When To Act as a Jew Was Popular (Miketz)

"When all of Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to the Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph and do what he tells you."

What Joseph told them was to do a circumcision. In that, Joseph was correcting what Adam did. Here is the story. Adam had a falling out with his wife, Eve, and separated from her for 130 years. During all these years, Adam had relations with she-demons. In these relations, Adam caused the birth of souls that needed correction. These souls came back at the Flood and later at the time of Dispersion, but instead of correcting, they kept repeating the same mistake.

Now, these souls were reincarnated in Egypt. The 130 years of Jewish subjugation in Egypt correspond to the 130 years that Adam was separated from Eve. Their hard labor was to purify them. 

Joseph moved these people from city to city. The trouble of moving to another city also served to purify them.

They are called "people of Israel" and not "sons of Israel." They lived in communities in their towns, and they behaved like Jews. Jacob, too, taught and accepted converts when he came to Egypt. All these lived as Jews.

It was for these souls that Jews had to go down to Egypt to bring them back. They constituted the mixed multitude who went out of Egypt together with the Jews.

Art: Adam and Eve by Hans Holbein

Vayeshev

The three princes, Prince of Wine, Prince of Bread,  and Prince of Flesh, hint at the Supernal Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge.

Wine is connected to Wisdom and the study of Truth, as in "...drink the Truth and become drunk on it, dear friends." With its multiple preparation processes, bread indicates the hard work required for Understanding.

When the Prince of Wine and the Prince of Bread told their dreams to Yosef, he used the rule that "dreams are fulfilled according to their interpretation" as in "...just as he told us, so it was..." Yosef returned Wisdom to its proper place in the Supernal Man since Wisdom never harms. However, Understanding required additional improvement. Thus, the words "...and the Prince of Bread was hanged," or better translated as "uplifted," hint at the further improvement needed by Understanding because of its strict judgment.

Art: Eduard Von Grutzner - A Good Drink

Vayishlach

After Jacob took his family across the river, he came back alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. Jacob came back because he forgot some small vessels. 

The soul of the righteous consists of 248 parts, each part of his soul containing numerous sparks of many other righteous souls. Anything that comes to a righteous in this world comes not only for him but also for the multiple sparks of other souls in him. This is why the righteous love their possessions. And this is why Jacob came back for the small vessels, for if he did not, it would look as if he did not want them – but instead, he needed to show that he loved them too. It was this cup with oil that the Maccabees found on Hanukkah.

Dina was a reincarnation of Eve, both representing the Supernal Kingdom. For this reason, Eve was so much desired by the Primeval Snake. In parallel, Dina was abducted by Shechem, a Hivite prince – Hivia, meaning snake in Aramaic. Shechem also had a spark of Adam, the first man after the Good fell into the kingdom of Evil. This is another reason Shechem's soul "...cleaved to Dina...". After Shechem was circumcised, his correction was achieved, the purpose in life completed, and he was killed.

Art: Rembrandt Van Rijn - Jacob Wrestling with the Angel