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Home -> Mikeitz -> 5779

ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Mikeitz

It happened at the end of two years to the day. (41:1)

So begins the salvation of Yosef HaTzaddik, which would have commenced two years earlier had Yosef not shown a deficiency in his bitachon, trust in Hashem. After all has been said and done, Yosef truly suffered as a slave and a prisoner. He spent a good portion of his formative adult life away from family, alone in a pagan, immoral world. How did he do it? How was he able to maintain his extraordinary fidelity to Hashem amidst the multitude of tzaros, troubles, that accompanied him for thirteen years. This was followed by nine more years during which he was…

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Home -> Mikeitz -> 5779

אתה תהיה על ביתי ועל פיך ישק כל עמי

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Mikeitz

You shall be in charge of my palace, and by your command shall all my people be sustained. (41:40)

In Parashas Shemos (1:8), the Torah writes, Vayakam melech chadash al Mitzrayim, “A new king arose over Egypt.” Chazal debate the meaning of “a new king.” Was he actually a new king? Or was he the same Pharaoh that had coroneted Yosef as a viceroy over Egypt? He suffered from “memory loss,” quickly forgetting the benefits he had accrued as a result of Yosef’s wise counsel. Horav David Povarsky, zl, asks that if he was indeed the same Pharaoh who was so impressed with Yosef, why was it that the miracles and wonders of Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohen did…

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Home -> Mikeitz -> 5779

ויקרא פרעה שם יוסף צפנת פענח ויתן לו את אסנת בת פוטיפרע כהן און לאשה ויצא יוסף על ארץ מצרים

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Mikeitz

Pharaoh called Yosef’s name Tzafnas-Paneach and he gave him Osnas bas Potiphera, chief of On, as a wife. Thus, Yosef emerged in charge of the land of Egypt. (41:45)

Pharaoh was confronted with a major policy decision. A brilliant young man stood before him, who had the ability not only to save the country, but also to fill Pharaoh’s coffers with enormous wealth. The problem was that not only was he a slave – he was also a Hebrew. This would not sit well with his pagan populace. While they thought little of their slave population – they reviled Jews! What was Pharaoh to do? How was he to concoct an extreme makeover of Yosef and transform him into an “acceptable” Egyptian? The Torah gives us the answer when…

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Home -> Mikeitz -> 5779

אבל אשמים אנחנו על אחינו אשר ראינו צרת נפשו בהתחננו אלינו ולא שמענו

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Mikeitz

Indeed, we are guilty concerning our brother inasmuch as we saw his heartfelt anguish when he pleaded with us, and we paid no heed. (42:21)

Twenty-two years had passed from that fateful day on which the brothers had sold Yosef as a slave. During this period, they no doubt saw their father constantly in a state of mourning over the loss of his son, lamenting over what had probably happened to him. What was worse, he did not know whether/how he had died. Yaakov Avinu could not get closure to the tragedy of his son’s disappearance. The brothers saw this daily – for twenty-one years, but they were not moved. Never once did they even question the veracity of their deed. Had they done the…

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Home -> Mikeitz -> 5779

ויקח מאתם את שמעון ויאסר אותו לעיניהם

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Mikeitz

He took Shimon from them and imprisoned him before their eyes. (42:24)

Chazal (Midrash Tanchuma, 4) teach that after Yosef said that one of the group would be held hostage until Binyamin was brought to Egypt, he selected Shimon to be that family “representative.” The reason for this choice was twofold. First, it was Shimon who had initiated the process of the sale of Yosef, when he called out, “Look, that dreamer is coming!” Later, it was Shimon who threw Yosef into the pit. An alternative explanation is that Yosef was acutely aware that Shimon and Levi did not comprise a good shidduch, match. He feared that the two would conspire to…

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Home -> Mikeitz -> 5779

הם יצאו את העיר לא הרחיקו ויוסף אמר לאשר על ביתו... ואמרת אלהם למה שלמתם רעה תחת טובה

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Mikeitz

They had left the city, they had not gone far, and Yosef said to the one in charge of his house… “You shall say to them, ‘Why do you repay evil for good?’” (44:4)

Of all of the messages of rebuke that Yosef could have sent to his brothers, “Why did you repay evil for good?” is the last one you would expect. The most pressing question to be asked was, “Why did you steal my cup?” Instead, Yosef seems to be delivering a mussar shmuess, ethical discourse, to his brothers, concerning their jealousy and their turning against him. The Zera Shimshon explains that Yosef was implying, “You were so jealous of me, because our father made me a multicolored coat – jealous enough to sell me as a slave! Is this what I…

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Home -> Vayeishev -> 5779

וילכו אחיו לרעות את צאן אביהם בשכם... וימצאו איש והנה תעה בשדה

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Vayeishev

Now, his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. (37:12)….. A man discovered him, and behold! – He was blundering in the field. (37:15)

Clearly, the entire debacle concerning Yosef and his brothers is cloaked in profound esoteric secrecy. All we can do is to derive snippets of ethical lessons which we should incorporate into our lives. Perhaps the most powerful and illuminating statement made by Chazal is the following: “The tribes/brothers were occupied with the sale of Yosef; Yosef himself was absorbed b’sako u’b’taaniso, in his sackcloth and fasting; Reuven, as well, was immersed in a state of penitence; so, too, was Yaakov Avinu; Yehudah was engaged in the process of looking for a wife. Last – and most important – was Hashem,…

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Home -> Vayeishev -> 5779

וישב ראובן אל הבור

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Vayeishev

Reuven returned to the pit. (37:29)

Where was Reuven (that he had to “return”)? Rabbi Eliezer (Midrash) says, “Reuven was occupied with fasting; he was dressed in sackcloth as penitence for changing the placement of his father’s bed. Hashem (in accepting Reuven’s repentance) said to him, ‘From the beginning of time, there has not been anyone who had transgressed and repented. You are the first one. As reward, your descendant will stand and declare/exhort the people to return/repent.’” This is a reference to the Navi Hoshea, a descendant of Reuven, who proclaimed, Shuvu Yisrael ad Hashem Elokecha, “Return Yisrael to Hashem, your G-d.” This Midrash begs…

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Home -> Vayeishev -> 5779

ויהי בעת ההיא וירד יהודה מאת אחיו

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Vayeishev

It was at that time that Yehudah went down from his brothers. (38:1)

The Midrash Tanchuma explains the juxtaposition of Yehudah’s marriage, upon the loss of his wife and two sons, and upon the incident of Yosef’s sale, with Yehudah being the one to inform Yaakov Avinu of Yosef’s death. Hashem said to Yehudah, “You have yet to father children; thus, you do not know what raising children and losing them means, the accompanying pain and sorrow. Yet, you were the one to inform your father that a wild animal had killed/torn his son apart. You must now experience the pain of losing a child. Therefore, you will marry and father two sons,…

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Home -> Vayeishev -> 5779

ואיך אעשה הרעה הגדולה הזאת וחטאתי לאלקים

Sruly Schnair
In 5779, Vayeishev

How then can I perpetrate this evil and have sinned against G-d! (39:9)

Potiphar’s wife did everything within her power and resources to beguile and seduce Yosef. True to his earned appellation of tzaddik, righteous man, he resisted her advances. According to Rashi, he employed ingratitude as an excuse, asserting that his master had entrusted him with the total run of the house. To sin with his wife would be the nadir of ingratitude – not to mention indecency – and a betrayal of trust. In the beginning of his Shaarei Teshuvah, Rabbeinu Yonah derives a different tactic from Yosef’s words – one that should, likewise, apply to each and every one of…

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