Parshat Mishpatim by Jeroen Reuven Bours
February 15, 2012
That this Parasha is important is an understatement. So important in fact, that parts of it are read again on Chol HaMoed during Pesach (22;24-23:19). Take away all the Parashiot of the Torah and only keep Mishpatim, and you have the most important laws of our existence. To follow these laws is to follow the straight path. There is a general understanding among our Sages that the Torah, as it is given to us via Moshe Rabbenu, is for all of mankind. They are the oral laws to which mankind should hold itself. According to Rashi (in Mechilta), the 53 other laws as given to Moshe by HaShem are a direct continuation of the Ten Commandments. The words ‘ve’eileh’ - ‘and these’, clearly make these laws no less important. Why, seemingly out of nowhere, does this Parasha start with the law of how to treat slaves? Ibn Ezra answers this very clearly: The most difficult state for a person to be in, is to be subjugated to another human being. This is why Mishpatim begins with laws on how a Hebrew slave is to be treated. The Torah combines the law of the slaves with the basic duties of a Hebrew man to provide food and clothing and conjugal rights for his wife. Rambam reminds us that a slave must be set free during the seventh year for more than one reason: it reminds us of the (recent) Exodus and the fact that we were slaves once ourselves, it’s symbolic as the seventh day is the day of rest and that we should let go of work. Lastly, it reminds us of the seventh day cycle of creation. The laws in this Parasha are direct, easy to understand, and thus, logical laws. Mitzvot can be divided into Mishpatim, logical laws, and Chukkim, which are the laws bestowed upon us without a necessary logical meaning. The rules (or Chukkim) of Kashrut, come naturally to us, but are not necessarily logical. Certainly anyone of us has had to explain why we don’t mix certain foods with other kinds of foods to non-Jewish friends. Or better yet, why some of us are lucky enough to have two sinks, two dishwashers, and so on. The Mishpatim are easier to understand, with the death penalty being the harshest of all. Premeditated murder means death. Accidentally causing death, means you’re free to go, as long as there are witnesses (Talmud, Makkot 10b). Pretty simple stuff on which today’s legal system is based. But trying to follow these laws is another matter. Moshe Rabbenu reads these laws to Am Israel and they answer him by: ‘What HaShem has commanded, we will do!’ There are two ways to follow these laws: A- to the letter of the law, or B- beyond the letter of the law. This is called: ‘Lifnim Meshurat ha-Din.’ In Yitro we are taught (actually; commanded), to observe the laws of the Torah. In this Parasha we are asked to follow these laws. What’s the difference? To observe is to unconditionally adhere to the laws. To follow is to understand what these laws mean, and what it means when one doesn’t follow them. In other words, we must do everything we can to go beyond these laws, so that we can be good people and be an example for the rest of the world. That’s (arguably) where the expression; ‘Schwer zu sein a Yid’, comes from.
Peace of Parsha-Yitro: Dr. Laura Danoff
February 7, 2012
It is in this week’s parsha Yitro that the Children of Israel 7 weeks after the exodus from Egypt, gather at the base of Har Sinai and receive the Torah from G-d. Why then is the parsha entitled Yitro and not the 10 commandments?
Yitro, the father in law of Moshe and the Priest of Midian, worshiped every idolatrous practice that existed. But when Yitro heard of the great miracles performed by G-d specifically, according to Rashi, the miracles of the crossing of the Sea of Reeds and the war with Amalek, he left Midian and traveled to the Israelite camp with Moshe’s wife Tzippora and their 2 sons Gershomand Eliezer.
The parsha opens with the words “VayishmaYitro”(Jethro heard). In Hebrew, the word for hears “shema” also means to understand. Yitro just didn’t hear. He understood and acted. Amalek heard the same things as Yitro but was so obsessed with his hatred for the Jews and was filled with such horrible prejudices that his true sense of reality was distorted. The nation of Amalek rebelled against G-d. The Hebrew word Amalek has a numerical value of 240 which is the same as the word safek meaning doubt.Yitro had no doubt of G-d’s supremacy.
The events of the exodus proved to Yitro that G-d absolutely controlled everything and punished “measure for measure”. Yitro was the 1st gair tzeddek, performed mila on himself and acknowledged Hashem as the only ruler.
Yitro showed selfless gratitude to G-d after hearing of the great miracles by saying “Baruch Hashem”(Blessed is Hashem), which is the ultimate phrase in showing appreciation and thankfulness to G-d. Rabbi Yochanan says the phrase “Baruch Hashem” should be attributed to Yitro because Yitro was the one who taught us to express thankfulness to G-d for miracles not given to His own people but to the Children of Israel. Moshe also thanked G-d after the crossing of the Sea of Reeds when he praised G-d for the miracles he performed for his own people, the Children of Israel. The difference though is that Yitro personified loving kindness when he thanked G-d for the blessings he placed on others. Also, from the respectful manner in which Moshe treated his father-in-law (And he prostrated himself and kissed him…) we learn of the importance for a person to honor their in-laws.
Yitro advised Moshe to appoint a hierarchy of magistrates and judges to help him in governing and administering justice to the Children of Israel. He advised Moshe to choose (”men of accomplishment,G-d fearing people, men of truth, people who despise money…”). This system proposed by Yitro was to assure that the system of courts would be set up efficiently and quickly. The difficult cases were to be brought to Moshe and the leaders would judge the minor ones. Next, the Torah says, “Moshe sent off his father-in-law and he went to his land”. Yitro was willing to change his life for Judaism. He felt that he had to go back home to Midian to try to convert his family and friends and spread the light of Torah there.
ParshaYitro teaches us many lessons, which were crucial before the Jews received the Torah from Hashem. The 10 Commandments are the foundation of our faith since they represent the entirety of the Torah. According to Rabbi Yochanan Zweig, the purpose of the miracles was to bring the Children of Israel and G-d closer together. Yitro heard of the great miracles, reacted and immediately converted.
How often do we ignore G-d’s warnings and even blessings? We are all so busy in our pursuit of our materialistic “good life” we often don’t hear G-d’s messages. We typically only stop to listen when tragedy unfortunately occurs. Most of us today “listen” to what we want to hear and see only what we choose to see.
This week we celebrated TuB’Shevat, the New Year for the trees. According to the Talmud it is this date when the trees begin to draw nourishment from their sap and no longer absorb water from the ground. During the times of the Temple in Jerusalem, the 15th of Shevat was used to calculate the tithes from the fruit of the trees. For us it is a time of appreciation for all Hashem has given us!
Shabbat Shalom! Have a fruitful day!
This d’var torah is dedicated in honor of the memory of my father Isser benFeivish. May his neshama have an aliyah.
Beshalach: Dr. Mark Gersten
January 31, 2012
THE JEWS SURROUNDED ON EACH SIDE
INDEED THERE WAS NO PLACE TO HIDE
FOUR GROUPS IN TURN RAISED UP THEIR VOICE
EACH TOLD THE OTHERS OF THEIR CHOICE
ONE PLAN WAS PRAY NOW TO HASHEM
FOR HE WOULD HELP US FLEE FROM THEM
THE SECOND WAS TO STAND AND FIGHT
THE THIRD WAS YIELD TO EGYPT’S MIGHT
AND RETURN AS SLAVES ONCE MORE
THE HAGGUDAH TELLS US OF FOUR SONS
A PLAN DOES REPRESENT EACH ONE
THE SIMPLE SON KNOWS YOU MUST PRAY
WHEN STRESS OR DANGER COMES YOUR WAY
WITH SOMEONE COMING TO KILL YOU
DON’T ASK QUESTIONS THAT’S PLAN TWO
TO SAVE YOURSELF JUST DO WHAT’S RIGHT
DEFEND YOURSELF DON’T DIE BUT FIGHT
THE EVIL SON FAITHLESS AND VILE
WOULD RETURN TO EGYPT’S NILE
GIVE UP FREEDOM, SERVING G-D
RETURN TO WORK BACKBREAKING, HARD
THE SON WHOSE RIGHTEOUS WISE AND GOOD
WOULD CROSS THE SEA HE KNOWS HE SHOULD
TO FIRST REACH SINAI THEN OUR LAND
FOR THAT HE KNEW WAS G-D’S COMMAND
Parshas Bo 5772 Stephen Rabinowitz, MD
January 23, 2012
B”H
Parshas Bo, the third of the twelve parshios in Sefer Shmos, contains 105 verses, including nine positive mitzvos and eleven prohibitions. Chapter 12 contains the following verses (translation adapted from Rabbi Chaim Miller and based on Rashi (1040-1105)):
The Zohar (1st century C.E.) asks why this miracle was performed at midnight, instead of during the day, when all of Egypt could have seen it more clearly. R. Shimon bar Yochai answers that everyone was at home at night, and not in the fields. Furthermore, this spring night was illuminated as brightly as a summer day, so that the whole Egyptian people could witness the mighty hand of HaShem, as it says in Tehillim 139:12, “…the night shines as the day, the darkness is as the light.” The night brings punishment and calamity for the wicked, and mercy and salvation for the righteous.
Rashi (1040-1105), based on Midrash Tanchuma and Mechilta, notes that the phrase “every firstborn in the land of Egypt,” rather than “every firstborn of Egypt,” tells us that even firstborns of other nations who had the misfortune to be in Egypt on that date were struck. Paroh himself was a firstborn, but he was an exception, kept alive so he could witness further miracles at the Red Sea/Yam Suf. The firstborn of prisoners died because they enjoyed seeing Yisroel persecuted, and because, had they been spared, they would have attributed their survival and the punishment of the Egyptians to their own idols. Paroh arose at night, unlike other kings who usually sleep late into the morning. He got up before his servants and went personally to their houses to rouse them. He found that no house was without a corpse: if no firstborn male or female was in a house, the foremost person of the household died, and, the people were so promiscuous that some married women consorted with numerous bachelors, so that one woman had up to five children who were each firstborn to their father. The Sifsei Tzadik by R. Shmuel Avrohom Abba Hager of Horodenka (born in 1865, the 2nd Wischnitzer Rebbe’s son) remarks on the cold-blooded audacity of Paroh, to sleep when Moshe warned him of this terrible plague, after nine previous plague warnings had proven accurate. Midrash Tanchuma adds that the animals were killed because the Egyptians worshipped them, so it was necessary to include animals in the decree.
Ramban (1194-1270) adds to Rashi’s comments that HaShem instructed Yisroel to limit consecration for redemption/pidyon ha’ben, in the place of the Egyptian firstborns, to the firstborn son of a mother because that person is most clearly identified, and all the more so for the firstborn of an animal.
The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni (13th century) quotes Tehillim 136:10, “To Him Who struck Egypt through their firstborn…,” to teach us that the firstborns heard they would be slain, and rose up in a civil war on the Shabbos before the Exodus, Shabbos haGadol, to try to force Paroh to free Yisroel.
Rabbeinu Bachya (1255-1340), based on Midrashim, sees each of the plagues as repayment in kind to the Egyptians for the oppression they inflicted on the Jews. The death of the firstborn was retribution for the killing of Yisroelim, deemed to be His firstborn. The Meshech Chochmah (1843-1926) explains the uniqueness of the firstborn rests in the fact that he/she makes her/his father into a father. The Jewish people are called HaShem’s firstborn because we crown Him as our Father in heaven. Of course, said Rav Soloveitchik (1903-1993), if we are His firstborn, then that means He also has other children. Ultimately, through our example, they will come to acknowledge His Kingship. Paroh, by enslaving and killing Jews, was blocking HaShem’s plan for mankind.
Sforno (1475-1550) looks at a single letter, a vuv, in the phrase “vaHaShem hikoh,” meaning “and HaShem struck.” He interprets this as a parallel construction: B’nai Yisroel occupied themselves with fulfilling HaShem’s mitzvos of Pesach, while He rewarded them for it by striking the Egyptians.
Alshich (1508-1600) highlights the sequence in verse 30 that first Paroh arose and then a great outcry occurred. Egypt, he says, was a police state in which people were afraid to cry out in grief until they saw Paroh ask Moshe and Aharon to take Yisroel out of the country, and even that was only permission for a three-day leave.
R. Shabsai haKohen (1622-1663), in his Shach al haTorah, notes that HaShem told Moshe that the death of the firstborn would begin at midnight, but Moshe told Paroh about midnight (Shmos 11:4). At midnight, says the Shach, HaShem switches attributes from strict justice to mercy. Since punishment required severity, but saving Yisroel needed mercy, midnight was the time to encompass both modes. Rashi says Moshe said “about midnight” so that no discrepancy could occur should the Egyptian astronomers miscalculate the moment. Others say that midnight might be measured by Jerusalem time, or could be a rolling local time as midnight and the plague moved from east to west across Egypt. A bit of wiggle room was therefore needed to avoid any accusation that Moshe was off by so much as a second. R. Zalman Sorotzkin (1881-1966) applies the words “about midnight” to the original 400-year sentence that Yisroel was to serve in Egypt, and from which we were redeemed after 210 years, about halfway.
The Shoel uMeishiv, R. Yosef Shaul Natansohn (1817-1878), in Eidus b’Yosef, says some Egyptians hid their firstborn sons in Jewish homes to shield them from death. HaShem responded by killing the hidden firstborn, and also killing the eldest left behind in their household. Moshe did not warn the Egyptians that this ruse would not work so that they would be punished once for not freeing Yisroel, which would have prevented the deaths, and again for thinking they could deceive HaShem.
Shem miShmuel (1856-1926) quotes his grandfather, R. Menachem Mendel, the Kotzker Rebbe (1787-1859): As each plague punished and degraded the Egyptians, the same plague elevated Yisroel with spiritual gifts. In the last and harshest plague, death of the Egyptian firstborn, kedushoh/holiness was injected into the firstborn of Yisroel and into every other manifestation of firstness: in time, in space, and in the spiritual dimension. These included Pesach, the first holiday, Eretz Yisroel and the Beis haMikdosh, the primary locations in the world, and the intellect and emotions, the first powers of the soul, represented by the tefillin. We were also commanded regarding the first fruits, the firstborn of non-kosher animals, the firstborn of kosher animals, and our own firstborn sons.
R. Yehuda Balsam (contemporary) says that our fast of the firstborn is a minhag in remembrance of the miracle according to the Tur (1269-1340) in O.C. 470. The Raviyah (12th cent.) in siman 525 says that bechoros of the mother as well as the father should have to fast because the plague affected firstborns of male and female Egyptians. But, heads of households who are not bechoros need not fast, although they too were victims of makas bechoros, because we never accepted such a stringency regarding this minhag. The Sefer Agudah (10:91) records that firstborn women should also fast, and cites a proof from the Midrash Rabbah (18:3) that Basyah bas Paroh, a firstborn, was saved from death in the merit of her caring for Moshe Rabbeinu when he was a child. Firstborn women were therefore included in the plague and should have to fast. The Maharil (1360-1427) siman 14 rejects this custom, explaining that just as the heads of households never took it upon themselves to fast, so too women never accepted the practice.
Parashat Va-Era - Meet Me by My New Name. - Jeroen Reuven Bours
January 19, 2012
In last week’s Parasha: Shemot, Moses understands that he has failed in his mission and asks Ha-Shem: “G-d, why did You bring harm upon the people? Why did You send me?” (Ex. 5:22-23). G-d promises Moses in this week’s Parashat that the Israelites, suffering under Egyptian oppression, will witness G-d’s fulfillment of the covenant He made with the patriarchs, by giving them the land of Canaan (Ex. 6:2-8). Another revelation G-d makes is His other name, the name no one so far has heard or used. The name we don’t say nor try to decipher. This name we don’t even try to pronounce in our own minds for fear of mispronouncing it. To Avraham, Yitchak and Jacov, G-d went by El Shaddai or Elohim, here, He reveals Himself to Moshe as ‘Havaye’ (the Hassidic accepted referal to the real name). This new name G-d reveals to Moshe, is according to the Rashi (ibid, v 3), the name G-d uses when He is faithful to His word, by keeping his promises. G-d promised to take His people to Ha-Eretz before but did not fulfill them in their times. He did not reveal His ‘Havaye’ to them. This time it’s different, He promises to take them out of the land in their time. This is interesting because this means that this present generation in Egypt will witness the fulfillment of the Exodus. The Lubavitcher Rebbe takes what Rashi states a bit further; based on the Kabbalistic meaning of the word ‘Havaye’, one who is on an extremely exalted level. Before, when G-d revealed Himself to our forefathers, He was on a lower level and thus used the names Shaddai and Elohim. But now that His Israelites underwent the hardship as a people, they were worthy to be exposed to the higher Name. In Chassidic thought, the two earlier names of G-d were in accordance of the development of nature: With other words, in the order nature happens. According to the Chassidut (Netivot Shalom), the Jewish people are finding themselves on the 49th level of spiritual purity with only one level to go down, the 50,th which would keep them in Egypt for another 190 years. Remember, Ha-Shem did tell Avraham that they would be enslaved for 400 years. So Ha-Shem decides to override nature (his two other names) and stop the suffering. Another requisite to reveal and use the new Name is the receiving of the Laws, the Torah. Thus you can say that by G-d ‘stepping in,‘ He also makes the commitment to stay for as long as the Exodus out of Egypt takes and to give the Israelites to the Torah when the time is right. So Ha-Shem, now known by His new name, is not leaving. With this comes a third part: the revelation of his mighty miracles. Or, you could call that ‘G-d’s admonition’ that is meant to physically get the Israelites out of there, and also meant to show the commitment to His own people. We’re set and ready to go: We have the divine Name, we will have His fulfillment of the promise and we have the ammo. Now, let my People go, go, go.
Peace of Parsha Parsha Shemot Dr. Laura Danoff
January 11, 2012
Parsha Shemot begins the Book of Exodus. It relates the 1st part of the Jewish exile and the suffering and slavery of the Jewish people, which began after Yaakov and his sons passed away. We read of the birth of Moshe and how he was chosen to redeem and lead the Jews out of Egypt. This d’var torah will focus on Moshe’s 1st unusual encounter with Hashem at the burning bush.
“An angel of G-d appears to Moshe in a blaze of fire from the midst of a bush, and while the bush was burning in the fire, it was not consumed” 3:2. Why did Hashem appear in a thorn bush and why didn’t the bush burn up?
The bush symbolizes the history of the Jewish people. We are surrounded by those who have chosen to annihilate us, but just as the bush was not consumed, the Jewish people have miraculously survived. As Mark Twain said, “All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains.” The burning thorn bush was a way of assuring Moshe that the Jewish people who were enslaved in Egypt would not be destroyed. Rashi’s interpretation is that the burning bush represents G-d and that he is with the children of Israel in their pain, “I am with them in their affliction.”
Hashem could have chosen to reveal himself in a more magnificent tree yet G-d revealed himself in that which is humble, a small, inconspicuous plant. G-d is empathizing with the Jewish people who were suffering as slaves. Another outlook is that when one puts his hand in a thorn bush he will feel no pain since the thorns are bent downwards. It is only after removing one’s hand that the thorns become imbedded in it. The thorn bush represented the experience of the Jews in Israel, which had welcomed them initially but then refused to let them leave.
The Kli Yakar says that the thorn bush represents the Jew who is like a “thorn” in his neighbor’s side and even with all the hatred and external enemies that surround us our biggest issue is unfortunately internal. We live with sinas chinam and attack each other for no reason. Until we make peace with one another we will continue to be “on fire” and in exile.
When G-d appeared to Moses in the burning bush and commanded him to return to Egypt and free the children of Israel, Moshe was reluctant. Why?
Moshe, because of his humbleness, did not feel worthy of this mission. He was an Egyptian prince who grew up in the Pharoh’s palace and spoke and dressed like an Egyptian. His very name Moses which means “child” in Ramses was given to him by Pharoh’s daughter. Moshe was also a Midianite and spent most of his adult life living in Midian as a shepherd. He was married to Zipporah, the daughter of a Midianite priest. When Moshe stood before Pharoh he was already 80 years old. Years earlier, when Moshe killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating a Hebrew slave and the following day tried to stop 2 Jews from fighting; the Israelite said “who made you the ruler and judge over us.” Therefore, it was not surprising that Moshe was reluctant to accept G-d’s commandment. So what made Moshe finally agree? It is said, “When Moses was grown, he began to go out to his own people, and he saw their hard labor.” Moshe knew deep down he was not an Egyptian, nor a Midianite but a Jew who was responsible for his fellow Jew and shared the fate of his people.
Maimonides says that one of the sins for which you are denied a share in the world to come is “separating yourself from the community.” A great lesson can be learned from Moshe Rabeinu about feeling the pain of others and the importance of helping others in time of need and being active in performing acts of kindness. Moshe Rabeinu fought for Jewish unity and for the individual needs of the people.
Shabbat Shalom! This d’var torah is dedicated in honor of the memory of my father Isser ben Feivish alav hashalom. May his neshoma have an aliyah.
Vayechi by Dr. M. Gersten
January 3, 2012
VAYECHI BY M GERSTEN IN MEMORY OF HELENE
A DYING JACOB CALLED HIS SONS TO BLESS THEM IN HIS LAST DAY. SHIMON AND LEVI’S BLESSING SOUNDED MORE LIKE A CURSE.
LEVI’S OFFSPRING ARE INTRUSTED WITH THE SERVICE OF HASHEM IN THE HOLY TEMPLE IN VIEW OF JACOB’S BLESSING , WHY?.
A DYING JACOB CALLED EACH SON
SO HE COULD SEE AND BLESS EACH ONE
SIMON AND LEVI, I DARE SAY
WERE CURSED AND NOT BLESSED ON THAT DAY
HE CLAIMED THAT THEY WERE HARSH AND CRUEL
AND FOR THEIR NEEDS BROKE EVERY RULE
SO WHY DID LEVI’S OFFSPRING RATE
TO GUARD, SERVE AND OFFICIATE
IN THE TEMPLE OF HASHEM
WITH NO ONE ELSE REPLACING THEM.
THE ANSWER: WHAT DID MOTIVATE
EACH ONE TO SAVE AND EXTRICATE
THEIR SISTER DINA FROM SCHEM
AND THEN BRING HER BACK HOME AGAIN
SIMON’S REASON FAMILY,
AS CHOVANISTIC AS COULD BE
BROUGHT DINA TO HIS TENT WE SEE
AND TREATED HER WITH CHIVELRY
LEVI’S URGE: RESPECT FOR G-D
AT THE GOLDEN CALF QUITE HARD
HIS OFFSPRING KILLED ALL FAMILY
THAT DARED PERFORM IDOLETRY
WITH COMPLETE DEVOTION TO HASHEM
WHO BETTER TO SERVE HIM THAN THEM
VAYIGASH by Mark Gersten
December 27, 2011
VAYIGASH by Mark Gersten in memory of Helene
FIRST JUDAH SCOUTED OUT THEIR TOWN
THEN JACOB TOOK HIS FAMILY DOWN
GOSHNA, TO GOSHEN WHERE THEY’D BE
AND LIVE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY
GOSHNA:GIMMEL SHIN NUN HEY
THE ABBREVIATED LETTERS SAY
NAAS GADOL HAYAH SHAM
BUT A MIRACLE THERE, WAS YET TO COME
FOR WHEN THE TIME FOR PUNISHMENT
THE PLAGUES TO EGYPT, HEAVEN SENT
NO PLAGUE COULD DAMAGE GOSHEN’S LAND
PROTECTED WAS IT BY G-D’S HAND
FOR THERE JEWS LIVED IN HARMONY
NO ARGUMENTS JUST UNITY
ANOTHER MIRACLE WOULD BE
IN DAYS OF JUDAH MACCABEE
HIS PEOPLE JOINED INTO A BAND
AGAIN PROTECTED BY G-D’S HAND
THE DRADEL GIMMEL, NUN SHIN HEY
THE NAAS WAS UNITY THAT DAY
AND IN THE FUTURE THERE WILL BE
ANOTHER TIME OF UNITY
MOSHACH APPEARING AT THE GATE
HIS GAMATRIA IS THREE-FIVE EIGHT
THE SAME AS GIMMEL SHIN NUN HEY
THE TRUTH IS HARD AND SAD TO SAY
WE NEED THE NAAS OF UNITY
BEFORE MOSHIACH’S TIME TO BE
AND FINALLY WE CLEARLY SEE
THIS TASK IS UP TO YOU AND ME
(poem based in part on commentary of bnai isasschar)
Parshas Mikeitz 5772: Stephen Rabinowitz, MD
December 19, 2011
Parshas Mikeitz 5772 Stephen Rabinowitz, MD B”H
Parshas Mikeitz, the tenth of the twelve parshios in Sefer Bereishis, contains 146 verses. This parsha is always read during Chanukah. Chapter 41 contains the following verses (translation adapted from Rabbi Chaim Miller and based on Rashi (1040-1105)):
In verse 50, the Hebrew “yulad/was born” is in the singular, where the text seems to require the plural for two sons. This is not unusual in the Torah, but the rabbis take different approaches to explain it. Onkelos (35-120 C.E.) translates it into the plural in Aramaic. Radak (1160-1235) says this word may hint that the boys were twins. Rabbi Hirsch (1808-1888) comments on the use of the singular and of the duplication “were born” and “bore to him.” He says that a mother may physically bear a child to his father, yet one can ask whether the child will remain his father’s son as he grows up. Will he develop with his father’s nature or his mother’s? Will he respond to his mother’s influence, or to his father’s, or to other elements in his environment? The fact that Yosef, an isolated Jew in Egypt, was able to raise his sons to be the paradigm by which we bless our sons, testifies to special Divine protection and blessing. Rabbi Hirsch emphasizes that this occurred despite the mother being the daughter of an idolatrous priest. Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer (80-188 C.E.), however, says in chapter 38 that Ya’akov’s daughter Dinah became pregnant when she was raped by Shechem. She gave birth to Asnas. Ya’akov’s sons wanted to kill Asnas, so people should not say there was immoral behavior in the tents of Ya’akov. Ya’akov therefore inscribed HaShem’s Name on a necklace, placed it on Asnas, and sent her away. The angel Michoel brought her to the house of Poti-Fera in Egypt. Poti-Feras’s wife had no children, and raised Asnas as her own daughter. When Yosef saw the inscription he chose her, his own niece, for his wife.
Yosef uses twice the Elokim name for G-d, signifying G-d the Creator of natural law and justice, rather than HaShem, which signifies mercy. Perhaps we can learn from this that Yosef saw his good fortune as the playing out of a fore-ordained plan built into nature, rather than as an act of mercy; what previously seemed bad, and what now seemed good, were all one.
In verse 51, Saadiah Gaon (882-942) understands “forget” to mean that Yosef forgot the mistreatment that he experienced from his brothers. Rabbeinu Bachya (1255-1340) says that this verse prompted our sages to call the house in which a woman grew up the “bei nasha/forgotten house,” (see Bava Metzia 84b, Kesubos 104b, Beitzah 29b) since a married person forms a new attachment, and leaves the parents’ house behind. When Yosef formed a family, he stopped dwelling on the past. Alshich (1508-1600) says that Yosef did not contact his father even after he rose from slavery to high office because he did not want to interfere with the playing out of the Divine script in which the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars would bow down to him. He named his son Menasheh to thank G-d for enabling him to withstand all his trials without calling home for help. This is also seen in R. Mecklenburg’s (1785-1865) haKsav v’haKabbaloh. Rabbi Hirsch says that one shudders to read that G-d made Yosef forget his aged father and his whole family. He suggests an alternate meaning, related to the “gid ha-nasheh/temporarily displaced (sciatic) nerve” mentioned in Bereishis 32:33. A “nosheh” is one who gives part of his property to another, and now has a demand on him as a creditor. Yosef was saying that G-d turned his tragedy and his family into his creditors. What until then seemed misfortune has been an instrument to shape his happiness, so that he finds himself deeply indebted to his troubles and to his family. Rabbi Sorotzkin (1881-1966) points to Yosef’s contradiction in saying first that he has forgotten and then mentioning hardships. Did he forget or did he remember the hardships? He answers that the first rush of exultation in becoming the viceroy of Egypt did take Yosef’s mind off the past. When the novelty wore off, he longed for the purity and sanctity of his father’s house, and even for his difficult brothers. In Yosef’s exile from a Jewish environment, both the Egypt that enslaved him and the Egypt that ennobled him were the lands of hardship.
Alshich says that the name Efrayim reflects Yosef’s acknowledgement that he was blessed with children due to G-d’s will, not through the influences of spiritually impoverished Egypt. The word “subjugation” or “affliction” used by the Torah in verse 52 is translated by Onkelos to mean “enslavement.”
The Slonimer Rebbe, R. Shalom Noach Berzovsky (1911-2000), in Nesivos Shalom, says that Yosef’s life is encapsulated in the beginning of Tehillim verse 34:15: “Flee from evil and do good….” Yosef named his first son Menasheh to signify “flee evil/sur mayra,” that he had left behind the evil of his brothers and that part of his life, and also, that he overcame the evil inclination to take the wrong path. The name of his second son shows that he “did good/aseh tov,” flourishing with holiness and purity. Later on, Ya’akov blessed Efrayim before Menasheh, to emphasize that we should approach life as an opportunity for positive achievement, not as an obstacle course full of pitfalls. The Netziv (1816-1893) says that Menasheh excelled in worldly matters/gashmiyus, assisting his father Yosef in his work, so Ya’akov kept him near his right leg, the symbol of going out into the world of gashmiyus; Efrayim excelled in spirituality/ruchniyus, Torah scholarship, so Ya’akov blessed him with his right hand, the symbol of ruchniyus.
Why do we always read this parsha during Chanukah? We recall that the original Chanukah was a civil war between assimilationist Jews with their Greek-Syrian allies on one side, and the Torah-observant Jews on the other. Menasheh and Efrayim grew up in circumstances that strongly favored assimilation. Dayan Moshe Swift, Rosh Av Beis Din of London (1907-1984), in his Moreshes Moshe, says that the names of the sons reflect the two major causes of assimilation: forgetting the past, and prosperity. Despite the difficulties, Yosef succeeded in giving his sons a Jewish education and in raising them as Torah-true Jews. These are the shining examples we have in mind when we celebrate the victory over assimilation that is Chanukah. We also remember the dispute between Beis Shammai, who started Chanukah with eight candles and decreased each day, and Beis Hillel, who started with one candle and added each day. Just as Ya’akov blessed Efrayim first, we follow Beis Hillel, and emphasize the positive.
Vayeshev: Jeroen Reuven Bours
December 16, 2011
Parashat Vayeshev: Jeroen Reuven Bours
Introducing: Divine Intervention Global Positioning System (DI-GPS). Without it, Joseph is lost. Meanwhile, if you read this week’s Parasha straight from the Torah without the help of the commentaries, it will be clear to you what the story of Joseph is all about. And when you read the story, you feel the Divine Intervention. This Divine Intervention that occurs time and again, helps Joseph reach his brothers and later his destiny: Egypt. Jacov sends him to find his brothers without a map and without guides. How’s that possible? How can one man venture into the desert without anything? Rashi points out that when Jacov sends Joseph away, it really has double significance. On one hand, Jacov wants to know how his sons and his flock are doing. But much more significantly is the second underlying meaning. HaShem sends the future of Israel away from Israel! Rashi points out that the words: Va-yishlachehu Mi Emek Hebron - And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, refer to the prophecy between HaShem and Avraham. Hebron is not in an ‘emek’ or valley. Technically, Hebron is 3,050 feet above sea level. Then why call it an ‘emek’? Hebron is the burial place of Avraham, and the term ‘emek’ is used here signifying a ‘deep place’, according to Rashi. Jacov and Joseph are unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy as told to Avraham by HaShem regarding the future of his descendants. And the future starts somewhere else. Now, on his way, Joseph meets a man who guides him where to go next - a man who actually overheard his brothers say where they went. How’s that possible? Who does that? Ramban thinks that by now, Joseph would have turned around and call it a day. But he meets this man who shows him the way. Clearly this is Divine Intervention phase 2. Our Sages designate this ‘man’ to be the angel Gabriel. We see how Divine Intervention guides every step that Joseph makes. We have learned by now that Joseph is a chosen man. He’s given the title of Tzadik by birth - the only man ever to be given this title in the Torah. He snitches on his brothers to his father when they make mistakes, which makes him a hated figure. He’s also a vain man. The Torah even points out that he’s a good-looking man. Why do we have to know these details? Normally the Torah does not concern itself with describing a person as ‘beautiful’. Perhaps it is so we can understand that when his brothers sell him, because they hate him that much, he’s not harmed. He’s sold three times over as a slave and ends up in the prosperous House of Potiphar, unharmed. Divine Intervention phase 3. From the very start he’s not a normal slave. He climbs up the ladder and becomes the Master of Potiphar’s Estates. Joseph does not hide his loyalty to HaShem, in fact, he speaks about it all the time. This loyalty gets him into trouble. In the meantime, chapter 38, the story of Judah and Tamar, suddenly interrupts the Parashat. Here the GPS stops. Just like that we read about Judah and Tamar. Why? According to the Malbim, before we descent into Egypt and before the terror of the next Pharaoh and the greatest of exiles ever, the lineage of descendants that lead to David HaMelach and later will lead to the Maschiach, has to be established first. And that is why this chapter interrupts us. But there’s something else here. As we know, Tamar seduced Judah. And Judah simply did not know. And later, when Tamar is being led before Judah, she does not give him away. As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law (Judah), “To the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And continues, “I pray you, whose these are, the ring (with signet) and the cord and the staff.” With other words, Tamar could have given away Judah as the father, but she didn’t. And Judah realizes that she is more righteous than he. After this chapter we continue the story about Joseph and we learn that the wife of Potiphar also tries to seduce Joseph but does not succeed. Divine Intervention phase 4: We know Joseph is a beautiful figure, so it doesn’t come much as a surprise when Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph. As an emerging Tzaddik he also knows to refuse the courting of her. She is insulted by his refusal, and so it is Potiphar’s wife who turns events around and changes everything Joseph has built up so far in Egypt. She lies about the event by changing the truth with just a few words. The truth: “Joseph left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got himself out. That she called unto the men of her house.” But her version to her husband Potiphar: “That he left his garment by me and fled out. As I lifted my voice and cried. The Hebrew slave came unto me to mock me.” So here we see two women in this Parasha holding the garment of the men one succeeded in seducing and the other did not. We have Tamar holding the belongings of Judah without giving away what happened and therefore sparing him. And we have the wife of Potiphar holding the garments of Joseph doing the opposite: blaming Joseph and thus sending him away. Both these women have direct power to change things for better or for worse. Tamar shows the courage to use words carefully as not to blame Judah. Potiphar’s wife shows how words can blame Joseph for something he did not do.
Call it Divine Intervention phase 5. Because there’s a reason we’ll learn soon why the DI GPS leads Joseph straight into the dungeons of the Pharaoh, to continue his Divine Destiny.
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