Rabbi David Fohrman: Hey, Imu, welcome to our fourth…I wonder if this will be our last session having to do with Shir Hama'alos, but at least it's our fourth. 

Imu Shalev: Maybe our last session ever.

Rabbi Fohrman: Hopefully not!

Welcome back, everyone. Obviously, I too am grateful that this is not our series finale, but it is in fact our season finale and our final episode exploring Shir Hama’alos.

In our first session, we did a close read of the first half of the psalm, unpacking its description of how the returning captives will process their residual trauma. In our last two sessions, we examined the second half of the psalm and its surprising connections to the Yosef story.

And as we enter our final episode, we have a pretty glaring question left to address: If this is only one chapter of Tehillim, comprised of six short verses, what does the first half have to do with the second half? How do they connect and relate to one another?

If you're still with us, you know that I'm Imu Shalev and this is Aleph Beta’s A Book Like No Other, generously sponsored by the one and only Shari and Nathan Lindenbaum.

Rabbi Fohrman: So Imu, what in the world does the first half of the psalm have to do with the second half of the psalm? We saw this incredible replay of the Joseph story happening from אֲפִיקִים בַּנֶּגֶב all the way through the הַזֹּרְעִים בְּדִמְעָה בְּרִנָּה יִקְצֹרוּ, the הָלוֹךְ יֵלֵךְ  וּבָכֹה, the נֹשֵׂא אֲלֻמֹּתָיו, all that is Joseph. And then you got this little reference to dreams at the beginning of the story, and there's no Joseph there, right? All there is is this philosophical, emotional meditation on how you get from a state of dreaming to a state of happiness.

Isn't that a little bit unsatisfying, that there's this psalm that so brilliantly comments upon the Joseph story, but only in its second half? Especially since its first half contains the word chalom (dream). There must be something in the first half of the psalm, too, that's talking about Joseph, but what?

It turns out, the second half of the psalm, if you think about it, it's all about one moment. It's about the climactic moment of the Joseph story, the moment that Joseph reveals himself. That's the moment that he cries, that's the moment that he sends word for Jacob to come down, and Jacob hugs him. The psalm is giving you a number of different perspectives on the same moment, the moment when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers.

From Judah's perspective, that moment was a moment of אֲפִיקִים בַּנֶּגֶב, a moment where all of a sudden there's this guy crying, and he was like stone-faced and cold this whole time. From Jacob's perspective, that was a moment when, oh my gosh, I've been crying this whole time, but now I'm נֹשֵׂא אֲלֻמֹּתָיו. I'm holding up high my sheaves. This is the happiest moment of my life.

The first half of the psalm is giving us another perspective on that story, is giving us the perspective, I think, of all of the brothers collectively.

Imu: I have to say, if the first half was relating to the same climactic moment, that would be an elegant way to tie the whole psalm together. But I was curious what in the text had led Rabbi Fohrman to that conclusion.

So to that end, Rabbi Fohrman wanted to take me back into Genesis and show me how the brothers’ experience in the story seemed to echo the stages of processing residual trauma laid out in the first half of the psalm.

As a quick reminder, since we covered this way back in Episode One, the five stages of that processing are: Being stunned in a dream-like daze, then beginning to process through laughter or song; hearing the non-Jews reflect upon the greatness of God's actions toward us, which then causes us to snap into the reality of the current moment; and then, finally being present in a state of joy.

So we turned back to the first half of Shir Hama’alos and the Yosef story to see if they indeed overlapped.

Rabbi Fohrman: Let's go back and read the beginning of the psalm.

שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת בְּשׁוּב יְקוָה אֶת־שִׁיבַת צִיּוֹן — When God reunites the captives of Zion, i.e., that moment in the past when Joseph reunited with his brothers, and a moment in the future that might be like that, הָיִינוּ כְּחֹלְמִים — we were like dreamers. Who is “we” that were like dreamers? What's it like to be in a dream?

Imu: You're paralyzed.

Rabbi Fohrman: You're paralyzed. You can't even speak. You can't cognize anything. So in the Joseph story, what moment does that remind you of, when God finally brought together the two sides?

Imu: The brothers couldn’t answer him.

Rabbi Fohrman: Exactly. The brothers couldn't answer him, כִּי נִבְהֲלוּ מִפָּנָיו — because they were so astonished (Genesis 45:3). There were no words. And now, if you would have interviewed the brothers at that moment, if they could speak, what would they tell you? What does it feel like, the second that the mask dropped and you see this guy crying and crying? And suddenly, he's not this Egyptian anymore, but he says these words that sound crazy to you: אֲנִי יוֹסֵף הַעוֹד אָבִי חָי. What does it feel like? הָיִינוּ כְּחֹלְמִים.

Imu: Yeah, it feels like a dream.

Rabbi Fohrman: This doesn't even feel real. They felt like they were dreaming. They were astonished, so discombobulated they couldn't even think. There were just no words. 

But that's true in another sense too, because what is true at that moment? They're back in the dream. When Joseph revealed himself to them, it's like, oh my gosh, I can't believe it. That was the dream. And then it's, all of a sudden, we're in the dream right now.

But the problem with being in a dream is a dream isn't real. The brothers are in a dream now, but how do they get to the real? How do they become happy? There's a number of stages to that that Shir Hama’alos is describing here. Let's read:

אָז יִמָּלֵא שְׂחוֹק פִּינוּ וּלְשׁוֹנֵנוּ רִנָּה — We could finally laugh, we could finally sing, even when we don't have words. When would the brothers have been laughing? Joseph is saying “Guys, don't be sad. Don't cry. Don't be angry for what happened. It was really God. It was so I could take care of you.” What are the brothers doing when he's saying that?

Imu: I mean, besides for being shocked?

Rabbi Fohrman: They were shocked the second he said אֲנִי יוֹסֵף. But then, as we saw, he says: אֲנִי יוֹסֵף אֲחִיכֶם — I am Joseph, your brother, and you shouldn't be sad. Remember, there are three kinds of ways your mouth can express something without words: You can sing, you can laugh, and you can cry in anguish. Joseph just took one of those things out of the picture. What did he say?

Imu: אַל־תֵּעָצְבוּ — Don't be sad (Genesis 45:5).

Rabbi Fohrman: Don't be sad. So if we take “Don't be sad” out of the picture, what's left?

Imu: They sang.

Rabbi Fohrman: You can sing and you can laugh. אָז יִמָּלֵא שְׂחוֹק פִּינוּ וּלְשׁוֹנֵנוּ רִנָּה. The tears of Jacob were enough tears. Joseph's tears were enough tears.

Imu: So the laughter makes sense to me. They have a lot to process and there's relief that laughter promotes. I was joking when I said “song,” but there is a midrash about song that shows up around now where the brothers have to, you know, break the news to Yaakov.

Rabbi Fohrman: Oh, that's interesting. I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, go ahead.

Imu: There's a singer. There's Serach bat Asher.

Rabbi Fohrman: And why do they use the singer? Because they know it's too overwhelming for him to process. And what's he doing when she's singing, in the midrash?

Imu: I don't remember.

Rabbi Fohrman: He’s sleeping.

Imu: Oh yeah? It's like a dream.

Rabbi Fohrman: It's like a dream, and Serach bas Asher is singing about Joseph being found. And it's the way that it seeps into his subconscious in the form of a song before he could even have words, before the brothers reveal the meaning of the dream. And that's how it becomes true for him.

So let's keep on reading. After that stage of when they were laughing or singing but still couldn't quite process it, what's the next stage in making it real?

Imu: Then there's the goyim. They're going to say: הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה — God has dealt greatly with these.

Rabbi Fohrman: Which is going to help me be able to process and say, “God has dealt greatly with us,” right?

Imu: That doesn't happen in the Yosef story.

Rabbi Fohrman: That doesn't happen in the Yosef story. What is Shir Hama’alos talking about? But Shir Hama’alos is pretty bright. This Psalmist knew his Bible. Maybe it does. What is the אָז יֹאמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה? Come with me back into the Joseph story.

Joseph goes through a whole long soliloquy. He says, “Don't worry about it, it was fine. God was doing it.” And says, “I need you to go back and get Dad. And don't worry, I'm going to take care of you.” And he goes and he cries on them, and Joseph is the one who's crying while they're presumably laughing.

And then, verse 15: וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן — And only after this, finally…

Imu: דִּבְּרוּ אֶחָיו אִתּוֹ — They were able to speak.

Rabbi Fohrman: Finally, speech. Speech is when you have words, when it's starting to actually become real. And look what happens right along with their speech. Read verse 16.

Imu: וְהַקֹּל נִשְׁמַע בֵּית פַּרְעֹה — And this raucous noise was heard in the house of Pharaoh, לֵאמֹר בָּאוּ אֲחֵי יוֹסֵף.

Rabbi Fohrman: All the servants of Pharaoh's households start talking, and what do they say?

Imu: The brothers of Yosef have come.

Rabbi Fohrman: The brothers of Yosef have come. וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו — And it was wonderful in the eyes of Pharaoh and the servants. What just happened in verse 16?

Imu: The goyim weigh in.

Rabbi Fohrman: The goyim weigh in.

Imu: They’re able to see what happened and they even see its quality. They say, “This reunification, this is a good thing.”

Rabbi Fohrman: “This is a good thing. This is amazing, this reunification.” They give us words. The brothers are finally able to speak, but what they say comes from בֵּית פַּרְעֹה.

בָּאוּ אֲחֵי יוֹסֵף — The brothers of Yosef, they've come, finally. וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו — And it was wonderful in their eyes. This seems to be in Shir Hama’alos language. אָז יֹאמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה — How wonderful of God to have done this. God has done this amazing, wondrous thing.

Imu: So we'd seen how the first half of the Tehillim 126 seemed to be offering an interpretation of this moment when Yosef reunites with his brothers, relating to how the brothers might have been slowly processing their trauma to get to a state of joy.

But let's not tie all this up in a nice little bow just yet. Sure, it seemed like all five stages laid out by Shir Hama’alos were in the Yosef story, but there was a critical part of one of those stages that, just reading the text, was glaringly absent.

Rabbi Fohrman: Now, if you were a skeptic, you could turn around and say, “Alright Fohrman, that's pretty cool, but I've still got a problem.” Shir Hama’alos is very specific about what the goyim say. What did the goyim say at the moment of this redemption, according to Shir Hama’alos?

Imu: Well, the main focus is that they see that God has wrought this, right?

Rabbi Fohrman: They see, literally, it's hashgacha (Divine providence). They say, “God has done this and God has done something amazing.” הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה. What's missing in the Genesis account that doesn't seem to be there?

Imu: The God of it all.

Rabbi Fohrman: The God of it all. There's no God. They report the fact: בָּאוּ אֲחֵי יוֹסֵף — The brothers have come. They also say it's a good thing, they're pleasantly disposed towards it. But there's no “Oh my gosh, it's providence. Look at this amazing thing that God has done,” the religious aspect of this that Psalm 126 emphasizes that the nations are saying.

So while it's true that there's this resonance between the events of Genesis 45 and Psalm 126, there's this one thing missing which is the providential aspect of this. Where in the world did Shir Hama’alos get that from?

So here's what I noticed. I thought of this in shul, I don't know how I saw this. This is literally like a gift from God. There's no way that I should have seen what I'm about to show you.

Read that verse again: וְהַקֹּל נִשְׁמַע בֵּית פַּרְעֹה — And the voice rang out in the house of Pharaoh, לֵאמֹר — saying, בָּאוּ אֲחֵי יוֹסֵף — The brothers of Joseph have come, וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו — and it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all of his servants.

Imu, that phrase: וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו — and it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all of his servants. It appears exactly twice in all of Chumash. There's one time else it appears. You may know it.

Imu: It's Yosef's interpretation, no?

Rabbi Fohrman: Yes!

Imu: Yeah, and that's when they recognize that this is of God.

Rabbi Fohrman: Exactly. It's when Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream. You see what's happening now? Joseph's dream is being interpreted. And who's going to weigh in, in a moment? Pharaoh. Pharaoh's going to say, “Hey, you should bring your dad down.” As if Pharaoh is saying, “There's an implication of your dream, by the way. You should go get your dad.” It turns out that this is Joseph's dream coming true, and Pharaoh interpreting it, that mirrors Pharaoh's dream coming true and Joseph interpreting it.

Imu: They are the keeper of each other's dreams.

Rabbi Fohrman: They’re the keeper of each other's dreams. And the proof is, this phrase links them. וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו. Only two times it ever appears. Let's go back to Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dream, and you'll see it unfold.

By the way, what had Pharaoh dreamt about? About grain? About sheaves, by any chance? Different word for sheaves, but it is about grain. Turns out that Joseph and Pharaoh are dreaming about famine from two different perspectives, Joseph vis-a-vis his own family, Pharaoh vis-a-vis Egypt as a whole.

But okay, so Joseph interprets the dream and says, “You know what? This means famine after plenty. You've got to set somebody up.” אִישׁ נָבוֹן וְחָכָם וִישִׁיתֵהוּ עַל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם — You've got to set up somebody who is going to be placed over Egypt (Genesis 41:33).

Chapter 41, verse 34:

Imu: יַעֲשֶׂה פַרְעֹה וְיַפְקֵד פְּקִדִים עַל־הָאָרֶץ — Pharaoh should appoint appointees over the land, וְחִמֵּשׁ אֶת־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בְּשֶׁבַע שְׁנֵי הַשָּׂבָע — and he should divide up the land into fifths during the seven years of plenty. וְיִקְבְּצוּ אֶת־כׇּל־אֹכֶל הַשָּׁנִים הַטֹּבוֹת הַבָּאֹת הָאֵלֶּה — And you should gather all the sustenance of the good years that are coming, וְיִצְבְּרוּ־בָר תַּחַת יַד־פַּרְעֹה — and they should gather grain under the hand of Pharaoh. אֹכֶל בֶּעָרִים וְשָׁמָרוּ — They should put this food into the cities and they'll store it there. 

Rabbi Fohrman: Notice how forceful Joseph is with this. יַעֲשֶׂה פַרְעֹה — You must do the following. Now, interestingly, what had Pharaoh called Joseph in to do? 

Imu: Just interpret a dream.

Rabbi Fohrman: Just interpret a dream.

Imu: The dream basically tells you there's going to be good and there's going to be famine, but it doesn't tell you what to do to avoid the famine or the relationship between the good years and the famine. So this is Yosef's gloss.

Rabbi Fohrman: Yeah, but Yosef's saying it with such confidence, right? “God is telling you this.” Is God really telling him this? God just told him there's going to be plenty in the famine. So what's Joseph talking about?

Imu: Actually, there's ambiguity.

Rabbi Fohrman: Oh, interesting. What does that remind you of?

Imu: Yosef’s ambiguity…funnily enough, you can read “seven years of plenty and seven years of famine” the way a stockbroker might read it, as a chance to accumulate great power.

Rabbi Fohrman: That's right. A huge power, and hoard it.

Imu: This is insider trading.

Rabbi Fohrman: Insider trading, exactly. Isn't it fascinating that both dreams, Joseph's dream about the famine and Pharaoh's dream about the famine, do not say what to do? They just say, the following is preordained, and now there is a human choice. And by implication, there's a right choice and there's a wrong choice, but it is up to you to decide.

Imu: It’s the same right choice and wrong choice.

Rabbi Fohrman: And it's the same choice.

Imu: Power or sustenance?

Rabbi Fohrman: Power or sustenance? Do you hoard it all and become the most powerful one around? Or do you husband this for others and to take care of them, right?

So, here is Yosef coming along and saying, “This is what God wants from you.” יַעֲשֶׂה פַרְעֹה וְיַפְקֵד פְּקִדִים. The same way that Joseph comes to the conclusion in his own dream that there's a right answer and there's a wrong answer, Joseph had come to the conclusion that there was a right answer and a wrong answer in Pharaoh's dream.

Now read the next words, verse 37.

Imu: So basically, Yosef has given not only the interpretation of the dream, but also this solution. וַיִּיטַב הַדָּבָר בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי כׇּל־עֲבָדָיו — And it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.

Rabbi Fohrman: That's right. And remember, this is the first time they've been able to express anything, from the interpretation of the dream all the way down to what to do with it. So what is וַיִּיטַב going on?

Imu: I would say it means both. It would have to mean the interpretation of the dream and what to do.

Rabbi Fohrman: The interpretation sounded right, and what to do about it. And therefore, keep on reading.

Imu: Oh, very cool. וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל־עֲבָדָיו — And Pharaoh thus says to his servants, הֲנִמְצָא כָזֶה אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר רוּחַ אֱלֹקים בּוֹ — Is there someone such as this who is possessed of the spirit of God(Genesis 41:38)?

Rabbi Fohrman: Did you ever know that Pharaoh was such a monotheist? He's such a religious guy. There's a guy here who literally is so wise, Divinely inspired, he has God's spirit in him. Keep on reading.

Imu: וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל־יוֹסֵף אַחֲרֵי הוֹדִיעַ אֱלֹקים אוֹתְךָ אֶת־כׇּל־זֹאת אֵין־נָבוֹן וְחָכָם כָּמוֹךָ — Pharaoh says to Yosef, “After God has revealed to you all of this, there is no wise and understanding person like you.”

Rabbi Fohrman: “Let’s be real about this, Joseph. This isn't just about you and me. This is about God.” So isn't it fascinating that the first וַיִּיטַב הַדָּבָר comes with Pharaoh's recognition of Divine providence? This is all about God. You're just an instrument of God. Keep on reading.

Imu: אַתָּה תִּהְיֶה עַל־בֵּיתִי — You shall be placed over my house, וְעַל־פִּיךָ יִשַּׁק כׇּל־עַמִּי — And by your mouth, will the people be…?

Rabbi Fohrman: Nourished. Will they drink?

Imu: רַק הַכִּסֵּא אֶגְדַּל מִמֶּךָּ — And only the throne will be greater than you.

Rabbi Fohrman: Can you read those words one more time?

Imu: רַק הַכִּסֵּא אֶגְדַּל מִמֶּךָּ…?

הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה.

Rabbi Fohrman: There it is. אֶגְדַּל. What's he saying? This is all God. This is all providence.

That's the first time around, but let's go to the second time וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו appears. Now let's go to when Joseph's own dream comes true, when he reveals himself to his brothers. I'll read: וְהַקֹּל נִשְׁמַע בֵּית פַּרְעֹה לֵאמֹר בָּאוּ אֲחֵי יוֹסֵף — Joseph's brothers have come. So the question is, when does Pharaoh realize that Joseph's dream has come true? It might be now. Like, you have to presume that one day in their close relationship, Joseph probably told Pharaoh about his dream. “You know, when I was a kid, I had these dreams.” And Pharaoh's like, “Oh my gosh, your brothers are here. They were so desperate for wheat. You're in charge of the wheat. It's the dream.” וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי עֲבָדָיו.

All Shir Hama’alos is doing is taking the circumstances of the first וַיִּיטַב הַדָּבָר בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי כׇּל־עֲבָדָיו and grafting them onto the second, and saying, here too, it's making a gezeiras shava (linguistic equivalency). It’s saying, “If here, then there,” and you see it in the text.

וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל־יוֹסֵף — So Pharaoh says to Yosef, אֱמֹר אֶל־אַחֶיךָ זֹאת עֲשׂוּ — Here's what you should do. What does זֹאת עֲשׂוּ remind you of? I'm commanding you. This is how you should deal with this reality.

Imu: That's what Yosef said to Pharaoh after hearing his dreams.

Rabbi Fohrman: That's what Yosef said to Pharaoh after his dreams.

Imu: Wow, it really is feeling like Pharaoh is dealing with Yosef as if in response to a dream.

Rabbi Fohrman: It does feel that way. It's like, “Hey, you interpreted my dream. You told me what I was supposed to do in this ambiguous circumstance. Now your dream is coming true. Let me tell you what you should do. I'll be the guide this time.” זֹאת עֲשׂוּ. And what's he saying?

Imu: The same thing that Yosef said to Pharaoh, which is, “Not power, but care.”

Rabbi Fohrman: That's right. Those brothers of yours, this is the moment that you got to take care of them. You go and bring him here. וּלְכוּ־בֹאוּ אַרְצָה כְּנָעַן — You go there, וּקְחוּ אֶת־אֲבִיכֶם וְאֶת־בָּתֵּיכֶם וּבֹאוּ אֵלָי וְאֶתְּנָה לָכֶם אֶת־טוּב אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם — All the goodness of Egypt will be for them, וְאִכְלוּ אֶת־חֵלֶב הָאָרֶץ — and they can eat from the fats of the land. וְאַתָּה צֻוֵּיתָה זֹאת עֲשׂוּ — This you must do again. קְחוּ־לָכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם — Take from Eretz Mitzrayim, עֲגָלוֹת לְטַפְּכֶם וְלִנְשֵׁיכֶם וּנְשָׂאתֶם אֶת־אֲבִיכֶם וּבָאתֶם — You should carry your father, and they should come.

I know how you got here, how traumatic that was. It was all so that this moment could happen, that you could bring your father here, that you could all come here.

And therefore, in essence, what is he saying? הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה — This is amazing, what God has done for you. This is providence. Yeah, I know. I'm telling you to do it. I know you're doing it. I know it's your free choice, but this is what God wants you to do. And the same way you told me that I had this dream, and I could choose compassion over power, and that's what God wanted me to do, I'm returning the favor, kiddo.

You know what God's telling you to do? It's not about vengeance. It's not about power. Go take care of your family.  And that's הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה. And finally, הָיִינוּ שְׂמֵחִים. The brothers could be happy.

I'll just tell you one last thing, which is if you think about what Joseph was telling Pharaoh, the interpretation he gave him, it's actually such an unexpected interpretation. Like, if you had this dream and you realized that, holy smokes, there's going to be this famine for seven years after seven years of plenty, and the famine is going to be so desperate that no one will even remember the good years once the bad years come, you would have thought that God was saying, “Doom is coming.” There's no way out. It's a disaster.

And along comes Joseph and asserts confidently that that is not what God is saying; that if God told you this, there was a reason, and it means you can flip the script. You can take something which should mean doom, and through the power of your free will, through the power of your choosing how to deal with this wisely, you can completely change it into something good where you are going to cause life for the whole world. And people might not remember it, but those years of famine are going to be provided for by these years of plenty.

And in essence, Pharaoh is telling Joseph the same thing about his dream. You know, your dream, it just says the brothers can be desperate for food after they threw you in a pit. Like, the natural course of events is, it's disaster. It's that you are empowered to completely destroy them. And I am telling you that the same way you told me that human free will is so powerful you can take a terrible script and flip it into the most amazing thing in the world, Joseph, you can do the same thing.

This is a reunification moment. Don't tell me that you hate the brothers so much that you can't even imagine anything. This is about God. This isn't about any of us. This is God bringing you together. And don't you realize what God wants from you? Choose, choose to forego the natural thing, the way you told me to choose.

And therefore, יַעֲשֶׂה פַרְעֹה וְיַפְקֵד פְּקִדִים. Your choice that you imposed on me becomes זֹאת עֲשׂוּ — this is what you must do. And in the words of Shir Hama’alos: הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּ — You know who's really acting here through us? It's God. This is really God's doing. We're just doing what He wants us to do. It's a meditation on one of the deepest philosophical problems, which is the interaction between human free will and Divine providence. And is there any power and meaning in human free will? There is an answer to that. Tehillim is telling you what the answer is. הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה is the answer to זֹאת עֲשׂוּ, which is, when you do the right thing, that's Divine providence. 

Imu: It's interesting to me because, even if you don't do the right thing, it's Divine providence. When you throw your brother into a pit, God will find a way to weave that. It reminds me very much of the Rosh Hashanah course we did a few years back. Like, He is — and I love this analogy — God is the grand Storyteller in the sky, but He deputized a bunch of other authors. And we're not all wrestling for control of the book. We're not all deciding what's going to be written. We all kind of get to write our own story. And God’s just a really good storyteller, so He'll weave you into the larger narrative. He'll use your story for His, if He wants to. But you do have control.

So yes, we had found the missing piece in the Yosef story of the אָז יֹאמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה that allowed the brothers to cognize what was happening and come to a place of joy. But that investigation had also drawn us into a fascinating discussion about the interplay between Divine providence and free will; that God has His grand story in mind and knows where everything is headed, and He even nudges us to play our role in that story. But ultimately, it's up to us to choose whether we lean into that providential narrative or not, whether we choose to participate in God's story or to have God write His story around our choices.

And that reflection actually brought Rabbi Fohrman back to a conversation that we had all the way back in the first episode, about the Israelites leaving Egypt and how they, too, may have had to go through Shir Hama’alos's five stages of processing their residual trauma, but they were unable to do so. And how perhaps one individual's free will actions may have actually altered the course of that story.

Rabbi Fohrman: By the way, remember how, when we first went through this, you suggested that there was another version of this process of starting with this astonished moment of redemption that doesn't quite land? And it was the Exodus. Isn't it interesting that there's a Pharaoh in that story, too?

Imu: Very different guy.

Rabbi Fohrman: Very different guy. And you asked me, how did you know that אָז נִבְהֲלוּ אַלּוּפֵי אֱדוֹם…the only other time you have that אָז נִבְהֲלוּ אַלּוּפֵי אֱדוֹם is in the Yosef story. This is how I knew. It's as if when the brothers are נִבְהֲלוּ, the exact same word as אָז נִבְהֲלוּ אַלּוּפֵי אֱדוֹם, the brothers are כִּי נִבְהֲלוּ מִפָּנָיו. They couldn't answer because they were astonished.

It's like literally the same thing is happening. There's this redemption moment, there's this astonishment. The people end up singing, there’s shira. But there was one part that was missing: הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה. There were no non-Jews there that were separate enough from the action that could look on and say, “Oh man, that's really incredible. This is providential. Look at what's happening,” to give us the words to be able to assimilate it. Instead, they were targets, and instead they were astonished, and they couldn't validate in that kind of way.

Imu: This also reminds me of The Exodus You Almost Passed Over.

Rabbi Fohrman: Exactly. That wasn't the way it was supposed to be. The way it was supposed to be was, Pharaoh was supposed to do that. Pharaoh wasn't supposed to get destroyed. Pharaoh was supposed to realize at some point in those plagues, “One second, this is Divine providence. I'm not going to fight God. That's crazy. This is what God wants. This is amazing. So, sure, I'll dance you out of here,” right?

Imu: An honor guard.

Rabbi Fohrman: There's an honor guard, and again, read The Exodus You Almost Passed Over for this, or watch our video on it. It's on Aleph Beta, too. We can put it in the show notes. And the point is that there was a chance for Pharaoh to be that אָז יֹאמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה, and that would've been really important for us. It would have helped us understand and cognize what was really happening, and you know what the model for that was? A Pharaoh who could see Divine providence when even the Jews in the room couldn't see it? It was the Pharaoh of Joseph. The Pharaoh of Joseph was the model for the Pharaoh of the Exodus. הִגְדִּיל יְקוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה, in essence, is what the Pharaoh of Joseph says.

Imu: Stunning. I'm stunned. 

Rabbi Fohrman: It's mind-boggling to me how interpretive this is of a story that we know so well.

Imu: This little psalm, these six words, causes you to slow down and interpret the Yosef story, the Exodus story, and see so many beautiful themes emerge, and has what to tell you about the profundity of trauma and care and tears and loving others and healing broken wounds. Like, it’s crazy. It’s beautiful.

Yeah, we really had touched on so many profound concepts in the season, but just bringing it all back to where it started, back to Psalm 126, back to Shir Hama’alos as we wrap things up.

Shir Hama’alos is a vision of the end of days, of the triumphant return of the captives of Zion. And in calling back to the Yosef story, it gives us a vision of so many different perspectives just within that powerful moment. There are going to be stunned captives finally returning to their homeland after thousands of years who will be as speechless as Yosef’s brothers gazing upon someone they never dreamed of seeing again.

There are going to be other nations recognizing and praising God. Those nations, they have the distance to immediately process the Divine joy in the moment and also help us process our trauma and come to a place of joy, just like the Pharaoh of the Yosef story. There will be the Jews who had been inconsolably crying during the seemingly endless exile, finally reaping the sweet fruits of redemption with joy, just like Jacob when he reunited with Yosef. And perhaps even realizing for the very first time how powerful and impactful all of those tears had truly been.

And then there will be the captives who were like Yosef, who after years of confusion, mixed messages, and suppressing their emotions, can finally let it all out. Let those tears of joy and love burst forth like a flash flood, inundating a long-arid desert.

I guess what this season and this last episode in particular brought out for me is that I might have had this almost monochromatic view of what the end of days would look like, and Shir Hama’alos is telling me that there will be so much more to it than that. It's going to be vibrant and shining with the endless color of emotion that each one of us will bring to it. Each one of us with our unique perspective, experience, and reaction, that will color the canvas of redemption in shades of joy that will produce an image we could never have dreamed of. An image colored by laughter and song and tears and embrace.

Personally, that's a vision I never fully considered and one that I now can't wait to see. And I'm so grateful for the Psalmist in his short, beautiful poem, drawing from such a powerful story in Genesis, for bringing that out for me in an entirely new way.

Anyway, thank you all so much for joining us this season. I hope you got as much out of it as I did, and of course, I look forward to seeing you in the next one.