Daily Chumash, Shabbos, 26th Kisleiv: The Sar Hamashkim and Sar Haofim

Shevi’i

1. The Sar Hamashkim and Sar Haofim:
   • The imprisonment: After the above events, the head butler and baker sinned to their master, the king of Egypt. An angry Pharaoh had them imprisoned, in the same prison that Yosef was located.
   • The head butcher placed Yosef in charge of attending to them. They remained in prison for many days.
   • The dreams: One evening, the two ministers, the butler and baker, had a dream. Each person dreamt the interpretation of the dream. In the morning, Yosef saw that the two men were very perplexed. He asked them as to what is the matter. They told him of their dreams. Yosef said that the interpretations of dreams belongs to G-d, “Please tell me your dreams.”
   • The dream of the Sar Hamashkim: The butler told Yosef his dream. He said that he dreamt of seeing a vine in front of him, and the vine contained three clusters of freshly ripe grapes. I saw myself squeezing the grapes into the cup of Pharaoh and placing the cup into the hand of Pharaoh. Yosef replied that the interpretations of the dream is as follows: The three clusters represent three days, as in three days Pharaoh will reinstate you to your position as the chief butler, and you will once again serve him wine as you did in the past.
   • Yosef then asked the butler to mention him before Pharaoh, to have him removed from the prison, as he has done nothing wrong.
   • The dream of the baker: The baker saw that the interpretation was good, and he too told Yosef of his dream. He told Yosef that he dreamt of seeing three baskets on his head. In the top basket there was all the baked goods eaten by Pharaoh, and the birds were eating from it. Yosef replied that the three baskets represent three days, as in another three days Pharaoh will have you hung and the birds will eat your flesh.
   • Pharaoh’s birthday party: So it was that on the third day it was the birthday of Pharaoh and he made a great feast for all his servants. He remembers the ministers, the butler and baker. The butler was reinstated to his position and he placed the cup in Pharaohs hand, while the baker was hung, as Yosef interpreted.
   • The butler forgot to mention Yosef before Pharaoh.