Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Vayigash "Home, Calm Home!" Volume 25, No. 11 4 Tevet 5771 December 11, 2010 Sponsored by the Rutstein family in memory of father and grandfather Nachman ben Asher Halevi a"h (Nathan Rutstein) Milton Cahn, in memory of his mother, Abby Cahn (Brachah bat Moshe a"h) and his wife, Felice Cahn (Faigah Sarah bat Naftali Ze'ev a"h) Today's Learning: Tanach: Melachim II 19-20 Mishnah: Shevi'it 8:5-6 Halachah: O.C. 584:2-4 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Zevachim 31 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Ma'aser Sheni 25 In our parashah, after Yosef reveals his identity to his brothers, he sends them back to Eretz Yisrael with gifts and with instructions to bring Yaakov down to Egypt. The Torah relates (45:22-23), "To each of them he gave changes of clothing; but to Binyamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. And to his father he sent `kazot' / like this--ten male donkeys laden with the best of Egypt and ten female donkeys laden with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey." Rashi z"l comments on the word, "kazot / like this" - "According to this calculation. What was the calculation? Ten donkeys, etc." What is Rashi adding to our understanding of the verse? Some explain that Rashi is noting that Yosef did not actually send Yaakov any donkeys; he only sent (on wagons) the quantity of gifts that would have been carried by ten male donkeys and the amount of food that would have been carried by ten female donkeys. R' Shmuel Mohilever z"l (1824-1898; rabbi of Bialystok, Poland and a strong advocate of settlement in Eretz Yisrael) offers a different explanation, as follows: Rashi is explaining how Yosef could suggest that Yaakov leave Eretz Yisrael. He is informing us that the value of the food carried by the donkeys was equal to the gift that Yosef had given Binyamin, i.e., 300 pieces of silver. Why is that significant? Because the halachah is that one is forbidden to leave Eretz Yisrael except in special circumstances, one of which is when a famine causes the price of barley to rise to one sela (a coin) per two se'ah (a volume). Three hundred silver pieces equals 75 sela'im, while ten donkeys can carry 150 se'ah. If Yaakov's gift (ten donkeys carrying 150 se'ah) equaled Binyamin's gift (300 silver coins or 75 sela'im), a ratio of two se'ah per one sela, it is an indication that the famine was serious enough that Yaakov was permitted to leave Eretz Yisrael. This was Yosef's message to Yaakov. Why did Yosef allude to this in such a roundabout way? In order not to speak negatively about Eretz Yisrael. (Quoted in Drishat Tzion) ******** "My master asked his servants, saying, `Have you a father or brother?' We said to my master, `We have an old father and a young child of his old age'." (44:19-20) R' Joseph B. Soloveitchik z"l (1903-1993) recalled that when he learned this as a child, his melamed / teacher of young children asked: What was Yosef's question? Of course they had a father! Everyone except Adam and Chava had a father. He answered: Yosef was asking his brothers, "Are you rooted in your father as the foundation of your existence, or are you merely a band of rootless, wandering shepherds? Do you recognize that your father represents ancient traditions, that he is capable of telling you something relevant and exciting, or are you insolent and arrogant, denying your dependence on your father?" A Jew who acknowledges the supremacy of his father necessarily admits the supremacy of his Father, the "Ancient of Days," the melamed had said. R' Soloveitchik added: Using this same approach, we can understand the exchange about a younger brother, as well. "Have you a brother?" Do you believe in the future which this young child represents? Yosef was asking. Yes, the brothers answered, we do have a younger brother. R' Soloveitchik continued: Why do we fight for Eretz Yisrael, alienating so much of the world, when we could instead live very comfortably in America? It is the loyalty to our "old father," Avraham Avinu, and what he represents that causes us to act so. Why do we dedicate so much effort to educating our children about our traditions, more so, said R' Soloveitchik, than any society on earth? It is because we recognize the connection--indeed, the love--between the old father and the young child, representing the heritage of the past which we are confident will continue to flourish in the future. (Quoted in Darosh Darash Yosef) ******** "Then Yehuda approached him and said, `If you please, my lord, may your servant speak a word in my lord's ears . . .'" (44:18) Yehuda's request for permission to speak seems out of place, since he was already negotiating with Yosef at the end of last week's parashah. R' David Shlomo Eyebschutz z"l (1755-1813; author of the halachic work Levushei Serad) explains that Yosef's statement at the end of last week's parashah, "The man in whose possession the goblet was found, only he shall be my slave, and as for you -- go up in peace to your father," was meant to be his last word. When a king or noble speaks his final word on a subject, one does not dare to continue discussing the matter. Therefore, Yehuda needed to ask permission to speak again. We read similarly (Devarim 3:23), "I implored Hashem at that time, laimor / to say." The last word in the verse means that Moshe asked Hashem's permission to speak about the possibility of his entering Eretz Yisrael, since Moshe knew it was a subject that Hashem did not wish to revisit. And, in the course of his request for permission to speak, Moshe "snuck-in" his request (3:25), "Let me now cross and see the good Land that is on the other side of the Jordan, this good mountain and the Lebanon." Hashem responded (3:26), "Do not continue to speak to Me further about this matter." Not only do you not have permission to *pray* about this matter, I do not even give you permission to talk about it incidentally. (Arvei Nachal) ******** "Now Yosef could not restrain himself in the presence of all who stood over him, so he called out, `Remove everyone from before me!' Thus no one remained with him when Yosef made himself known to his brothers." (45:2) Why could Yosef not restrain himself any longer? And, who were "all who stood over him"? R' Moshe David Valle z"l (1697-1777; Italy) writes: The secret of the matter is that everything has its season, and there is a time for everything under the heaven (in the words of Kohelet 3:1). What this means is that events unfold in accordance with G-d's plan. There was a time when G-d's plan called for Yosef to conceal himself from his brothers, and there was a time when G-d's plan called for Yosef to reveal his identity. When that time came, "Yosef could not restrain himself any longer." What causes events to unfold in the way called for by G-d's plan? It is the orot / influence which G-d sends from Above which subconsciously influence man. It was these orot descending from Heaven that "stood over him"; their presence made Yosef unable to restrain himself any longer. Why did Yosef expel all of the Egyptians from the room? Because Yosef sensed that Heaven had ordained the moment when he would reveal his identity in furtherance of some Divine plan, Yosef felt that this was a moment imbued with holiness. G-d's Will would be done at this moment! Accordingly, Yosef did not want any Egyptians, all of whom were impure pagans, to be present. (Ohr Olam) ******** "Yosef said to his brothers, `I am Yosef; is my father still alive?" (45:3) Had not Yehuda told Yosef moments earlier (verse 44:31) that Yaakov would die if Binyamin did not return? Obviously, then, Yaakov was still alive! R' Shlomo Kluger z"l (1784-1869; rabbi of Brody, Galicia) explains: Yosef was saying, "You may find it unbelievable that I am indeed Yosef. I find it equally unbelievable that my father Yaakov did not die of sorrow when I disappeared. If it can indeed be true that my father is still alive, it likewise can be true that I am Yosef." Alternatively, Yosef may have been saying, "What kept my father alive all these years? It was his sense [according to Midrash Rabbah] that Yosef was alive somewhere, most likely in Egypt. Thus, you should not refuse to believe that I am Yosef." (Chochmat Ha'Torah) ******** "And to his father he sent like this--ten male donkeys . . ." (45:23) Why did Yosef send ten donkeys to his father? R' Yehuda Loewe z"l (the Maharal of Prague; died 1609) explains that Yosef wished to tell his father that, just as a donkey is merely a tool that unthinkingly fulfills the will of its master, so Yosef's ten brothers who sold him to Egypt were merely Hashem's tools to bring Yaakov and his family down to Egypt. (Gevurot Hashem ch.10) ******** Home, Calm Home! "He sent off his brothers, and they went. He said to them, `Do not become agitated on the way'." (45:24) Rashi z"l writes: "Because they felt ashamed, Yosef feared that they might quarrel on the way about having sold Yosef, arguing one with another. One would say, `It was your fault that he was sold,' while another would say, `It was you who made slanderous statements about him and caused us to hate him'." R' Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin z"l (the Netziv; 1817-1893; rosh yeshiva of the Volozhin Yeshiva in Russia) asks: Why did Yosef warn his brothers not to be agitated on the way? In reality, there is no useful purpose served by ever being agitated over the events of the past. He answers: We read in the curses in Parashat Ki Tavo (Devarim 28:65), "There Hashem will give you an agitated heart." The Gemara (Nedarim 22a) states that "There" means "in exile." Being in Eretz Yisrael, in contrast, has a soothing effect on people. Accordingly, Yosef was not worried that his brothers would become agitated once they were in the Holy Land. He only worried about what would happen on the way. (Ha'emek Davar) From the same work: "They went up from Egypt and they came to the land of Canaan, to Yaakov their father." (45:25) Netziv asks: Why does the Torah say, "They came to the land of Canaan, to Yaakov their father," rather than simply, "They came to Yaakov their father"? After all, we know where Yaakov was! He answers: Due to the brothers' great love for Eretz Yisrael, they saw themselves as having two reasons for returning - because of the Land itself, and because their father was there.