December 24, 2024 · 01:31:30
The Fat Cows and the Skinny Cows: Why Was Pharaoh Blown Away by Joseph?This class was presented on Tuesday, 23 Kislev, 5785, December 24, 2024, Parshas Miketz, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, has two dreams. In the first, Pharaoh sees himself standing over the Nile River, and then, seven fat cows emerge from the river, followed by seven thin cows. The thin cows proceed to swallow the fat ones and yet remain just as thin as before. In his second dream, Pharaoh sees seven thin, shriveled ears of grain swallow seven fat ears of grain. None of the wise men of Egypt can offer Pharaoh a satisfactory interpretation of his dreams. Finally, Joseph is summoned from his dungeon; he interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty, symbolized by the fat cows and fat grain, will be followed by seven years of hunger, reflected by the lean cows and the shriveled ears. The seven years of famine will be so powerful that they will "swallow up" and obliterate any trace of the years of plenty. Joseph then advises Pharaoh to prepare for the looming crisis by stockpiling food during the years of plenty and then rationing it out during the famine. Pharaoh is blown away by Joseph's vision. "Can there be another person who has G-d's spirit in him as this man does?" he asks his advisors. He appoints Joseph viceroy of Egypt, and the rest is history. A number of blatant questions instantly emerge in this story: 1) Why did Joseph proceed to give Pharaoh unsoli