General Overview: Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams, becomes viceroy over Egypt, and implements his plan to save the region from famine. Joseph is harsh with his brothers who come to Egypt to buy food, and demands that Benjamin be brought to Egypt. When Benjamin eventually comes he is framed and accused of theft. First Aliyah: Pharaoh had a dream: seven fat cows arose from the Nile, followed by seven emaciated cows. The gaunt cows then consumed the robust ones. He then had a second dream, wherein seven healthy ears of grain were eaten by seven thin and parched ears. In the morning, none of Pharaoh's wise men were capable of interpreting the dreams to Pharaoh's satisfaction. Pharaoh's butler approached and related his past jailhouse experience, when a Hebrew boy, Joseph, successfully interpreted dreams. Pharaoh ordered Joseph's release, and he appeared before the king. Second Aliyah: Pharaoh recounted his dreams to Joseph. Joseph told Pharaoh that both dreams contained a singular message: seven years of plenty were destined to come upon Egypt, followed by seven years of severe famine. Joseph proposed a plan to store the excess grain of the years of plenty, to serve as a reserve for the famine years to follow. Pharaoh was greatly impressed by Joseph's wisdom. Third Aliyah: Pharaoh appointed Joseph as viceroy of Egypt, and placed him in charge of the impending food collection operation. Thirty-year-old Joseph was placed second-in command of the Egyptian empire, accountable to no one but Pharaoh himself. Indeed, the seven years of plenty arrived as foretold by Joseph, and Joseph skilfully oversaw the collection of the surplus grain. Joseph married Osnat, the daughter of Poti-phera, and she bore him two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. Fourth Aliyah: Then the famine predicted by Joseph commenced, a grave famine that affected Egypt and the entire Mediterranean region. Exactly as planned, Joseph had sufficient stores of food, which he personally sold to all who needed. Meanwhile, in nearby Canaan, Joseph's father, Jacob, dispatched his eldest ten sons all of them excepting Benjamin to Egypt to purchase food provisions. The brothers arrived and stood before Joseph, but did not recognize him, as his boyish appearance had changed in the interim years. When the brothers broached their request to purchase food, Joseph dealt with them harshly, accused them of espionage, and incarcerated them all for three days. Fifth Aliyah: On the third day, Joseph released them all, aside for Simon, whom he held hostage. He bid the rest of the brothers to return to Canaan and return with their youngest brother, Benjamin, and thus establish their innocence. The brothers recognized that this was punishment for the sale of Joseph, and expressed regret for their deed. Joseph instructed his servants to place the monies the brothers had paid for the food in the sacks of grain they were given. The brothers arrived back in Canaan and recounted the entire episode to Jacob. Jacob was highly disturbed by the happenings, and initially refused to send Benjamin, unwilling to consider the possibility of losing Rachel's only remaining son. Eventually, though, after the food provisions ran low, and Judah personally guaranteed Benjamin's safe return, Jacob acceded to send him. He sent them to Egypt with a prayer on his lips, and armed with a gift for the Egyptian ruler. Sixth Aliyah: The brothers arrived in Egypt. Joseph instructed his palace supervisor to invite the brothers to join him for the afternoon repast. The brothers arrived at Joseph's residence where they were reunited with Simon. Joseph arrived, and the brothers presented him with the gift they had prepared, and they exchanged pleasantries. Seventh Aliyah: Upon seeing his brother Benjamin, Joseph was overcome with emotion, which he concealed. The brothers sat down and enjoyed a feast, and Joseph presented them all with gifts Benjamin's gift greater than all the others'. In the morning the brothers departed, but not before Joseph had his royal goblet planted in Benjamin's sack of food. Joseph then dispatched a posse to confront the brothers and "uncover" the planted goblet. The brothers were all brought back to Joseph, who demanded that the "thief," Benjamin alone, remain behind as his slave. © Copyright, all rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with Chabad.org's copyright policy.
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A CUMULUS OF PAIN Oh Why, Oh Why, Oh Why
Rabbi Leivi Sudak Lubavitch of Edgware
brothers and three aunts. Her father was quite well-off, he had herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and many servants to tend to all their needs. Only this past Friday they came to camp on the outskirts of a town that was new to her family, and which seemed quite impressive. Somehow, she managed to understand their dialect, and she learned that in just two d there would be a Fete and all the Townsfolk would be dancing in the streets. What a beautiful opportunity, she thought, she could get to know some of the Townsfolk. She went out to watch the Fete. Calamity struck! She was kidnapped! Not just by anyone, but by the Crown-Prince himself. And, he violated her as well. Three days later, her brothers managed to liberate her. At first she refused to go along with them, saying that now there was no point as nobody would ever marry her. Her brother Shimon promised her that he would marry her . *** ly half of a consolation, at least this amily. The baby was proudly named Osnat by her mother Dinah, but her uncles did not take kindly to her. They They even began to call their own sister in their home a life of quarrel and misery. Fearing for welfare, her grandfather began to search for a good family that would adopt her. After a long and hard search, more than four years later, Yaakov agreed with an Egyptian Prince Potiphar and his wife Zlicha, that they would adopt his grand-daughter and give her a good home.
same necklace. necklace of her own. *** Rachel was due to be married, but she cared for her older sister. She was the most beautiful woman, her sister was not. She was concerned that her older sister might not ever marry. Their father had different designs. At the end of the wedding party he was going to slip her older sister to take plans were doomed to fail, she had a secret code between her and her intended husband which her sister did not know. Now she realised that her older sister was about to be so publicly shamed, so she told her sister the code, and her sister took her place. Her sister had seven children from her husband before G-d blessed her with even one son. When her son was day they were able to get hold of him and sold him into slavery. His slave masters brought him all the way to Egypt to sell him as a slave. *** He was only seventeen years old when he was placed on the slave block in Egypt for sale. Everyone who saw him was struck by his outstanding beauty, but no one could afford his price. Only a wealthy prince would be able to afford him. Indeed, Potiphar was the one person who offered to pay the price, and he bought him to serve in his home. Potiphar was struck by his remarkable talents and his superb ability to organise early morning until late at night, always doing his work with perfect responsibility, always with a cheer in his voice, and always singing praise to G-d.
But someone was not happy. Zlicha became jealous of him for his beauty, and she began to taunt him. She kept setting him up to do grievous wrong, she really wanted him to sin. Only then would she be happy. Nothing could keep her away from him and from taunting him; finally her day came, all the men and even that he would not be able to escape her. He had oth and he was not going to fall for her fantasy better to be ashamed in the eyes of man, than to ashamed in the eyes of GThere he was, alone in the street, without clothes, without a friend or support, five hundred miles away for his family, but he knew that G-d was with him. *** Later on, it was almost night time, and his master returned. When Zlicha told her husband her version of what
was prison. The food was edible and plentiful, the accommodations were better than regular prisons, but it was still prison. Strangely enough, it was public knowledge that this most beautiful slave was now in prison. Everyone was aware about him, and many Egyptian young maidens fancily thought that if he ever gets out of prison they would like to be the lucky one to marry him. The prison mas he could also rely on him. It did not take long, and he was put in charge of all the operations of the prison. He used his talent to learn each prisoner and his personal needs, to manage the prison at the highest level of efficiency, without compromising the relative comfort of any fellow prisoner. *** He wakes up one morning to find two prisoners in distress, they had each had challenging dreams. Using his t But he was going to stay behind, he was going to remain a prisoner. *** A further two years pass, he is still a prisoner, a long way away from his home and his family. He wonders, does anyone at home still miss him? Will he ever again see his father? One night, the King has two disturbing success, that the King want to give him the highest Title in the Land, he wants to appoint him as Viceroy. low a slave to attain such Public Office, the constitution does not either allow an ex-prisoner to hold any Public Office, the constitution does not allow someone born in a foreign country to hold High Office. So, the King rewrites the constitution to allow him to assume the position of Viceroy of Egypt. The King is so pleased with the new appointment, the King also wants him to be married. So the King calls for an Honour Parade, and he is taken for an open-chariot ride through the Capitol. To him all the honour is meaningless, his only thoughts are with his father so far away in his distant homeland. At the height of his celebrations he is so lonely. His chariot ride takes him through every single street of the Capitol. Every rooftop is crowded with people trying to get a glimpse of him, hoping that some of his beauty may shine on to them. The maidens secretly hoping that he sees them and fancies them. They throw gifts onto his chariot, to which they have tied a papyrus with their name and address, hoping to entice him to give them a chance to be suited with him. Amongst those gifts is a necklace. *** Arriving back at the Palace, he takes up his first day at his new position. His assistants bring in all the gifts that fell onto his chariot during his ride, but to him they are of little importance. Oh, he thinks, if only his father could see all this? If only his father could see that he is still devout and has not strayed from the ways of his Gd? Of what value are all these earthly possessions, which are here today and gone tomorrow? Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he sees something different. He sees something very special. He sees an exact replica of the very necklace that has been with him all his life. The very necklace that he held onto in
spite of all his sufferings. An exact replica of the very necklace that his father gave him. Where did this come from? He wonders. He looks closer, yes, there is a papyrus with some very neat writing tied to the necklace. He reads the papyrus, Potiphar Egyptians that he had met. But, how could she possibly possess such a rare and unique necklace? He is mystified. *** He calls for her and she comes to the Palace.
She replie Potiphar and Zlicha are not my real parents. When I was born your brother demanded of my grandfather to give me up for adoption. My grandfather went around the world to find a good couple that would adopt me and bring me up grandfather gave me the necklace and told me that I may marry someone who has the same necklace. When you came into my house I recognised you right away, but I was not allowed to go up to you because I was a princess and you were a slave. I saw everything that my new mother Zlicha did to you, and I had to keep quiet. I saw you thrown into prison, and I had to keep quiet. I observed everything that was happening to you in prison, and I had to keep quiet. When you were released from prison and brought to the palace, I knew all about it. When you were taken on the parade through the Capitol, I said to mys and address. If you will marry me, that will be good. And if you will not marry me, I will no longer need the necklace, becaus He looked at her and he was stunned. His eyes were now red and filled with tears. But now there was a new problem. By Egyptian Law, a man of High Office may not marry an adopted person, and Osnat was known by all to have been adopted. He now had to go to Pharaoh and request another change in the constitution to allow them to be married. *** This story is filled with pain after pain after pain. Some pain that should be regarded as just horrific. Pain that should be beyond the capacity of man to assimilate. Yet the two parties did not complain. In the end they proudly acknowledged, that all the pain was for a greater purpose! -d, He sent me ahead of you so that you should be able to survive the great famine, and that I should become a provider of sustenance for you and carry you Osnat, the daughter of Dina, was his niece. She was the only person that could possibly, so far away from his ultimately the mother of Menashe and Efrayim. Yosef is teaching us. G-d does not bring harm upon us. Each and every one of those horrific experiences was indeed terrible, no person is ever deserving of enduring even one of them. Conversely, e their deeds ne who is given the opportunity to observe the entire episode from above sees a different picture. Only when one sees the complete picture can we remark and say to God One, for Your Mercy does not expire; the Merciful One, for there is no limit to Your Kindness; forever we set our H Sometimes we seem to experience a barrage of horrors in our lives. Yosef is telling us to have faith and to have patience. Soon, soon, very soon, we will see the beauty of the Divine Plan, and that He, our most loving Father in Heaven, is constantly looking out for us and make sure that we enjoy His Personal Good in plenty.
Reprinted in honour of the Bar Mitzvah of Yossi Usiskin
Part 13 By Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson Mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Published and copyrighted by Kehot Publication Society
Serious illnesses With winter, all the above conditions led to the spread of typhus and influenza epidemics (may the Merciful One spare us). My husband fell ill and lay in bed for fifteen days. After enduring many complications, he barely survived. About a month later, I too fell sick with a high fever of 40°C [104°F]. Under the circumstances, asking a doctor to pay a home visit would result in immediate confinement in the hospital, which was five kilometres away from our residence. Accordingly, my illness needed to be carefully concealed.1 Among the deportees, however, was a gentile doctor, who would change his clothes to hide his identity and pay us a visit at 1:00-2:00 a.m. He would write out prescriptions for medications I they filled the unsigned prescriptions, although doing so was against the law and therefore highly perilous for the pharmacist. I lay sick for several days, and the doctor was of the opinion that my sickness was typhus, which is very infectious. In a village not far from us lived a Jewish couple who were evacuees. The husband had served as a shochet. He received an order drafting him into the army, and they came by train to request that my husband use his influence with doctors at the hospital [to help get him an exemption]. They visited us l then to admit train-travelers to When they entered our room, the wife saw me lying in bed in poor condition. My husband was 2 whether to pour the milk first or the grits. Seeing this, she declared without hesitation that she would not leave us until I would be able to get up from my sickbed in full health. When I told her that it might be a contagious disease and it could 3 and said she was not afraid of it. She quickly changed out her traveling clothes and prepared some food for her husband. Then she got to work taking care of me. First she changed my clothes, for I had been lying in bed for several days, all the while perspiring heavily due to my very high temperature. She then changed my bedding, laying fresh linen on my pillow and bed. The old bedding had irritated me painfully, as if it Then she cooked me porridge of farina, which she knew how to cook without any need to 4 Now I had what to eat. My fever continued, and the doctor, despite his great fear, continued his clandestine visits at 1:002:00 past midnight. After the doctor left, my husband would take his book of Tehillim,5 which I still have,6 We now had four people living in our room. The shochet slept on the floor near the door, for there was no other place, and he was also somewhat concerned about catching typhus. The wife made
no partitions, she hardly ever got out of her clothes. The couple had to be careful not even to cough or move about noisily, so t fact that I was lying sick in bed, without anyone knowing what my illness actually was, my husband settled down next to the table and recited Psalms lay in bed, I could sense in his voice how heartbroken he was his broken heart could have moved boulders. I believed then with perfect faith, as I believe now, that his recital of Psalms helped me recover from my sickness. As the days passed, my fever started to decline, and with it the fear of typhus. Due to our
Bread for Shabbat at the last moment Friday came, the eve of Shabbat, and there was absolutely no bread, not even a morsel, for the four of us. Our guests had finished their lepyoshkes (flatbread) that they brought. The shochet cooked the fish that was purchased at the market. Her husband carried in two pails of water, which was no small accomplishment the rope for drawing the water from the well had torn, and the gentile neighbors refused to lend him another. Everything was taken care of, even cleaning up the room and washing the floor. But there was no bread, or any indication of where bread might be found. We all sat there, somehow not too concerned about the situation. People react strangely in such be Shabbat, and there was nothing we could do about our situation! Soon we would have to recite the blessings for lighting the Shabbat candles. Suddenly we saw a girl dressed in non-Jewish clothing walking towards our home. Her face was wrapped in a large shawl to conceal her identity. She knocked at the door and walked straight over Rav Schneerso
Her uncle was the manager of the local government bakery, so she could sometimes reduce every most severe punishment. took our minds away from being hungry, particularly on Shabbat. My husband immediately cut off two pieces of bread, which he covered with a cloth, so that there would be the required two loaves of bread for Shabbat.7 When the gir used his five year sentence in isolation to be doubled. On the previous night, Thursday, my husband had recited Psalms, as I have written. It was no ordinary recital of Psalms, and no ordinary weeping. They were tears not of despair, but rather an outpouring of his very soul, with an exalted and intense faith in G-d and deep attachment to Him. That Shabbat, I was already able to sit up on my bed, and we also had food to eat. My husband and our guest prayed [on Shabbat morning] each in his tallit, and we also spent time in conversation. began to recover from my illness.
Saving a life from almost certain death
After Shabbat, my husband located a townsman of his, a shoemaker from Dobrianke.8 Those who Dobrianke as he called my husband with great reverence and deference. It was no small matter
immediately arranged for our guest, the shochet, ment for stomach ailments. But he needed to have X-rays taken, for which he required a document A way was found to take care of this, too. In Kzyl-Orda, the regional hospital had a radiology department, where the doctor in charge was the daughter 9 of our friend, Mr. Kolikov.10 Everything had to be arranged in a hurry, because the date when he was to be sent to the battlefront had already arrived. That Sunday afternoon, the shochet who was due to be drafted left for Kzyl-Orda. He now had documents certifying tht he was critically ill and in need of undergoing a special operation, but that, since he was very weak, he would have to wait several months for the operation to be performed. In Kzyl-Orda, Dr. Kolikov took care to get him X-ray of a patient who actually suffered from that sickness, with the shochet Arranging all this took two weeks, during which time the shochet stayed with Mr. Kolikov. He is documentation. An immediate decision was issued to release him from the draft for six months due to his stomach ailment and allowing him to return home. This caused great celebration in our home, that even under our difficult living conditions we had succeeded in saving someone from true danger literally from death to life!11 It was possible to accomplish all this also as a result of the fact that whenever my husband made a request for something, no matter how difficult, no one could ever refuse him at all. FOOTNOTES 1. Events described below show that hospitals did not take proper care of patients, whose stay there often led to their unnecessary death. 2. MaHaRShA the acronym for Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Eidels (c. 1555-1632), author of a renowned Talmud commentary which requires in-depth study. The Rebbetzin unfamiliar task of preparing porridge to his in-depth study of such profound subjects. 3. 4. pilpul -depth Talmudic argument such as cooking. 5. Psalms. 6. This Tehillim is now in the Central Chabad-Lubavitch Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad (a photograph of it appears in Mibeis HaGenozim: Treasures from the Chabad Library (Kehot 2009), p. 54 (in the English section, and p. 219 in the Hebrew section, and is reproduced below on p. 000). On the front endleafs, Rebbetzin Chana later penned its story in poignant Hebrew of which the following is a translation: Tehillim belonged to my husband, of blessed memory. I sent it to him, upon his request, to his pla Kazakhstan. deal to tell. Each and every page was constantly soaked with tears and was wet from them. arrested and jailed in March, 1939, his physical strength changed for the worse by the day. His spirit was strong. It was very difficult to hear the cries coming from the depths of his heart, and from his broken heart, that was more troubled by the lack of spiritual life than the
troubles of simply starving without bread to eat and other terrible living conditions. 1944 in Alma Ata, the capital city of the aforementioned country. ugh much exertion of loyal friends, whose efforts in this regard was with self-sacrifice and great personal danger, they were able to achieve that permission be granted for my husband Levi Yitzchak, of blessed memory, to move from the village to the big city. This was better in all details, physically and spiritually, and, mainly because there was a Jewish community there. -d remember for those people their good deeds, and guard them from The Rebbetzin kept this book for the rest of her life, using it to recite Tehillim, until her passing in 1964 (see ibid.). 7. See Aruch Hashulchan, 274:5, Responsa Meishiv Davar, #21, that when two complete loaves are not available, two pieces may be used instead. 8. was born. They are on two sides of the border, Podabrianke on the WhiteRussian side, in the county of Homel (Gomel), and Dobrianke on the Ukrainian side, in the county of Chernigov. 9. She was married to Reb Zalman Vinarsky, and later lived in Chernowitz, Ukraine. 10. See above, p. 000. 11. During World War II, the Soviet Union was poorly prepared for the Nazi Soviet males aged between 18 and 60 were drafted into the Red Army and, with little training, sent to the front as Millions of these soldiers perished in the bloody battles. Accordingly, helping the shochet to get his exemption from military duty literally saved his life.
By Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson From the memoirs of Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson (1880-1964), mother of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory.
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Of Shepherds and Statesmen By Yossy Goldman
Is isolationism the only way to live as faithful Jews, or can we scale the ghetto walls and still remain devout? This is, of course, an ongoing debate among different schools of thought in our community. Some look down on those who insist on insulating themselves as being too tentative, too insecure in their own Jewish identity. Otherwise, why should they fear the outside world? Whereas those who have opted to shelter themselves inside the ghetto would argue that engaging a hedonistic, morally corrupt society is nothing less than spiritual suicide. And then there are those who took the risk and lived to tell the tale. Our Parshah recounts the dramatic episode of Joseph and his brothers. The young boy sold into slavery has since catapulted to prominence and is now viceroy of Egypt. The brothers come down from Canaan seeking sustenance during a famine. They encounter the viceroy face to face but do not realize that it is their own long lost brother. "And Joseph recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him" (Genesis 42:8). Rashi explains that when they had last seen each other the brothers, being older, were mature and bearded while Joseph was still young and without a beard. Thus, it was easier for him to recognize them than vice versa. Applying a more homiletic interpretation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe understands the brothers' lack of recognition not on the facial level but on the spiritual. The brothers were shepherds. It suited their spiritual lifestyle to be alone in the meadows, surrounded by nature and unchallenged by a society that might be hostile to their beliefs. The sheep they tended to didn't give them a hard time on religious issues. That Joseph could remain a devoted son of Jacob, faithful to his father's way of life while working in the hub of the mightiest superpower on earth was totally beyond their comprehension. They could not fathom or recognize such a thing. Indeed, later we will read how Jacob himself is deeply gratified to learn that the son he had given up for dead was not only alive but that he was my son, i.e. faithful to Jacob's traditions. There is no question that it is easier to be Jewish among your own. Without a shadow of a doubt, it is much tougher and far more testing to practice your faith as a minority. Nobody enjoys sticking out like a sore thumb. So sequestering yourself in your own little comfort zone makes perfect sense. Unless, of course, you believe that you have a responsibility to the world around you. When you believe that G d expects nothing less from you than to change the world, then simply treading water is not enough. Then you have no option but to go out and take on the world, engage it and make it a more G dly place. All Jacob's sons were righteous men. But Joseph was the greatest. He is known as Yosef HaTzadik, Joseph the Righteous. Because it is one thing to be righteous in the fields and the forests. It is another to be righteous among men; especially men and women steeped in moral depravity, as were the Egyptians. The viceroy of Egypt then must be roughly equivalent to the President of the United States, or at least the Secretary of State, today. Imagine that the person holding such high office is a committed, practicing Jew. He is successful in the fulfillment of his governmental duties, brings stature to the position, while at the very same time living the life of a devout Jew. Quite mind-boggling, but Joseph achieved it. And it was in this spirit that he raised his children, Ephraim and Menashe. That's why Joseph is an important role model for our generation. Most of us find ourselves in a socially integrated society. We mix in many different circles. We live in a wall-less, even wireless community. Will we maintain our Jewishness with dignity and integrity despite the challenges thrust upon us by a wide open society? This is the question that Joseph answers. It may not be easy but it can be done. So whether we are head honchos in the corporate hierarchy or diplomats in high office, let the viceroy of Egypt, Joseph the faithful son of Jacob the Jew, inspire us by his example. Rabbi Yossy Goldman was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1976 he was sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory, as a ChabadLubavitch emissary to serve the Jewish community of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is Senior Rabbi of the Sydenham Shul since 1986, president of the South African Rabbinical Association, and a frequent contributor to Chabad.org. His book From Where I Stand: Life Messages from the Weekly Torah Reading was recently published by Ktav, and is available at Jewish bookshops or online.
Dvar Torah Questions and Answers on Mikeitz "
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G-d QUESTION: ANSWER: When Pharaoh related his dream, he attempted to trick Yosef to see if his interpretations were authentic or merely guess work. The pasuk relates that he dreamt that " " he was standing on the river (41:1). However, when he related his dream to Yosef he said " " In my dream I am standing upon the bank detail of the dream but did not explain the significance of where Pharaoh was standing. He told Hashem revealed no interpretation for your standing upon the bank of the river. *** In Psalms, Assaf states, " " As a testimony for Yosef he imposed it, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language In view of above-mentioned, the passage can be explained to mean that Yosef proved his authenticity to the river bank. However have any knowledge with which to interpret this detail which ( ) "
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QUESTION: Why would a tzaddik like Yosef marry the daughter of a priest? ANSWER: When Dinah the daughter of Yaakov married Shechem, she gave birth to Asenat. Fearing that his sons would kill her, Yaakov sent her away. Before sending her off, he made her a necklace on which he wrote that she was his granddaughter and that whoever married her would become part of his family. She later ended up in Egypt and was raised in the home of Potiphera and was considered as his daughter. When Yosef was appointed the viceroy of Egypt, he travelled throughout the country. All the girls heard of his handsome appearance and came out to catch a glimpse of him. They threw presents at him, hoping that he would marry them. Asenat threw her necklace. When Yosef read its contents, he decided to marry her. ( ) "
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QUESTION: Rashi explains that the people were upset because Yosef was demanding that they circumcise themselves. Why would Yosef want the Egyptians to be circumcised? ANSWER: When Hashem originally gave the mitzvah of circumcision to Avraham in your household or purchased with money When Pharaoh appointed Yosef as the viceroy, he declared that he was in control of the entire country and that all the needs of the people would be provided through him (see Rashi 41:40). Pharaoh put everyone under his rulership, to the extent that, kinyan and therefore he was obligated to see to it that they be circumcised. ( ') Alternatively, circumcision is the defining sign of a Jew. Yosef was afraid that as the Jewish people became comfortable in Egypt, they would want to assimilate and avoid circumcision in order not to be recognized as Jews. He therefore decided to make circumcision the practice of the land and thus, Jews, would also feel comfortable performing this mitzvah. ( ) "
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QUESTION: How is it possible that none of the brothers recognized him? ANSWER: with the world at large. This was the most suitable profession for one who wanted to remain religious and avoid endangering his Torah observance. When the brothers came to Egypt, they met Yosef, who looked like one of them; beard, peiyot, and religious garb. They were sure that it would be impossible for a truly religious person like themselves to live in Egypt and rise to glory. Positive that Yosef remained strong in his faith, they assumed that this man was not religious, but rather someone who merely chose to dress religiously therefore, not their brother Yosef. ( )
Lizchis Harav Moshe ben Chasya Hadassa
Dvar Torah Questions and Answers on Mikeitz "
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five times as much. And they drank and were merry with him. QUESTION: Yosef recognized his brothers. Therefore, he had good reason to drink and be merry. However, since the brothers did not know who he was, why did they indulge in drinking? ANSWER: The major problem between the brothers and Yosef stemmed from their jealousy. Due to their jealousy of his aspirations to rise above them, they went as far as selling hi house, Yosef put them to a test to see if they had overcome their negative trait. He gave Binyamin five times as many presents as he gave them, and waited to see how they would react. The brothers had already learned their lesson and showed no signs of jealousy whatsoever. When a person strives to improve his ways and overcomes his failings, he is very happy. Proud of their victory over jealousy, they permitted themselves to indulge in wine to celebrate their improved character. ( ) "
" Canaan; how then could we
QUESTION: entire world. How does the fact that they returned the purchase money for the food prove that they would not steal something of such tremendous value? ANSWER: to take the goblet. However, since you are forbidden to practice divination, then you are just plain thieves and deserve to be d to practice divination, it would be a great iniquity for us to steal such a valuable thing from your master and it would make sense for you to suspect us. However, it is forbidden for us to practice divination, so to suspect that we stole it just for its silver value is foolish, because we already returned much more ( "
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CHANUKAH
Chanukah Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 139:1) QUESTION: What is the connection between giving charity on Chanukah and the miracle of the pach flask of oil? ANSWER: could not overcome him, Midrash (Rabbah, Bereishit 77:4) says that this is a reference to the generations that emanate from the thigh of Yaakov. The Shelah the tribes whose iniquity is alluded to in the letters of the word chaf ( ), and the Hasmoneans ultimately corrected their iniquity by converting the chaf ( ) to pach ( ). This means the following: In the word ( ) and also in the word pach ( ) there is the letter chaf ( ) and the letter pei ( ). The chaf stands for the chaf [hayad] palm [of the hand] which should be open to give tzedakah, and the pei is for the peh mouth which should be closed and not speak lashon hara slander. In the episode with Yaakov and the angel the chaf ( ) is closed from three sides and the [final] pei ( ) is open. The angel was alluding to the children of Yaakov, who engaged in lashon hara slander and who were greedy to have money for themselves, which is the opposite of opening the hand and giving away money to tzedakah. Of Yosef the Torah (Bereishit his mouth to his father that they were violating Torah rules (see Rashi). The brothers were eager to have money in their hands, The Hasmoneans, who found a pach [of oil], converted the order of the letters in the word ( ) to pach ( ) in order to correct the iniquity of their predecessors. In the word the pei ( ) is closed and the chaf ( ) is open to allude that the righteous Hasmoneans under the leadership of Yehudah HaMacabee closed the mouths, i.e. killed the Hellenized Jews who joined the Syrian-Greeks and used their mouths to malign the Jews. These Jews also blasphemed Hashem and would inform the enemy about their Jewish brethren. The Hasmoneans also opened their hands and distributed much of the wealth they seized from the enemy to the poor and needy (see Josephus). Hence, we commemorate the tzedakah of the Hasmoneans every Chanukah by intensifying this good trait and giving tzedakah with an open hand. ( )
Lizchis Harav Moshe ben Chasya Hadassa
A Shabbos Stimulus
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647 EDITOR - RABBI SHIMON HELLINGER
HONORING SEFORIM HOLY GARMENTS
LOVING REVERENCE
Seforim are considered “the garments of HaShem,” no less. Indeed, Chazal teach us that a person who treats them with respect will be respected by others; the reverse applies to a person who does not.
sefer should of course be positioned on the shelf right side up, not upside down.
Reb Shimon ben Tzemach, author of the Tashbetz, treated seforim with such loving care that he brushed the dust off them with a special silk cloth. In this merit, his reward was that the seforim which he authored would never be infested with bookworms. In all the libraries that the Rebbe Rashab visited, he found that even when the seforim standing immediately near the Tashbetz were affected with bookworms, that sefer alone stood untouched.
Respect for seforim includes: placing them in a or a surface on which people are sitting, depositing torn pages in sheimos, setting them right side up, and keeping them at a distance from anything unclean.
The Maharil – a Rishon who is a major source for many current minhagim – used to show his respect for seforim by telling anyone carrying a sefer to pass through a doorway ahead of him. Whenever a sefer fell, he would lift it up and kiss it.
Reb Yehuda HaChossid, a contemporary of Rambam, gives us numerous instructions on caring for seforim. For example: If a sefer and other valuables fall to the ground, one should lift the sefer liquid spills on a sefer and on other items, one should dry the sefer sefer should not be placed near the edge of a table where it is likely to fall, and when handing someone a sefer, one should do so with his right hand. Finally, a sefer should not be used for any mundane purpose.
It once happened that a certain fellow took a Gemara down from its shelf for reference and unknowingly replaced it upside down. Suddenly it crashed to the ground. He picked it up and replaced it – once again this repeated itself again, he realized that something was amiss. He checked how he had placed it, and once the sefer was positioned correctly, it remained in its place.
darkness, he would steal into the beis midrash unnoticed and return every sefer to its proper place.
of Lyzhensk related what he had then seen in the higher realms: yeshiva of Reb Shmelke of Nikolsburg, I met Mordechai, the late seforim-binder of our town. Knowing him to be a simple, unlearned individual, I asked him how he had merited reaching such a lofty sphere.
CONSIDER
He told me how at his judgment, the Beis Din shel Maalah brought all the torn pages that he had collected over the years from the damaged seforim and placed them on the scale. This had earned him a direct entrance to Gan Eden. However, since
To whom is one showing esteem when according respect to a sefer?
taught Torah, beginning with nigleh, the revealed dimension of the Torah, and now he was ready to study nistar, the Torah’s hidden dimension – at the yeshiva of Reb Shmelke.”
Why is closing a sefer and returning it to its place an act of respect towards the sefer? The Rebbe related: I was once in the presence of the Frierdiker Rebbe when another person present got up to leave without closing his sefer. Though the Frierdiker Rebbe was always careful not to trouble others, he called the man back and gently reminded him to close his sefer. Frierdiker Rebbe, “I know how careful you are not to trouble others. Perhaps you could have instead asked me to close the sefer?” The Frierdiker Rebbe answered that aside from the importance of closing the sefer, it is preferable that the learner close the sefer himself.
SEFORIM AS PROTECTORS The Rebbe taught that in addition to their obvious seforim protect a home and those who live in it. The elder chossid, Reb Foleh Kahn, related: In the year (1915), when the Rebbe Rashab left the village of Lubavitch, he left behind a full crate of valuable kisvei yad (manuscripts) written by many Rebbeim and gedolei Yisroel in the Moscow home of a chossid by the name of Reb Zelka Parsitz. When I once visited Reb Zelka with another few temimim, we opened the box and saw what it contained. Reb Zelka told us that his home had been searched by the dreaded Secret Police numerous times, yet its He added, “This box saved me a number of times.”
Reb Yechiel Meir of Gostynin was a student of Reb Menachem Mendel of Kotzk and later a chassidic leader himself. While studying in Kotzk he had a stealthy custom: Late at night, under cover of
When he was eventually asked to return it to the Rebbe, he was saddened, and said, “Who will now protect me at home?”
RABBI CHAIM HILLEL RASKIN
ROV OF ANASH - PETACH TIKVA
R. BEREL KALISKER
MOVING THE MENORA I lit my menora by the front door and it’s blocking the entrance. Can I move it right away? The Gemara discusses what is the primary component of the mitzva— setting the menora in its place (hanacha) or kindling it (hadlaka)? If it’s the former, it doesn’t matter who lights it; the main thing is who places it. But the Gemara concludes that the mitzva is the kindling, as evidenced from the bracha we make, “l’hadlik ner Chanuka.”1 Since the mitzva how the menora ended up in its location; you needn’t put it there yourself. But, on the other hand, it must already be in a proper location at the time of lighting, since that is when the mitzva is 2
Before lighting, there must be enough oil in the menora to last the bracha after adding more oil.3 Similarly, if one negligently lit his menora in a place where mitzva if the wind ends up blowing it out within the required time.4 If one lit the menora inside and then placed it outside of his front that he originally lit the candles for his personal needs. You must light it in the same place where you plan for the menora to remain.5 If one lit the menora while holding it and didn’t put it down, he does
chozer and a shadar for the Tzemach Tzedek. The Rebbeim considered his hanachos as particulary accurate. R. Berel lived in Lubavitch near the Tzemach Tzedek, and he learned with the Rebbe Maharash in his Yisrael and settled in Chevron, where he passed away on 7 Teves, 5660.
When the Tzemach Tzedek was looking for someone to learn with his son, the Rebbe Maharash, he tested several yungeleit but didn't
recommended his brother R. Berel, who learned Gemara and meforshim with the Rebbe Maharash for 12 years. They sat in the next room from the Tzemach Tzedek where a
window was installed so they could ask the Rebbe whenever they had a question.
One Motzaei Shabbos, R. Berel visited the Tzemach Tzedek and they got involved in a deep discussion of Chasidus. Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka waited for a long while to serve her elderly husband melava malka, but when it got late and the conversation wasn't The next morning, she saw that the food was never served, and she asked her husband why he couldn't ask R. Berel to serve him the food. "Berel is a talmid chochom," the Tzemach Tzedek replied, "and one may not make use of a talmid chochom!"
poskim acharonim argue that here too it appears he originally lit it to use its light. In practice, he is yotzei b’dieved.6 What about if one lit indoors and then moved it elsewhere in the home? The consensus of the poskim is that b’dieved, since it is all considered the place to light, it doesn’t appear like he lit in an improper place and the mitzva l’chatchila one should light the menora in the exact location where it will stay, so that his intent behind lighting is abundantly clear. This applies to the menora in shul as well.7 Sefer Haminhagim records that sometimes the menora would be moved a tefach or two from its place to allow the Frierdiker Rebbe to light, and he nonetheless recited a bracha. This indicates that while one should endeavor not to move it all, when needed, minor movement is allowed.8
WHEN A MOTHER GIVES HER CHILDREN When mivtza in 5734 (1973), the Rebbe rewarded all the activists with Chanukah gelt if they showed a note from Tzeirei Chabad stating that they participated. Thus, two lines formed, one to Reb Dovid Raskin of Tzeirei Chabad for the note, and then another to the Rebbe. mazkirus asked for Chanukah gelt, the Rebbe declined to give them until they produced the note. When one elder chossid approached, holding the note, the
him with a beautiful gaze of nachas. Reb Moshe Yitzchok Hecht came with the group of bochurim that assisted him in New Haven. He told the Rebbe that the bochurim had worked with all their energy. The Rebbe said to him, “There is no need to exaggerate…” His brother Reb Yaakov Yehudah Hecht was very active in orchestrating the mivtza. When he arrived, the Rebbe said to him, “In truth you deserve more than one dollar, but when a mother gives her children, she gives equally to all.” (Diary of Reb Berel Shur a”h; Sipuro Shel Chag, Chanukah, page 234)
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