It came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh was dreaming, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. The Torah relates that he had another dream, which was also a mystery to him, and he woke up again “and it was a dream”. Rashi explains that the dream was now complete and ready to be interpreted.
We see that these dreams have disturbed Pharaoh, who has an apprehension that they are symbolic and a prophecy to the future of his monarchy: Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was agitated; so he sent and called all the magicians of and all its sages, and Pharaoh related to them his dream, but no one interpreted them for Pharaoh. (41:8) Despite being in a position of great power, and he was very wealthy and ruled a great part of the world, Pharaoh still experienced the same powerlessness that the wine-steward and baker initially felt in prison, since none of his Egyptian wise men could divine the meaning of the dreams.
Now the chief wine steward spoke with Pharaoh, saying, "I call to mind my faults today." What is the turning point for Yosef? When we look at the situation, it is not understandable why the wine steward would come forth. What did the wine stewards have to gain by helping Pharaoh promote a Jewish lad?
The answer to this question and the connection of Chanukah to this Parsha: It came to pass at the end of two full years. The word "end" means redemption. The Gemara Sanhedrin 97a speaks about the Geulah and states that it says before Moshiach comes "The truth will be lacking" (Yeshaiyah 59:15). The Gemara brings other signs that Mashiach is close, which relate to our present world. This gives us Chizuk that we are very close to Moshiach. Then the Gemara says Moshiach will arrive utilizing diversion of attention from him. However, at the exact time, the redemption will come.
Yosef was destined to feed the world and his brothers in the days of hunger. He wanted to leave the prison sooner, but Hashem knew that the time didn’t arrive yet and he stayed there for two more years. But the minute he was destined to be redeemed, Pharaoh had a dream, which led to the release and the ascending of Yosef to the throne.
The secret to Yosef’s success was his Emes, truth. This came from his father Yaakov which says Yaakov was the epitome of Emes, and Yaakov gave it over to Yosef. Therefore he had success. Hashem was with Yosef and blessed with success everything he did. Chen, favor, is the result of going with the Emes. Living with Emes means that one follows his steps only to the will of Hashem, and is not swayed by thoughts or comments from people or to find favor in people’s eyes.
Yosef, being a slave literally and the only Jew, was referred to as a Hebrew man, and the Hebrew slave. Now Pharaoh was aware of a Hebrew lad in the house of Potiphar who was his head minister. Pharaoh knew that Yosef was a brilliant young boy, and is G-d fearing, and he too found favor in his eyes. Therefore, when he heard that Yosef could interpret dreams, Pharaoh was sure that Yosef could help him. Yosef did a great job in interpreting the dreams and Yosef was elevated to the highest positions in Egypt. This was the groundwork being laid for his brothers and Yaakov to come to Egypt, and then Klal Yisrael was able to receive the Torah. For this reason, the wine steward confessed to his sin and wanted to help Pharaoh, since Yosef was a symbol of Emes, and it rubbed off on his colleagues.
Yosef was a single Jew who fought a war against the impurity of Egypt, and was victorious, only because he was with Hashem, and served Him religiously. The same was true with the Yidden, when the evil kingdom of Greece fought hard to make the Yidden forget your Torah and violate the Torah laws, but Hashem delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure. The Yidden had Mesiras Nefesh and kept Torah. The Miracle of Chanukah continues, and all through the generations, the few Yidden who have Mesiras Nefesh and are with Hashem, enable Klal Yisrael to be victorious, and place the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the degenerates into the hands of those who cling to your Torah.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
