Summary:
Our Torah portion begins as Joseph interprets Pharaoh's two dreams and predicts seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine.
Pharaoh places Joseph in charge of food collection and distribution.
Joseph marries Asenath, and they have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
When Joseph's brothers come to Egypt to buy food during the famine, Joseph accuses them of spying. He holds Simeon hostage while the rest of the brothers return to Canaan to retrieve Benjamin for him. The brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin and for more food. Joseph continues the test, this time falsely accusing Benjamin of stealing and declaring that Benjamin must remain his slave.
Lesson from our Haftarah Portion – First Kings 3:14-4:1
Dreams are the connection between our Torah portion and our haftarah portion. In the first verse of our haftarah, King Solomon awoke from a dream. So too, in our Torah portion, we read that Pharoah awoke from a dream. And just as Joseph attributes to God his ability to interpret dreams, so too is Solomon’s wisdom understood to derive from God.
Solomon is the epitome of a wise and compassionate ruler. When God appears to him in a dream and asks what gift Solomon desires, he doesn’t ask for material things but instead he requests an understanding heart.
We read in our haftarah a very famous allegory. There is a dispute between two women over a child. Both women claim the child is rightfully hers. Without any way to prove to whom the child belongs; they turn to King Solomon for a judgement. In a wise and provocative way Solomon arrives at the truth. He asks that a sword be brought to him so that he might cut the child in half, giving one half to one mother and one half to the other. The real mother “churns with compassion for her son” and pleads with Solomon to give the baby to the other woman. From this Solomon determines that the real mother is the one who won’t allow any harm be done to her child. By the end of the portion, all of Israel hears of this tale and marvels at Solomon’s wisdom.
While Solomon’s father, King David, is known as the warrior king who expands the kingdom through aggressive battles, Solomon is known as a wise and reflective leader who preserves the kingdom peaceably. Although he is praised for his wisdom, he never gained the affection of the people. They resented him for the many wives he married, and for his ostentatious opulence.
Wise and compassionate, opulent and resented. Clearly Solomon was a complex character. Three books attributed to him are eventually entered into the canon of the Bible (Song of Songs, Proverbs, and Kohelet). Despite the many aspects of his character, our haftarah today reminds us that he is known for and rewarded for his wisdom. His greatest legacy is the Temple in Jerusalem. Afterall, it is not David, but rather Solomon who is honored by God and allowed to build the first temple in Jerusalem.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Don Goor