yosef beseeched you and you rebuked him) , so too will your prophets (in the future) beseech you (to do teshuva and improve) and so will you rebuke them.’” (Breishis 37:6, 10, and B.Rabba 84: 10-11) We see from this midrash, that Yosef related his dreams to his family not out of any feeling of self-aggrandizement, but as a revelation of prophecy. Indeed, his purpose was to reveal to his family of his impending leadership as a inspiration for them to improve themselves and hence avert this occurance.

Thus, Yosef’s dreams were not primarily about him, they were, like all prophecy, basically directed to the listeners, Yosef’s family. They were directives from Hashem for the family’s growth. Yosef understood this, and he hoped, as he related the dreams to his father and brothers, that it would never come to such a situation where they would have to bow down to him. Thus, when they finally appeared before him and prostrated themselves, he saw, to his sadness, that this aspect of his dreams, his prophecy, had indeed been fulfilled. This is Rashi’s insight—when he saw them, he remembered his dream—concerning them. For his dreams were just that—prophecy to the brothers.

(This d'var Torah is based on the work Peninei Daas, the essays of the Telsher Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch, zt"l, edited by Rabbi Noson Tzvi Baron, shlit"a, and Rabbi Avrahom Chaim Levin, shlit"a, vol. 1, p. 110)