In the beginning of Parshah Vayeshev, the Torah tells us about the two dreams that Yosef had. The first dream, that Yosef and his brothers were in the field, and they were making bundles of wheat, and then all the bundles got up and bowed down to his. And the second dream, that he saw the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. And the meaning of both of these dreams were the same. This was going to show that Yosef was going to be the master over his brothers, and they would bow down to him. The only thing is that in the second dream was added the fact that the שמש וירח, the sun and the moon, will also bow down to him, which includes Yaakov and Bilhah, not only the brothers as it was in the first dream. We find a similar thing in Parshah Mikeitz. There we find that Pharaoh also had two dreams. The first dream was that he saw seven fat cows, and then he saw seven skinny cows, and the seven skinny cows swallowed the seven fat cows. And later he saw seven stalks of wheat that were fat and seven skinny stalks of wheat, and the seven skinny stalks of wheat swallowed the seven fat stalks of wheat. And the Chumash later on over there explains what was the reason why he had the same dream twice, so it says, because וממהר האלקים לעשותו, that Hashem is in a rush to fulfill what the dream is supposed to show. The dream was going to show that there first will be seven years of plenty of food, and then there will be seven years of hunger, and that was going to start right away, so that's why the dream repeated itself. On the other hand, concerning Yosef in this week's Parshah, the Torah doesn't tell us why the dream repeated itself, even though in the second dream there was an addition that also the sun and the moon, which includes Yaakov and Bilhah, are going to bow down to Yosef, but still, this is not a good enough reason why the second dream should be repeated, because this could have been hinted in the first dream too. So the question is: why was the dream repeated? Therefore, we must say there is something that the Torah wants to tell us, a certain lesson the Torah wants to give us, and therefore, the only way we could get the lesson is by having these two dreams, and this is why he had one dream and then another dream.

The explanation to this would be by first looking into the differences that we find between the dreams of Yosef and the dreams of Pharaoh. By Yosef, we see that the first dream was concerning materialistic things, things that are from this low physical world, והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלומים בתוך השדה, we are making bundles in the field, that deals with physical matters of the field. The second dream is already concerning השמש והירח ואחד עשר כוכבים, concerning the sun, the moon, and the stars, which are inyanim of shamayim, which are inyanim of the heavens, higher inyanim than what the first dream was talking about. By Pharaoh, we see that both dreams were concerning inyanim of this low physical world, of the earth. The first dream was concerning cows, and the second dream was concerning wheat. They are two different categories within the inyanim of this world, of the earth, nevertheless they are both inyanim of the earth. The first one deals with cows, which is from the sug, from the category of חי, and the second one is from the category of צומח. We know that the world is divided into four categories: דומם, צומח, חי, and מדבר. דומם are those unmovable objects like stones, etc., then צומח is the plant life, חי is the animal life, and מדבר is the human race. So these two dreams, one was concerning the sug of חי, the first one that was concerning the cows was concerning an object within the category of חי, of the animal life, and the second one was concerning an object within the category of the plant life, but nevertheless, they were both within the inyanim of the earth, of the low world. But concerning inyanim of Shamayim, we don't find at all in Pharaoh's dreams. This already shows that there is a difference between Yosef and Pharaoh: Yosef had inyanim of Shamayim in his dreams; Pharaoh did not have anything concerning Shamayim in his dreams. And not only that, we find another difference between Yosef's dream and Pharaoh's dreams: by Yosef, it went milmatah lemaalah, from lower to higher, and by Pharaoh, it went milmaalah lematah, from higher to lower. By Yosef, the first dream was concerning inyanim of the earth, and the second dream was concerning inyanim of Shamayim, inyanim of heaven, so it goes from lower to higher. By Pharaoh, even concerning the two inyanim of the earth itself, it went the other way. It was pocheit veholech, it went worse and worse. First dream was concerning the cows, which was from the higher category of the earth, in the category of chai, the animal life, and the second dream was concerning the שבלים, the wheat, which was in the sug of tzomeach, of the plant life, which is lower.

And this is the general difference between a Yid and a goy. Even though Yosef was an individual person, but we know that what Yosef did and what happened to Yosef is nogeia to Klal Yisrael. Similar to what we say concerning the Avos, that מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, that what happened to the Avos is a siman, a sign to the children, to all the Yidden throughout all generations, and not only a siman what's going to happen, but it means also that this is a nesinas koach, and this is a lesson to what's going to happen later. Similar to that is concerning Yosef. First of all, because it says אלה תולדות יעקב יוסף, that the main toladah, the main child of Yaakov is Yosef, so Yosef is like a continuation of Yaakov, who is one of the Avos, and therefore Yosef is also included in the category of מעשה אבות סימן לבנים. In addition to that, we find a special connection between Yosef and Klal Yisrael, because the pasuk in Tehillim says נוהג כצאן יוסף, which means that the Yidden are called על שם יוסף, that Klal Yisrael is called Yosef. Just like we know Klal Yisrael is called Yisrael because of Yaakov who was called Yisrael, so too is Klal Yisrael called Yosef. As the Midrash explains, that since Yosef fed Klal Yisrael in the time of the hunger in Mitzrayim, and this saved Klal Yisrael, because of that, Klal Yisrael is called Yosef. But whatever the reason is, we see that Klal Yisrael is called Yosef. So obviously there is a specific connection between Yosef and all the Yidden. So what happens to Yosef really is not only what happened to him as an individual person, but this is supposed to represent what is what's happening to Klal Yisrael. And this is the lesson we take from the dream. First of all, that a Yid has a connection to עניני שמים. A Yid has a connection to ענינים of the heaven, of the higher world, while Pharaoh that represents the goyim, there is no connection to עניני שמים. Now when we speak here about the עניני שמים, things of the heaven, even though in the dream it was concerning the sun and the moon and the stars, which even though they are in heaven, but it is still part of the universe, but this is a remez to the real עניני שמים, which is inyanim ruchniyim, spiritual inyanim. As the pasuk says השמים שמים לה׳ והארץ נתן לבני אדם, that the shamayim, the heaven is to Hashem, and the earth is given to people, we have to understand that when it says that the shamayim is to Hashem, it doesn't mean the stars and the sun and the moon, etc., because that is still part of the universe. When we want to divide between ענינים which are שייכות לה׳, to Hashem, and inyanim, things which are לבני אדם, to people, it means gashmiyut and ruchniyut. Ruchniyut, spirituality, is שייכות to Hashem, and gashmiyut, the physical things, is לבני אדם, to people. So when the pasuk says השמים שמים לה׳, it means the heaven, meaning the spiritual things, that is to Hashem. And the ארץ, meaning the גשמיותדיקע things, that is לבני אדם. So we see that שמים refers to ענינים רוחניים, to spiritual matters. So here too, when we see that the dream of Yosef had to do with the stars, so in gashmiyut it's still part of the universe, but nevertheless this is a remez to עניני שמים, meaning to ענינים רוחניים. And this is to show us that a Yid has a connection to ענינים רוחניים, while a goy, lehavdil, has no connection to spiritual inyanim. Which means that not only does a Yid have a connection to spiritual matters after his neshamah leaves his body and he goes to עולם הבא, he goes to Gan Eden, which is a spiritual world, then he is connected to the spiritual world, but even while a Yid is in this physical world, in עולם הזה, a Yid is connected to עולם הבא, to the higher world. A Yid has a connection to ענינים רוחניים. And not only that, the way it went, the order of things, is that you go milmatah l'maalah. By a Yid the seder is that he starts off lower, but a Yid constantly goes higher and higher to reach higher madregot. He starts off, as the pasuk says concerning the dream of Yaakov, that he saw a סולם, a ladder, which was מוצב ארצה, standing on the ground, וראשו מגיע השמימה, but the tip reached the heaven. And this סולם represents the general concept of עבודת ה׳, as it says in the Zohar, that סולם דא צלותא, that this ladder represents tefillah, davenen, which really doesn't mean just davenen, but it means the general inyan of a Yid's service of Hashem. So the seder by a Yid is that מוצב ארצה, you start off while standing on the ground, but like a ladder where you go up and you get higher and higher, closer to the top, a Yid also goes higher and higher. That he starts off, takeh, when he is still connected to gashmiyut, but a Yid goes higher and higher and you get closer to ruchniyut, closer to עניני שמים. As it says, ילכו מחיל אל חיל, they go from strength to strength. As the Gemara says, צדיקים אין להם מנוחה, that tzaddikim don't have any peace, לא בעולם הזה ולא בעולם הבא, not in this world and not in the world to come, because the pasuk said ילכו מחיל אל חיל, they constantly go higher and higher. In this world, also, they go higher and higher, from gashmiyut higher and higher closer to ruchniyut, closer to ruchniyut. And this is not only concerning tzaddikim who are actually in the level of tzaddikim, but this really could be by every single Yid, because the pasuk says ועמך כולם צדיקים, that all the Yidden are referred to as tzaddikim. So when it says צדיקים אין להם מנוחה בעולם הזה, that tzaddikim don't have any peace even in this world, they constantly go higher, that refers to all the Yidden. And this is the remez that we have from the dreams of Yosef, from both dreams. The Torah specifically tells us that he had two dreams, to tell us that first he had one dream concerning gashmiyut, then he had another dream which represents ענינים רוחניים, spiritual inyanim. And the order of the dreams were that first was the dream concerning gashmiyut, then there was the dream concerning ruchniyut, to show us that a Yid is able to have a connection to spiritual inyanim, and in that itself, the order of things is that first he has a connection to ענינים גשמיים, he starts off with gashmiyus, but from gashmiyus he goes up and reaches a higher madreigah and gets closer to ruchniyus.

And the remez, the hint that we find in this dream is even deeper than that. In truth, as we said before, both dreams had the same meaning, it was supposed to show the same thing. So, in essence, both dreams are the same. On the other hand, as we said before, the first dream is concerning ענינים גשמיים, physical things, and the second thing represents ענינים רוחניים. And nevertheless, we said that they are both the same inyan. And this is to show us that when we said before that a yid is able to reach ענינים רוחניים, it is not the pshat that even when he reaches the ענינים רוחניים, still it remains two separate inyanim. He has a connection to gashmiyus, as every human being, but he also has a connection to ruchniyus. And this would be the difference between a yid and a goy: a yid has a connection to ענינים רוחניים, and a goy doesn't have. But even by the yid we might think they are two separate things: he has connection to gashmiyus, and he also, in addition to that, has a separate connection to ruchniyus. But this is not true. What's expected of a yid is that his gashmiyus itself should become ruchniyus. Not only he should have two inyanim, but his גשמיות'דיקע ענינים should become ruchniyus, which means that even the physical inyanim of a yid, which means when a person, a yid, eats, which is a physical need of a person, even lehavdil of a non-yid, so we might think that when it comes to these inyanim, a yid and a goy, lehavdil, are the same. The difference between a yid and a goy is that a yid learns Torah, and lehavdil a goy doesn't; a yid does mitzvot, and lehavdil a goy doesn't. So there is a difference when it comes to ענינים רוחניים, to spiritual inyanim, but when it comes to ענינים גשמיים, to physical things, then a yid and a goy, l'havdil, are the same. But the truth is it's not that. A yid is expected to serve Hashem even through his ענינים גשמיים. As it says, כל מעשיך יהיו לשם שמים, whatever you do should be for the sake of Hashem, and this refers to maasecha, your actions, not concerning mitzvot, but when a yid does his own thing, meaning his own physical thing, so then it also should be lishmah shamayim, for the sake of serving Hashem. For instance, when he eats, he should have in mind that the reason he is eating so he should have koach, he should have strength. Why should he have strength? He should be healthy in order to be able to learn Torah and do mitzvot. He goes to business and wants to make money, so he should have money to be able to give tzedakah, he should have money to be able to buy a pair of tefillin, he should have money to be able to send his children and give them a proper Jewish education. So here he is doing his own thing, he's doing business, but nevertheless, it is lishmah shamayim. Or as the pasuk says, בכל דרכיך דעהו, that in all your ways you should know Him, that whatever we do, this should only be a means of knowing Hashem. So it comes out that it's not the pshat that the yid has gashmiyus, but in addition to gashmiyus he also has ruchniyus, but that his gashmiyus itself is turned into ruchniyus, that they are really one, just like in the dream of Yosef, the two dreams, one concerning gashmiyus and one concerning ruchniyus, really it was one inyan, so, too, by a yid, the gashmiyus and the ruchniyus really is one inyan. This is the general lesson that we take from the two dreams of Yosef.

Then there are also details that are very important in a yid's service of Hashem. The dream itself, the first dream, was concerning והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלומים בתוך השדה, that we gathered wheat in the field, we bundled bundles in the field, we worked in the field, and then it continues that the bundles bowed down to Yosef. So one thing we see right away here, that the dream of Yosef dealt with work. They did something. In Paroh's dream, there is no hint of work. All he saw was cows standing there, and then some cows swallowing the other cows, but there was no hint of work. But in Yosef's dream, there was work. As we said before, Yosef represents Klal Yisrael, so this is a lesson to Klal Yisrael, that the first thing we have to know, that there is an inyan of avodah. We know that this is the difference between kedushah and the opposite of kedushah. As it says in the pasuk, that the Yidden complained and they said that they remember the food אשר נאכל במצרים חנם, that we ate in Mitzrayim for free. So it says in the Sifrei in Bamidbar on קאפיטעל י״א פסוק ה׳, and Rashi also brings it down on the pasuk, and it's also in Zohar חלק ב׳ דף קכ״ח עמוד א׳, that what they said that we ate in Mitzrayim for free, for free meant without mitzvot, which means that it was without avodah. And this tells us that in Mitzrayim, Mitzrayim represents the evil, represents the world, represents the inyanim which are not kedushah, not holy, things are for free. But in kedushah, when it comes to do inyanim which is holy connection to Hashem, so there everything has to come through avodah, everything has to come through work. There is no chinam. As it says takeh in the Zohar, that when a person gets something for free, it is called nahama d'kisufa, it is called bread of embarrassment. When a person works for something, then it really is his. And this is the remez that we take out from this chalom, that a Yid is supposed to know that the first thing is, that he is supposed to remember that he is supposed to serve Hashem. Nothing comes easy. Hashem made it so that things don't come easy. If it is not inyanim of kedushah, then it might come easy, but when it comes to kedushah, inyanim of holiness, then you have to work for it, there has to be avodah. Like we find in the dream of Yaakov, that there was a סולם מוצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה, there's this ladder, but you have to walk on the ladder, you have to go from step to step, which represents the inyan of working. A Yid is supposed to work with himself to go higher and higher. And where was this work done? It was work done בשדה, in the field. Now we know that the שדה represents this world, a place where there is no emet, it's called עלמא דשקרא, the world of lying, the world of untruth, because this world is a place where we do not see the truth, we do not see godliness, we do not see the truth of Hashem, the אמת השם לעולם. And in this world, Hashem sent us down to work, to serve Hashem. And this is the dream, that they were working בשדה, in the field. And this is a remez to us, that in the field, which represents the whole world, a place where reshaim are stronger, where kedushah is not so strong, that's why Esav is called עשו איש שדה, so we are in the field of Esav, in the field of things which are not kedushah, but our job is to do Avodat Hashem here, to serve Hashem and go from strength to strength, going from lower madregot to higher madregot as it was in the dream of Yosef.