Yosef the Dream Master

Yosef in Prison and the Test of Bitachon

Parshat Miketz opens at the end of a long and painful chapter in Yosef HaTzaddik’s life. Unjustly imprisoned, Yosef nevertheless finds success and blessing even within the darkness of jail. Wherever he is placed, whatever responsibility he is given, it flourishes. The Torah emphasizes that Yosef was entrusted with everything under the authority of the sar ha’sohar, the prison warden, who placed complete confidence in him.

While Yosef is in prison, two high-ranking officials of Pharaoh are incarcerated as well—the sar ha’ofim, the minister of baking, and the sar ha’mashkim, the wine steward. Rashi explains their imprisonment simply: a stone was found in Pharaoh’s bread and a fly in his cup of wine. Though minor by modern standards, such failures were considered grave offenses in a royal court.

Both ministers dream troubling dreams on the same night. Each man is deeply disturbed—not only because he does not know the meaning of his own dream, but because he does understand the meaning of the other’s dream. Yet neither speaks. This silence exposes their inner cruelty and self-centeredness. Each is consumed with his own fate and refuses to help the other, even though together they could have resolved their distress.

Yosef notices their sadness and intervenes. He listens, interprets both dreams accurately, and offers clarity. When Yosef interprets the baker’s dream, he asks for one thing in return: that he be remembered before Pharaoh. “I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews,” Yosef explains, “and I did nothing to deserve imprisonment.”

Rashi notes that Yosef was punished for placing his trust in a human being rather than waiting entirely for Hashem. For this, Yosef remained in prison an additional two years. While this seems difficult to understand—after all, Yosef was engaging in reasonable hishtadlut—it reveals that Hashem had greater plans. Yosef’s redemption was not meant to come through human intervention but through a divine unfolding that would elevate him far beyond personal release.

Pharaoh’s Dreams and Yosef’s Compassion

At the beginning of Parshat Miketz, Pharaoh dreams two disturbing dreams. In the first, seven emaciated cows devour seven healthy ones. In the second, seven scorched, thin stalks of grain swallow seven full and robust stalks. Pharaoh senses that these dreams carry national significance, not merely personal meaning.

His magicians and advisors offer interpretations, but Pharaoh rejects them. Their explanations revolve around personal tragedy—such as bearing children only to lose them—and Pharaoh knows instinctively that this is not the message. These dreams concern the fate of Egypt itself.

At this moment, the royal baker remembers Yosef. Two full years have passed since Yosef’s request, underscoring the teaching of Chazal that “the wicked—even their good—is incomplete.” Yosef is summoned, shaved, and brought before Pharaoh.

Yosef interprets the dreams clearly and decisively: seven years of abundance will be followed by seven years of famine so severe that the years of plenty will be entirely forgotten. Yet Yosef does not stop with interpretation. He continues and offers advice—Egypt must appoint a wise and disciplined leader to store surplus during the years of abundance in preparation for the famine.

This is a defining trait of a tzaddik. Yosef does not merely diagnose the problem; he provides guidance and foresight. His compassion stands in sharp contrast to the selfishness of the imprisoned ministers. Where they saw only themselves, Yosef saw responsibility for others as well.

Dreams and the Chamber of Exchanges

Reb Noson explains that Yosef’s unique role as a tzaddik is hinted in his very name. “Yosef” means addition, increase—he is constantly seeking to reclaim added holiness trapped in the Chamber of Exchanges. This concept, drawn from Likutey Moharan Lesson 24, describes a frightening spiritual reality in which the forces of evil exchange a person’s holiness, blessing, and vitality for emptiness and confusion, bringing him to worry and depression.

Dreams themselves belong to this domain. As Chazal teach, no dream is entirely true; each contains a mixture of clarity and distortion. Only a true tzaddik—one who is not ensnared by the Chamber of Exchanges—can discern truth from falsehood and extract what is genuine.

Yosef HaTzaddik embodies this role. He enters the world of dreams without being influenced by its deception. He interprets accurately, restores meaning, and channels the message toward rectification and blessing. This is why tzaddikim are essential—not only for themselves but for others. They descend into confusion on behalf of those who cannot navigate it alone, reclaiming holiness and returning it to its rightful place.

This sets the stage for Yosef’s rise and reveals why his salvation could not come earlier. His imprisonment, dream interpretations, and delayed redemption were all part of a larger mission—to become the one who gathers, interprets, and restores holiness on a national scale.

Yosef HaTzaddik teaches us that no place is too dark—with simcha, guidance from tzaddikim, and faith, the darkness itself becomes the vessel through which light is revealed

Why Yosef Needed Two More Years

Yosef’s additional two years in prison were not only a punishment for placing reliance on a human being, but also a necessary preparation. Yosef was destined to interpret the most consequential dreams in history—the two dreams of Pharaoh that would determine the fate of an entire empire. Each dream required a year of preparation.

The word for year, shanah, is rooted in shinui—change, difference. Dream interpretation demands the ability to penetrate layers of distortion, fluctuation, and illusion. Dreams are never static; they are filled with movement, confusion, and mixture. Yosef needed to be refined through two full cycles of shinui in order to gain mastery over this domain.

Yosef himself later explains to Pharaoh that the doubling of the dream signifies certainty and imminence. The repetition—in cows and in stalks—reflects two dimensions of change. The same idea appears in Yosef’s own life. Two years, two dreams, two stages of preparation. What appeared as delay was, in truth, construction.

Dreams, Sadness, and the Level of the Tzaddik

Chazal teach that sleep is one-sixtieth of death, and death is associated with sadness. Dreams therefore belong to a realm where confusion and heaviness prevail. Ordinary people experience dreams as fragmented and misleading, but tzaddikim are different. When tzaddikim sleep, their dreams are not touched by sadness. Even in sleep, they remain connected to life.

Just as tzaddikim are called “alive” even after their passing, so too their dreams are expressions of vitality and clarity. This is why tzaddikim throughout history experienced prophetic dreams and visions. Yosef, having been refined through suffering and joy, was now able to enter the dream world—the clearest expression of the Chamber of Exchanges—and extract truth without being influenced by distortion.

This is why Yosef is elevated to be sheni la-melech, second to Pharaoh. The word sheni itself is rooted in shinui. Yosef’s greatness lay in his ability to rule over change, confusion, and exchange. Egypt was the epicenter of impurity and illusion, yet Yosef ruled it completely. Pharaoh recognized this intuitively. Yosef did not merely interpret dreams—he demonstrated authority over the very system that generates confusion.

Circumcision and the Extraction from Egypt

When the famine struck, the Egyptians discovered that all their stored grain had rotted. Only Yosef’s reserves remained intact. When they came to him for food, Yosef demanded that they circumcise themselves. Rashi records Pharaoh’s response: “Go to Yosef—whatever he tells you, do.” Pharaoh feared Yosef’s power, recognizing that if Yosef could decree spoilage, he could decree death.

Why circumcision? On a deeper level, circumcision removes the orlah, the covering that conceals truth. Just as the foreskin covers the organ of life and reproduction, so too impurity and illusion cover holiness within the Chamber of Exchanges. Yosef’s demand was not about conversion. It was about removing blockage—clearing the path for truth, morality, and clarity to exist even within Egypt.

This also prepared the ground for the eventual descent of Yaakov and his sons. Circumcision was the defining distinction between Jews and non-Jews. By having Egypt circumcised, Yosef ensured that when the Jewish people arrived, they would not feel entirely alien or isolated. More importantly, this set the stage for the ultimate mission of the exile—to extract the remaining sparks of holiness trapped in Egypt since the time of Adam.

Yosef, Yaakov, and the Final Generations

Yosef’s role cannot stand alone. The pasuk says: “Yaakov is fire, Yosef is flame, and Esav is straw.” Yaakov represents Torah Emet—the solid, unchanging foundation. Yosef represents expansion, addition, and extraction—the hidden Torah buried within evil that must be reclaimed. One without the other cannot fulfill the mission.

This explains why, in the final generations before Mashiach, the Jewish people appear more confused and fractured than ever before. In earlier exiles, Jews largely remained religious. Only in the last few centuries have massive segments of the Jewish people fallen into spiritual disarray. This is not accidental. It reflects a descent into the deepest layers of the Chamber of Exchanges, where the final sparks of holiness are hidden.

Reb Noson writes that in these generations, the only path to redemption—personal and national—is closeness to true tzaddikim at the level of Yosef HaTzaddik. Such tzaddikim possess the ability to enter confusion, offer clarity, and provide practical guidance that enables a person to extract himself completely.

Simcha—the Key to Extraction

The primary tool of these tzaddikim is simcha. Yosef is described as ish matzliach, a successful man. The Midrash explains that he was always singing and joyful—even as a slave, even in prison. He rejoiced in his good points: his brit milah, his peyot, his beard, his identity, his connection to Hashem. This joy empowered him to overcome every descent.

This is why Parshat Miketz almost always coincides with Chanukah. Chanukah is not only about light overcoming darkness—it is about light overcoming the darkness created by the Chamber of Exchanges. It is about restoring meaning where there is despair, hope where there is futility, and joy where there is sadness.

Yosef HaTzaddik teaches us that no place is too dark, no confusion too deep, and no descent irreversible. With simcha, guidance from tzaddikim, and unwavering faith, the darkness itself becomes the vessel through which light is revealed.

Shabbat Shalom. May we be zocheh to follow the path of Yosef HaTzaddik, to find joy even in concealment, and to merit the full redemption, speedily in our days.

Meir Elkabas