5776

ויעל יוסף לקבר את אביו ויעלו אתו כל עבדי פרעה... ויבאו עד גרן האטד... ויספדו שם מספד גדול וכבד

Yosef went up to bury his father, and with him went up all of Pharaoh’s servants… they came to Goren Haatad… and they held a very great and imposing eulogy. (50:7, 10)

Chazal teach that this name (Goren Haatad) is not the name of a place; rather, it is a name given to a singular event and the image it projected, which determined the name of the area. The Kings of Canaan and the Princes of Yishmael worked together to prevent Yaakov Avinu’s burial and, in order to once and for all, eliminate the Jewish People. They conjectured that following the loss of their holy father, the brothers and their families were at their lowest emotional point. What better time to attack them than at a time in which the Jews were…

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בן פרת יוסף בן פרת עלי עין

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, Vayechi

A charming son is Yosef, a charming son to the eye. (49:22)

The Talmud Berachos 20a teaches that Yosef HaTzaddik and his descendants were impervious to the nefarious power of the evil eye. They derive from the above pasuk that the evil eye had no power over them, because Yosef refused to feed himself from anything that was not his. The evil eye is the product of envy, which results from an individual’s character deficiency. He is jealous of others, because he is insecure with himself. Why should a decent person suffer because an individual with a jaundiced character is jealous of his success? In his Michtav MeiEliyahu 4, Horav Eliyahu Eliezer…

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וירא ישראל את בני יוסף ויאמר מי אלה ויאמר יוסף אל אביו בני הם אשר נתן לי אלקים בזה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, Vayechi

Then Yisrael saw Yosef’s sons and he said, “Who are these?” And Yosef said to his father, “They are my sons whom G-d has given me here.” (48:8,9)

Rashi quotes the Midrash which explains that, although Yaakov Avinu’s vision was impaired, he would still have been able to see the two young men standing before him. Instead, they explain that, Mi eileh? “Who are these?” is a reference to descendants of Menashe and Efraim, whose nefarious activities precluded them from deserving blessing. Yaakov wondered – “How did they get into this family? They certainly do not have a reason to warrant blessing.” Yosef assured his father that his two sons had been begotten through a marriage of sanctity with a kesubah, kosher marriage contract, and that, indeed, they…

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ואני בבאי מפדן מתה עלי רחל... ואקברה שם בדרך אפרת הוא בית לחם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, Vayechi

But as for me – when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me… and I buried her there on the road to Efras, which is Bais Lechem. (48:7)

Rashi explains that Yaakov Avinu was excusing himself for not having buried Rachel Imeinu in the Meoras HaMachpeilah. Here he was asking Yosef to make a special effort to take his body out of Egypt in order to bury him in the Meoras HaMachpeilah – when he had not done the same for his wife – Yosef’s mother. Apparently, Yaakov sensed that Yosef might have been harboring ill will against him for not making that extra effort to bury his mother in what he might have felt was her rightful place. Yaakov explained that the decision concerning Rachel’s final resting…

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ויאמר ליוסף הנה אביך חולה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, Vayechi

And someone said to Yosef, “Behold!” – your father is ill. (48:1)

If someone had not informed Yosef that his father was ill, he would not have known. During the entire seventeen years that Yaakov Avinu resided in Egypt he was never alone with his long lost son, Yosef. They had been separated for twenty-two years, their hearts yearning for one another; yet, they were never alone together, never saw one another, until the end, when Yaakov lay on his deathbed. Pesikta Rabbasi explains that Yosef was afraid to be alone with his father, lest he ask him the big question: “What happened?” Yosef was acutely aware of his father’s supernatural powers….

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YEARS

ויעל יוסף לקבר את אביו ויעלו אתו כל עבדי פרעה... ויבאו עד גרן האטד... ויספדו שם מספד גדול וכבד

Yosef went up to bury his father, and with him went up all of Pharaoh’s servants… they came to Goren Haatad… and they held a very great and imposing eulogy. (50:7, 10)

בן פרת יוסף בן פרת עלי עין

A charming son is Yosef, a charming son to the eye. (49:22)

וירא ישראל את בני יוסף ויאמר מי אלה ויאמר יוסף אל אביו בני הם אשר נתן לי אלקים בזה

Then Yisrael saw Yosef’s sons and he said, “Who are these?” And Yosef said to his father, “They are my sons whom G-d has given me here.” (48:8,9)

ואני בבאי מפדן מתה עלי רחל... ואקברה שם בדרך אפרת הוא בית לחם

But as for me – when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me… and I buried her there on the road to Efras, which is Bais Lechem. (48:7)

ויאמר ליוסף הנה אביך חולה

And someone said to Yosef, “Behold!” – your father is ill. (48:1)

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