Mikeitz – Page 5 – Peninim on the Torah

הלא אמרתי אליכם לאמר אל תחטאו בילד ולא שמעתם וגם דמו הנה נדרש

Did I not speak to you saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ but you would not listen! And his blood as well– behold – is being avenged. (42:22)

Reuven cast the blame for Yosef’s debacle on his brothers, claiming, “I told you so.” Veritably, they did not shed Yosef’s blood, but, since he had been held in captivity all these years, anything could have happened. If something actually had happened to Yosef, the brothers needed to be aware they were responsible. The Yalkut Chamishai quotes the Gerrer Rebbe, zl, the Bais Yisrael, who employs this pasuk as a remez, allusion, that the one who sins with regard to a child is guilty of a grave sin. A child is unable to protect himself, and, thus, he is susceptible…

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ויצא לבם ויחרדו איש אל אחיו לאמר מה זאת עשה אלקים לנו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, Mikeitz

Their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that G-d has done to us?” (42:28)

Any intelligent, observant Jew knows that life is neither lived randomly, nor lived in a vacuum. Life is filled with meaning and purpose, much like a roadway with signs warning the driver to slow down for a construction site, a children’s crossing, traffic jam, bad weather. The intelligent driver takes heed and makes the necessary changes in accordance with the messages that he sees. The driver who ignores the messages and is too preoccupied to take notice – or cannot read the language – will either luckily avoid an accident or fail to negotiate a problem area properly and hurt…

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ויחפש בגדול החל ובקטן כלה וימצא הגביע באמתחת בנימין

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5776, Mikeitz

He searched; he began with the oldest and ended with the youngest; and the goblet was found in Binyamin’s sack. (44:12)

Stealing represents a character defect – if the thief is an adult. The mere fact that a person is not affected by the pain he inflicts upon another person is in and of itself an indication of a flawed, even perverted, personality. When the thief is a young child, it is usually an indication of a lack of ethical values which were not inculcated in him by a responsible mentor. We will soon discern exactly who the responsible mentor is. While I often include a story only for the purpose of buttressing the lesson which the dvar Torah teaches, in…

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ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Mikeitz

And it was at the end of two years. (41:1)

Yosef was only supposed to be in prison for ten years, because he had spoken lashon hora, slander, against his ten brothers. Why did he stay for two more years? Chazal explain that his reliance on the sar ha’mashkin, chamberlain, bespoke a failing in his level of bitachon, trust in Hashem. An individual of Yosef’s spiritual level knows better than to rely on people. It is all up to Hashem – or nothing. Only the Almighty has the power to save. Indeed, whatever a man catalyzes requires Hashem’s complete assistance. In his sefer Yado Bakol, Horav Eliyahu m’Izmir, raises a…

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ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם וישיתהו על ארץ מצרים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Mikeitz

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

Yosef was asked to interpret Pharaoh’s dream – not to add his personal opinion concerning its implementation. Yet, when he rendered the interpretation, he rendered free, unrequested advice. Why did he do this? Horav Gamliel Rabinowitz, Shlita, explains that, actually, the advice was part of the dream’s interpretation. He quotes a vignette which he heard from his father concerning the Chofetz Chaim, zl. A man came to the venerable sage, complaining bitterly that, at one point in his life, parnassah, earning a livelihood, had been no problem for him. He did well, and he had money to spare. Now, regrettably,…

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ובלעדך לא ירים איש את ידו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Mikeitz

And without you, no man may lift up his hand. (41:44)

Thirty years of servitude is a harsh sentence for a young man in the prime of his life. Yosef knew it was not going to be easy, and he was prepared to live with the consequences of his sale to the Yishmaelim. When it was decreed by Heaven that it was time for Yosef to be released, it came all of a sudden. Yosef had no warning that he was leaving. He never despaired of being released one day. The last thing on his radar was being released, and – almost overnight – the slave becoming the Egyptian Viceroy. This…

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ויקרא יוסף את שם הבכור מנשה כי נשני אלקים את כל עמלי ואת כל בית אבי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Mikeitz

Yosef called the firstborn Menashe, for “G-d has made me forget all my hardship and my entire father’s household. (41:51)

Unquestionably, Yosef’s home life was difficult. Being reviled and shunned by his brothers, regardless of its appropriateness or misguided nature, did not provide the setting for a happy home life. He had every reason to want to forget the hardships that he had endured in his father’s home. Yet, he did not remonstrate over it, because he understood that it had been Hashem’s will, as part of a larger Divine Plan. He bore his brothers no ill will and carried no grudge. As the Baal Akeidah explains, he thanked Hashem for enlightening him concerning his difficult past. Now, it all…

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ואת בנימין אחי יוסף לא שלח... כי אמר פן יקראנו אסון

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Mikeitz

But Binyamin, Yosef’s brother, Yaakov did not send… for he said, “Lest disaster befall him.” (42:4)

The words yikranu, spelled with an aleph, is related to kara, to call, to designate. When Yehudah repeats (to Yosef) his father’s fear concerning Binyamin’s safety, he says, Ulekachtem gam es zeh me’im panai v’karahu ason, “So you should take this one, too, from my presence, and disaster will befall him” (44:29). In this instance v’karahu is spelled with a hay, related to karah, denotes an unrelated occurrence by chance. Thus, we have two words which sound the same: with an aleph, it implies deliberation, designation, calling with a purpose; with a hay, it denotes a chance meeting, an unrelated…

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ויקח מאתם שמעון ויאסר אתו לעיניהם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Mikeitz

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

Yosef took Shimon as a hostage until the brothers would return with Binyamin. Rashi explains that it was Shimon who had thrown Yosef into the well, and he was the one who had contemptuously referred to Yosef as the baal ha’chalomos, “the dreamer.” Alternatively, Rashi explains that allowing Shimon and Levi to be together could have been dangerous. As the ones who slew the entire city of Shechem, he feared that their companionship could lead to a lethal conspiracy against him. In any event, Yosef felt he had reason to fear Shimon. In his inimitable manner, Horav Aryeh Leib Heyman,…

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וקל ש-די יתן לכם רחמים לפני האיש

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5775, Mikeitz

And may Almighty G-d grant you mercy before the man. (43:14)

Rashi explains Yaakov Avinu’s farewell to his sons: “Now that you have the money, a gift for the viceroy, and your brother Binyamin, you lack nothing but prayer – I will pray for you.” The decision was made that they were to return to Egypt. If so, they were to take along a gift for the Egyptian ruler. Second, they required funds for purchasing the grain. Third, they should return the money they had discovered in their bags. Fourth, they would take along double money, just in case the price had doubled. Fifth, take Binyamin. It would seem that now…

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הלא אמרתי אליכם לאמר אל תחטאו בילד ולא שמעתם וגם דמו הנה נדרש

Did I not speak to you saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ but you would not listen! And his blood as well– behold – is being avenged. (42:22)

ויצא לבם ויחרדו איש אל אחיו לאמר מה זאת עשה אלקים לנו

Their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that G-d has done to us?” (42:28)

ויחפש בגדול החל ובקטן כלה וימצא הגביע באמתחת בנימין

He searched; he began with the oldest and ended with the youngest; and the goblet was found in Binyamin’s sack. (44:12)

ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים

And it was at the end of two years. (41:1)

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)

ובלעדך לא ירים איש את ידו

And without you, no man may lift up his hand. (41:44)

ויקרא יוסף את שם הבכור מנשה כי נשני אלקים את כל עמלי ואת כל בית אבי

Yosef called the firstborn Menashe, for “G-d has made me forget all my hardship and my entire father’s household. (41:51)

ואת בנימין אחי יוסף לא שלח... כי אמר פן יקראנו אסון

But Binyamin, Yosef’s brother, Yaakov did not send… for he said, “Lest disaster befall him.” (42:4)

ויקח מאתם שמעון ויאסר אתו לעיניהם

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

וקל ש-די יתן לכם רחמים לפני האיש

And may Almighty G-d grant you mercy before the man. (43:14)

YEARS

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