ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים, It happened at the end of two years, etc. The reason the Torah introduces this paragraph with the word ויהי, a word indicating an unhappy event, is that as of now the exile of the Jewish people begins to unravel. Even though this exile had been decreed almost two hundred years previously, it had not been decreed anywhere that this exile had to be in Egypt. Moreover, the exile turned out to be more cruel than necessary in order to satisfy G'd's decree as we know from Tossaphot on Shabbat 10 and as the ראב׳ד has written in a glossary on Maimonides's Hilchot Teshuvah chapter six. He explains that the Egyptians behaved in an abnormally cruel manner as indicated by Genesis 15,13.

An additional reason for introducing this paragraph with the word ויהי is that G'd announced that there would be a famine and G'd always shares the pain He inflicts on His world (compare Megillah 10 on Exodus 14,20).

The word ויהי also reflects the mental anguish Joseph endured during the two years after the chief butler was released from jail. Originally, it had been intended that Joseph should be released at that time (Bereshit Rabbah 89,2). He had to endure two additional years in jail because he had put his trust in a human being. The Midrash there understands the words ויהי מקץ as indicating an end to darkness. קץ is also a word which describes the evil urge, i.e. קץ כל בשר. Accordingly, the Torah uses this word to allude to the reason that Joseph had to stay in jail another two years. These two years during which Joseph experienced mental anguish are counted as part of the Jewish people's exile experience because the chief butler had neglected to remember Joseph favourably. The reason that not one but two additional years were decreed was because Joseph said both כי אם זכרתני and והזכרתני. He wanted to be remembered and to be mentioned favourably.

The wording מקץ שנתים also means that it was on the second anniversary of the day the chief butler and the chief of the bakers had their dreams. When Joseph's fortunes took a turn for the better this was to be related directly to the dreams, showing that the dream had correctly forecast what would happen.

ופרעה חולם, and Pharaoh had a dream. Inasmuch as the Torah here begins with the introduction of a new episode, we would have expected either the word חלם, or ויחלום, he dreamt, not חולם, he was dreaming. The latter word would only be appropriate if the Torah told us about the continuation of something that we knew had begun previously. Actually, the Torah uses this present tense in this case to show that Pharaoh's dream was a direct continuation of events which had begun when the chief butler and the chief of the bakers had had their dreams. The Torah wanted to show us that even though the chief butler did not want to help Joseph get out of jail, G'd had other means at His disposal to help Joseph get out of jail. It is therefore best to imagine the last verse of the previous chapter and the first verse in this chapter as being continuous, thus: "since the chief butler did not remember Joseph and forgot him Pharaoh had a dream at the end of two years." This eventually forced the chief butler to speak up and mention Joseph as a successful interpreter of dreams.

It is also possible that during the two years Pharaoh repeatedly kept dreaming the same dream without recalling it in the morning. Now that two years had elapsed he suddenly had a vivid recollection of this dream.

The words "and Pharaoh was dreaming" may also have been intended to tell us that even Pharaoh personally felt during his dream that he was dreaming. The reason he felt that way was that the events that occurred during the dream were so totally unlikely. The Torah wishes to teach us a lesson here about how to determine if a dream has meaning as a message to the person who dreams it. When a person feels during his dream that he must explore the meaning of what has appeared to him in the dream, this is a clear sign that the dream cannot be dismissed as being of no consequence but that it presages something that will occur in the future.

מן היאור עולות, from the river there were rising, etc. The Torah should have written: עולות שבע פרות מן היאור, "seven cows were rising from the river." Why was the river mentioned first? Perhaps the Torah wanted us to appreciate that the existence of those cows was entirely due to the river, as if the river itself had produced them. To this end the Torah first had to mention who it was that created these cows. What the river produced became of secondary importance. Had the Torah employed the normal syntax we would have thought that the cows crossed the river and rose on the far bank but not that they were a product of the river itself. This very fact also made Pharaoh aware that it could only be a dream. In real life rivers do not produce cows. The reason he was given such a vision was to alert Joseph to the fact that two separate products emanated from the river, i.e. the years of plenty and the years of famine. The river was the key to the ability of the cows to rise or not to rise.

עולות אחריהן מן היאור, rising behind them from the river. This description corresponds to what we explained on the previous verse, that the cows' existence was due to the river. Although in this instance the river is not mentioned first, i.e. מן היאור עולות, the word אחריהן, behind them, makes it plain that both categories of cows had an identical origin.

וייקץ פרעה והנה חלום, Pharaoh awoke and it had been a dream. It is possible that when Pharaoh dreamed the section about the ears of corn he had not noticed during the dream that he was only dreaming. He may have thought that he was awake due to the extreme clarity with which he saw that scene. After he got up from his sleep, however, he realised in retrospect that he had been dreaming. This is why the Torah had to add: "Pharaoh awoke."

ואין פותר אותם לפרעה. And no one could give a satisfactory explanation for them to Pharaoh. The reason the Torah speaks of "them" is that they were in fact two dreams. Even though the Torah insists that the dream was one, writing את חלומו, when it came to describing the interpretation the Torah speaks of אותם, meaning there was no interpretation for the two dreams.

The Torah added the apparently unnecessary words לפרעה. The Torah therefore may use the word פרעה as the name of the kingdom, as opposed to it being his personal name. This maybe the reason that when the chief butler addressed Pharaoh, he said: "Pharaoh was angry, etc." It would be most inappropriate for the chief butler to address his king by using his personal name. It is clear therefore that it refers to the kingdom itself. The king was identified with the state. Our view has been confirmed by Rashi on Psalms 34,1. We can now understand why Pharaoh was unwilling to accept the interpretations offered to him by his advisors. Inasmuch as the dream addressed itself to Pharaoh the head of state and not Pharaoh the individual, any interpretations which did not take this fact into consideration did not satisfy him. He felt sure that the dream contained a message of importance for his people. According to one view expressed in Bereshit Rabbah 89 their interpretation was not acceptable "to him;" this interpretation overlooks the fact that the word לו, "to him, does not appear in the text" [I have not found this statement in Bereshit Rabbah 89, Ed.].

וידבר שר המשקים את פרעה, The chief butler said to Pharaoh saying, etc. The reason the Torah had to add the word לאמור as well as the word את פרעה instead of אל פרעה, maybe that the chief butler did not address the King personally but his advisers. He asked the king's advisers to relay his words to the king. This is the reason that his entire speech is in the third person.

Another reason he said לאמור את חטאי "to relate my sins," maybe the following. He wanted Pharaoh to be sure not to understand his words as a complaint for having been wrongfully incarcerated, but rather stressed his own insignificance. This is why he emphasised that he had indeed committed a sin. The chief butler added the word היום, "today," to explain that the reason he had come forward now was that there was an overriding need for the information he had to impart. Had this not been the case he certainly would not have brought up his own incongruous past. The reason the chief butler spoke about his sins in the plural, i.e. את חטאי, was that he wanted to convey the impression that although he had committed only one sin, this fact weighed as heavily on him as if he had committed several sins. Perhaps he simply considered that his tardiness in coming forward was an additional sin.

ופותר אין אותו "and no one can interpret it." This means that there were numerous interpreters but none that he considered satisfactory to him. He did not consider the interpretations to be appropriate to his dream.

ואני שמעתי עליך, "and I have heard concerning you, etc." Here too the word לאמור needs explaining. Besides, why did Pharaoh have to say תשמע "you will hear the dream?" Isn't it obvious that Joseph could not be expected to interpret a dream he had not been told yet?"

Actually, the Torah described that Pharaoh was very clever, trying to commit Joseph to interpret the dream by not giving him any excuses not to do so. He told him that he had been told that Joseph himself had described himself as an interpreter of dreams. Now he either had to interpret Pharaoh's dream or admit that he was a swindler and had interpreted dreams incorrectly. When Pharaoh said to Joseph: "I have heard it said about you that you listen to a dream and interpret it," he meant that this was what Joseph himself had claimed. Pharaoh was partially correct; Joseph had indeed invited the chief butler and the chief of the bakers to "tell" him their dreams so that he could interpret them (40,7). It may be assumed that the chief butler reported the events to Pharaoh faithfully. It is also possible that Pharaoh surmised that his senior ministers would not have volunteered to tell a Hebrew slave their dreams unless they had been invited to do so. Now Joseph had to interpret Pharaoh's dream in order to justify his reputation.

ויען יוסף את פרעה לאמור, Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, etc. The word "לאמור" here refers to Pharaoh's claim that Joseph claimed he only had to hear a dream and he already had its interpretation ready. בלעדי, "this does not depend on me." Joseph corrects the impression Pharaoh entertained about him. He explains that G'd knows the interpretations of dreams and informs certain human beings of this. The same had taken place when Joseph had told the chief butler and the chief of the bakers that the interpretations were G'd's, not his. He had invited those men to tell him their dreams in the hope that an interpretation could be found. He had never claimed an exclusive on that knowledge. This is also why he added: אלוקים יענה, "G'd may provide the answer." He added the word שלום in order to warn Pharaoh not to take offence if perchance the interpretation would not be to his liking and would presage something unpleasant. He should not accuse Joseph on the basis of "the dreams follow the interpretation chosen by the mouth" (of the interpreter). Even if he were to come up with an interpretation that forecast trouble, he was only G'd's mouthpiece, the source was G'd.

Joseph may also have had something quite different in mind when he said: "may G'd answer the peace of Pharaoh." He emphasised that in contrast with ordinary interpreters who are able to bend the meaning of the dream according to their choice, he, Joseph, could not do so. He could only relate the objective meaning of what Pharaoh had seen in his dream. [Berachot 56 lists a variety of dreams and how the interpretation which seemed to contradict the impression left on the dreamer came true, thus proving that much depends on the person who interprets the dream. Ed.]

את האלוקים עושה הראה לפרעה. "G'd has informed Pharaoh of what He is about to do." Berachot 55 mentions that there are three matters concerning which G'd Himself makes public annoucements; abundance of crops, famine, and a good leader. The Torah informs us that G'd had informed Pharaoh in his dream concerning all these three matters. There would be a period of abundance of agricultural products; there would come a famine; Pharaoh was given a chance to appoint a leader who could head off the impact of the famine. Even though Joseph did not mention who that person should be, the fact that G'd had withheld the interpretation of the dream from all other potential candidates for such leadership and had brought Joseph to Pharaoh's attention through the chief butler who had told him what happened to him, made Joseph a natural choice for this appointment. When the Torah says: הגיד לפרעה, this means that G'd gave Pharaoh the means to make the necessary provisions. Joseph himself spelled this out for Pharaoh in verse 33.

יהיו שבע שני הרעב, "there will be seven years of famine." The reason that Joseph did not describe the seven years of plenty as such in verse twenty six was simply that even during the present period food was plentiful in Egypt. The great plenty that would characterise the next seven years was not such a contrast to the existing conditions. The only thing that was different was that the adjective גדול could be applied to those years of שבע (verse 29). Joseph stressed only what would be radically different from the present.

Inasmuch as the increased harvests during the coming seven years were merely designed to offset the lack of harvests during the seven years following, Joseph did not describe those years at once. The major message of the dream was the eventual famine.

הנה שבע שנים באות שבע גדול, "There are seven years coming of great plenty, etc." Joseph stressed that these plentiful harvests would be experienced "in the whole land of Egypt," and again mentioned בארץ מצרים, in the land of Egypt in the following verse, whereas he could have simply that בארץ, "on earth." He wanted to make it clear that whereas the plenty would be found only in the land of Egypt, the subsequent famine would be world wide. This is why he said וכלה הרעב את הארץ, "the famine will destroy the earth," when he described the effect of the famine. We find confirmation of all this (41,56) where the Torah describes the famine as extending all over the earth. When describing the effect of the years of plenty, however, the Torah merely speaks of "the seven years of plenty in the land of Egypt came to an end (41,53)." This shows clearly that the abundant harvests occurred only in Egypt itself. Were it not so the words "in the land of Egypt" would be misleading. Joseph realised all this by the appearance of the cows. When the lean cows were described as so exceptionally thin and poorly, this could not have been so if the whole earth had experienced abundance in the years preceding the famine. Egypt could then have imported food which the other countries had accumulated during the years of plenty. It was therefore clear to Joseph that the famine would be world wide whereas the plentiful years would be restricted to the land of Egypt.

ועל השנות, "concerning the repetition, etc." Joseph alluded to two things. 1) the actual repetition; 2) the minor changes in the second half of the dream, i.e. the fact that the second part did not feature cows. Had both parts of the dream featured cows, Pharaoh might have thought that the impression made upon him by the first dream had caused him to lie down a second time. The reason for the way in which Pharaoh had dreamt the dream was that G'd wanted to show him that all this would begin to happen almost immediately. Pharaoh was not to think that the very change of venue, i.e. ears of corn instead of cows, indicated that the dream was meaningless as a vision of the future.

וממהר האלוקים לעשותו, "and G'd will carry this out promptly." Joseph deduced this from the two parts of the dream both being dreamt during the same night instead of during consecutive nights.

ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם, "Now let Pharaoh see to an understanding and wise man, etc." The reason that Joseph made himself the king's adviser when he had only been asked to interpret the dream was that Joseph wanted to tell Pharaoh why G'd had revealed all the information of what He was about to do. The only reason for this was to encourage Pharaoh to appoint the appropriate officials to deal with the future. Furthermore, the manner in which the lean cows had devoured the fat cows without leaving a trace was clear evidence that during the lean years survival would depend on the produce of the years of plenty. Joseph therefore told Pharaoh to make the appropriate provisions.

איש נבון וחכם. "An understanding and wise man." The man should know how to store agricultural produce so that it would not rot. The word חכם, wise, referred to someone who was an engineer, could deal with numbers, etc. The reason Joseph first mentioned the qualification נבון was because it was most important to preserve the harvests in good condition.

יעשה פרעה פקידים, "let Pharaoh appoint trustworthy officials, etc." Joseph realised that the reason the dream was needed was to ensure that the Egyptians would make prudent use of the years of plenty. Had they not been made aware that the years of plenty would be followed by years of famine, they would become careless with the storage of food after the first year of abundance. Not only would they not build silos, they might even decide to plant less in order to maintain the prices. As a result they would not bother to plough. When they would see another year of bumper crops their negligent attitude would only be further reinforced. This is why G'd explained in Pharaoh's dream that the surplus during the coming seven years was only meant to compensate in advance for the absence of crops during the following seven years. This is why Joseph felt compelled to advise Pharaoh. He wanted Pharaoh to involve as many people as possible in the task of storing and preserving food.

When Joseph spoke about וחמש, he meant that Pharaoh should imbue these officials with a sense of urgency when they would assume their tasks. It could also mean that Pharaoh should impose a harvest tax of twenty percent which would serve as the national grain reserve. This was an innovation, seeing that normally the farmer only has to tithe ten percent of his grain harvest to the king (compare Samuel I 8,15). Pharaoh would do the people a kindness with this tax; he would not touch the grain during the years of plenty, thus not competing with the farmers who were marketing their own grain. I shall explain the procedure in my commentary on the verses following.

לשבע שני הרעב, "for the seven years of famine." First of all Egypt would provide a reserve for itself; as a secondary consideration they would serve as the pool other countries i.e. הארץ could draw on. Joseph added the consideration that the rest of the earth should not starve to death.

הנמצא כזה איש, "Can we find a man such as this one etc.?" The reason that Pharaoh did not say הנמצא איש אשר "can we find a man who, etc.," is because he would then have created the impression that there were people with Holy Spirit only that they did not possess it in the degree that Joseph did. Pharaoh wanted to make it plain that he did not think anyone else possessed the Holy Spirit.

אין נבון, "There is no one as understanding, etc." "There is no one else as qualified to carry out the measures suggested as you yourself, seeing that you have been granted the Holy Spirit."

"אברך, ונתון אותו על כל ארץ מצרים "On your knees!" and he has been appointed in charge of the whole land of Egypt. These two separate announcements were proclaimed in advance of the parade in which Joseph rode in a state coach. He was granted royalty-like status.

אני פרעה, ובלעדיך לא ירים איש את ידו "I am Pharaoh; without your permission no one shall even raise his hand, etc." "The kingdom belongs to me." We already mentioned that the name "Pharaoh" referred to the kingdom. Apart from this, no one was to raise his hand without Joseph's permission; the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of ובלעדיך indicates that Joseph's exalted position included this extraordinary authority.

ויעבור בכל ארץ מצרים, he traversed the whole land of Egypt. This was in order to familiarise himself with all the fields, to gather information about where to establish silos, etc.

ויקבץ את כל אכל, He collected all the food, etc. According to the commentary on verse 34 that the word וחמש meant setting aside a tax of 20% the words "all the food" refer to the king's share. According to the alternative commentary that the word וחמש means lending a sense of urgency to the measures to be taken, the verse may be explained literally; Joseph collected the entire excess of that year's harvest over average years' harvests. He bought up all the excess. The farmers offered it for sale seeing they had no use for it.

עד כי חדל לספור, until he stopped counting. They stopped counting the accumulated amount of agricultural surplus because the people delivering the surplus for storage had not bothered to count it. Even though the Torah speaks about one fifth of the harvest being taxed, the farmers merely divided the harvest into five approximately equal piles, and delivered one pile to Joseph's silos. They did not bother to count the total amount they had harvested, however. Joseph's officials did not count, not having been told the amount the farmers claimed to have delivered.

וליוסף יולד שני בנים, Two sons were born to Joseph, etc. The Torah includes this with what has been recorded before about Joseph's remarkable achievements during these seven years. The names Joseph gave his sons are proof that he was well pleased that G'd had let him forget his previous problems and had also made him fruitful. The word "fruitful" includes both having children, amassing wealth and being honoured.

בטרם תבוא שנת הרעב, before the year of famine arrived. Taanit 11 derives from here that it is forbidden to maintain marital relations during a famine. We can conclude from the fact that the Talmud uses the example of Joseph [the words "before the arrival of the year of famine"] to deduce this ruling, that it is applicable only to people who have not yet fulfilled the commandment to be fruitful. Joseph had already fulfilled that commandment, ergo he could not have marital relations during the famine. Had he not had children yet, the fact that there was a famine would not have represented a halachic hindrance to his having normal marital relations during that period.

Keeping this in mind, the question raised by Tossaphot in the Talmud about how Yocheved could have been born during the descent of Jacob's family to Egypt, seeing the famine was in full swing at the time, becomes moot. Tossaphot is at pains to explain that the rule was not a legal one but only a pious practice. This appears unacceptable seeing the whole rule is based on scripture. Besides, the Torah testifies to Levi's piety in Deut. 33,8, suggesting that of all the sons of Jacob he was the most pious. Even though the statement in Deuteronomy refers to the descendants of Levi, i.e. the branches, it is most certainly applicable also to the root, i.e. to Levi himself. Inasmuch as Levi did not yet have a daughter at the time, he was at liberty (compare Yevamot 61 and Even Ha-Ezer 1) to indulge in normal conjugal relations with his wife.

Moreover, the prohibition of conjugal relations applies only when the Jewish people experience the pain of a famine. Famine amongst the Gentiles has no bearing on Jewish family life. Inasmuch as Jacob was known to have a sufficient supply of food (compare Taanit 10) and he only sent his sons to Egypt for appearances' sake (so as not to arouse the envy of his neighbours) as we know from Rashi on Genesis 42,1 למה תתראו, Levi had acted one hundred percent within accepted Jewish norms. While it is true that there is a statement in Bereshit Rabbah 91, that Jacob's family did not even have any barley left, that statement refers to the second year of the famine. During the first year they certainly had enough grain left and Levi had every right to sleep with his wife. They did not have to refrain from conjugal relations on account of Joseph. Joseph was only an individual and the rule applies only to when a community is in economic straits. It is possible that Joseph refrained from conjugal relations with his wife during the famine because he knew that his family in the land of Canaan was suffering from the famine (the first year before they came to him).

ותחילנה …כאשר אמר יוסף. The famine began just as Joseph had said. It was necessary for the Torah to repeat "as Joseph had said;" Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dream was proven true especially after the seven years of plenty were followed by the famine. Had the famine not commenced at that time, people would have said that the seven years of plenty had nothing to do with Joseph's forecast.

Another reason for the Torah telling us the events in this manner maybe that the Torah emphasised a different aspect of Joseph's forecast. After seven years of abundant surplus it is most unusual to feel the onset of a famine immediately. The Torah therefore tells us "as Joseph had said," i.e. that the years of plenty would be completely forgotten, that people would eat but not be satisfied during the years of famine. This lack of satisfaction with the food one ate became evident already at the beginning of the first year of the famine.

ויפתח יוסף את כל אשר בהם, Joseph opened all (the granaries) in which grain was stored. The reason that Joseph immediately opened all the silos instead of only the ones which were immediately needed was to see which ones contained grain that was capable of indefinite storage and which needed to be sold first in order that it should not deteriorate.

Another reason why Joseph opened all the silos simultaneously was that he had arranged for the silos to be close to the various population centres. Had he opened only one silo at a time the people would have had to travel long distances to receive their rations. As it was, Joseph made sure the people knew that there was a supply of food close by. This made the famine a great deal easier to bear. Our rabbis have described this psychological fact by coining the phrase אינו דומה מי שיש לו פס בסלו למי שאין לו. "One cannot compare a person who has bread in his basket to someone whose basket is empty."

Joseph may also have wanted the population to see for themselves the huge grain reserves he had accumulated so that they would not become concerned that his supply would be inadequate. In spite of all these confidence building measures taken by Joseph the Torah testifies that the famine grew severe almost at once.