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| Art Jacek Yerka |
''In three days Pharoah will remove your head'' [Vayeishev 40:19]
The dreams of the chief baker and the chief wine butler, noted the Dubno Maggid, were very similar. Why, then, did Yosef interpret the dream of the chief wine butler favorably - that Pharoah would soon reinstate him to his post - but that of the chief baker unfavorably - that he was about to meet his end?
The answer, explained the Maggid, can be understood with a parable: An artist painted a magnificent portrait of a man balancing a basket full of bread on his head. Two men came to admire the painting. While they stood there, a bird landed atop it and began to peck away at the bread, which it thought was genuine.
''Such a marvellous artist!'' said one man to the other. ''This bird actually believes that the bread is real!''
''No'' responded the other, ''he is not much of an artist at all. For while the bread may be quite realistic, the man carrying it is not, for if it was, the bird would be afraid to approach the painting.''
We are now able to understand concluded the Dubno Maggid, why Yosef interpreted the dream of the chief baker unfavorably. When the chief baker related his dream to Yosef, he said ''And the birds were eating them from the basket above my head.'' Yosef understood that if the birds were unafraid to approach him, it was an indication that he was soon to be executed by Pharoah and was already considered a ''dead man''. For had he been ''alive''', the birds would have refrained from eating the food on his head!
Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein
3 comments:
Could you or anyone tell me what language did Moses speak to Pharoah in?
If it was the Egyptian language, that would mean all the rest of the 'slaves', spoke that language too ?
Thanks if you can help ..
Nonee
It is understood that Moshe spoke Egyptian since he was raised in Egypt, and in the Palace of Pharoah. He was raised by the daughter of Paro as she adopted him. She brought him to his real mother, Yocheved, to nurse him when he was a baby at the time she found him in the water.
The Jews who then became the slaves to the Egyptians lived in Goshen, a whole portion of the most fertile land in Egypt, given to them as a gift by the previous Paro in the time of Yosef Hatzadik. The Jews amongst themselves spoke Hebrew, kept their Jewish(Hebrew) names and dressed as Jews (totally different than the Egyptians. But, as in every society when foreigners reside there, they also learn the language of the country. They spoke both languages; one between themselves and Egyptian when being slaves to them. The Egyptians did not speak Hebrew. Of course, Moshe also spoke Hebrew.
Moshe, I thank you. But more questions arise. I am trying to find answers - I guess will keep searching for questions that seem to keep popping up in my mind.
Your answer has helped, but as i said above, more questions keep coming up.
Any way, Thank you kindly for taking time to answer.
Gd bless you and I wish you and all Jewish readers a Happy Hanukkha!!
Nonee
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