"After two years' time, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile" (Genesis 41:1). Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk, in Parashat Miketz, turns Pharaoh's dream into a warning about spiritual self-deception.
The Talmud notes that the sages "taught in the language of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law)"—a seemingly obvious observation. But Rebbe Elimelech finds two layers in it. Torah study and mitzvah performance require two qualities: the content itself, which is inherently holy, and the supernal intention—the awe and love that draw divine light from the upper worlds into the specific act. The word shanu ("they taught") comes from the root meaning "doubled"—they studied with both qualities simultaneously.
Now the verse clicks into place. "After two years"—after a person believes they have mastered both levels—"Pharaoh dreamed." The Hebrew letters of Par'oh (Pharaoh) rearrange to spell oref, the back of the neck, representing stubborn materiality. The dream is a delusion. The body tricks the mind into thinking the spiritual work is complete. But it never is.
Joseph's two dreams—wheat and celestial bodies—also operate on these two levels. Joseph embodies the sefirah (a divine emanation) of Yesod (Foundation), the tzaddik (a righteous person) whose desire is to channel divine abundance to Israel. The wheat dream represents material sustenance. The sun-and-moon dream represents what the tzaddik accomplishes in the upper worlds. Pharaoh's two dreams mirror this structure but from the outside—the nations receive their sustenance through Israel's sacrificial service, and when that service falters, the abundance dries up.