Question #1: Wise
Why does Yosef mention “Understanding” before “Wise?”
Question #2: Power!
Why does the Economic Minister need to control the Army?
Question #3: Bureaucracy
Are Bureaucracies Ever Good?
Parshas Mikeitz devotes a considerable discussion to Yosef’s plans to save Egypt, and indeed, to save all of mankind in their part of the Fertile Crescent. Our goal will be to see how a careful reading of the words of the Torah reading demonstrates Yosef’s financial brilliance and his unbelievable care and concern for all of humanity. We will begin at the beginning of the parsha.
Pharaoh has two dreams that not one of his advisers has been able to interpret to Pharaoh’s satisfaction. As a result, Yosef is hauled from the pit, brought before Pharaoh, and interprets the dreams: There will be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Reading Chapter 41, pasuk 32, “Regarding the repetition of the dream to Pharaoh, this is because the plan is already prepared as far as G-d is concerned; He will be bringing it to fruition very soon.”
At this point, Yosef has done everything he was “hired” to do. He was brought out of the pit in order to interpret the dream, and he has done so. However, he now goes on to provide unsolicited advice.
Personally, I have a policy not to provide advice unless asked for it. My experience is that when you provide advice that someone has not asked for, you are doing them a disservice. Advice that is not sought is usually rejected, and the dismissal of this option or mode of operation becomes entrenched into the individual’s psyche. Even if later on someone else suggests this approach or they might realize on some level that this is the best option, they may still reject it due to their emphatic initial dismissal of the advice. Thus, it is better for them if I not suggest what they should do.
Yosef does not follow this approach. I assume that Yosef trumps Kaganoff, and he has a far better idea of how to take care of matters. Bottom line, Yosef now gives Pharaoh unsolicited advice.
“Pharaoh should identify a man of deep understanding and wise.” There are two different terms in Hebrew for wisdom: binah and chachmah. They are not the same thing; they are complementary. Navon, the word used in the pasuk for a man of deep understanding, has become an English word as the noun, a maven.
A chacham is one who has a wide variety of information. A mavin or a navon, on the other hand, is one who can take that information, analyze it, and use it.
Yosef emphasizes to Pharaoh that what is needed is a man who is both a navon and a chacham, placing navon first. This is quite odd, since chachmah is usually placed first. After all, in order to analyze information and make plans based on it, one first needs to acquire the information. However, here, Yosef prioritizes navon before chacham.
The reason for the inverted order is that they are faced here with an unprecedented situation. We know that this part of the world is prone to droughts and famines. Both Avraham and Yitzchak experienced them. However, this case is unusual. Yosef is telling Pharaoh: We have been told in advance that there will be a number of years of unusual plenty, and they will be followed by a number of years of famine. We need to tighten our belts during the years of plenty so that we can provide our own solution for the coming difficulty. This unusual situation requires an unusual man, one who is more navon than chacham. He needs to imagine what to do and plan for an unprecedented circumstance. Chachmah, knowledge of facts, is necessary, but less so than binah, imagination how to plan and implement a program for a world that no one has ever seen or experienced.
And Pharaoh repeats Yosef’s terminology, placing navon before chacham: “There is none so discerning and wise as you.”
We see many unusual qualities in this Pharaoh. He is willing to listen to unsolicited advice, which itself is a rare quality. We will soon see other unusual characteristics about this man.
“And he should be appointed over the Land of Mitzrayim.” Why does this man need to be appointed over the entire land of Egypt? We can certainly understand the need to appoint a wise economic minister, but why does this man need to have power over the entire nation, including over the military which, at that point in history, was the most powerful in the world. This economic minister needs to create a plan that would enable Egypt to survive the famine. Why does Yosef insist that he have absolute authority over the entire country?
I have several suggestions for an answer, and they are not mutually exclusive.
Egypt was a regimented society. Everyone was born into a caste system, one that controlled everything in their lives including their profession, whether or not they had skill in that area. However, economic leaders, economists, chairmen of banks, secretaries of commerce and such are generally not accorded meaningful respect or esteem, especially by the military. The military generally makes the country’s decisions or has a large say in the decision making.
This is my first suggestion: Yosef realized that for the man in command to have the respect he needed to make decisions, he would need to be placed above everyone else, except Pharaoh. He could not be put in a position where he would have to fight for power with the military or the like.
Another reason why the economic planner must be provided virtually total control is that some of his decisions will not be popular. This could lead to rioting in the streets, and the economic minister would need to command the military authoritatively.
The pasuk continues: “Pharaoh should appoint many middle-managers, vechimeish the land of Mitzrayim.” The word “vechimeish” is a military term, to arm. Of course, when talking about a famine, we do not mean that he is providing the population with bows and spears to fight a famine. In this context, it means that the middle management must organize the bureaucracy in an expedient way on the same level that they would if they were planning a military campaign.
Once this is completed, what is done then?
“They shall gather all the food from the good years and place it into storage for the bad years.”
Obviously, this cannot mean literally “all” of the food from the good years — people need to eat during the good years also. Rather, the lion’s share of the food from the good years would be placed in storage. This is not how matters are usually handled. When people have extra disposable income, they spend it. In this case, they would have eaten or disposed of the extra food.
“Gather all the good grain under Pharaoh’s hand.”
I would assume that, under normal circumstances, Pharaoh was not involved in the production and storage of grain in Mitzrayim. He did not need it for himself, as he certainly had a large personal store. We also know that Egypt’s economy was based on the Nile’s annual flooding cycle. In ancient times, Egypt was a major producer of cotton, a notoriously thirsty crop. In general, Egypt had enough flooding water to be a major producer and exporter of cotton. This would mean that they certainly had ample grain production – you don’t produce cotton when you have no food.
Continues the pasuk: “Gather together all the food in the cities, and have it protected there.”
It is interesting to note that Yosef utilizes the local governments — each province or county of Egypt will be in charge of storing their own grain. They will be in charge of whatever grows in their area. In those days, there was not much shipping of foodstuff. Each city was supplied by the fields around the city. Yosef’s advice the locals in each city should ensure that whatever is not necessary for immediate use is stored. Note that in the advice given here and when Yosef later follows up, there is no mention of the construction of storage houses. This should be quite surprising, as it would be odd if Egypt had a massive amount of storage houses in advance, and not having sufficient storage space would be a problem for the plan that Yosef is proposing.
Although it is not mentioned in the Torah anywhere, I would suggest that these storage silos had to be constructed, and that this is another reason why Yosef needed to be second in command to the king. He needed to be able to redirect all resources away from other construction projects, such as roads and canals, and direct them toward constructing grain storage silos. This is just a suggestion; it is not supported — or negated — by anything in the text.
“The food shall be kept for the land so that it will be there for the seven years of want – thereby the country will not collapse in its era of shortage.”
This is now the end of Yosef’s suggestion, his unsolicited advice. He has finished his interpretation of the dream, including that the events will take place soon – therefore swift action is required. He suggests his program, and Pharaoh immediately accepts it in all its details. There is no indication here that Yosef was interrupted at any point during the advice-giving session, while Pharaoh, and the rest of the advisors, all listen. The pasuk (ibid. v. 37) closes: “The plan was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.”
Pharaoh has seen that Yosef is a man who knows how to think and who knows how to plan. However, we are all aware that the man with the great idea is often not the person best qualified to carry it out. The “ideas guy” is not necessarily the best at actualizing that idea. The reason why, nevertheless, Yosef is chosen to be in command is found in the next pasuk.
They all liked Yosef’s plan. Pharaoh now says to his advisors (ibid. v. 38): “Have we found any man like him who contains the spirit of G-d?”
This is a fascinating insight on Pharaoh’s part. He recognizes in Yosef something exceptional, something metaphysical, something beyond what we deal with in the regular world. This characteristic is one that Yosef has and no one else has. This characteristic turns Yosef from being simply an “ideas guy” to something much more.
Pharaoh says to Yosef (ibid. v. 39): “After G-d has told you all this, there is no navon and chacham like you in the whole land of Egypt.” Note again the order of the words. We noted that the unprecedented circumstances called for a person with an unprecedented source of wisdom. Because “G-d has told you all this,” no other factors need to be considered. Pharaoh sees that Yosef has an ability that he, Pharaoh, cannot measure, but certainly has the best chance to be successful in the uncharted territory that he foresees…
We will continue this topic next week. In the interim, please check our opening questions to see whether we have answered them to your satisfaction.
