5771

“So now, please forgive the spiteful deeds of the servants of your father’s G-d.” And Yosef wept when they spoke to him. (50:17)

Yaakov Avinu had passed from this world. Feeling a sense of foreboding, the brothers asked Yosef to forgive them for what they had done to him. They recalled the suffering which had resulted from his sale to a degenerate nation that relegated him to live in miserable dungeons with individuals of base character. Their choice of words (“so now”) intimates that from now on – since Yaakov’s death – they will be seeking Yosef’s forgiveness. What does Yaakov’s passing have to do with the need for forgiveness? In his volume, A Vort From Rav Pam, Rabbi Shalom Smith quotes the Rosh…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5771, Vayechi

Reuven, you are my firstborn…water-like impetuosity – you cannot be foremost… Shimon and Levi are comrades, their weaponry is a stolen craft. (49:3,4,5)

Yaakov Avinu’s blessing to his sons commenced with words of rebuke to his first three sons. The reproof was not pretty – but then, it never really is. It was succinct and to the point, focusing on their errors, expressed without embellishment. It must have hurt. These were grown men, leaders of distinction, from whom the future Klal Yisrael would descend. To their father, however, they were sons, as such, he was obligated to rebuke them. It was not a time for coddling or sugar-coating. Yaakov told it like it was. Chazal laud the brothers’ reaction to their father’s critique. In…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5771, Vayechi

“But as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me… and I buried her there on the road to Efras.” (48:7)

Yaakov Avinu explains to his son Yosef, why he did not bury Rachel in the Meoras HaMachpelah. It was Hashem’s decision that Yaakov bury Rachel on the side of the road, so that the exiled Jews would pass by the Matriarch’s grave on the way to Bavel. Her neshamah, soul, would weep and pray for their safe passage and eventual return. Rachel’s heartfelt prayers will effect a positive response from Hashem. But, we wonder why Rachel was selected for this mission? Clearly, she was virtuous and saintly, and her prayers would have great efficacy, but is that all? Horav Dovid…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5771, Vayechi

“But as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me in the land of Canaan on the road… and I buried her there on the road to Efras.” (48:7)

Earlier, Yaakov Avinu had asked to be buried in the Meoras Ha’Machpeilah. In all fairness, how could Yaakov expect Yosef to do something for him which he himself had not done for Yosef’s mother, Rachel? Sensing that this might be bothering Yosef, the Patriarch explained his actions: It was not his choice to bury the Matriarch on the road, when they were only a short distance from Bais Lechem. Hashem had commanded him to bury her there in preparation for the future, when she would be a source of solace to the Jewish People being led into captivity, following the…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5771, Vayechi

“Ephraim and Menasheh shall be mine like Reuven and Shimon… By you shall Yisrael bless… ‘May G-d make you like Ephraim and Menasheh.’” (48:5,20)

At best, Ephraim and Menasheh are considered equal to Reuven and Shimon, two of the Shivtei Kah, Tribes. However, when fathers and mothers bless their children they do not bless them, “May you be like Reuven and Shimon” (or any of the other Shevatim). Why, then, do Ephraim and Menasheh serve as paradigms for blessing? Surely, they were not better people than Reuven and Shimon. Sefas Emes explains the distinction. Although Ephraim and Menasheh were “second generation,” and therefore at birth were not on the same spiritual plateau as the Shevatim, they achieved their elevated status by developing themselves to reach…

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YEARS

“So now, please forgive the spiteful deeds of the servants of your father’s G-d.” And Yosef wept when they spoke to him. (50:17)

Reuven, you are my firstborn…water-like impetuosity – you cannot be foremost… Shimon and Levi are comrades, their weaponry is a stolen craft. (49:3,4,5)

“But as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me… and I buried her there on the road to Efras.” (48:7)

“But as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died on me in the land of Canaan on the road… and I buried her there on the road to Efras.” (48:7)

“Ephraim and Menasheh shall be mine like Reuven and Shimon… By you shall Yisrael bless… ‘May G-d make you like Ephraim and Menasheh.’” (48:5,20)

BOOK OF BEREISHIS

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BOOK OF BAMIDBAR

BOOK OF DEVARIM

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