The Parsha begins with Joseph languishing in prison. It’s been 2 years since he correctly interpreted the dreams of his two cellmates, and the newly reinstated Royal butler forgot Joseph, and his situation was dire.
That all changed when Pharaoh had frightening dreams of 7 fat cows being consumed by 7 frail cows and 7 robust ears of grain being swallowed by 7 pitiful ones. These dreams caused Pharaoh to seek Joseph’s dream-interpretation services and when Joseph skillfully interpreted the dreams he was promoted to viceroy of Egypt.
The Ohr HaChaim makes a very precise and critical reading of the first verse. He notes that the verse does not say that after two years Pharaoh dreamt. Rather the verse indicates that for 2 years Pharaoh was dreaming. He explains that Pharaoh had the identical dreams each night for two years, which he promptly forgot upon awakening. And now, 2 years after the butler was reinstated, Pharaoh finally remembered the dreams and was desperate to seek an interpretation.
This seems like a very strange suggestion. If Pharaoh forgot the dreams each night anyhow, why was it necessary for him to have these recurring nightmares? If Joseph was destined to languish in prison for two more years it doesn’t make sense to subject Pharaoh to the dreams that were not needed. Why did Pharaoh dream about cows and grain each night for two years only to forget them upon awakening?
One of the Hasidic Masters suggested an answer that radically reshapes how we think about Divine intervention and Divine providence. The Midrash states that Joseph underwent a lapse in his reliance on God when he asked the Butler to bring his case before Pharaoh. A man of Joseph’s stature he should have relied on God totally and not sought the help of the Butler. As a result of his insufficient faith, Joseph was penalized with two more years of incarceration. After 2 years Joseph ceased to rely on the Butler helping him, and restored his complete reliance on God, and right away the Almighty sprung the plan into action and Pharaoh dreamt.
But what would have happened had Joseph restored his total reliance on God earlier? That is what the Ohr HaChaim is telling us: Every single night of those two years, Pharaoh had the precise dreams that would have resulted in Joseph’s freedom and ascent to monarchy. Everything was in place; everything was ready; all that was needed was for Joseph to get ready. And each night because Joseph was not quite there yet Pharaoh forgot the dreams. But once Joseph restored his total reliance on God, Pharaoh remembered his dreams, and that very same day Joseph received Pharaoh’s ring, was bedecked in the garments of royalty, had a triumphal cavalcade throughout the city, and became the king he was destined to become.
We know that we must earn our Divine intervention and providence, but we have it backwards. We assume that the Almighty is waiting for us to pray or to become spiritually worthy and then He will begin the process of giving us our salvation. Here we learn that it’s the other way around: everything is already in place. Everything is ready to go. The almighty is anticipating us to make the move, to submit the prayer, to spiritually earn the merit – and once we become worthy the Divine salvation was there, waiting for us.
The recently approved COVID vaccine is an example of this model. Under normal conditions, when an experimental drug is being tested the process follows a certain sequence: There are various rounds of experimentation and trials where the safety and the efficacy of the given drug is tested. Once the tests seem promising then it’s submitted for approval by various agencies, and after approval, production and distribution begin. With the vaccine currently being rolled out everything was done concurrently in order to speed up the timeline. Even before efficacy and safety were established, production and distribution plans were already underway. With God, it’s always Operation Warp Speed. The Divine intervention, the Divine salvation is already in place pending approval.
In 2015, then Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was interviewed on one of the late night shows about the company’s new business, Uber Eats. When asked to explain how it works, Kalanick explained how with other online delivery companies, the process is that you order, then they make the food, it’s put in a car and delivered it to you. Uber Eats is different: “We make the food, we put it in a car, and then you order it and we deliver it to you.” I don’t know if this is the way Uber Eats still works, but at the time they were trying to eliminate the most annoying part about ordering food – the wait. You’re hungry and you want food now and you don’t want to wait. With this system you wouldn’t need to wait. The food is ready, all you need to do is order and then it is delivered.
Uber Eats and the COVID vaccine are metaphors for this deep and wonderfully inspiring insight into how the Almighty intervenes and aids people. Just like Joseph, the Almighty has a plan for how each one of us can achieve our destiny and fulfill our purpose. He wants to give us salvation, He wants to answer our prayers, He wants to shower us with blessings and goodness, He wants us to accomplish the mission that we were sent here to do. He wants to help us, but we need to earn it. We need to become spiritually worthy of that Divine blessing. I find it deeply comforting and inspiring to know that our salvation is already extant; its all lined up and ready to go pending Divine approval. The vaccines are made and are ready to be shipped. The food is fresh and delicious and in the car ready to be delivered. Pharaoh has a standing dream of cows and grain being swallowed – everything is in place. We submit the order, we become worthy of the salvation, and it is promptly unlocked. Everything is ready to go. Are you?