ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים ופרעה חלם (מקץ מא:א)

Reb Pinchas Koritzer zt”l related the following story:

The holy Baal Shem Tov zt”l once traveled with his talmid (student) Reb Menachem Mendel from Bar zt”l.  Reb Mendel became thirsty during the journey, but there was no water in sight, so they had to ensure thirst for a couple of days.  On the third day, the Baal Shem Tov told his disciple: “If you have true Bitachon – faith in Hashem, then He will send you water from heaven.  That is what Reb Mendel did, and suddenly, a non-Jew approached, asking them if they had perhaps noticed a horse that had vanished from his master three days before.

They asked the non-Jew if they could have some water, and he gave them water to drink.

Reb Mendel asked his Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov: “If the non-Jew’s incident happened because he was thirsty and needed water to drink, why did Hashem make the non-Jew wander for three days?”.  The Baal Shem Tov replied: “You should know that help is prepared in heaven before it is needed.  When you have the right bitachon – faith, then from heaven, they ensure your need is fulfilled. Everything is prepared for a person in advance, but if he doesn’t have faith, he forsakes the opportunity to receive it.”

Reb Pinchas Koritzer explained how the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh zt”l translates the passuk ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים ופרעה חלם: During these two years, Pharaoh dreamed the same dream every night and forgot about it when he woke up in the morning. After two years, he suddenly remembered his dream. Why did he need to dream the same dream for two years?  

The answer can be explained according to the story above. At the beginning of the two years, Yosef’s salvation was already prepared in heaven, and he could have been saved from the dungeon after the first dream.  Since Yosef relied on the Sar Hamashkim for his salvation and didn’t have complete faith in Hashem, Pharaoh forgot his dreams for two years straight. When Yosef truly believed in Hashem, Pharaoh remembered the dream he had dreamt for two years in a row, which brought about Yosef being released from prison.

May we soon see all prisoners who languish in the dungeons of Gaza released speedily in our days – Amen!