Dvar Torah for Parshat Miketz

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Hilkhot Birkhat HaPeirot, 4:12

For those who may have forgotten, a brief synopsis of Pharaoh's dreams: Pharaoh is standing on the bank of the Nile when two sets of cows emerge from the river, one after the other. Each cow in the first set is a prize-winner: fat and beautiful. The ones of the second set are all nightmarish; ugly and emaciated. The emaciated ones swallow the fat ones, but their appearance is totally unchanged. Then Pharaoh dreams that he sees seven beautiful stalks of wheat which are followed by seven blight-stricken stalks of wheat. The latter swallow the former. As with the cows, no change at all is noticeable in their appearance. Pharaoh relates the dreams to Yosef who interprets them as follows. The dreams are one. God is going to soon bring upon Egypt seven years of great plenty, which will immediately be followed by seven years of extreme famine. The good of the seven years of plenty will be totally forgotten. Yosef's advice: store up during the years of plenty to provide for the years of famine. Pharaoh accepts Yosef's advice and appoints him viceroy, giving him full authority to do as he pleases.

There are many times that you start the day with tremendous enthusiasm, ready to put heart and soul into your prayers, your mitzvot and your Torah study. Sometimes you have enthusiasm for a whole day, or even a week. You could have it a month, half a year or even a whole year. Even seven straight years! You feel as if nothing will ever stymie your continued growth and success in Jewishness!

But we all know (perhaps too well) that sooner or later enthusiasm wanes. In fact, Reb Noson writes, the very interest and excitement that we have for holiness invites in its wake all our past excitement and longing for the negative. Those same traits and ideas which we are now channeling toward the fulfillment of God's will have an Achilles' heel: the little bit of evil inclination within you that wants to subvert and divert that enthusiasm. So not only may the enthusiasm wane, but somewhere along the way it may altogether disappear. You might not even remember that you ever had it! You're suffering a famine!

Pharaoh received his famine warning in a dream. You found out here. Pharaoh was smart enough to realize that Yosef, the tzaddik, was giving him good advice: store up in the time of plenty to stave off the hunger of the eventual famine. What should you do? When you have the enthusiasm to do good, do it! Whether it's writing a check for tzedakkah, visiting someone sick, or spending a few extra minutes looking into a Torah work or saying Tehilim (Psalms), the main thing is not to let the "years of plenty" go by with nothing to show for it. Then when the "famine" comes you can head for the "storehouse" of memory and remind yourself of the good you've done. That memory "feeds" you. You get back your strength and enthusiasm and can continue to live, to grow in your Jewishness.

(For those who live outside of Israel where the general populace observes a number of their holidays at this time of the year: On your day off [or a long weekend] use some of that extra time as "years of plenty" so that your "storehouse" will be more full for any ensuing famines!)

Agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!