Yosef's Job Opening

Yosef, while interpreting Pharaoh's dream, he says
"So now, let Pharaoh seek out an understanding and wise man and appoint him over the land of Egypt."

So where did this come from? At first glance, it looks like Yosef is taking advantage of Pharaoh's dream by demonstrating that he has a solution to the problem the dream is presenting.

I think there is another take. I think Yosef sees the solution presented in the dreams themselves.In Dream Interpretation 101, according to Yosef, Two Dreams means that fulfillment is immediate. Yet the two dreams here are different. Different things are happening with the cows and the ears of grain.

The Cow Dream has seven distinct life-forms, swallowed by seven other distinct life-forms, and the swallowing cows don't look like they've eaten anything. as Rashi points out, this symbolizes the fact that there would be no remembrance of the good years once the famine hit.

The Grain Dream has one single stalk, with seven ears of grain growing, followed by seven other ears of grain. No mention of "You couldn't tell that they had swallowed them." The Stalk dream is saying that if the country has a united front, not seven cows, but One stalk, then the seven good years will be able to feed the seven years of famine. But national unity is necessary, in the person of a single leader. He saw that advising people to save up would not work. Taxing would be required. (I wonder how Orthodox Fiscal Conservatives deal with this obviously Keynesian solution right there in Chumash!) Yosef understood somehow (in a way I have not yet figured out) that this individual could not be Pharaoh himself, but someone Pharoah would appoint. So he wasn't fishing for employment. He was interpreting the dream.