א) וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים וּפַרְעֹה חֹלֵם וְהִנֵּה עֹמֵד עַל הַיְאֹר: … (ד) וַתֹּאכַלְנָה הַפָּרוֹת רָעוֹת הַמַּרְאֶה וְדַקֹּת הַבָּשָׂר אֵת שֶׁבַע הַפָּרוֹת יְפֹת הַמַּרְאֶה וְהַבְּרִיאֹת וַיִּיקַץ פַּרְעֹה: (ה) וַיִּישָׁן וַיַּחֲלֹם שֵׁנִית וְהִנֵּה שֶׁבַע שִׁבֳּלִים עֹלוֹת בְּקָנֶה אֶחָד בְּרִיאוֹת וְטֹבוֹת:… (ז) וַתִּבְלַעְנָה הַשִּׁבֳּלִים הַדַּקּוֹת אֵת שֶׁבַע הַשִּׁבֳּלִים הַבְּרִיאוֹת וְהַמְּלֵאוֹת וַיִּיקַץ פַּרְעֹה וְהִנֵּה חֲלוֹם: (ח) וַיְהִי בַבֹּקֶר וַתִּפָּעֶם רוּחוֹ וַיִּשְׁלַח וַיִּקְרָא אֶת כָּל חַרְטֻמֵּי מִצְרַיִם וְאֶת כָּל חֲכָמֶיהָ וַיְסַפֵּר פַּרְעֹה לָהֶם אֶת חֲלֹמוֹ וְאֵין פּוֹתֵר אוֹתָם לְפַרְעֹה:
(בראשית מא/א,ד,ה,ז,ח)
And at the end of two years Pharaoh had a dream, and behold he was standing on a river… and Pharaoh woke up… And Pharaoh went back to sleep and he had a second dream; Behold there were seven stalks growing in one stem… and Pharaoh woke up and behold it was a dream. And it was in the morning; he was overcome with worry, so he sent and called all the sorcerers of Mitzrayim… (Bereishis 41/7-8)
Zera Shimshon asks four questions on these pesukim. Firstly, the words, “vayeekatz Paroah v’heenay chalom. Vayehee ba’boker va’teepahaim rucho, and Pharaoh woke up and behold it was a dream. And it was in the morning; he was overcome with worry” implies that even though Pharaoh woke up in the night, he wasn’t concerned about his dream until the morning. Why not? Usually, when a person wakes up from a dream in the middle of the night he has an emotional reaction right away.
Secondly, why does it even mention that he woke up after the second dream? It is written that after his first dream he woke up in order to teach us that he went back to sleep and dreamt a second time. But after the second dream, why does the Torah mention that he woke up?
Thirdly, the phrase “And behold it was a dream” seems to be superfluous, obviously it was a dream since it is written right before this, “Va’yachalom shaineese” And he dreamt a second time!
The fourth question; why didn’t Pharaoh accept the interpretation of his advisors and sorcerers.
He answers in light of the Gemara in Berachos (55b) that says that there are three signs that indicate a dream will materialize; a dream that was dreamt in the early morning, a dream about someone else, and a dream which is repeated.
According to this, Zera Shimshon explains that after he dreamt the second dream, which was similar to the first one, he felt that this was a sign that he dreamt a prophetic dream and not just a meaningless one. He didn’t yet understand what the dream was telling him but seeing a dream twice is one of the signs that indicate that it is “going to come true.” This is the meaning of the phrase, “ v’heenay chalom, and behold it was a dream”; that this dream is significant.
After he realized that he dreamt this dream early in the morning, like we see from the phrase “And it was in the morning,” which was a second sign to the validity of the dream, he became uneasy. He didn’t become uneasy because he didn’t yet know the meaning of his dream, but rather he didn’t understand why he wasn’t shown the third sign that it is a valid dream. If there would have been only one sign, he would have been at ease and sure that something would be happening. However since, for some reason, one sign wasn’t enough and he needed two signs, he couldn’t understand why all three signs were not shown to him.
Since he was waiting to see the third sign, a dream about someone else, he didn’t accept the interpretation of the sorcerers who explained that the dream was referring to his own daughters. Pharaoh understood that a dream about a child is as if it was a dream about himself.
However, when Yosef interpreted that the dream that the whole world will enjoy seven years of plenty and then suffer seven years of extreme famine, and that Pharaoh should appoint a wise man to be in control of Mitzrayim, he immediately accepted this explanation because he now understood how he was shown all of the signs that his dream was indeed prophetic and not empty.
According to this approach, Zera Shimshon answered another well-known question; why did Yosef advise Pharaoh to appoint someone to collect and store grain to prepare for the seven years of famine? Pharaoh only asked Yosef the meaning of the dreams. He didn’t ask him to advise him what to do about it.
According to the above, we can explain that Hashem gave Yosef the understanding that Pharaoh was anxious and waiting to hear how this dream was about someone else. He was concerned, however, that Pharaoh would not feel that a dream that predicts that there would be seven plentiful years and seven years of famine was a dream al chavairo,about someone else. The reason for this is that since Pharaoh was also affected by the famine, Pharaoh might consider this to be a dream about himself.
Yosef therefore added that Pharaoh should appoint a smart and wise man, who is surely chavairo, not himself, to ensure that Pharaoh would understand that this dream has all three signs and that it is prophetic and not just a meaningless dream.
