Concerning the question of Nachmanides that it is surprising that ‎Joseph’s prediction of seven years of famine was not fulfilled, and ‎that therefore his reputation as an interpreter of dreams must ‎have suffered, it appears that Joseph had covered this eventuality ‎by saying: (41,28) ‎אשר האלוקים עושה הראה לפרעה‎, “what G’d is ‎about to do He had shown Pharaoh.” This left it open to G’d to ‎forego the unpleasant part of Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s ‎dream. G’d’s decrees, (negative ones) are definitive unless a ‎‎tzaddik intervenes and asks Him to cancel or to “soften” ‎them. On the other hand, the tzaddik has no power to ‎cancel or “soften” a decree by G’d which is manifestly beneficial ‎for the people concerned. When we read in 47,7 that Joseph ‎introduced his aged father Yaakov to Pharaoh, the Torah ‎describes this with the words: ‎ויעמידהו לפני פרעה‎, “he made him ‎stand (not bow) before Pharaoh.” This was a hint that his father ‎had the power to affect G’d’s negative decrees which his son had ‎predicted. In other words, although G’d had taken him, and ‎through him, Pharaoh, into His confidence, Yaakov, Joseph’s ‎father took precedence over both Joseph and Pharaoh in his ‎intimacy which G’d.‎

Genesis 42,6. “and Joseph was the effective ruler of the ‎land; he was the one in charge of grain sales to the whole ‎nation.” The expression ‎עם הארץ‎ in this verse is meant to ‎contrast with ‎עם ה'‏‎, “the Lord’s people.” The latter, whenever ‎used in the Bible, refers to the pious people, the righteous people. ‎The former are the ones whose entire orientation in life revolves ‎around earthly concerns, an attitude that ought to be drastically ‎changed, broken down. This is why Joseph is described as ‎possessing the attribute, i.e. ‎משביר‎, that is capable of bringing ‎about a re-orientation in the average Egyptian’s order of ‎priorities. If the provision of ‎שבר‎, “life-sustaining rations” is ‎understood in this sense, then one can understand that the ‎Egyptians thanks to Joseph’s selfless concern with the welfare of ‎the whole nation could produce a religious reorientation of the ‎whole population. ‎[It is difficult for people living in a democracy where ‎the so called ruler is not given more than a maximum of 8 years ‎of continuous rule, that Joseph who did not once have to worry ‎about being re-elected in a rule spanning 80 uninterrupted years, ‎could concentrate all his talents on the task of improving the ‎population’s well being. Ed.]

‎‎Alternatively, the line commencing with describing Joseph as ‎the sole authority concerning vital grain sales, is the Torah’s way ‎of emphasizing that Joseph was the exception to other tzaddikim, ‎having been granted the best of two worlds, i.e. a position of ‎supreme honour and influence in this life, as well as a ‎commensurate position in his afterlife, considering the ‎abundance of merits he had accumulated while on earth.‎

Genesis 42,5-6. “Joseph’s brothers arrived (in Egypt) ‎and bowed down, and prostrated themselves to him.” ‎‎(The ruler in charge of grain sales) ‎וירא יוסף את אחיו ויכירם ‏ויתנכר אליהם‎, “When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized ‎them and he acted as if he was a stranger to them.” We need ‎to understand what the Torah intended to teach us by writing ‎that Joseph acted as a stranger to them, when this would have ‎become apparent as soon as we read about their dialogue.‎ I believe the line is introduced by the Torah to teach us that ‎the Torah considers Joseph’s conduct at this time as justified. ‎Joseph’s dream had shown him that his brothers would at one ‎stage prostrate themselves before him. (Genesis 37,7) His brothers ‎had opposed the idea that he would become king, ruling over ‎them. It is the way of the world that if someone has been ‎vanquished in a battle or duel, that if he knows who the victor is, ‎he will aim to take revenge sooner or later. If the vanquished ‎person does not know who has defeated him, his embarrassment ‎and desire for revenge will be far less, as other people presumably ‎are also unaware of his having been the loser in a conflict. In our ‎story, Joseph had become the victor; now that his dream had ‎been fulfilled and his brothers had prostrated themselves before ‎him this was all that concerned him, as he no longer felt that his ‎brothers’ accusations that he was an egomaniac, were true. Had ‎the brothers been able to, they would have made every effort to ‎prevent Joseph’s dream from becoming fulfilled. They would have ‎harboured ill will against him as soon as they had realized that his ‎dream had come true, just as they had imagined him as hoping ‎that it would. Therefore, Joseph contented himself with the ‎knowledge that his dream had indeed been fulfilled, making sure ‎that this would not have been at the expense of his brothers ‎becoming upset about this and probably hostile towards him. He ‎therefore acted in a manner that would convince the brothers ‎that the person before whom they had prostrated themselves had ‎not been their long lost brother. Seeing that the person before ‎whom the brothers prostrated themselves was a duly appointed ‎king, -not even one who had come to the throne by revolution- ‎they did not mind having to prostrate themselves before a king ‎such as he, especially as he volunteered- against payment of ‎course- to save them from total economic ruin. Joseph on his part ‎did all that he could to not let the brothers feel that he had ‎bested them. When the Torah describes the sequence of this ‎encounter with the words: “they prostrated themselves and he ‎recognized them, etc.,” this is to hint that it now dawned on ‎Joseph that just as he had recognized them, they might recognize ‎him; in order to avoid their becoming embarrassed he then ‎devised a scheme to disguise himself in every way possible so that ‎they did not recognize him. The Torah reports this to show that ‎his disguise worked.‎ It is also possible to see in the sequence of these verses an ‎explanation why during all these years (22) Joseph had never sent ‎a message to his father showing that he was alive and even ‎prosperous. He knew that his dreams would become true ‎prophetic visions and that that as a result of this his brothers ‎would become deeply saddened and frustrated. Once his father ‎would have been informed of his being alive and well, this would ‎become known to the brothers even if their father did not tell ‎them outright. Yaakov’s whole bearing would change from that ‎of a father grieving for a lost son, and the brothers would notice ‎this.‎

Genesis 42,12. “he said to them: ‘no but you have come ‎to reveal the weak (exposed) parts of the land.’” ‎‎[In order to understand what follows, the reader must ‎first refer to the concept of the “fallen sparks of the Shechinah” ‎discussed on page 21. Ed.] Joseph, i.e. the ruler of Egypt, ‎aware that if the brothers had intended to elevate him spiritually, ‎they themselves would look very bad by comparison to him ‎seeing that they had been guilty of selling their own brother into ‎slavery, added the adjective ‎ערוה‎, “the shameful aspects of the ‎land of Egypt,” instead of merely saying: “you have come to spy ‎out the land.” This would make even his spiritual elevation more ‎problematic. [The words ‎ערוה‎ and ‎ערלה‎ are closely related, ‎as before the circumcision which enables the body to attain a ‎degree of holiness, the male Jewish body is defined as ‎ערלה‎, ‎‎“totally foreskin,” always seen as a something despicable. ‎Ed.] According to our author, the brothers told the “King ‎of Egypt,” that if he thought that they were able to bring about ‎his spiritual elevation at this stage he was sadly mistaken, as it ‎required the presence of all twelve brothers, as their ‎youngest brother was still in the land of Canaan. They added that ‎even if the youngest brother were to be here, seeing that one of ‎their number had been missing for a long time they would not ‎possess that power until he too were here. [What might ‎have prompted the brothers to think in these terms may have ‎been that they had heard of how this ruler of Egypt had ‎miraculously risen to power, having no former claim to fame. ‎They saw in this an act of G’d, possibly preparatory to this ruler’s ‎achieving further greatness if assisted by the sons of Yaakov. ‎Ed.] This approach sounds more plausible when we ‎consider a statement of our sages that during the 22 years that ‎Yaakov and Joseph were separated, Yaakov never experienced the ‎presence of holy spirit. (Aggadat B’reshit 69) As long as such ‎holy spirit did not rest on one of their number, their power as ‎intermediaries to the celestial domain was blocked. They indicated ‎that as soon as it would be G’d’s will to remedy this temporary ‎‎“spiritual blackout,” they could be of assistance to what they ‎perceived to be the ruler’s desire. [I have “fleshed out”, ‎what the author barely hints at. Ed.]‎

Genesis 42,18. “on the third day Joseph said to them: ‎‎‘do this and live, seeing that I am G’d fearing. If you are ‎truthful, one of your brothers will be kept captive, etc.” ‎The position of the words: ‎את האלוקים אני ירא‎ in this verse is ‎puzzling. We would have expected it at the beginning of the ‎verse. Furthermore, the words: ‎ויעשו כן‎, “the brothers did so,” ‎is strange, as it gives the impression that the brothers ‎immediately brought Binyamin to Egypt, something that is ‎impossible. The brothers not only first had to return to their ‎father’s house in Canaan, but, as the Torah testified they ‎procrastinated until they ran short of food before their father ‎agreed to let Binyamin travel with them. (Genesis 43,13) Perhaps ‎the lesson Joseph wanted to teach the brothers was that if one ‎determines to do G’d’s will, this will be accounted as if one had ‎already done so, when the circumstances make immediate ‎execution of the task at hand impossible. Joseph told the brothers ‎that their lives would be secure once they had made up their ‎minds to carry out his demand. The Torah confirms this by ‎describing the brothers as if they had immediately brought ‎Binyamin to Egypt. Joseph was at pains to demonstrate to the ‎brothers that his insistence that Binyamin come to Egypt was not ‎based on distrust or ill will toward them. When they found ‎themselves in jail they realized this and did not blame Joseph for ‎this but themselves, when they said: “but we are guilty, ‎etc.”(Gen. 42,21). They accepted his statement that he was a G’d ‎fearing individual, whereas they had brought their troubles upon ‎themselves. ‎