Hidden Currents | Rabbi Shmuel Goldin | December 23rd 2025

Would you like to hold >> what? Please pick up a humash if you're coming in. Humash. Humash. If you can. Okay. One of the things that that really interests me and that I enjoy is discovering what I call hidden currents within the text. Hidden currents are another thought or another idea other than what is obviously emerging from the text. And sometimes these hidden currents carry tremendous tremendous messages. The first one we're going to look at is the following. And I'll I'll do it. I'll start with a question. Yoseph last week is pulled up from the pit, stands before Parro, interprets his dream. Parro says, "Wow, look at listen to this guy. He's terrific." And makes him the viceroy. Did you have a question about that? >> It's not a fairy tale. What What would your question be? >> Yes, you do. They printed the wrong sore sheets. They printed the wrong saw sheets. If you can pick up a kumsh If you can pick up a kumsh. They print. Okay. Coming in now. They printed the wrong sore sheets. If you can pick up a kumsh. Okay. All right. So, stay with me. Do you have a question about that? >> What? >> I can't hear you. >> Could I repeat? Last week, Yoseph was pulled from the pit right from the dungeon, placed in front of Parro, interprets Pyro's dreams. Parro says, "Wow, that's terrific." And makes him visroy. My question is why does he believe Yoseph? Right. Hold on a minute. Hold on a minute. Is there is there a reason? Is there something that mandates that he should believe this hey? Why does he believe him so so clearly and so immediately? So there are a variety of answers. And and before we go on, if you take a look at perk al you'll see that that this problem is exacerbated because it says that when he wakes up in the morning, he calls all his he tells them the dream liarro. What's the extra word? >> Leparo, right? No one can interpret them for pharaoh. So say the rabbis, you know what that means? He was offered a myriad of inter interpretations, various various interpretations from all of the various carto. But for some reason, those didn't sit right. And there are variety of answers as to why that might be so. Some suggest it's because they they were interpreting the dreams in a very negative way. You'll have seven daughters and they're all going to die, etc., etc. and he didn't want to accept any of that. Others suggest and this is very interesting that he interp that he dreamt the dream and its interpretation. Now what do I that's that's the suggestion. The way I would understand that is subconscious. Subconsciously he knew what that dream meant and he was pleased to hear Yoseph say agree with what he knew was correct. All right. But there are variety of different reasons, but there's we're going to take Yes. >> Wasn't that similar to the Wasn't that similar to they the solutions? >> Yeah, correct. Yeah, that correct. They Well, according to the according not the text. Yes, they they each do each other's pon. But stay with me. Okay. So the the question is why is Yoseph believed? And there is a hidden current that courses through this entire event that at first seems very perplexing but I think carries a tremendous message. Parro wakes up parro. Looking at bracious mem alfukim and parro wakes up after the dream about the sheets sheets of wheat vin and behold it is a dream. Okay, not sure what what that means yet but now listen to this next sentence. Parrom Parro tells all of his advisors somo his dream learro. What does that mean? They could not interpret them from parro. Parro sees the two dreams as one. The cartoon insists that they are two separate dreams. But let's go on. If you take a look again and you can look it up or you don't have to really and through you'll see a number of places where parro refers to the dreams right I dreamt a dream and there's no one who can interpret it in my dream and then I woke up and I now that's interesting. I woke up and then I saw in my dream this continuation of the dream that I already what that I already dreamt. So what's going on here? This is clearly it's there is a a a struggle that is taking place between the kartum and parro and parro is insistent on one thing. These two dreams are one. Now let's look at listen to what Yoseph says as he begins to interpret the dreams. What's the first thing he says? parro first line. Wow. Somehow he knows or he somehow he hears from parro's language that parro is intent what on seeing it as one dream. And therefore he says that's how he starts hoping that that's going to be the thing that will make parro listen. And by the way it does. And then he goes on to say again in the second line etc. And then finally at the end of his interpretation he says why if it's one dream why is it repeated twice right and he answers because is going to bring this speedily. You should understand. I'm telling you that there's going to be seven years of famine and then se seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. It's going to start tomorrow. Tomorrow. So, but we still don't understand, right? What is the big deal? Why is it that parro is so insistent on seeing his dreams as one where in reality it seems that they are two? Let's go on. We'll see something very interesting. Is this something that only happens to parro or the position that only parro takes or is it a position that other Egyptians might take? So if you go back those of you have the to perk me to the butler and the baker, what does the Torah say? Almuom schnem that's how it introduces the event what they dreamt a dream the two of them meaning what that again we find that there's this concept that now it's not just that my two dreams are the same or one but my dream and your dream are one right they're two two separate people so what's going on now finally as the coutra Take a look at Yoseph in the beginning of the story. Take a look at Peric Me Olive. I'm sorry. Perrick. Um, let me just Perk lamemed Zion. >> All right. Zion. Again, by the way, if you can't hear me, raise your hands like with a fist and let me know. Hello. All right. And perk. Who who else dreams dreams in the story? Right. Yoseph, right? What does the Torah say about his dreams? Yosephalom. He dreamt a dream. And then in viaomal. Wow. specifically specifically saying what that if you have a situation where you dream two possible dreams and they are alike they are two dreams in in Yoseph's position. So on the one hand you have parro and the Egyptians who want to see two dreams as one and you have Yoseph who seems to embrace the concept of two dreams. What's the why? What's the Torah telling me? I've got a theory. I'm not sure it's right. Yeah. >> What does the word come from? >> O, >> right. >> To tell you >> I think it's to stress that it's an old that it's a a different dream. I think that's you. Torah wants to make you very clear that in Yoseph's place, in Yoseph's case, it is a separate dream. >> When Joseph dreamt, it was a spiritual dream and a physical dream. Mhm. >> Whereas when the Egyptians dream it both physical. >> Okay. Very good. The rabbis point out that they the two the two dreams are different. One is physical and one is spiritual. In Yoseph's case, but in Pyro's case, they only have physical dreams. Very good. But in addition to that or broadening that, might we suggest that two dreams represents complexity? Complexity. Complexity. Two dreams represents there are two separate dreams. It's not so simple. Right? If it's one dream, it's very very simple. And parro wants everything to be simple. He is the paradigm of the monarch who creates in his palace a different world where all the rules outside don't matter. what happens in the palace. That's all. And what I'm creating is a very clear my world. If you want to take a look, go back and reread the story of Purim. Even though I know it's Kaneka time, reread the story of Purim. Study Akash Ro. Maybe we'll get to it together. Akash veros is to me the most interesting of all the characters. If you study aash veros, what you find in the text is that here is a a king who is intent upon maintaining a separate existence in his palace and what happens outside the palace doesn't matter. Doesn't matter to the point where at the end of the story when when Mori and Esther say, "Please reverse your decree." What does he say? I can't reverse the decree. What will I'll issue another decree. What's the other decree? The Jews can fight back. Whoa, hold on a minute. What am I mandating? I'm mandating civil war in my streets. And is basically saying, who cares? As long as it doesn't what touch me, then it's okay. And that's the So if parro is the paradigm, Akajer is almost a culmination of of what it means to be. And look throughout throughout history there were benevolent monarchs. There were monarchs who had audiences with their citizens etc etc. Akashiro says you don't I don't want to see you today. You better not come. I will I'll kill you. Yeah. Wouldn't it be nice to wake up in the morning and say the only people I want to see today are all right? But that's what he that is what he does and and uh that is what he does and therefore he emerges. So his evil his evil allows Hmon's evil to exist. Right? It's the world that is silent when the Holocaust occurs. It's not touching me. America first, right? I don't have to. So therefore now Yoseph on the other hand is willing to embrace complexity. Yoseph is willing to embrace that things are not going to be so simple. He doesn't know how how not simple they'll be at that point. But so therefore he dreams two dreams. He's willing to accept two dreams as a possibility. All right. Now there very interestingly there is another subset to Pyro's dream that we're going to look at at the very end of the class. So let's set that aside and let's go to the next. Now this one's again I'm really sorry they didn't print the right sheets. Um what's happening here is a very interesting pattern that ex that in comes up in the text of the Torah. I'll try to make it as clear as possible. What changes twice in the patriarchal era and doesn't seem to change at all? It's a riddle. Yakov's name, right? God changes Yakov twice to what? And what does it the very next few say? Yakov. Yakov. Yakov. Right? So why what what does that what is that about? So I want to show you this is the this is the the clearest example of what I think is is going on. The brothers are coming to their father. End of the story. They want to tell him that Yoseph is alive. And the Torah describes Yakov's reaction and then takes it further. of him at this point. He's Yakov. Yakov is not not sort of beat down, beaten down. Yakov is struggle. Why? Because Yoseph he he can't get Yseph out of his head. Ya, you're not gonna believe it. Yseph, he not only is he not not only is he alive, but he's the second in command in the Egyptian kingdom. So, what do you think Ako's reaction is? Elohim. His heart was hard because he did not believe. Now called Yoseph. They they they said all the things specifically detailed what it is that happened with Yose and then then he looks he hears that. Now I'm going to stick with the there's a beautiful medier. It says the interpretation of that text is he saw the wagons, right? There's a beautiful interpretation that that that you Jacob and Yoseph had a hidden uh hidden code. And that was that the last thing they were learning together was the egg law arufa the the the situation where you find a dead body in between two cities and you have to go through a whole ritual about it and therefore when the when he saw the angalos he knew that yoseph he was sending him a message that's very interesting it's a it's a beautiful medish in addition it it I'll tell you why I think that medish is so powerful powerful because Eglar Rufa is the antithesis of what the brothers did, right? Eglar Rufa is if I find that body between two cities and I don't know where it got there, I have to take responsibility. I can't just simply avoid that. What the brothers did something very different. All right. So he believes in it. All right. What happens? His soul, his spirit begins to come alive. Very next vom, right? Very next, right? So therefore what we see happening is the use of the words of the names of Yakov and Israel represent two different emotions, two different experiences that course through Yakov's life. And when he is struggling, when he's had had a hard time, he's Yakov. And when he's triumphant, when he he's comfortable, he becomes Israel. Next py is said I'm sorry uh starting with pra my my my son is still alive. Can you can you you know try to imagine try to imagine what Yakov has just been told and how unbelievable it is and he's but he says wow okay I'm going right I'm going to go down and see him before I die got to Go Visa Israel. Right. So, what's going on here? He's tip He's skipping down the path, right? He is I want to go see my son. That's wonderful. I I I thought he was gone. Unbelievable. Vomimaros. So God appears to him in visions of the night and what does he say? Yakov Yakov. He says to to says Yakov Yakov ali don't be afraid to go down to Egypt. I will make you into a great nation. I will and I'll come out with you. All right. So what's happening? So wait a minute. Hashem is telling YaKob not to be afraid. What's the problem with that? >> He he didn't did not didn't demonstrate any kind of fear, right? He's just running down the path to see Joseph. So, what's Hashem's message? You should be afraid. >> There's something happening here that is not just on the surface. You're going to go down. It's going to start a very, very difficult period for your people. This is And therefore, he says to him, Yakov, Yakov, Aliro, don't worry now that I made you afraid. Don't worry. I'll I'll get you out. But he's saying to Yakov, things are not simple, right? Again, complexity. On one level, I'm going to meet my son. I'm going to see him. I can't believe he's alive. on the other on the other level I'm going down I'm leaving m E erit Israel for the ne second time in my life and it appears that I'm not coming back so now let's look at the very next puk as Yakov wakes up what does the Torah Okay. What happens after the dream? He's not what? He's not Israel anymore. Now he's Yakov again, right? Because God told him what's happening. Visu Ben Israel who are unaware perhaps of what happened. They're still ben Israel. And this is the first time they're referred to in that way. This is the beginning of the national era. They will be they will become Ben Israel. But it says Vu Ben Israel is Yakov. They had to pick him up and put him on the on the wagons. They were not he wasn't skipping down the path anymore. Right? So therefore, he's Yak. And this is an example. This is the clearest example I think in the Torah at least that I found where the Yeshov interplay is so powerful and so clear. And what's happening here? What's the current? The current is that sometimes things are not as they seem, right? Sometimes something that's really great can can be bad and something that's really bad can be great or it can be both great and bad as it happens with Yahov. It doesn't diminish his joy in knowing that Yoseph is alive. It doesn't dim but it adds another layer, another current. Hashem is telling him something else is going on here. Okay, so that's current number two. Let's turn to current number three. What's happening now is a very very interesting very very interesting meeting that is described in the Torah between two huge figures that are very different. Yakov and Parro. Okay, if you take a look take a look at perme. Now you would think you would think what would be the substance of the conversation between between these two great men. Who knows would be philosophical. It would be there would be issues, there would be concerns. What do you believe? What do I believe? Does it match? Etc., etc. Okay. What does the Torah say? Is parro blesses parro. How old are you? Emily Post would not have said that this is a good thing to start a conversation with. All right. How are how old are you? My goodness. Right. So Yakov taking the question seriously answers the years of my sojouring worth 130. Small, few, and difficult are the days of the years of my life. And they did not reach and did not reach the years of life of my fathers in the years of their sojourney. What the heck? What is going on here? >> He's still alive. >> He's still alive. Number one. Number two is that an elliptical answer right I'll I'll just read it now in the English right the days of the years of my sojourney are 130 few and difficult are the day were the days of my life and they did not reach the days of the lives of my fathers and the days of their sojouring I'm if I'm parro I'm scratching my said, "I don't what what did you just tell me?" So, what take if you think about it, there is there are two words in that answer that are very different, but we might think they're the same, right? means a comfortable life. It means an easy, happy, comfortable. Migurai comes from what word? >> G. And what have we found out about G? G means difficulty. G is not not not ease. The opposite of ease. So therefore what's happening here is he's saying the following parro do not be impressed by old age because the the chronological age of a person is not the important number. The important number is the period of the life that was right. The period of the life that was. And therefore now we can read it as follows. The days of my years of sojouring 130 days. That is what the chronological life that I've lived until now. Difficult and few and few and difficult were the days of myim. and they did not reach the the length of periods of good that my that my ancestors uh experienced what during their yay murm during their chronological life. Now he he's saying to Parrot it it's been tough. It's been tough. By the way, it's true. Take a look at Yakov's life and it's been tough. Right? We we said it may be a a Pandora's box that he deceived his father and he gets deceived and deceived and deceived over and over and over again. But the fact is that he is he's saying to parro and I think he's trying to teach parro because you got to remember what what what is the atmosphere in Egypt? It's a death cult, right? We said this the other day. There's just a lot going on there, right? it it is primarily, you know, we have to live as long as we can and then we're going to live again somewhere else and I'll build pyramids and I'll do all of those things. And Yakob is saying, don't make the mistake. Don't make the mistake. But then take a look at something very interesting. If you go to paras which is perme it starts the para starts. So according to our interpretation, what does that mean? >> That he was comfortable, that things were fine. Say the rabbis, these were the only years of his life that were only years of his life that he was able to achieve that level of comfort that it's no longer Murim, it's now. And and again it's it if you course through Yako's life that makes sense but along comes Rimon foil hers and says something so beautiful sort of stands all this on its head foil hers says yeah these are the only years of Yako's life that were coma comfortable but they are also the only years of his life that we know nothing about that. We know nothing about there is no description of what's happening right in in for to Yakov in Egypt. He's not accomplishing anything. He's not doing anything. Basically, what you have is Yakov is living, but it it may not be as meaningful as Mhurim. >> No good is connected. All right. Uhuh. Uh uh. >> Disconnected. >> What? >> It's disconnected. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Is it on? >> No, it is. Yeah. Thanks. Okay. So therefore what he what hers is saying is you know it's nice to want comfort but it's discomfort that causes accomplishment. >> Discomfort >> that causes accomplishment in many cases. It's the the the discomfort created by what is and what could be what has to be what what I want to change. If I accept and just sit back on my pillows and say this is a wonderful life then I'm not fulfilling my destiny. That's what Roshim foiler is saying. Okay, I'll I'll take questions at the end. Uh and I really will and I'll ask everyone to stay for the questions because they're usually good. All right, I want to go back now to Parro's dreams. We started with it and I want to show you current number four. And again, what I mean by these currents is we've seen that each of these events is described in the Torah as it is, but within its description, we see a hidden current that has very, very strong messages. The Torah does something that it usually doesn't do when it comes to Pyro's dreams. It repeats itself. What do I mean? If you look at the text at the beginning of paras mikates, the Torah tells you what parro dreams and then parro tells the dreams over to Yose and we hear what it is that he says. All right. And wait, I already have that information. All that all the text should have had to do was what? Pyro told over Yoseph his dreams. And you know what they are cuz you were already told. And there are no extra words in the Torah. The Torah doesn't repeat repeat itself for no reason. So what what what is the issue? Whenever the Torah has two versions of an event or a phenomenon, the job you have is to compare the two versions. What the Torah is doing is it's telling it's giving us a glimpse into Parro's mind. It is showing us not how po what Pyro dreamt again but how he interpreted the dreams what it was that bothered him what it was that was an issue etc etc. So now take a look at some very interesting differences. The issue is that it's most clearly seen in perk me and all right. So, so the Torah, Torah says in actually right there were seven good cows. This is describing it as it happens, right? As he dreams it and then very poor, very bad, very very weak. And they stood next to the other cows, right? The the weak cows, the ugly cows, the the bad cows ate the good cows and then No, I'm sorry. parro the bad cows ate the new cows good cows and parro woke up so that's the dream the first dream now let's take a look at how parro says it to Yoseph listen carefully if you don't have a listen carefully I'm peric if you have a toarm very very bad house behim luroa. Wow. There are no bad cows in Egypt. I have never seen this in my lifetime. Parro says, "I've never seen a diseased cow, every every cow in." So, this ties into what we said before, right? Creating your own narrative. It's not possible. I mean, if you're if you have cattle, you're going to have some cows that are better, and some cows that are worse, some that are strong, some that are weak. Eritimoa, right? I've never seen bad cows because why? There are no bad cows in Egypt. Period. Finish. All right, keep going. The bad cows ate the good cows. What is he adding? I'll translate that. The cows came into or were swallowed up by the bad guys bad cows and there was no vestage of their existence, right? And you couldn't even tell that they were swallowed up. Why? because the bad cows were as bad as they were afterwards as they were before. Hold on. That is not described in the dream. It may have happened, but it wasn't a point in the dream. Mo Pyro sees that as a and then says he's very bothered by that. He wakes up. What's going on here? What? So again, what Pyro adds is not only did the bad cows swallow the good cows, that's the dream. But the bad cows after swallowing the good cows stayed bad, right? And you could there was no message. There's no indication that they had swallowed those good cows. So I'd like to suggest the following and then I'll take take questions. And this this I is very my my own partially and others partially but I I I be I think it may be really true. The first thing is that parro can accept sometimes that the weak will defeat the strong. That can happen. What can't he accept? That if the weak defeat the strong, what should they be? >> Strong. He cannot understand, cannot accept that if he's going to go to war with Babylon or whatever, and he wins, he's not going to be what he was before. He's going to change you. That is the rule. And why are these cows the same as they were before? So parro is very bothered by that because it it goes against everything he believes. It goes against his grain. Now think with me for a moment and here's where I I take a leap a little bit of a leap. Is it possible that there is a subtext to this dream? The subtext is parro, you're right in being afraid. >> You are correct in being afraid. Why? >> There is now a nation that is starting to be born that throughout history will defeat the powerful yet remain the same. Think about it. Right? We've, you know, you sang Mur, right? That amazing when you think about when you really, really think about it. The fact that we are here, the fact that we outlasted the Babylonians, the fact that we outlasted the Greeks, the fact that we outlasted the Romans, we all of them, right? And we've just plotted along being who we are, right? being maintaining ourselves, our identity and the things we believe in. The fact that we beat them doesn't change us. Doesn't transform us. It just is. And that may be maybe maybe maybe what Hashem is indicating to parro in this dream that that the cows will sw the bad cows will swallow the good ones. They will remain the same. There is a people about to come who are who will defeat or outlast the strong and remain the same remain who they are remain true to their and when we veered by the way when we weren't true when we changed because of of victory and particularly I mentioned last week during the Kashmon era where after Kanuka the Kashmon interpreted that as we can become the kings. It it ended in tragedy. We said it went bad worse to worse to worse to worse in terms of the kings till finally they invite Rome into satisfy a civil war. Okay. So therefore that that is the current those are the currents I would suggest in the dreams. All right. I'll take any questions that you may have or any comments.