In Parshas Miketz, the sudden and stunning events that comprise the life of Yosef ha’tzaddik continue in full force. The parsha opens with Pharaoh’s two dreams, which none of the wise men in all of Egypt can interpret to his liking. With his mind unsettled and his heart knocking within him, desperate for an interpretation to allay his fears, the Butler suddenly remembers that in prison is “a lad, a Hebrew, a servant who hears dreams to interpret them.” At the command of Pharaoh, Yosef is rushed out of jail.

When he offers a sound interpretation of the royal dreams - seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of famine - and a solution to the upcoming famine: let Pharaoh appoint a wise man to stockpile food during the years of plenty to survive the famine, Pharaoh declares Yosef as viceroy over the land of Egypt!

During the years of plenty Yosef marries and fathers his two sons, Menashe and Ephraim. When the famine strikes, the entire region descends to Egypt to buy provisions. Included in the masses, of course, are the brothers of Yosef. While he immediately recognizes them, they do not recognize him. And thus begins the saga that will lead to the reunion between Yosef and his brothers.

Upon arriving in Egypt to buy food for the first time (Bereishis 42:1-9), the brothers find themselves before the viceroy, to whom they bow down.

וְיוֹסֵ֗ף ה֚וּא הַשַּׁלִּ֣יט עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ ה֥וּא הַמַּשְׁבִּ֖יר לְכָל־עַ֣ם הָאָ֑רֶץ וַיָּבֹ֨אוּ֙ אֲחֵ֣י יוֹסֵ֔ף וַיִּשְׁתַּֽחֲווּ־ל֥וֹ אַפַּ֖יִם אָֽרְצָה - And Yosef was the ruler over the land; it was he who sold grain to the entire nation of the land, and Yosef’s brothers came and prostrated themselves to him, with their faces to the ground… וַיִּזְכֹּ֣ר יוֹסֵ֔ף אֵ֚ת הַֽחֲלֹמ֔וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר חָלַ֖ם לָהֶ֑ם, and Yosef remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them (42:6,9).

Rashi teaches: אֲשֶׁר חָלַם לָהֶם. עֲלֵיהֶם; וְיָדַע שֶׁנִּתְקַיְּמוּ שֶׁהֲרֵי הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לוֹ, That he dreamed ‘to’ them: meaning, [that he dreamed] about them. And he knew that the dreams had been fulfilled, for here they bowed down to him (Rashi to 42:9) (The opinion of the Ramban differs from that of Rashi regarding the timing of the fulfillment of the dreams. The Ramban holds the first dream came true when Binyamin came down with the brothers, and the second dream came true when Yaakov and his family all went down to Egypt.).

Whether the dreams came true at this moment (according to Rashi), or when Binyamin, and then Yaakov, came down (according to the Ramban), the reality is that Yosef’s dreams DID come true.

The trajectory and destiny of his life is set into motion by his own two dreams, by the dreams of the butler and baker, and then by Pharaoh’s dreams. 

As the brothers declare when they see him coming from afar “Here comes the master of dreams!” (37:19). While they intend the label to be mocking and derogatory, the reality is: Yosef IS the master of dreams.

Of what, in fact, does Joseph dream? His owns dreams tell of his future. While they seem to be the same dream with two different expressions - sheaves in the field bowing down to his sheaf, and the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing down to him - they are, in fact, very different in nature.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the Rav zt’l, explains that: “I am not a dream interpreter, but the prima facie interpretation is that Joseph had two visions. One was of material economic power, of prosperity and opulence, and that vision came true one hundred percent. The other dream apparently revolved around spiritual greatness, heavenly sweep and heavenly grandeur. Joseph wanted to be powerful in a political sense, to attain wealth and prosperity, to be respected by people because of his power, feared by people because of his might; but he also wanted to be great spiritually, to be loved by people, to be revered by people because of the greatness of his wisdom and his kindness.

“Can one person combine both qualities? Can one person fulfill both dreams, the dreams of the sheaves — of economic and military power — and also the dream of spiritual greatness, of moral heights and communion with G-d? Joseph, as an executive, paid attention to the hard facts of life; he organized the storage of food during the seven years of prosperity. He divided and then removed the peasants from their land. Could he at the same time be a dreamer, a visionary, and a spiritual leader loved by people?

“Apparently, Joseph thought that he could combine both. This is the meaning of the ketonet ha-passim — multicolored, not monochromatic, not one monotonous color. If there are many colors, there are many contradictions. Colors clash with one another, and Joseph was the synthesis of alumot and the heavenly bodies.

“The Jews throughout history have imitated Joseph. We also have two visions. The Jew is a good merchant and he is skillful in trade. Jews dreamt of sheaves, otherwise they could not have survived. At the same time the Jew — the small merchant, the grocer, the peddler — would come home for the Sabbath. I knew such people in my childhood. The same Jew, sometimes in rags, had another dream — not of alumot, not of dollars and cents, of rubles and kopeks, but of something else, of a “sun, a moon, and eleven stars” (Gen. 37:9) of spiritual greatness. He was a great spiritual personality” (Soloveitchik, Rabbi Joseph B., Days of Deliverance, Essays on Purim and Hanukkah, ed. Eli D. Clark, Joel B. Wolowelsky, and Reuven Ziegler (KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2007), p.165-166.).

Yosef dreamed of economic success, of being firmly grounded in this world. But he dreamed higher than that. He dreamed, too, of spiritual greatness and spiritual success. 

Of all the patriarchs, it is Yosef who proves that the Jew can dream of, achieve, and attain both. We can be successful ‘in this world,’ while always dreaming of reaching ‘out of this world.’

It is not for naught that the story of Yosef is read before, during and after Chanukah each year. For were the dreams of Yosef not the dreams, hopes, successes, vision and achievements of the Maccabee army, m’bais Chashmonaim?

While they certainly dreamed of military over the wicked Syrian-Greek army, so that their presence and dominion might be banished from the Land of Israel, even more than that, the Maccabiim dreamed of spiritual success, when the crown of Torah would be restored to the BHM”K, our holy city and Am Yisrael. 

And so, we celebrate the eight days of Chanukah by commemorating, and giving thanks for, not the military victory, not the dreams of “sheaves,” but the spiritual success and the holiness that was restored to our nation and land, the dreams of the heavens above.

As we say in the special al ha’nissim for Chanukah: וְאַחַר כֵּן בָּאוּ בָנֶיךָ לִדְבִיר בֵּיתֶךָ וּפִנּוּ אֶת הֵיכָלֶךָ וְטִהֲרוּ אֶת מִקְדָּשֶׁךָ וְהִדְלִיקוּ נֵרוֹת בְּחַצְרוֹת קָדְשֶׁךָ וְקָבְעוּ שְׁמוֹנַת יְמֵי חֲנֻכָּה אֵלּוּ לְהוֹדוֹת וּלְהַלֵּל לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל - And afterward (after the battle), Your children entered the inner sanctuary of Your House, and they cleared out Your Sanctuary, and purified Your Temple, and they lit lights in the courtyards of Your holy house, and they established these eight days of Chanukah to give thanks and praise to Your great Name.

May we merit to see both of these dreams fulfilled in our day and our time. 

May our nation merit physical success and prosperity, by the benevolence of Hashem, so that we may fulfill the Torah and mitzvos b’neimus u’v’nachas. And may we certainly see the destruction of those who rise to destroy us, their plans vanquished, their plots overturned, and their actions thwarted, b’ezras Hashem.

And may we never forget that while our feet are firmly planted in this world, our dreams must reach to the highest heights of heaven, as we dream of attaining elevated levels of ruchniyus and kedusha - spirituality and holiness - so that the glory of Hashem, and the true glory of our nation, may shine in the world once again. 

וּלְךָ עָשִׂיתָ שֵׁם גָּדוֹל וְקָדוֹשׁ בְּעוֹלָמֶךָ, וּלְעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל עָשִׂיתָ תְּשׁוּעָה גְדוֹלָה וּפְדוּת כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה - And for Yourself You made a great and holy Name in Your world; and for Your nation Israel You wrought a great salvation and redemption, as on this very day.

ברכת חנוכה שמח, שבת שלום וחודש טוב