B "H
MIKEITZ 
REVEALING THE HIDDEN
Pharaoh’s Naming of Joseph
After Joseph ingeniously interpreted Pharaoh’s dream that predicted seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, Pharaoh made him the Viceroy of Egypt.  Pharaoh effectively elevated Joseph to be the ruler of Egypt, reserving for himself only the title of king. 
However, before placing Joseph in charge of the land of Egypt Pharaoh names him Tzofnas Pa’aneiach.   
What does the name Tzofnas Pa’aeiach mean?  Why did Pharaoh name Joseph Tzofnas Pa’aneiach? Why does the Torah tell us about the name change? What message does it convey to us in the present day and age?
 
Why the Name Change?
Rashi translates the new name as “one who can reveal or decipher the hidden.” Obviously this was Pharaoh’s way of referring to the reason he appointed Joseph to this high position, namely, that he had successfully interpreted the dream that would prove indispensable for the survival of Egypt.
Rashbam (Rashi’s illustrious grandson) and others explain that it was customary among monarchs to assign a new name to those appointed to high positions in their regimes.
The Rebbe clarifies that the name change countered the deprecating description that Pharaoh’s butler gave of Joseph by way of introduction to Pharaoh: a mere lad and slave, by implication lowly, uneducated, from a lower caste and unworthy of a high position. Pharaoh therefore felt compelled to remove that stigma from Joseph by according him an honorable name, one that bespoke of Joseph’s genius and demonstrated that he was worthy of the position of Viceroy.
However, everything in the Torah must serve as a lesson for us. What lesson can be derived from the fact that Pharaoh named Joseph Tzofnasa Pa’aneiach-the Revealer of the Hidden.
 
Tzofnas and the Seder
The word tzofnas-hidden is related to one of the symbols of the Passover Seder, tzafun which refers to the Afikoman; the piece of Matzah we eat at the end of the meal. It is called tzafun-hidden because at the beginning of the Seder we break the middle matzah, take the larger part and hide it until the end of the meal, when we partake of it as a remembrance of the Paschal lamb.
To understand the connection between the Afikoman and Joseph’s new name we must turn to a talk of the Rebbe in which he related a story of a chosid of the Rebbe Maharash, (Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, the fourth leader of Chabad) who asked why we hide the Afikoman. The Rebbe’s cryptic response was that it is hidden because it says in the Haggadah that it is called tzafun which means hidden. The Chosid then challenged, “let it not say tzafun in the Haggadah and then we would not have to hide it.”
The Rebbe Maharash replied that hiding the Matzah empowers us to rid ourselves of the Yetzer Hara-the evil impulse, which is called Tzifoni in scripture and which is hidden in the recesses of our hearts.  The Afikoman has no taste. Similarly, dealing with our Animal Soul does not require the use of our intellect [taste]. Rather we must dictate to the Animal Soul that what is wrong is wrong and what is required is required.
 
Why Pick this Name for the Yetzer Hara?
The Rebbe then questioned the Rebbe Maharash’s answer. The Yetzer Hara is also known by many other names. Why couldn’t the Haggadah choose another name for the Yetzer Hara so that we wouldn’t need to hide the Afikoman?
The Rebbe answered that there are actually two dimensions of evil; the revealed or overt evil and the hidden or covert evil. The idea of referring to the Yetzer Hara as tzafun is to refer to and repair not only the revealed evil we possess but the hidden evil that lies within us as well-the tzifoni.
 
Not Feeling the Hidden Evil
The Rebbe continued: Based on the above, it does not suffice if we no longer feel evil in our souls because there still might be some residual evil embedded deeply in the inner core of our souls.
This, the Rebbe explains, is what the famous Sage Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai meant when he expressed uncertainty on his death bed about his future in the afterlife. The Rebbe asked how a man, who dedicated his entire life to Torah study, Torah teaching, doing good and saving Jewry at the time of the destruction the Second Temple, could entertain the thought that he would need to go through the purification process of Gehinom [the Jewish version of purgatory] in the next world?
The Rebbe answered that precisely because Rabbi Yochanan was so preoccupied with doing good, he had absolutely no time for introspection. He therefore considered the possibility that while he had no apparent evil, there may have been some untouched, concealed evil in the deepest recesses of his soul that had never been dealt with and for which he might have to undergo purification in the next world.
Thus, the Rebbe concludes, when we partake of the Afikoman, which serves as a remembrance of the Paschal offering and prepares us for the future Redemption, we must first eradicate any hidden evil.
 
Hidden Torah Touches Hidden Parts of our Souls
How can reach into ourselves and eradicate the hidden evil? Isn’t it, by definition, hidden and therefore elusive?
The Rebbe answers that when we learn the teachings of Chassidus, part of the hidden dimension of Torah, it connects us to the hidden dimension of our soul.  This empowers us to deal with the hidden evil that might lurk beneath the surface.
We can now understand why the Torah tells us that Pharaoh named Joseph Tzofnas Pa’aneiach-the Revealer of the Hidden.  Joseph’s ascension to leadership of Egypt set the tone for our future bondage and ultimate Exodus from Egypt, which is the model for the future Redemption.
By naming Joseph revealer of the hidden Pharaoh conveyed a subliminal message that eluded Pharaoh himself.  Joseph, in his new capacity and name, empowered all the Jewish people of the future to escape exile by tapping in to the hidden layers of our souls to reach and repair the hidden evil.
 
The Two Aspects of the Crown
In the world of Gematria-Torah numerology, the word Tzofnas -hidden = 620, equivalent to the word Keser-crown. In Talmudic and mystical literature, the crown is associated with either the most practical halachic teachings of Torah or the most sublime, mystical teachings of Torah.
The message communicated by Pharaoh’s naming Joseph Tzofnas Pa’aneiach is that when a Jew wants to get out of physical and spiritual Galus, he must connect with G‑d’s “crown,” by learning and applying the parts of Torah that dictate our behavior, coupled with the study of the inner, spiritual dimension of Torah.
This is also the message of Chanukah which involved the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. The oil of the Menorah is likened to the inner spiritual teachings of Torah, unlike water which is a metaphor for the revealed teachings.
The Chassidic Masters also explained that the light of Chanukah, beginning with the lone cruse of untainted oil, represents the hidden light created on the first day of Creation and concealed until the coming of Moshiach. However we are given a glimpse of this primordial light whenever we light Chanukah candles.

May we see imminently the revelation of the hidden light and the total elimination of all evil from our midst!
Happy Chanukah!