BS”D
Volume 37, No. 11
7 Tevet 5783
December 31, 2022
Sponsored by
Milton Cahn
in memory of
his mother, Abby Cahn
(Bracha bat Moshe a”h)
and his wife Felice Cahn
(Faygah Sarah bat Naftoli Zev a”h)
In this week’s Parashah, the Egyptian viceroy reveals that he is
Yosef, and he encourages his brothers to bring their father Yaakov to
Egypt to live out the years of famine there. As Yaakov is descending to
Egypt, Hashem appears to Yaakov and says (46:3-4), “Have no fear of
descending to Egypt, for I shall establish you as a great nation there. I
shall descend with you to Egypt, and I shall also surely bring you up.”
R’ Chaim Druckman z”l (rabbi, Rosh Yeshiva, and Knesset member, who
passed away this week at the age of 90) writes: Midrash Rabbah observes:
“One says, ‘Have no fear,’ only to someone who is afraid.” Of what was
Yaakov afraid? From Hashem’s words of reassurance, we see that Yaakov
was afraid of two things, R’ Druckman writes.
First, Yaakov was afraid that his descendants would be annihilated
physically in exile. To dispel this fear, Hashem told him, “I shall
establish you as a great nation there.” Second, Yaakov was afraid that
his descendants would assimilate and experience spiritual destruction.
In response, Hashem assured him, “I shall descend with you to Egypt, and
I shall also surely bring you up.”
It stands to reason, continues R’ Druckman, that the spiritual
concern was the primary one. We read (Vayikra 18:3), “Do not perform the
acts of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled.” Rashi z”l comments,
“This tells us that the deeds of the Egyptians were more corrupt than
those of all other nations, and that the district of Egypt in which Bnei
Yisrael had resided was even more corrupt than the rest of Egypt.” The
danger that Jews will become comfortable in their exile, will assimilate
into their corrupt surroundings, and will not want to be redeemed is
the greatest danger of all. (Haggadah Shel Pesach La’zman Ha’zeh p.83)
********
“Yosef said to his brothers, ‘I am Yosef. Is my father
still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, because they were
disconcerted before him (literally, ‘because of his face’).” (45:3)
R’ Tuvia Ha’rofeh z”l (1652-1729; son of the rabbi of Narol, Poland;
one of the first Jews to study in a German university; physician to five
sultans of the Ottoman Empire; lived his final years in Yerushalayim)
writes: Yosef’s brothers were disconcerted because of Yosef’s
face–literally. He explains: Rashi z”l (to Bereishit 37:3) writes that
Yosef resembled Yaakov. Yosef’s brothers suddenly saw the physical
resemblance between the Egyptian viceroy and their father, and they
realized that they were, indeed, standing in their brother’s presence. (Birkat Tov)
If Yosef looked like Yaakov, why did his brothers not recognize him
sooner? Indeed, they did not recognize him despite the many hints he
gave–for example, seating them at the dinner table in age order and
grouped by shared mothers. The Torah relates (43:33), “The men looked at
one another in astonishment,” yet they did not put two and two together
and recognize their brother!
R’ Isaac Sher z”l (1875-1952; Rosh Yeshiva of the Slabodka Yeshiva in
Lithuania and, after the Holocaust, in Bnei Brak, Israel) explains:
Midrash Rabbah relates that before Yosef’s brothers went to buy food,
they spent three days searching for their brother in Egypt’s “red light
district.” They reasoned that, given Yosef’s beauty, he surely had been
sold for immoral purposes. So deeply rooted was this assumption, that
they were incapable of seeing the truth that was staring them in the
face.
R’ Sher continues: If these great men could err so, how much more so
must we be aware that we regularly are blinded by assumptions and
viewpoints that have taken hold in our minds. (Lekket Sichot Mussar I p.127)
********
“Hurry, go up to my father and say to him, ‘So said your
son Yosef, “Elokim has made me master of all Egypt. Come down to me; do
not delay”.’” (45:9)
“Now these are the names of the children of Yisrael who were coming to Egypt . . .” (46:8)
R’ Chaim Friedlander z”l (1923-1986; Mashgiach Ruchani of the
Ponovezh Yeshiva) notes: In last week’s Parashah and the beginning of
this week’s Parashah, traveling from Eretz Yisrael to Egypt is referred
to as coming “down” (using the root yud-resh-dalet). Later in this
week’s Parashah, and also in Parashat Shmot, the same journey is
referring to as “coming” (using the root bet-vav-aleph).
R’ Friedlander explains: At first, Yaakov’s sons could sense a
spiritual descent–a “going down”–when they entered and spent time amidst
the impurity of Egypt. But, once they decided to settle there, even
temporarily, they lost that sensitivity. Thereafter, they no longer are
described as coming “down.” (Siftei Chaim: Mo’adim II p.384)
********
“Thus Yosef acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh,
for every Egyptian sold his field because the famine had overwhelmed
them; and the land became Pharaoh’s. As for the nation, he resettled it
by cities, from one end of Egypt’s borders to the other. Only the land
of the priests he did not acquire, since the priests had a stipend from
Pharaoh, and they lived off their stipend that Pharaoh had given them;
therefore, they did not sell their land.” (47:20-22)
Why did Yosef not force the priests, also, to sell their land to Pharaoh in exchange for the stipends they received?
The Aramaic translation and commentary Targum Yonatan Ben Uziel
writes: “Because they saw his merit when his master wanted to kill him,
and they saved him from death.”
R’ Chizkiah ben Manoach z”l (“Chizkuni”; France; 13th
century) elaborates: The priests were the ones who judged Yosef when he
was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife. The priests did not accept
Yosef’s guilt, so they sentenced him to prison instead of death. (They
could not acquit Yosef entirely, Chizkuni writes, as that would have
been an insult to his aristocratic accuser.)
R’ Yaakov ben Asher z”l (“Ba’al Ha’turim”; Spain; 14th
century) writes: Some say it was in honor of [Yosef’s father-in-law]
Potiphera, the Priest of Ohn. [In his honor, all of the priests were
excused from transferring their lands to Pharaoh.]
Rashi writes that Yosef’s father-in-law, Potiphera, was the same
person as Potiphar, Yosef’s former master. As such, asks R’ Yitzchak
Menachem Weinberg shlita (Tolna Rebbe in Yerushalayim) asks: It is
understandable that Yosef would feel gratitude to the priests who spared
him from death, but why should he feel gratitude to Potiphar, who
imprisoned him unjustly?
The Tolna Rebbe explains: Yosef Ha’tzaddik is teaching us a profound
lesson about Hakarat Ha’tov / gratitude, i.e., that I am obligated to be
grateful for and repay every good deed done towards me, even if the
person who did that good deed also has acted badly towards me. We read
(Devarim 23:8), “You shall not reject an Egyptian, for you were a
sojourner in his land.” Rashi writes: Although the Egyptians eventually
threw our male babies in the Nile, we are indebted to them because they
took us in in our time of need.
The Tolna Rebbe concludes: Our Sages say that there is no lowlier
trait than to be a “Kafuy tov” / an ingrate. Our Parashah teaches that
the opposite trait–being a grateful person–requires showing gratitude
even in circumstances in which that is not the obvious response. (Chamin B’motzai Shabbat)
********
Shabbat
R’ Dov Kook shlita (rabbi in Teveryah, Israel; author of more 100
works on Torah, Talmud, Tefilah, and Kabbalah) writes: Erev Shabbat
(Friday) is a holy time of yearning and preparation for the special day
of the week–Shabbat, the day of pleasure for the soul.
The sweetness of Erev Shabbat surpasses, in one respect, that of
Shabbat itself, for every minute, we are getting closer to Shabbat–the
greatest source of joy. In this sense, Erev Shabbat is like the days of
Sefirat Ha’omer leading to Shavuot. Every day of Sefirah, our joy
increases as we come closer and closer to the Giving of the Torah. In
contrast, on Shabbat itself, though its holiness increases and
increases, nevertheless, every moment brings us closer to the end of
Shabbat. (Italuta p.465)
From the same work:
It is well known that, in every Jewish house, there is tremendous
pressure before Shabbat. This is “good pressure,” and there is no
escaping it, writes R’ Kook. This is the reality! Even if one would make
all of his Shabbat preparations on Thursday, it would accomplish
nothing; there still would be tremendous pressure an hour before
Shabbat.
Why?
R’ Kook explains: Shabbat, the seventh day, alludes to the coming of
Mashiach, ushering in the seventh millennium. When the world sees that
Mashiach is about to arrive, the world will, of course, run to greet
him.
It is true that we are constantly preparing for Mashiach.
Nevertheless, when one sees his destination on the horizon, one runs
toward it. Similarly, in the spiritual realm, when one sees Mashiach on
the horizon, one runs toward him.
The Gemara (Eruvin 43b) says that Eliyahu Ha’navi will not come on a
Friday to herald Mashiach’s arrival. On Friday, we ourselves are busy
preparing for Shabbat–which, by definition, prepares us for Mashiach–and
Eliyahu does not want to disturb us. The more we approach Shabbat with a
sense of urgency, the more we are preparing for the coming of Mashiach.
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