Miketz: Be well!

Rav Johnny's original thoughts on the weekly parsha

Great Torah commentaries are those who notice small features in words or phrases and who then offer an interpretation which helps enrich our understanding of an episode, and this is exactly what Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin does time after time in his Torah commentary called Oznayim LaTorah. In this Dvar Torah, I would like to share just one example of how this is evident from his commentary to Parshat Miketz – to which I would then like to add my own reflections.

Parshat Miketz begins by describing Pharoh’s dream which depicts seven parot yafot mar’eh u’briyot basar - seven ‘beautiful and healthy cows’ (Bereishit 41:2). However, when Pharoh later describes his dream to Yosef, he notes that these seven cows were briyot basar v’yifot to’ar – ‘healthy and beautiful’ (Bereishit 41:18). This switch in order of beauty and healthiness is noted by Rabbi Sorotzkin who explains that, ‘Pharoh initially paid attention to the beauty before the healthiness of the cows because he was like those who simply make judgements based on image alone - and since a dream reflects one’s general daily thoughts, this is why he noticed the beauty first. However, these dreams shook Pharoh and they transformed him into a different person. Accordingly, when he reported the dream to Yosef, he mentioned the healthiness of the cows before their beauty.’

What we have here is a profound insight into the mind of Pharoh who, having taken his dreams seriously, then started looking at the world differently, and as a result, this then changed how he related his dreams to Yosef.

Considering this transformation this makes me think of how, when many of us are young, we often dream of things relating to image ahead of things relating to health, and we are dazzled by how things look more than their essential qualities. But as life goes on, we change, and we soon come to value essential qualities far beyond what is just skin deep. Yes, the dreams of our youth may still be relevant to our life today, but how we describe those dreams, and what we mention first, changes with time.

When my maternal grandfather was alive, he would always bless me and my siblings with phrases like ‘zei gezunt’ (be healthy), or ‘just be well’, and at the time – during my teenage years - I remember thinking that while being healthy and well is important, surely other blessings are more important such as ‘be happy’ or ‘be successful’. However, over time I’ve come to realize that the gift of life and the blessing of health are not just luxuries, and that while life will have its ups and downs, we should dream for the blessing to be alive and to be well enough to live life.

Of course, this message is a timeless one, but it is brought home even closer in this difficult chapter of Jewish history when the daily news includes death notifications of soldiers who are being killed on the battlefield while protecting the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and when we are thinking about and praying for the return of the men and women who are still being held hostage by Hamas.

Yes, we are all experiencing stress and strain, and in terms of the economy, many of us are suffering. But even with this being so, this war has brought so much into perspective. It has reminded us of the need of the State of Israel. It has reminded us of the cost of freedom. And in particular, it has reminded us how we must value the gift of life, and how ‘being well’ is a true blessing.

Shabbat Shalom!

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