In this week’s Parashah Joseph is released from prison by Pharaoh to interpret his disturbing dreams.

In his dream Pharaoh sees 7 healthy cows devoured by 7 lean cows. In a second dream he sees 7 healthy sheathes of grain killed off by 7 dying stalks.

Joseph informs Pharaoh that his dreams foreshadow that there will be 7 good years followed by 7 years of famine in the land. And he goes on to advise the Egyptian to store the grain from the good years in preparation for the bad years to come.

In return Pharaoh elevates this Hebrew slave to become Viceroy of Egypt.

What do we learn from this Parashah?

Joseph not only interprets the dreams, but he has the courage and Faith in God to Speak truth to power, deliver the news of a pending famine, and hear the cries of the greater community.

At the core of this Parashah we are given a view of Joseph’s “traits of character” or Middot.

In declaring it is God who interprets dreams (not “I”) and then providing a “solution” to the Almighty Pharaoh, Joseph displays a deep sense of Humility, Trust and Faith in God.

Important Footnote: In earlier sections of the Torah we are told that Joseph, the spoiled son displayed arrogance in front of his brothers, so Humility did not come naturally, but rather was a transformation from his years in prison. We humans can change!

Fast forward to the Mid 1800s-- In the towns and villages that make up modern day Lithuania a small group of Orthodox Jews under the leadership of Rav Israel Salanter of the well-known Slobodka Yeshiva in Kovno took it upon themselves to start a movement to reform Jewish practice in response to the dramatic changes brought about by the age of industrialization, science, and the European enlightenment. Salanter and his disciples believed that Judaism, if it was to survive in the modern secular era, had to place increasing emphasis and weight on the ethics found in Torah as opposed to the more traditional emphasis on Divine obligations.

Drawing on a rich 1000-year-old stream of Jewish ethical writings, Salanter, his disciples, and today’s modern Mussar movement provide us with a curriculum we can use to become more spiritually whole and walk in God’s ways.

Through deep Torah study, guided meditation, regular practices, and keeping a written daily journal or accounting of the soul-- we can work to change our inner selves and actively mitigate the influences of the Yetzer hara or evil inclination that lies in the subconscious mind and leads us to sin and wrongdoing. Through our actions we can better our inner selves, enhance our spiritual lives, approach a state of being that is closer to God and allow what the Mussar scholars call the divine spark that lies within us to shine ever more brightly. In short we can, like Joseph, transform ourselves.

So how does this Parashah relate to Mussar?

Through the example of Joseph and his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, the Torah provides us with a story and a character that displays the ideal balance of Humility, Trust, and Faith. It is that very balance that allows us, the reader, to see God’s holiness living within Joseph’s actions.

In Judaism we are called to display Humility or “Anavah. What is Humility? Alan Morinis, Director of the Mussar Institute defines humility as No More than My Place, No Less than My Space. Our Faith teaches us that Humility is a Godly trait. The Prophet Micah said, we are to Seek Justice, Show Mercy and Walk Humbly with our God. Or in the words of Abraham, for “who am I but dust and ashes.”

We are called to turn away from arrogance and pride, to occupy our rightful space, but to ALWAYS make room for the “other.”

Yet, this is not always easy. Sadly, secular society pushes us to put ME FIRST. The commercialization of western society (especially at this season) inundates us with the latest “things” that we seemingly NEED to have.

In the world of today, placing community over self is often a struggle due to the manner in which human interaction is so often misinterpreted as a zero-sum game in which one person’s gain must be offset by someone else’s loss.

The Torah and Joseph teach us to pursue a less self-centered and more Holy path. (pause). The story of Joseph teaches us to walk through life with humility, to speak truth and to place care for the community over our individual wants and needs.

The story of Joseph also teaches us about Bitachon or placing our Trust in God. —In Judaism we are taught to accept the fact that we live in a broken world where bad things happen. But we are also taught to have no fear because there is reason and order that lies behind what happens in life-- even if we don’t always understand why. We don’t worry about whether we will be ill tomorrow, not because we are certain of good health, but rather because we are taught to accept whatever lies in store for us, whether good or bad.

However, the Torah also teaches us that Trust is not blind. We do not walk through a dangerous neighborhood at night, nor are we called to ignore modern medicine because God will ensure a good outcome regardless of our human actions. Mussar ethics informs us that we are to use God’s gifts rationally and wisely while at the same time recognizing that much is beyond our control and lies in God’s hands. When fear, anxiety and worry arise, we are to remind ourselves to have Trust, that there is meaning to every outcome, that we should always look for the good, even in bad situations, and that we are to accept and give thanks to God regardless of our circumstances in life. In providing his interpretation of the dream, Joseph puts his Faith in the belief that he is merely a vessel for God’s plan to flow through, and that regardless of how Pharoah responds, everything will be O.K.

As we kindle the lights of Chanukah and bring light to our broken world, may we dedicate ourselves to allowing the Divine spark of our inner souls to shine ever more brightly in the days to come.

כן יהי רצון

Ken Yehi Ratzon. May this be God's will.