And Pharaoh sent and called Yosef from the pit and they rushed him from the dungeon (41:14).
Pharaoh was bothered by a dream that he did not understand. The Saar HaMashkim told Pharaoh that Yosef, a prisoner, had once interpreted a dream for him. Pharaoh immediately asked that Yosef be brought to him. Why did he do that? There were many dream interpreters in Egypt. It is hard to understand why Pharaoh believed Yosef to be a brilliant dream interpreter on the basis of one correct dream interpretation.
It is also seems odd that following Pharaoh’s dreams, the Saar HaMashkim said “et chatai ani mazkir hayom,” (41:9) recalled that Pharaoh had gotten upset with him and his colleague, but did not mention the specific nature of his sin. Was the sin against Yosef? He was supposed to seek help for Yosef and forgot about him for two years. If so, why did he not mention this fact to Pharaoh?
Let us analyze the text to answer these questions:
Yosef, in interpreting the first set of dreams, performed in a manner that was clearly miraculous to all. This is why he was rushed out of the pit to interpret Pharaoh’s dream.
Yosef found himself in a mishmar with the Saar HaMashkim and Saar HaOfim. A mishmar is not a jail cell as we think of jail today. The word mishmar means a watching place or what we would understand to be a holding cell. The Torah tells us that it was the mishmar of the Saar HaTabachim (40:3). The Saar HaTabachim was Potiphar (37:36). Onkelos (37:36) translates Saar HaTabachim as “Rav Katolaya – the chief executioner.” Prisoners in this jail were on death row. There was no pardon possible in Egyptian culture – there were no retrials, and protests against the death penalty were unacceptable in a country that was controlled and monitored by Pharaoh. Infractions against the king were treated as sins against god. As an example, historians note that there were times in ancient Egypt where accidentally touching the king’s scepter was punishable by death. This explains why Yosef’s interpretations were considered miraculous. No one had ever escaped from death row. To even predict that Pharaoh would pardon someone was so outlandish that no one would have ever attempted to interpret a dream this way.
We can now understand the rest of the story. Pharaoh threw a party and surprisingly summoned both the Saar HaOfim and the Saar HaMashkim during the festivities. He immediately ordered the death of the Saar HaOfim, but shockingly, decided to let the Saar HaMashkim live! The Saar HaMashkim decided not to tell anyone about this shocking occurrence. He had trouble understanding why his life had been spared. He may have speculated that since he controlled the alcohol, Pharaoh, in a drunken stupor, instructed his officers to let him live so that more alcohol could be served. Maybe Pharaoh had been so drunk that he had no recollection of the decision he had made that night. Under the circumstances, the Saar HaMashkim thought that it would not be prudent to remind Pharaoh of this pardon, so he kept quiet.
This explains why he said “et chatay ani mazkir” two years later. The sin he was referring to was the original sin that placed him on death row in the first place. Until now he had been nervous to mention this incident out of fear that Pharaoh would regret his mistake and order him killed. Nevertheless, Yosef’s prediction was so extraordinary that the Saar HaMashkim believed that Yosef had special powers. He understood what a referral that led to a dream interpretation could do for his own career, so he decided to take the chance and mention Yosef.
Thus, Yosef stood out because he was not simply a regular interpreter of dreams. He was an extraordinary interpreter and that is why he was immediately recognized for his unique talents.
Rabbi Daniel Alter is the Rosh Kehillah of the DAT community. In this role, he serves as rabbi of the DAT Minyan and Head of School at the Denver Academy of Torah, a K-12 Orthodox day school. He has lived in Denver with his wife Rivka and seven children for fifteen years.
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The DAT Minyan and Denver Academy of Torah are two hashkafically-aligned institutions that work together to create a synergistic, dynamic Jewish community. Both institutions have seen incredible growth in the last ten years as Denver’s Orthodox community continues to grow physically and spiritually.
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