Rabbi Winston
"Paroah sent and called for Yosef. They rushed him from the pit. He shaved, and changed his clothes and came to Paroah." (Bereishis 41:14)
And changed his clothes ... Here there is an allusion to the rabbi's statement that Yosef went out from jail on Rosh Hashanah, since the gematria of “and he changed his clothing” is equal to the “first of Tishrei.” (Da’as Z’kainim m’Ba’alei Tosfos)
The truth is, the night of Paroah’s dream was itself Rosh Hashanah, because that’s when G-d determines whether the world will enjoy surplus or suffer famine (Rosh Hashanah 10b). Perhaps this is why the chief butler shaved Yosef (in order to stand before Paroah), and Yosef didn’t shave himself, for he had kept the laws of the Torah even while away from home, and shaving is certainly not permissible on Yom Tov.
However, what is more fascinating is the clothes Yosef changed into:
“An angel brought him clothes from Gan Aiden and put them on him.” (Sifsei Kohen)
In fact, even though the posuk implies that Paroah called Yosef and requested his presence to interpret his dreams, the Zohar says that it was the Shechina–the Divine Presence–that actually called Yosef. The fact that G-d called Yosef and instructed him to stand before Paroah, and that his new clothes came from Gan Aiden courtesy of an angel must have tipped Yosef off to the fact that something special was up, and that he was the center of all of it. And the fact that it all happened on Rosh Hashanah must have made Yosef feel a sense of awe about all that was transpiring.
In a way, it is really a parable for every Jew on every Rosh Hashanah. Current history and its problems may demand that we stand before the leaders of the world and bargain for our security, but deep inside we must never lose sight of the fact that it is really G-d that hearkens us. History is just another “mask” that G-d wears to conceal how He works to bring the Jewish people closer to spiritual perfection. If, as a nation, we’re spiritually on-track, then history works in our favor; if not, then history often works against us, forcing us to do teshuvah.
And when we do that teshuvah, then we change our spiritual clothes, and we don new ones that come from Heaven, so-to-speak. Perhaps this is why on Rosh Hashanah we make a big deal about wearing our special Yom Tov clothing; perhaps it is symbolic of our spiritual change of clothing, in advance of standing before the real King–the King of Kings.
It is not far a stretch of the imagination to use Yosef and his situation as example of such ideas. Later on, in Parshas Vayigash, when Yosef reveals himself to his brothers with the words, “I am Yosef,” the Midrash is quick to say:
That is the way it will be on the final Day of Judgment. G-d will only have to say, “I am G-d,” and like Yosef’s brothers, we will be speechless when we realize how what we took as “accidental” and simply a matter of “nature,” was in fact the hand of G-d guiding us through life.
