The posuk says ויגדו לו לאמר עוד יוסף חי. And they told him saying Yosef is still alive.
The אור החיים asks, how is it possible that Yosef, who knew how much his father loved him, wouldn't have sent a message to his father telling him that he's alive, especially once he was in charge? People kept coming back & forth from canaan to buy food. Wouldn't he have sent a message?
The posuk says ויקרא הוציאו כל איש מעלי: and he called out, remove everyone from before me!
The midrash says that Yosef put himself in grave danger by sending everyone out, for once they were alone & he revealed himself, the brothers could have killed him. Why would he risk his life?
There's a story in שאל אביך ויגדך told about' ר יהושע לייב דיסקין, when he would say his regular shir to his students, his loyal שמש would always bring him a cup of tea in the middle of the shir so that he should have strength, for he was very weak. And since he suffered from low sugar, the שמש would put in a few heaping teaspoons of sugar. One day the students were told that the rebbitzin was agitated & upset, so they went to her to see what was wrong. She said that she found that in place of the sugar container next to the tea, there was a container of salt, & she was worried that the שמש might have put salt into the tea instead of sugar, & it could be life threatening if the Rav drank the tea with heaping teaspoons of salt at a time when he needed extra sugar. The students assured her that there was no way there was salt in the tea, for the Rav drank it like he always did, & there was no change in his expression. Therefore, she must be mistaken.
However, after careful examination, her fears were proven to be true & it was salt instead of sugar. The students went and asked the Rav, how could you do that? Why would you drink the tea with salt when it could have cost you your life!? He answered them that there's a gemara that says נוח לו לאדם שיפיל עצמו לכבשן האש ואל ילבין את פני חבירו ברבים: it's better for a person to throw himself into a fiery furnace than to embarrass his friend in public. So how could I embarrass the שמש who mistakenly put salt instead of sugar??
The אוצרות התורה brings down the פסיקתא that says Yaakov, until the end of his life didn't know how Yosef ended up in egypt. He had no idea that he was sold by his brothers, and not only that, but the whole 17 years that Yaakov lived in egypt, Yosef didn't go visit him. The reason was that he was afraid if he was left alone with his father, Yaakov might ask him how he ended up in egypt, & then he would end up speaking lashon hara & embarrassing his brothers. Therefore, he kept away, & that's why he didn't send a message to his father, for then it might have come out how he got there. And as Rashi says, he sent everyone out when he revealed himself so as not to embarrass his brothers. So even if he put his life in danger, or couldn't tell his father he was alive, or even once he was reunited with his father he couldn't be alone with him, it was all worth it just to avoid embarrassing his brothers. This teaches us how careful we have to be to think of others' feelings & not to embarrass our friends or family!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
mikeitz / chanuka
| T |
he posuk says, ויתנכר אליהם וידבר אתם קשות: but he [Yosef] acted like a stranger toward them [his brothers], and spoke with them harshly. The בית יוסף asks; how is it that a tzadik like Yosef wouldn't have forgiven them right away? Why would he have brought his father down, & make him suffer longer than he had to? Why put them through this whole charade? Was he just taking revenge? And he answers that all his actions were לשם שמים, in order for them to be forgiven for selling him. Why was that necessary? Why couldn't he just forgive them without putting them through all the heartache?
The אוצרות התורה asks why the חשמונאים even had to go fight at all; being that it was all a miracle anyway. As Rashi says, there were 13 maccabes against 100's of thousands of Greek warriors. It was all a נס, so why did they even have to bother going out to fight?
There's a story told about the חתם סופר, that once in the dead of night he summoned the community leader to come to him without delay, & on the way pick up two members of the board. When they arrived, he said to them, it has become known to me that the duke has signed a decree that will spell out many calamities for the Jewish people. However, the decree is still on the dukes’s desk, & if he doesn't change his mind, he will send it out tomorrow. You need to go to his home now & get him to change his mind.
So they headed out to go to the castle. As they came closer, they saw it was on the other side of the river, & at that late hour there were no boats going across. Finally, they found a fisherman sleeping in his boat & woke him up. He then begrudgingly took them across the river in a rickety, fishy, foul smelling boat. And with every turn they got soaked with the foul waters. As they got closer to the castle, the guards started yelling, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? Leave now.
The אוצרות התורה asks why the חשמונאים even had to go fight at all; being that it was all a miracle anyway. As Rashi says, there were 13 maccabes against 100's of thousands of Greek warriors. It was all a נס, so why did they even have to bother going out to fight?
There's a story told about the חתם סופר, that once in the dead of night he summoned the community leader to come to him without delay, & on the way pick up two members of the board. When they arrived, he said to them, it has become known to me that the duke has signed a decree that will spell out many calamities for the Jewish people. However, the decree is still on the dukes’s desk, & if he doesn't change his mind, he will send it out tomorrow. You need to go to his home now & get him to change his mind.
So they headed out to go to the castle. As they came closer, they saw it was on the other side of the river, & at that late hour there were no boats going across. Finally, they found a fisherman sleeping in his boat & woke him up. He then begrudgingly took them across the river in a rickety, fishy, foul smelling boat. And with every turn they got soaked with the foul waters. As they got closer to the castle, the guards started yelling, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? Leave now.
The commotion woke up the duke, & he asked what's going on here? The guard said three Jews are here. Once he was already up, the duke said to bring them in. They came in from the boat all wet & smelling like fish. He sat them down & told his butler to bring them a hot drink. As the duke is asking them why they are here, he says drink your coffee why aren't you drinking?
The community leader, shaking with fright, says our rabbis' forbade us to drink milk that was not milked in front of a Jew. There’s nothing wrong with it, we just can't drink it. Asks the duke what kind of law is that? They answer that it’s to insure that its milk from a kosher animal & not from camel or donkey. The duke, incensed, says for this farfetched reason you won't drink my milk? Who even drinks camel milk anyway? Still they wouldn't drink it. The duke wouldn't drop the matter; he called in his butler to ask him where the milk came from. He sheepishly answered that the duke’s goat where they normally got milk was sick so they couldn't get milk from her, so they got from the neighbor. Where does the neighbor get milk from, asked the duke. The butler answered, he has a camel that he gets his milk from...His answer shocked both the Jewish leaders & the duke, who was then in awe of the wisdom of the sages. He then asked why they were there, & they told him that their rabbi sent them to him so that he would abolish the decree. He promptly tore up the decree as he was so in awe of the sages of the Jewish people.The leaders came back to the חתם סופר and told him what had transpired. However they told him that in actuality, they were saved through a miracle, for by natural means, coming to the duke in the middle of the night smelling like fish & not drinking what was offered to them wouldn't normally get the desired result. It was really the חתם סופר 's prayers & beseeching 'ה that saved them. Why bother having them risk their life on a dangerous undertaking for no reason when it was his prayers that abolished the decree? He answered that without their self sacrifice, his tefillos would be worthless. It was their risking their life that brought the tefillos up so that they were able to work.
So too by the חשמונאים, it was the fact that they risked their lives to go fight that 'ה went to battle for them. Once they showed their willingness to go fight for 'ה against all odds, 'ה fought for them. Maybe this is why Yosef couldn't just forgive the brothers, in order for them to be forgiven. They had to be prepared to risk their lives to get him back no matter how unrealistic it seemed, & show that they really regretted selling him. Only then would they be forgiven. We could learn from here that even when a task seems insurmountable, all we have to do is sacrifice a little to give it our best shot & then 'ה will take it from there, making sure we succeed!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
vayeishev
The posuk says ולא יכלו דברו לשלום: and they couldn't talk peacefully to him. However, says רב יהונתן איבשיץ, had they spoken to each other, perhaps they would have made peace. The nature of feud is that the more it lingers inside of you, the more intense it becomes, growing stronger by the day. However, if the feuding parties would talk & work it out, then they wouldn't be angry anymore, which is why the Torah commands us לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך: don't hate your brother in your heart, but הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך: tell your friend what's bothering you & through that you will come to peace.
Alas by the brothers, it says ולא יכלו דברו לשלום: that they couldn't speak peacefully to him, so they never made peace. Why wouldn't the brothers have tried to make peace & talk it out?
The posuk says וימצאהו איש והנה תעה בשדה וישאלהו האיש לאמר מה תבקש. Rashi says, who was the איש? It was the angel Gavriel. In last week's parsha, it said ויאבק איש עמו, and over there Rashi said איש was the guardian of Eisav.
Asks רבי חיים מצנז, in both places the angel is referred to as איש, so how does Rashi know that over here it's talking about Gavriel, & over there about the guardian of Eisav?
There's a story told over in the ספר שאל אביך ויגדך, that one of the early rabbis was traveling & ended up in a town he had never been in before. He was looking for the shul when a jewish man hurried by. He started to ask him where the shul was, when the man interrupted him saying, I'm in a rush, I can't talk now; I'm running to shul. The rabbi, having no choice, followed after him to the shul. After they both arrived at the shul the rabbi approached him & asked him this question of how Rashi knows that once where it says איש it's Gavreil, & once it's the guardian of Eisav. The answer is that from the posuk itself it alludes to the difference between them. Over here, what happened? The איש finds a man wandering & lost, & he asks him, what are you looking for? Can I help you? That, says רב חיים, is the מלאך גבריאל, looking out for someone else, trying to help. However, when yaakov asked the other מלאך for a ברכה, what did he say? Send me away for the morning star rose. Chazal say that he had to go say shira - he couldn't bless him for he had to run to go daven. That's Eisav's מלאך, not having time for other people under the pretense of religion.
Maybe that's where the problem started with the brothers. Yosef thought they were sinning & they in turn thought he was sinning. The halacha is that if you know someone is a deliberate sinner, it's a mitzva to hate him so neither side would talk to the other. However, had they talked it out instead of just thinking the other one was a baal avaira, they would have seen that no side was sinning, & could have avoided this intense hatred which untimely led to our nation's servitude in egypt.
We could learn from this not to judge just by what you see, but to listen to what other people say, calmly, without rushing, & by doing so avoid the disastrous effects of מחלוקת!
Alas by the brothers, it says ולא יכלו דברו לשלום: that they couldn't speak peacefully to him, so they never made peace. Why wouldn't the brothers have tried to make peace & talk it out?
The posuk says וימצאהו איש והנה תעה בשדה וישאלהו האיש לאמר מה תבקש. Rashi says, who was the איש? It was the angel Gavriel. In last week's parsha, it said ויאבק איש עמו, and over there Rashi said איש was the guardian of Eisav.
Asks רבי חיים מצנז, in both places the angel is referred to as איש, so how does Rashi know that over here it's talking about Gavriel, & over there about the guardian of Eisav?
There's a story told over in the ספר שאל אביך ויגדך, that one of the early rabbis was traveling & ended up in a town he had never been in before. He was looking for the shul when a jewish man hurried by. He started to ask him where the shul was, when the man interrupted him saying, I'm in a rush, I can't talk now; I'm running to shul. The rabbi, having no choice, followed after him to the shul. After they both arrived at the shul the rabbi approached him & asked him this question of how Rashi knows that once where it says איש it's Gavreil, & once it's the guardian of Eisav. The answer is that from the posuk itself it alludes to the difference between them. Over here, what happened? The איש finds a man wandering & lost, & he asks him, what are you looking for? Can I help you? That, says רב חיים, is the מלאך גבריאל, looking out for someone else, trying to help. However, when yaakov asked the other מלאך for a ברכה, what did he say? Send me away for the morning star rose. Chazal say that he had to go say shira - he couldn't bless him for he had to run to go daven. That's Eisav's מלאך, not having time for other people under the pretense of religion.
Maybe that's where the problem started with the brothers. Yosef thought they were sinning & they in turn thought he was sinning. The halacha is that if you know someone is a deliberate sinner, it's a mitzva to hate him so neither side would talk to the other. However, had they talked it out instead of just thinking the other one was a baal avaira, they would have seen that no side was sinning, & could have avoided this intense hatred which untimely led to our nation's servitude in egypt.
We could learn from this not to judge just by what you see, but to listen to what other people say, calmly, without rushing, & by doing so avoid the disastrous effects of מחלוקת!
Friday, December 9, 2011
vayishlach
The posuk says וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו אל עשו אחיו, And Yaakov sent messengers to his brother Eisav.
It's written in the Midrash that רב הונא compares Yaakov's going to Eisav to Yaakov grabbing the ears of a passing dog; he's getting involved in a battle that's not his. Rav Shmuel bar Nachman compares it to the head of the bandits who's sleeping at the crossroads. A passerby wakes him and says, hurry & get up; there are criminals around here. The bandits start attacking him, & he realizes, not only is the bandit around, he's the one who woke him.
So too, says 'ה to Yaakov, Eisav was doing his own thing, why would you wake the sleeping bandit? רבי יחזקאל לוינשטיין זצ"ל asks, why do chazal compare Yaakov to someone who's fighting a battle that's not his? It very much was his battle. Even after the twenty two years that Yaakov was by Lavan, Eisav's fury was still full blown and he still wanted to destroy Yaakov. So why is it like he woke the sleeping bandit?
He explains that from here we see how strong our בטחון has to be, that even though Eisav still wanted to destroy Yaakov, as long as the situation didn't occur yet, you don't have to find a solution. Trust in 'ה that it will never come. That's why it's like he's fighting a battle that's not his, for he should have just let 'ה take care of it. How do we understand this? If the Torah is telling us to have that kind of faith, then Yaakov certainly had it. So why would he go to Eisav & not wait for 'ה to take care of it?
The posuk says ויירא יעקב מאד, that Yaakov was very afraid. Rashi asks, what was he afraid of? 'ה had told him that he would be with him to protect him, & he answers that he was afraid that maybe he sinned & was no longer worthy of 'ה's protection. רמב"ם asks, chazal say that it never happened that 'ה said He was going to do good to someone & then He did bad, so why was Yaakov afraid?
There's a story told about the רב מבריסק הגרי"ז זצ"ל during the war when there were missiles coming into ירושלים, & most of the people would go into the shelters to be protected. One such day he was learning in his upstairs study and against his family's wishes wouldn't go into the basement shelter. As the attacks intensified, his son & a neighbor fearing for his life, forced him to come down with them. While he was down there, a missile ripped through his wall & landed on his bed. What was his reaction? He called his son a מזיק, saying that had he not left the room it never would have gotten damaged! That's the kind of בטחון he had. Now unfortunately, most people don't have that kind of faith, so maybe Yaakov's intent was, being that מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, & the way he deals with Eisav will be the way we do, he had to do it in a way that would work for everyone. Of course he had complete faith, but that only works if there's no sin. That's why he said שמא ירגום החטא, going on future generations, that yes, for him there's no sin, so he could rely totally on divine protection. However, for the masses, we need to know how to deal with Eisav even if there is sin, so he taught us the way to go about it.
We can learn from here, says the אוצרות התורה, what to aspire to. If we want to live in peace, don't look for ways to try to change your destiny. Then 'ה will lead you through a life of goodness without your involvement. However, if you're always looking for new ways to try to improve your lot, 'ה will follow your lead, and it'll be up to you. It is incumbent upon us, that no matter what happens, to trust completely in 'ה, & then 'ה will protect us. We have to realize that all our trials are just a test to see if we'll put our full faith in 'ה!
It's written in the Midrash that רב הונא compares Yaakov's going to Eisav to Yaakov grabbing the ears of a passing dog; he's getting involved in a battle that's not his. Rav Shmuel bar Nachman compares it to the head of the bandits who's sleeping at the crossroads. A passerby wakes him and says, hurry & get up; there are criminals around here. The bandits start attacking him, & he realizes, not only is the bandit around, he's the one who woke him.
So too, says 'ה to Yaakov, Eisav was doing his own thing, why would you wake the sleeping bandit? רבי יחזקאל לוינשטיין זצ"ל asks, why do chazal compare Yaakov to someone who's fighting a battle that's not his? It very much was his battle. Even after the twenty two years that Yaakov was by Lavan, Eisav's fury was still full blown and he still wanted to destroy Yaakov. So why is it like he woke the sleeping bandit?
He explains that from here we see how strong our בטחון has to be, that even though Eisav still wanted to destroy Yaakov, as long as the situation didn't occur yet, you don't have to find a solution. Trust in 'ה that it will never come. That's why it's like he's fighting a battle that's not his, for he should have just let 'ה take care of it. How do we understand this? If the Torah is telling us to have that kind of faith, then Yaakov certainly had it. So why would he go to Eisav & not wait for 'ה to take care of it?
The posuk says ויירא יעקב מאד, that Yaakov was very afraid. Rashi asks, what was he afraid of? 'ה had told him that he would be with him to protect him, & he answers that he was afraid that maybe he sinned & was no longer worthy of 'ה's protection. רמב"ם asks, chazal say that it never happened that 'ה said He was going to do good to someone & then He did bad, so why was Yaakov afraid?
There's a story told about the רב מבריסק הגרי"ז זצ"ל during the war when there were missiles coming into ירושלים, & most of the people would go into the shelters to be protected. One such day he was learning in his upstairs study and against his family's wishes wouldn't go into the basement shelter. As the attacks intensified, his son & a neighbor fearing for his life, forced him to come down with them. While he was down there, a missile ripped through his wall & landed on his bed. What was his reaction? He called his son a מזיק, saying that had he not left the room it never would have gotten damaged! That's the kind of בטחון he had. Now unfortunately, most people don't have that kind of faith, so maybe Yaakov's intent was, being that מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, & the way he deals with Eisav will be the way we do, he had to do it in a way that would work for everyone. Of course he had complete faith, but that only works if there's no sin. That's why he said שמא ירגום החטא, going on future generations, that yes, for him there's no sin, so he could rely totally on divine protection. However, for the masses, we need to know how to deal with Eisav even if there is sin, so he taught us the way to go about it.
We can learn from here, says the אוצרות התורה, what to aspire to. If we want to live in peace, don't look for ways to try to change your destiny. Then 'ה will lead you through a life of goodness without your involvement. However, if you're always looking for new ways to try to improve your lot, 'ה will follow your lead, and it'll be up to you. It is incumbent upon us, that no matter what happens, to trust completely in 'ה, & then 'ה will protect us. We have to realize that all our trials are just a test to see if we'll put our full faith in 'ה!
Friday, December 2, 2011
vayeitzei
The posuk says ויבא גם אל רחל ויאהב גם את רחל מלאה and he married Rochel too and he loved also Rochel more than Leah.
The posuk is trying to say that Yaakov loved Rochel more than Leah. So where does the work גם fit in, which implies that he also loved Rochel? It should have just said that he loved Rochel more than Leah.
Answers the אמרי שפר that the extra word is telling us that besides the natural love he felt for Rochel because she was beautiful, he now had more reason to love her. When he saw that she gave the סימנים over to Leah just so that she shouldn't be embarrassed, showed him how sensitive she was to other people's feelings. So from Leah he came to love Rochel even more.
When Yaakov originally came to the well he asked the shepherds why they were all there so early. Rashi says he was saying to them, if you work for someone you're not doing your job. If it's your own animals, they still need to eat. They answered that they had to wait until all the shepherds come because they couldn't lift the rock. Imagine a stranger comes to town, and starts questioning how you conduct your business. Most people wouldn't even give him the time of day. However, they start answering him & explaining their actions. Why is that? For when he first came, he talked to them like one who cares. He called them אחי - my brothers, & talked nicely, so they immediately saw that he had only their best interests at heart & that he genuinely cared about them so they explained to him what was going on.
If you look later in the parsha, after Leah had four sons & Rochel didn't have any, she says to Yaakov, "Give me children - if not I am dead." What does Yaakov say instead of the caring sympathetic response one would expect? He gets angry & says, am I instead of GD Who withheld from you children?
How does this fit in to his character trait of caring and kindness and his love for her?
Ramban takes the question a step further, and says according to Rashi, Yaakov tells her you want me to act like my father & pray for you? My father didn't either have children, whereas I have.
Asks the Ramban don't tzadikkim daven for other people even if they themselves don't need it? Of course they do! So why wouldn't he daven for her?
Maybe we understand this based on how the אור החיים explains why yaakov got angry. He says that he got angry because rochel said מתה אנכי, that she would die, for when tzadikkim say something it has an effect. He was upset that she ever uttered those words, because of his great love for her, he didn't want her cursing herself therefore he got angry. To answer the Ramban's question perhaps the reason he said that he wouldn't daven for her was because he knew that the tefillos of the one who needs it are much greater than if one prays for someone else & being that he had children his tefilos wouldn't be as great as hers. Therefore, it was this same love & caring that made him act seemingly irrational, in order to get her to daven for herself which would bring out the desired result. Teaching us how careful we have to be not to let our love cloud our judgment, and always act in the real best interest of those that we care about, no matter how hurtful it may seem, to bring out the best results!
The posuk is trying to say that Yaakov loved Rochel more than Leah. So where does the work גם fit in, which implies that he also loved Rochel? It should have just said that he loved Rochel more than Leah.
Answers the אמרי שפר that the extra word is telling us that besides the natural love he felt for Rochel because she was beautiful, he now had more reason to love her. When he saw that she gave the סימנים over to Leah just so that she shouldn't be embarrassed, showed him how sensitive she was to other people's feelings. So from Leah he came to love Rochel even more.
When Yaakov originally came to the well he asked the shepherds why they were all there so early. Rashi says he was saying to them, if you work for someone you're not doing your job. If it's your own animals, they still need to eat. They answered that they had to wait until all the shepherds come because they couldn't lift the rock. Imagine a stranger comes to town, and starts questioning how you conduct your business. Most people wouldn't even give him the time of day. However, they start answering him & explaining their actions. Why is that? For when he first came, he talked to them like one who cares. He called them אחי - my brothers, & talked nicely, so they immediately saw that he had only their best interests at heart & that he genuinely cared about them so they explained to him what was going on.
If you look later in the parsha, after Leah had four sons & Rochel didn't have any, she says to Yaakov, "Give me children - if not I am dead." What does Yaakov say instead of the caring sympathetic response one would expect? He gets angry & says, am I instead of GD Who withheld from you children?
How does this fit in to his character trait of caring and kindness and his love for her?
Ramban takes the question a step further, and says according to Rashi, Yaakov tells her you want me to act like my father & pray for you? My father didn't either have children, whereas I have.
Asks the Ramban don't tzadikkim daven for other people even if they themselves don't need it? Of course they do! So why wouldn't he daven for her?
Maybe we understand this based on how the אור החיים explains why yaakov got angry. He says that he got angry because rochel said מתה אנכי, that she would die, for when tzadikkim say something it has an effect. He was upset that she ever uttered those words, because of his great love for her, he didn't want her cursing herself therefore he got angry. To answer the Ramban's question perhaps the reason he said that he wouldn't daven for her was because he knew that the tefillos of the one who needs it are much greater than if one prays for someone else & being that he had children his tefilos wouldn't be as great as hers. Therefore, it was this same love & caring that made him act seemingly irrational, in order to get her to daven for herself which would bring out the desired result. Teaching us how careful we have to be not to let our love cloud our judgment, and always act in the real best interest of those that we care about, no matter how hurtful it may seem, to bring out the best results!
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