The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Mikeitz

The Rebbe says:

1. Last week’s Torah portion told us about Yoseph Hatzadik’s (Joseph the righteous’) dreams and the dreams of the cupbearer and baker of Pharaoh, and this week’s Torah portion tells us about Pharaoh’s dreams.

2. The Rebbe now points out that all these dreams were the cause of the exile in Egypt for the Jewish people:

When we think about the story of how the Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt, we will realize that this all happened through dreams; through the dreams of Yoseph Hatzadik, the dreams of the cupbearer and baker of Pharaoh, and the dreams of Pharaoh:

Because Yoseph Hatzadik had the dreams about his brothers bowing down to him and then repeated them to his brothers, he was sold to Egyptian traders. Once Yoseph was in Egypt and had been imprisoned, he interpreted the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker correctly and this caused him to be called in front of Pharaoh, who also had dreams, to interpret his dreams. Once he interpreted the dreams correctly and was made the ruler of Egypt, Yoseph brought his whole family down to Egypt, and this gave way for the Egyptian exile many years later.

3. The Rebbe now explains that dreams and exile must have a connection:

Being that everything is by Divine Providence, there must be a connection between the cause, which is the dreams, and the effect, which is the exile. It is not just mere coincidence that dreams are what caused the exile in Egypt; there must be a correlation between dreams and the Egyptian exile. Moreover, since the exile in Egypt was the source for all future exiles, there must be a connection between dreams and all exiles.

4. The Rebbe now explains how dreams and exile have a connection:

Dreams, which come from our ability of imagination, are able to have two opposite things happen together. For example, in our dreams an elephant can fit into the eye of a needle.

The same is true of exile: A person can think that he loves Hashem (G-d) and his bodily desires at the same time, even though this isn’t possible, and even go against Hashem’s wishes while thinking that he still loves Hashem.

This doesn’t mean to say that because someone can sin after he Davens (prays), his earlier prayer was worthless, Heaven Forbid. The truth is that during exile a very high level of energy is shining into the world, the level of “dreams”, and therefore two opposites can actually happen together, just like a dream.

5. Once we are on the topic of serving Hashem on one hand and giving in to our desires on the other hand, the Rebbe continues this discussion:

The G-dly Soul of every single Jew is always complete, and the Torah and Mitzvos which he performs are eternal. On the other hand, the bad things which one does are only temporary (because every single Jew will certainly do Teshuvah (repent) eventually) and are therefore not even considered a real entity now before he repents.

6. The Rebbe now tells us the practical lesson that we can learn from this:

Some people think that in order to get to step two in the ladder of service of Hashem one must first be on step one, and in order to reach step three one must first be on step two.

This would be correct if we were living in a time where everything was orderly. However since we are living in exile, which is a time when the world works on the energy of a “dream”- as we say during the Birkat Hamazon (Blessing after we eat bread), “When Hashem will return… we will be like dreamers”- we do not have to follow the regular order of growth; we can go from step one to step three without first reaching step two.

Every Mitzvah that comes to your hand is a Mitzvah that you should do, no matter what position you are in. Even if a person has just sinned, if a Mitzvah comes his way he must do it.

When we follow this kind of behavior- to always fulfill the Mitzvos which come to our hand no matter what level we are at- we will add to the light of Torah in the world and this will wake us up from our “sleep” now in exile, just like turning on a light wakes up a sleeping person physically.

Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos volume one, first Sicha.