Vayigash

Finally convinced that his brothers are truly concerned for their brother Binyamin and their father, Yosef can no longer hold himself back and is about to reveal his true identity.

Then, instead of just telling them who he was, he says, הוציאו כל איש מעלי, "remove everyone from before me!" Rashi tells us that the reason he removed all the Egyptians from the room was because he didn't want his brothers to be embarrassed in front of the Egyptians when he made himself known. The midrash says that Yosef put himself in grave danger by sending all his security personnel from the room, leaving him alone with the brothers who, at this point, were very angry. They could easily kill him and no one would be there to protect him. So, why did he order all the Egyptians out? Yosef felt it was better that he be killed rather than embarrass his brothers. 

Reb Leib Chasman takes this a step further, saying that, even though everything that Yosef did was just so that he could see his father again, he didn't tell his brothers who he was right away, for he had  to make sure that they would be forgiven for selling him. Therefore, he carried on the charade until he saw that they really cared. When the time came, he knew that he didn't have to hold back any longer, so he could say who he was and then get to see his father. However, instead of just screaming out “I am Yosef!," he had the presence of mind to throw out the Egyptians in order not to embarrass his brothers. Even though he knew that his father was very attached to him, nevertheless, he was going to let himself be killed, never to see his father again, so that his brothers, who had sold him there to begin with, wouldn't get embarrassed. The Ohr Hachaim says that this is the reason that Yosef never sent a message to Yaakov to tell him that he was fine.  Had he sent a message, then Yaakov would have figured out what happened and might curse the brothers. Yosef didn't want to cause them any pain, so he didn't say anything.

The Gemara tells us the story of Mar Ukva who would give out money to the poor but would put it through the door when no one was looking, so that the poor man wouldn't be embarrassed by knowing who is helping him out. One day, Mar Ukva was late coming home so his wife went to the study hall to find him. On their way home Mar Ukva remembered that he hadn't given his charity yet, so he and his wife went to the poor man's house to put the money in the door. However, the poor man was actually waiting home that day to see who was giving him the money. When he saw them through the window, he came running out to thank them for their kindness. However, they, not wanting to be recognized, ran away. As they were running, they saw a large oven in the yard nearby and went in there to hide. Even though it was very hot in the oven and Mar Ukva's feet were starting to burn, they waited until the poor man gave up looking for them, so that he wouldn't be embarrassed when he saw them. 

In our community this week, we had an unfathomable tragedy with most of us not knowing what to do or how to cope. Hashem is trying to tell us something. Of course, we don't know what. However, if we take the lesson of this parsha, a lesson that recurs throughout the Torah, upon ourselves to be a little nicer, a little kinder to those around us, to be careful not to say things that might embarrass others, then maybe, in that merit, we can demonstrate to Hashem that we learned something. We are listening to Him and we don't need any more tragedies to teach us. Rather, we will have redemption like we saw at the end of the week, when a man who was sentenced to a unfair amount of jail time with no hope of getting out early, was, from one day to the next, let out nineteen years early. Let's do our part; learn from all that happens, know that Hashem can take us out of the exile just as quickly, we just have to show Him we care!

Mikeitz

When Pharaoh has a dream that none of his advisors could interpret to his satisfaction, Yosef is taken out of prison in hopes that he can interpret the dream for Pharaoh. Yosef interprets the dream, accounting for all its details, and then suggests that Pharaoh find a wise man to carry out the plan to save Egypt from famine. The posuk says ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם וישיתהו על ארץ מצרים, "And let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt." The Otzer Hatorah asks, “Why was it necessary to appoint someone wise? Couldn't any grain merchant gather and store the produce?  Couldn’t he then sell it when the time came? Why the need for someone so wise? Reb Shlomo Bloch offers an explanation based on personal experience: “I remember during my youth, that a famine occurred in Vilna. Every day, people were dying of starvation. Had there been someone, years earlier when there was plenty of food, who could have envisioned hungry people roaming the streets desperately searching for something to eat, he would have prepared for the bad times. Only someone with that vision could have convinced people to save for the hard times to come. He would have been able to paint a picture so terrible that the masses would respond to the unthinkable, but impending catastrophe. He would have convinced them that the issue isn't having more food or less food; rather the issue is life or death. Yosef understood that during the years of plenty, no one would even imagine what lay ahead and therefore would be incapable of understanding the need to make do with less. It was necessary to find a wise man who could inspire the people with a vision of the future."

Reb Elyah Lopian compares this world to the years of plenty and the next world to the years of famine. Only in this world does one have almost endless opportunities to study Torah and do mitzvos; in the next world no such opportunities exist; it's a world of famine. We tend to think this life is forever and we will always be able to do mitzvos and store away spiritual provisions for later. It takes wisdom to envision a time when we will not be able to add to our storehouses of merit. If we remember the famine for mitzvos that exists in the next world, we will use our current  time wisely.

A famous parable illustrates this point. A general devised a brilliant strategy to win an extended war. The king had promised him that if he were victorious, he would be rewarded with an hour in the royal vault, free to take whatever he wished. As the great day approached, the king was worried, for he had to fulfill his promise but he was afraid that the general would take too much valuable treasure from the vault. He asked his advisors for an idea. One of them said, “I know that this general is a lover of music. On the day he is to go into the vault, place the best orchestra inside and have them play. The general will be captivated by the music and forget why he came to the vault."

The general appeared at the palace gate; the door to the vault opened and the music began to play. For a moment, he stood there enraptured; then, remembering why he was there, he began to fill his pockets. Suddenly, the intensity of the music increased and again he stopped to listen to the beautiful music. After a minute or two, he began to figuratively scream at himself, “Fool! This is a golden opportunity, do not miss it because of your love for music!” At that very moment, the music intensified yet again and he forgot himself. Suddenly there was a hand on his collar and he was pulled out of the vault. “Your time is up, it's time to leave.” We are all given time in this world to grab treasures by studying Torah and doing mitzvos. Compared to the next, eternal world, this one is like a mere hour, but it's in this short time that we can grab endless spiritual wealth. The yetzer hara, working to make us forget why we are here, bombards us with all kinds of lovely distractions to make us lose out on our eternal reward.

We are in the middle of Chanukah, which symbolizes the light of Torah. It's the time to make a spiritual reassessment and see where we are headed. Just as the Maccabees, small in number, forged ahead with no natural means of being victorious, so too, we, even though we sometimes feel that we are surrounded by a world that totally goes against everything the Torah stands for, can forge ahead and be victorious. Let the light of Chanukah lead us past the distractions so we can collect as much as we can in our “hour”!  

Vayeishev

Yaakov sends Yosef to visit his brothers who are tending the family flocks. Convinced that he wanted to sow dissension thus undermining the family's spiritual destiny, the brothers felt that he warranted the death penalty. As they saw him approaching, they plotted to kill him and say that he was devoured by a wild animal. Reuvain heard what was being discussed and said, “let's not kill him, rather let's put him in a pit so that we don't lay a hand on him.” Then the posuk reveals his intent: למען הציל אתו מידם להשיבו אל אביו, in order to save him from their hands and to return him home to his father. His intentions were to put him in the pit just until the other brothers calm down; then he would take him out and bring him back home.

The אור החיים הקדוש, says that the Torah specifies that Reuvain was saving him מידם, from their hands, but not from the snakes and scorpions that were in the pit. The אור החיים explains that a person who has free will is able to kill another person even if he wasn't supposed to die yet. Conversely, animals can only kill a person if that person has a decree of death on him anyway. Therefore, since Yosef was a tzaddik, Reuvain knew that there was no heavenly judgment against Yosef, so that, even if the pit was full of animals, they wouldn't be able to hurt him.

The midrash writes that, had Reuvain known that the Torah would write, ויצלהו מידם, he saved him from their hand, he would have carried Yosef on his shoulders back to his father. The Otzer Hatorah is astounded by this midrash. Do the sages view Reuvain as one who would only do the right thing if it was going to be recorded? Was he looking for honor?

The Sfas Emes explains, when an incident is written in the Torah, it assumes the dimension of eternity. The Torah is not a history book. We see certain stories that appear in great detail, while there are eras that are ignored completely; we know nothing about Avraham until he was seventy or Moshe from when he was thirteen until eighty. We know nothing of those years and countless other eras that the Torah doesn't tell us about because it's not relevant to us everlastingly. It only records things that we can learn from eternally. Reuvain, who was thinking that his good deed was just the act of a private individual with no historic meaning, did not take it as seriously as he should have. Had he realized the Torah would record his efforts to save his brother, thus making it part of our national heritage, he would have done even more and carried Yosef back to Yaakov on his shoulders.

Only Hashem can differentiate between a passing incident and one with eternal ramifications. Man, on the other hand, often views insignificant events as meaningful while he misses the true significance of actions that he views as inessential. Therefore, says Reb Eliyahu Meir Bloch, one must pour all his energy into each good thing that one does since he never knows how it will affect him, his children, his environment and his community. One never knows which of his actions will be witnessed by others or what small act of kindness can make the difference in another person's life

One may think he is building a sand castle when in truth he's building entire worlds. Let's take this lesson to heart and make sure when we do good thing, we do it right and make it count. We need to be more aware of our actions and remember that we never know who is watching us and what our eternal status will be!

Vayishlach

Our parsha continues Yaakov's departure from Lavan and his travels to his parents’ home. He is wary of Eisav's hatred which is still strong, so Yaakov tries to pacify him by sending messengers to tell his brother that he's coming back. The messengers return with the news that Eisav’s on his way to you with an army of four hundred men. Yaakov is afraid and splits his camp in two so that if one is hurt, the other can get away. Then, he sends an enormous gift to Eisav, crosses the river with his family, goes back alone over the river where he is confronted by the angel of Eisav and they battle through the night.

There are many interpretations of this narrative, specifically why Yaakov went back himself. Rashi relates the midrash that says he went back for some small jugs he left there, while others say they were filled with oil and he went back for the oil. The Rashbam gives us a totally different viewpoint by saying that Yaakov crossed back over the river himself to run away. He was so traumatized by the thought of having to deal with Eisav again, that, after he got the rest of his family across the river to safety, he was just going to run away. Then, the angel fought with him all night to stop him from running away  to show him that Hashem's word will be honored and he won't be harmed by Eisav.

How do we understand this? Why would Yaakov run away?

After the Torah tells us that the angel wrestled with Yaakov all night, striking Yaakov in the hip when he couldn't overcome him, leaving Yaakov with a limp. Then, right after his encounter with the angel, the Torah states, he lifted his eyes and Eisav was coming with four hundred men. Reb Zalman Sorotzkin says that we saw that Yaakov prepared himself with three things, to pray that Hashem help him, to appease Eisav with the gift, and to prepare for war. At the last moment, however, Hashem showed him that he could rely neither on wealth or strength. Some wealth brings nothing but harm to its owners, as He showed him by the fact that by going back for the small jugs he put himself in mortal danger. As for physical strength, a man had suddenly come to kill him, causing him to fight all night and leaving him wounded. Dead tired and limping, he was in no condition to fight Eisav. Yaakov saw that the only path open to him was that of prayer. He lifted his eyes to Heaven and said, “I shall not trust in my bow, neither will my wealth save me. Only You shelter me from trouble.” Then Eisav came in peace, hugged him and kissed him, so Yaakov had nothing to fear.

Rabbi YY Jacobson explains that Yaakov was human and had natural fears.  Even though it had been so many years, the thought of seeing his brother, who wanted to kill him, again, frightened him. Unresolved issues don't just go away; even though it was years later, all the trauma was still there. He didn't want to deal with it, so he decided to run away. When Hashem sent the angel to stop him, Yaakov realized that you can't run away from your problems; one must face his fears, pray to Hashem to help, and, with Hashem’s help, he will succeed. The Torah is teaching us that it's normal to fear. Even Yaakov was afraid. However, the Torah is also showing us that, with prayer, we will be able to overcome any obstacle. No matter what our fears, we shouldn’t run away from our problems, but just put our faith in Hashem and He will help us overcome!