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רק אדמת הכהנים לא קנה כי חוק לכהנים מאת פרעה ואכלו את חוקם

Only the land of the priests did he not buy, since the priests had a stipend from Pharaoh. (47:22)

Rashi explains a set decree which Pharaoh established, that the priests should receive a daily stipend of bread – regardless of the country’s economic condition.  Thus, it was unnecessary for them to sell their land for food.  Targum Yonasan disagrees, explaining that Yosef established this rule out of a sense of gratitude to the priests for saving his life.  Potifar was a priest, whose wife claimed that Yosef had made advances toward her.  Understandably, for a lowly slave to act in such a reprehensible manner warranted the death penalty.  Potifar sought the advice of his colleagues – both as verification…

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ובני בנימין

And the sons of Binyamin. (46:21)

The Torah goes on to record the names of Binyamin’s ten sons.  Rashi (ibid 43:30) quotes Chazal that Binyamin named each of his sons for some element of Yosef’s tragedy. For example: Bela, because Yosef was Nivla, swallowed among the nations; Becher, related to be’chor, first born, which Yosef was to Rachel Imeinu; Shavui, because he was taken captive.  In this unique manner, Binyamin immortalized Yosef’s memory.  Thus, he ensured that every time he called his children, Yosef’s character, his ordeal, and his greatness would come to mind. A vital truth is underscored herein.  A person dies twice:  Once when…

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ויבאו מצרימה יעקב וכל זרעו אתו ... בניו ובני בניו אתו בנתיו ובנות בניו וכל זרעו הביא אתו מצרימה

And they came to Egypt… Yaakov and all his offspring with him … His sons and grandsons with him, his daughters and granddaughters and all his offspring he brought with him. (46:6,7)

The Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh comments concerning the redundancy of the text.  It previously said that Yaakov v’chol zaro, with all his offspring, came to Egypt.  Why does the Torah reiterate that his sons and grandsons came?  Were they not part of his offspring?  The Torah goes on to mention daughters and granddaughters, following the word ito, with him. First, why are they separated from the rest of the offspring? And why is the extra word ito added as a separation between sons/grandsons and daughters/granddaughters.  The Ohr HaChaim explains that, indeed, with regard to their attitude, the different groups were not…

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ויעל לקראת ישראל אביו.....וירא אליו

And he (Yosef) went up to meet his father…..He appeared before him. (46:29)

Yaakov Avinu could not wait to see his long-lost son, Yosef. Yosef had left home a boy, and now he was viceroy over the people of Egypt. He went from challenge to travail and emerged as righteous as when he left home. The image of his father had kept him holy. Now, after all this time, after all the tzaros, troubles, that Yosef had endured, he was finally going to embrace his father. This would be the script as presented by a secular author, a playwright who seeks to capture the drama of this face-to-face interaction between father and son….

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ואת יהודה שלח לפניו אל יוסף להורת לפניו גשנה

He sent Yehudah ahead of him to Yosef, to prepare ahead of him in Goshen (46:28)

Yaakov Avinu sent Yehudah ahead of the family to make the proper arrangements for their transition to Egypt. Yehudah was the definitive leader of the brothers, having proven himself in his confrontation with the Egyptian “viceroy.” Rashi quotes Chazal, who delve into the word l’horos, to teach, that Yehudah was actually destined to establish a yeshivah, so that when they arrived they could immediately continue their Torah study. It also shows the Patriarch’s profound insight into Jewish values. Without Torah as the foundation and lodestar for navigating life, the journey is untenable. The Torah is our inspiration and guide, especially…

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ויפל על 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)

Rashi explains that Yosef wept over the two Batei Mikdash, situated in Binyamin’s portion of Ertez Yisrael, which would be destroyed. Binyamin wept over the Mishkan Shiloh, which was in Yosef’s portion, that would be destroyed. The question is glaring: Did they have no other time to weep over these churbanos, destructions?  There is a time for everything: a time for dance; ‘a time for eulogy; a time for weeping’, and a time for joy. This was the moment for which they had both longed. It should have been filled with heightened joy-not weeping. HoRav Mordechai Pogremonsky, zl, cites the…

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ואת יהודה שלח לפניו... להורות לפניו גשנה

He sent Yehudah ahead of him… to prepare ahead of him in Goshen. (46:28)

Yaakov Avinu sent Yehudah l’horos lefanav Goshnah, which Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 95:3) interpret to be Yehudah’s mission to set the foundation for a makom Torah, a yeshivah where everyone could study. From the very beginning, our Patriarch set forth his priorities for his children to know and incorporate into their lives. Torah is our number one priority. While not every Jewish community has a yeshivah gedolah, they all have a shul set aside for prayer and study. Without Torah, we are unable to serve Hashem and live properly as observant Jews. Judaism is a religion – not a culture –…

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ויסע ישראל וכל אשר לו ויבא בארה שבע

So Yisrael set out with all that he had and he came to Beer Sheva. (46:1)

Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 94:4) explain that Yaakov Avinu went to Beer Sheva to cut down cedar trees which his grandfather, Avraham Avinu, had planted there. Apparently, Avraham knew that the karshei haMishkan, bars that comprised the walls of the Mishkan, would be made of wood. He planted in preparation for that auspicious day. Knowing that he would die in Egypt and that his descendants would build a Sanctuary in the wilderness, Yaakov, therefore, went to cut these trees (and transplanted them in Egypt), so that, when his descendants would leave, they would take the trees along with them. This is…

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ויפל על 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. (45:15)

Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 93:10) comment that the Yosef/Binyamin reunion, accompanied by copious weeping, was much more profound than two brothers simply reconnecting after many years. Their weeping was not just an expression of joy mixed with sadness. Their weeping was not personal. They wept over: the destruction of the Batei Mikdash that would stand in Binyamin’s portion of Yerushalayim, and Mishkan Shiloh which was situated in the portion of Efraim, son of Yosef. This is a momentous commentary concerning the elevated level of sensitivity which each of these two brothers demonstrated. They were distinct from the rest of their family,…

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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)

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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