A Yearfor a Word – Why? In our classthis week on Miketz, we looked at the concept of memory and forgetting (pleasesee that class online). The classdeals with the concept of memory. The butlerforgets to mention Yosef. Pharaohforgets the dreams meaning. Yosef isreleased on Yom Ha-zikaron- Rosh Hashana - the day of memory. Yosefconnects to Pharaohs dream. But whywould a former slave interpreting a dream be placed in charge of the entirecountry? His brothersdon’t recognize Joseph. Herecognizes them. He remembersthe dream. How doesmemory zecher relate to zachar which relates to male ? And how do both relateto Binah which relates to female ? And how doesany of this relate to the candles of Hanukkah. We ended theclass with a question: Why are Yosef and Yaakov both punished with the loss ofa year for a word? Let us firstsee where these occur. This week,the Torah begins: וַיְהִ֕י מִקֵּ֖ץ שְׁנָתַ֣יִם יָמִ֑ים וּפַרְעֹ֣ה חֹלֵ֔ם וְהִנֵּ֖העֹמֵ֥ד עַל־הַיְאֹֽר׃ After two years’ time, Pharaoh dreamed that he wasstanding by the Nile. Two yearsafter what? If we returnto the last verse of last week’s parasha, we see it was two years since the SarHaMashkim – the butler was released. The pasuk states: וְלֹֽא־זָכַ֧ר שַֽׂר־הַמַּשְׁקִ֛יםאֶת־יוֹסֵ֖ף וַיִּשְׁכָּחֵֽהוּ׃ {פ} Yet the chief cupbearer did not think ofJoseph; he forgot him. Rashicomments: Joseph’s request to the cupbearer, “But remember me when it is wellwith you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh…” isseen as a lapse in his faith. The Midrash interprets that because Joseph askedtwice—“remember me” and “make mention of me”—he was punished with twoadditional years in prison, one for each plea. Chizkunistates: “But the chief of the cupbearers did not remember Joseph. Since he didnot bring Joseph’s plight to Pharaoh’s attention as soon as he had beenreleased, he forgot him totally, erased him from his memory.” MidrashTanchuma disagrees, as we mentioned in the class. The butler tried each day toremind himself to tell Pharaoh, but no matter his reminders, he forgets, asHeaven ordained it as such that Joseph be punished for these two words. RegardingJoseph, we also see it suggested that his first 10 years in prison were midahkeneged midah – measure for measure – in his criticism of his 10 brothers. Andthen two more years for two words to the butler? Now we askedthe question in the class, isn’t Hishtadlut, human effort, required? And we aretold one request would have been sufficient. The double wording resulted in thepunishment. Next week,we will read in Vayigash where Jacob is introduced to Pharaoh, who asks whatwould seem to be a very strange question: How old are you? Jacobdescribes his life to Pharaoh, where the exchange uses 33 words to convey hishardships. The Midrash suggests that as a consequence of this negativeportrayal, 33 years were deducted from his life, resulting in his death at 147instead of 180, the age his father Isaac reached. MidrashTanchuma, Vayigash 9: “Because Jacob complained and said, ‘Few and evil havebeen the days of the years of my life,’ the years were deducted from his life.” Rashi: “Thedays of my life have been few and bad—therefore, he did not reach the years ofhis fathers.” Although thequestion we are hoping to answer is a year for a word, let us try to betterunderstand this exchange and why Yaakov is punished not only for his 25 wordsbut for the 8 describing the exchange. The Rambanand Rashbam explain that Yaakov looked extremely old, and his appearance struckPharaoh so much that he was aroused to ask how old Yaakov actually was. Yaakovanswered him that although he was very old, he looked even older due to themany difficulties that he underwent in his life. It stillremains difficult why Yaakov offered such a seemingly pessimistic answer. Myfirst thought was always, Pharaoh represents the Nachash with a snake and anevil eye prominent on his crown. Maybe this was Yaakov’s attempt to throw offthe evil eye or ayin harah. I had no source, but was happy when I saw that RavYonatan Gefen quotes Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, who suggests that Yaakov didnot want to arouse the jealousy of Pharaoh, so he emphasized the difficultiesof his life. If that was the case, then why was he punished? It seemsthat regardless of the reason for his answer, the Sages are critical of Yaakov.The Daat Zekeinim cite an astounding Midrash: 'At the time that Yaakovsaid, 'few and bad have been the days of my life', The Holy One said to him, 'Isaved you from Esav and Lavan, I returned Dina to you, and also Yosef, and youcomplain about your life that they were few and bad?! By your life, the numberof words from 'and [Pharaoh] said, until the 'days of their sojourns' so toowill ...
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