Sruly Schnair – Page 54 – Peninim on the Torah

ויגש אליו יהודה ויאמר בי אדנ-י

Then Yehuda approached him and said, “If you please, my lord.” (44:18)

The Jewish people are called Yehudim, from Yehudah’s name. What is so special about his name that earned this distinction? The goal of a Jew is to realize that everything which occurs in his life emanates from Hashem. Even when he finds himself in the worst predicament of his life, he acknowledges his life force: Hashem. He sees Hashem’s light amid the darkness that engulfs him. The Sefas Emes explains Yehudah’s statement to Yosef, Bee Adonee, literally, “Within me is my Master.” Yehudah’s name contains within it the same letters as Hashem’s Name. When Yehudah expunged whatever personal bias might…

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ויגש אליו יהודה

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Mikeitz

Then Yehudah approached him. (44:18)

Yehudah made an impassioned plea to Yosef, whom he still thought was the Egyptian viceroy. He was polite, but firm. He was even willing to exchange himself for Binyamin. One thing was not negotiable: Binyamin. He must be freed. Chazal (Midrash Rabbah 93:6), comment that, in his address to Yosef, Yehudah was prepared for three courses of action: war, appeasement and prayer. Concerning war, we see that the undercurrent of Yehudah’s plea was his willingness to use force, if necessary, to effect Binyamin’s release. From his choice of words and respectful demeanor, it is clear that Yehudah was prepared to…

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ויפל אל צוארי בנימין אחיו ויבך ובנימין בכה על צואריו

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Vayigash

Then he fell upon his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept; and Binyamin wept upon his neck. (45:14)

Chazal teach that Yosef and Binyamin wept over the Sanctuaries that would be built in their respective portions of Eretz Yisrael and later destroyed. The two Batei Mikdash were in Binyamin’s territory, and the Mishkan Shiloh in Yosef’s (Efraim’s) territory. After years of separation, the love the two brothers had for one another was superseded by their sadness over the future destructions. While the Avos, Patriarchs, and their children were all human beings, the Torah and everything spiritual were uppermost in their minds. Their connection to one another was via the Torah. Horav Yaakov Neiman, zl, relates the well-known incident…

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קחו לכם... עגלות לטפכם ולנשיכם... וירא את העגלות אשר שלח יוסף... ותחי רוח יעקב אביהם

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Vayigash

Take for yourselves… wagons for your small children and for your wives… and he (Yaakov) saw the wagons that Yosef had sent… the spirit of their father Yaakov revived. (45:19,27)

Chazal wonder what it was about the agalos, wagons, that assuaged Yaakov Avinu’s fear concerning Yosef’s moral status. [His son had been separated from him and his pristine spiritual environment for over two decades. During this time Yosef had been ensconced in a country whose moral compass was bankrupt, its culture redefining the nadir of moral profligacy. He worried, but when he saw the agalos, he calmed down.] The simple answer is that agalos, wagons, allude to Eglah Arufah (agalah, eglah, same letters), the axed heifer, which was the last topic Yaakov had studied with Yosef prior to his disappearance….

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ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם וישיתהו על ארץ מצרים

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Mikeitz

Now let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. (41:33)

Pharaoh had asked Yosef to interpret his dreams. Nowhere do we find him asking for advice. Yet, after Yosef paints a picture of prosperity followed by hunger, doom and gloom, he adds that Pharaoh should immediately appoint a wise and discerning man to administrate the country. Horav Yitzchak Volozhiner, zl, explains that Pharaoh’s dream occurred on Rosh Hashanah, as Chazal (Rosh Hashanah 10) teach that Yosef was taken out of prison on Rosh Hashanah. Yosef wondered why Pharaoh had his dreams on this auspicious day. Indeed, Chazal (Rosh Hashanah 16a) teach that four times during the year Hashem judges the…

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ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם וישיתהו על ארץ מצרים

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Mikeitz

Now let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. (41:33)

Chochmah, wisdom, is clearly a prerequisite for growth and leadership. It is also vital to functioning as a ben Torah, one who is committed to achieving a close relationship with Hashem. Horav Elazar M. Shach, zl, was wont to say that Hashem will not take a person to task if he is not a tzaddik, righteous man, but He expects him to be a chacham, wise man. This means that Hashem waits for a person to use his own G-d-given brain to determine that it is in his best interest to choose to live the Torah way of life. His…

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ויאמר פרעה אל יוסף... אין נבון וחכם כמוך

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Mikeitz

Pharaoh said to Yosef… “There can be no one so discerning and wise as you.” (41:39)

Pharaoh mentions navon, discerning, before chacham, wise. In Devarim 1:13, concerning the appointment of judges, the Torah writes, Havu lachem anashim chachamim u’nevonim, “Provide for yourselves distinguished men who are wise and discerning (well-known).” What is the reason for the disparity? Horav Moshe Shternbuch, Shlita, explains chochmah as basic wisdom, knowledge that one receives from his forebears – without personal embellishment or supplementation. Tevunah, discernment, is what one understands on his own, thus enabling him to add to the knowledge that he has acquired. With this principle in mind, we can understand the difference between the Jewish and the non-Jewish…

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ויאמר יעקב לבניו למה תתראו

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Mikeitz

Yaakov said to his sons, “Why would you have everyone gazing at you?” (42:1)

Yaakov had sufficient food for his family. The country, however, was suffering through a hunger which was taking its toll on everyone around them. Thus, Yaakov told his sons to be like everyone else and go down to Egypt to purchase grain to sustain the family. In an address at an Agudas Yisrael convention, Horav Shimon Schwab, zl, exhorted the listeners: Lamah tisrahu, “Do not be conspicuous with your wealth – even if it was honestly earned (according to Torah standards). Why display before others that you have sufficient food when they are starving?” They had enough, but others did…

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ויוסף אמר לאשר על ביתו קום רדף אחרי האנשים והשגתם ואמרת אליהם למה שלמתם רעה תחת טובה

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Mikeitz

Yosef said to the one in charge of his house, “Arise, chase after the men; when you overtake them, you shall say to them, “Why do you repay evil for good?” (44:4)

One would have expected Yosef to instruct his agent to simply ask the brothers, “Why did you take the cup? Why did you repay evil for good?” This is not the first question one asks of someone who has just stolen his silver cup. The Zera Shimshon explains that Yosef asked this question by design, in order to send home a message to the brothers. He intimated, “When our father made me a multi-colored coat, you became jealous. You became so jealous that it was sufficient reason for you to sell me as a slave. “If, however, you were to…

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והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלמים בתוך השדה והנה קמה אלמתי וגם נצבה

Sruly Schnair In 5783, Vayeishev

Behold! We were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, when, behold! My sheaf arose and remained standing. (37:7)

The Torah’s narrative teaches us how Hashem’s ways (of dealing with the world and with us) must be accepted with love. A superficial, cursory perusal of the stories in the Torah will not do anyone justice; the reader is left clueless, and the profundity of the narrative remains concealed and ambiguous. The Midrash and Zohar, the Talmud and its many commentators, offer us powerful insights into the behind the scenes workings of the narrative, their hidden meaning, and the message for the reader. Concerning Yosef HaTzaddik, Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 84:10) teach, Kamah alumasi; my sheaf stood up – “My alumah,…

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ויגש אליו יהודה ויאמר בי אדנ-י

Then Yehuda approached him and said, “If you please, my lord.” (44:18)

ויגש אליו יהודה

Then Yehudah approached him. (44:18)

ויפל אל צוארי בנימין אחיו ויבך ובנימין בכה על צואריו

Then he fell upon his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept; and Binyamin wept upon his neck. (45:14)

קחו לכם... עגלות לטפכם ולנשיכם... וירא את העגלות אשר שלח יוסף... ותחי רוח יעקב אביהם

Take for yourselves… wagons for your small children and for your wives… and he (Yaakov) saw the wagons that Yosef had sent… the spirit of their father Yaakov revived. (45:19,27)

ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם וישיתהו על ארץ מצרים

Now let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. (41:33)

ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם וישיתהו על ארץ מצרים

Now let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. (41:33)

ויאמר פרעה אל יוסף... אין נבון וחכם כמוך

Pharaoh said to Yosef… “There can be no one so discerning and wise as you.” (41:39)

ויאמר יעקב לבניו למה תתראו

Yaakov said to his sons, “Why would you have everyone gazing at you?” (42:1)

ויוסף אמר לאשר על ביתו קום רדף אחרי האנשים והשגתם ואמרת אליהם למה שלמתם רעה תחת טובה

Yosef said to the one in charge of his house, “Arise, chase after the men; when you overtake them, you shall say to them, “Why do you repay evil for good?” (44:4)

והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלמים בתוך השדה והנה קמה אלמתי וגם נצבה

Behold! We were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, when, behold! My sheaf arose and remained standing. (37:7)

YEARS

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