By your command shall all my people be sustained (41:40)
Rashi explains: Yishak – means will be sustained. All the needs of my people shall be handled by you, like ובן משק ביתי ‘the steward of my house’ (above 15:2).
It states in the Gemara (Beitzah 16a): “All of a person’s sustenance is allocated to him from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur.” The holy seforim teach that this allocation is not limited to food but includes all things that benefit a person and that he desires to sustain himself with. Similarly, we know that there is also an allocation of suffering and emotional distress that a person will endure throughout the year, and this too is decreed from Rosh Hashanah.
The holy seforim also teach that a wise person considers his allocations carefully from the start of the year, managing them appropriately. He does not give free rein to all his desires and pleasures, as he fears that perhaps he has not been granted an abundance of good. Thus, he is cautious not to waste his portion on fleeting and material pleasures. In doing so, he gains in two ways:
First, by refraining from fulfilling his desires, he experiences a degree of discomfort or self-restraint, which offsets the decreed suffering. By enduring this self-imposed restraint, he spares himself other kinds of suffering and emotional distress that might have otherwise befallen him. Second, he preserves his allocation of pleasure for spiritual matters. His abstention from material indulgence refines his soul, enabling it to ascend and experience spiritual delights. Consequently, he can channel his pleasure into Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvos.
However, the fool, who follows the dictates of his heart, quickly exhausts his allocation of pleasure on trivial matters. Once he has squandered what was decreed for his benefit, he inevitably faces suffering and emotional distress, with no means of substituting or lessening them.
In light of the above, it can be said that this is what Heaven sought to reveal to Pharaoh in his dream. The land of Egypt was known as the “nakedness of the land,” and the Egyptian people were accustomed to following the whims of their hearts. Thus, their king, who was responsible for them and their needs, needed to be warned of the calamity that would ensue if they continued their ways. He was instructed to accustom them to moderate their pleasures so that they would have enough to sustain themselves throughout their days.
Indeed, this is how Yosef interpreted the dream: the attractive and healthy cows, as well as the robust and good ears of grain, symbolized the seven years of plenty. During these years, the Egyptians would have the ability to indulge in pleasures far beyond their basic needs. However, they needed to understand that if they overindulged, they would forfeit the resources necessary for their future survival.
This would lead to seven years of famine, represented by the gaunt, ill-looking cows and the thin, withered ears of grain blasted by the east wind. Furthermore, in the dream, the thin cows and withered ears consumed the healthy and robust ones that preceded them. This was a hint that excessive consumption and unrestrained indulgence during times of plenty would directly cause the shortages and hardships in the later years.
Therefore, Yosef’s advice was to teach the people to manage their pleasures wisely and to economize during the years of plenty. They were to gather and store whatever excess they had as a reserve for the years of famine, ensuring that they would have enough to sustain themselves even in times of scarcity.
The Torah recounts this story to impart these lessons to us as well. Although the dream’s symbols served at that time as a warning to the Egyptians, the message is relevant to all people, especially to the for Bnei Yisrael, who are the descendants of the living G-d.
They must understand that they were not brought into this world solely indulgence, and they must be careful not to excessively pursue unnecessary pleasures.
After Yosef interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, Pharaoh already understood on his own that if he did not want his people to perish in the famine, he would need to conserve and store provisions from the years of plenty for the years of famine. However, Yosef did not rely on Pharaoh’s understanding alone. He deemed it necessary to explicitly outline Pharaoh’s responsibilities from that point onward, emphasizing that this task required appointing a wise and capable individual over Egypt. Pharaoh could not simply rely on the understanding and discipline of the general populace.
We must recognize that this avodah of abstaining from excess and indulgence requires a broad and balanced perspective. Without it, one may fall into extremes that ultimately lead to outcomes opposite of what was intended. As the sharp saying of the holy Kotzker Rebbe goes: sometimes, by breaking one desire, two new desires are created in its place, Rachmana litzlan.
For this reason, we see in many holy seforim, especially those authored by the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, that it is not appropriate for a person to overly engage in fasts and ascetic practices. Although such acts may refine the material self, there is a concern that the soul may not be able to bear them. This could lead to physical weakness, which, in turn, might result in spiritual lethargy and a weakening of one’s service to Hashem. In such a case, the intended reward would be outweighed by the resulting loss.
However, as stated, these matters are not intended to absolve a person from the duty of self-restraint. For, as mentioned, indulging the desires of the heart is neither desirable nor beneficial; on the contrary, it can cause great harm to a person, both materially and spiritually. The question thus arises: who can determine the proper path for an individual? Who can guide a person on how to manage and sustain their body according to the appropriate measure?
The answer to this is—the tzaddik. A person should approach a tzaddik, who will guide and instruct him on what constitutes excess and what does not. Once the individual has received the tzaddik’s guidance, they should not deviate from it. Only in this way can he merit to walk on the proper path.
From this, we learn that had Yosef not added the stipulation to appoint a wise and discerning individual over the land of Egypt, his plan would not have succeeded. The Egyptians, who were deeply accustomed to indulgence, would not have been able to endure the discipline of moderation. Without placing such an individual over them to temper their ways, they would have faced a crisis, turning the solution into a source of trouble instead of remedy.
Indeed, Pharaoh recognized the merit in fulfilling Yosef’s complete counsel. Realizing that no one was more suited for this task than Yosef himself, he appointed him as the “second to the king” to guide the people on how to nourish themselves with the appropriate amount of enjoyment—no more, no less.
This is what Rashi explains about Pharaoh’s statement, “By your command shall all my people be sustained”—meaning they will be nourished and provided for. Yosef would instruct them on how to sustain and support themselves appropriately. Rashi further elaborates: “All the needs of my people shall be handled by you.” After Yosef taught them the proper measure for their sustenance, they would merit to have all their needs met in the future. Thus, he was the one who brought them to this realization.
Yosef was truly deserving of this elevated position as a reward for conquering his desires and not succumbing to the temptations of the wicked woman who pursued him. By doing so, he earned the title of being the foundation of self-discipline and attained the level of “tzaddik, the foundation of the world.” As noted, only the tzaddik is capable of recognizing the proper balance for a person’s life, thereby guiding him to live righteously.
It is also told regarding Rebbe Zusha of Anapoli, that he did nothing for hishtadlus, rather, he would only say a few words, “Zusha is hungry!” Thus, the amount of hishtadlus is different for each person based on his bitachon.
