5770

“Indeed, we are guilty concerning our brother inasmuch as we saw his heartfelt anguish when he pleaded with us.” (42:21)

If we peruse the preceding parsha, which relates the story of the sale of Yosef to the Yishmaelim, we notice that there is no mention of Yosef pleading with his brothers. It is only from their vidui, confession, that we are able to derive that he pleaded with them not to sell him. Horav Yosef Konvitz, z.l., observes, that it is implicit in the brothers’ statement that this pleading must have taken place only at the moment that they decided to sell him to the Arab merchants. Why? Why did he not implore them earlier, when they were throwing him…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5770, Mikeitz

“So Yosef’s brothers, ten of them, went down to buy grain from Egypt.” (42:3)

Rashi questions the Torah’s usage of the term “Yosef’s brothers,” as opposed to “Yaakov’s sons.” Furthermore, why does the Torah state that ten brothers went down to Egypt? We are told in the next pasuk that Binyamin went down. Is there a reason that the Torah emphasizes the number ten? Rashi explains that by referring to them as Yosef’s brothers, the Torah seeks to emphasize that they all were remorseful over the sale of Yosef. Consequently, they went with brotherly affection to find and redeem him at all costs. Their sentiments towards him were not uniform, since some brothers…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5770, Mikeitz

“Yosef called the name of his firstborn Menashe, for G-d has made me forget all my hardship… And the name of the second he called Efraim for, G-d has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” (41:51-52)

As Yosef named his second son, he chose to emphasize that Egypt was not his home; it was “eretz anyi,” land of my suffering, even though this land had been the source of his eminence. Here, he had become known; here, he had become wealthy and powerful; here, he went from being a lowly slave to associate ruler of the country. Yet, he wanted to remember and inculcate this idea in his children: Egypt is not our home; it is eretz anyi, the land of aniyus – affliction, suffering and poverty. Horav Chizkiyahu Cohen, z.l., comments that the greatest “ani,” poor man,…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5770, Mikeitz

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

The Yalkut Shimoni, cited by Rashi at the end of Parashas Vayeishev, attributes Yosef’s “extra” years of incarceration to the fact that he asked the sar ha’mashkim, chamberlain of the cupbearers, to remember him to Pharaoh. He stated his request to be remembered twice, which explains the two years of incarceration. Chazal end with a pasuk in Tehillim 40:5, “Fortunate is the man who has placed his reliance upon Hashem and has not turned to the arrogant ones.” This refers to one who does not rely on Egypt to sustain him. Incredible! On the one hand, Chazal consider Yosef…

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YEARS

“Indeed, we are guilty concerning our brother inasmuch as we saw his heartfelt anguish when he pleaded with us.” (42:21)

“So Yosef’s brothers, ten of them, went down to buy grain from Egypt.” (42:3)

“Yosef called the name of his firstborn Menashe, for G-d has made me forget all my hardship… And the name of the second he called Efraim for, G-d has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” (41:51-52)

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

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