By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — After Joseph is thrown into jail in Egypt he meets Pharaoh’s former cupbearer and baker. Each had offended his master. Their sleep was interrupted by disturbing dreams as they agonized over their fate
Joseph noticed their torment and asked them: “Why do you appear downcast today?” They answered: “We had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph said to them, “Surely God can interpret! Tell me [your dreams].” (Gen. 40:7-8) They gladly complied.
The cupbearer told Joseph that he dreamt of a vine which flowered and bore grapes before his very eyes. He harvested the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh’s goblet, and handed it to him to drink. Joseph told the cupbearer that in three days Pharaoh would pardon him and restore him to his post.
The baker then told Joseph his dream. He dreamt that he held three baskets over his head which contained all of Pharaoh’s favorite treats. Before he could serve them to Pharaoh, hungry birds swooped down and carried them all away. Joseph told him that in three days Pharaoh would put him to death.
Although Joseph told the cupbearer and the baker that “Surely God can interpret,” Joseph clearly had a special talent as well! However, at face value the dreams do not seem that difficult to divine. In his dream, the cupbearer serves Pharaoh wine while the baker dreams of angry birds carrying off his offering. One lives and one dies. It seems obvious.
Rabbi Elchanan Varshman, however, adds a psychological layer to Joseph’s interpretation of the cupbearer’s and baker’s dreams. Rabbi Varshman writes that in the baker’s dream the baker only appears as a prop: he is holding the baskets of baked goods. The birds are the actors. They swoop down to eat the goodies while the baker stands passively by. He is frozen in place. He neither protects his goods nor responds to their thievery. His passivity foreshadows his death.
The cupbearer, on the other hand, is a man of action. He takes the grapes, presses them into Pharaoh’s cup, and hands the cup to Pharaoh. He is industrious, takes initiative, and is productive. He does not allow life to pass him by, but grabs opportunity by the horns and makes the best of what he is handed. (Mishulchan Gavoha, Breisheet, 176)
God grants us lives filled with many blessings and opportunities. Whether we live life actively, as the cupbearer, or passively, as the baker, will to a large extent determine whether we see our lives as a blessing or as a curse.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. He may be contacted at leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com