Transcript
Good morning and welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. We have the זכות zechus, the great merit and privilege this morning of studying together פרשת וישב Parshas Vayeishev, page 198 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, continuing our study of the story, of this tremendous narrative that is unfolding. As I say every week, we know where it goes, we know what happens next, and yet there is such suspense. There's so much to learn and to unpack, so much to derive and to extract from these lessons from the פרשה Parsha for today because the פרשה Parsha may remain the same, but we are different, the world is different, and the lessons that we can take away are different. Our פרשה Parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman, דוד בן מנחם מניש Dovid ben Menachem Manish. Our learning is in his memory. Page 198. וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען Vayeishev Yaakov be'eretz megurei aviv be'eretz Knaan. And יעקב Yaakov was living בארץ מגורי אביו be'eretz megurei aviv, in the land of his forefathers, בארץ כנען be'eretz Knaan, בארץ כנען be'eretz Knaan.The בת עין Bas Ayin, the הייליגע heilige בת עין Bas Ayin, whose יארצייט yahrtzeit was just observed last week. The בת עין Bas Ayin brings the following: וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו Vayeishev Yaakov be'eretz megurei aviv. רש\"י Rashi tells us ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה bikesh Yaakov leisheiv be'shalva. That יעקב Yaakov simply wanted some serenity, some peace and quiet. All יעקב Yaakov wanted was no tension, no drama, no ups and downs. ביקש לישב בשלוה Bikesh leisheiv be'shalva, who doesn't want that? Our world has been so chaotic and complicated. And all יעקב Yaakov wanted, and all we really want is some peace and quiet. He wanted לישב בשלוה leisheiv be'shalva. קפץ עליו רוגזו של יוסף Kafatz alav rogzo shel Yosef. And when he requested that, when he wanted that, when השם Hashem perceived that that was what יעקב Yaakov wanted was his goal, he was overcome with רוגזו של יוסף rogzo shel Yosef, the whole episode that we're about to see and study, the story of יוסף Yosef being kidnapped, sold into slavery, left in prison, falsely accused, all of that. צדיקים מבקשים לישב בשלוה Tzaddikim mevakshim leisheiv be'shalva, אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לא דיים לצדיקים מה שמתוקן להם לעולם הבא, אלא מבקשים לישב בשלוה בעולם הזה omar HaKadosh Baruch Hu lo dayam la'tzaddikim ma she'mesukan lahem be'Olam HaBa, elah mevakshim leisheiv be'shalva ba'Olam HaZeh. And רש\"י Rashi says צדיקים tzaddikim are righteous, they want to sit in serenity, in tranquility, and השם Hashem says, \"It's not enough that in the world to come, there's a special place, a special space, you'll be able to enjoy. You want that not only in the world to come, you want that here and now? You want that in this world too?\" Nah. Nah, not happening. You're not getting it. So at the exact moment that יעקב Yaakov says, \"Where's my palm tree? Where's my chaise lounge chair? Where's my piña colada? I just want to sit by the pool, just want to play a little mahjong and saw shuffleboard, just want to get in a little tennis and golf. ביקש לישב בשלוה Bikesh leisheiv be'shalva. I just want to retire to South Florida,\" and השם Hashem says, \"Nah.\" Nah. Life is not about retirement. Life is not about peace and quiet, serenity and tranquility. There's work to do. And when does work, when is there breakthrough? When do we break through boundaries? When is there a growth spurt? When there's tension, at the result of of conflict. Everybody knows the story of the pearl. The pearl emerges from the oyster. Oyster. There's a tension in the oyster, there's agitation in the oyster, and it produces the pearl. The most beautiful jewels come not from that which is sitting comfortably, but when there is a tension, agitation, when a person nevertheless recovers, perseveres, emerges, the pearl is born.So the classic way of understanding רש\"י Rashi is that יעקב Yaakov, like so many of us, reached an age where he said, \"Been through enough, been there, done that. All I want is some peace and quiet.\" הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, \"Nice try. Not gonna happen. You're never done. You're never done. You never reach that age. You'll never have quiet, no drama.\" That's not what this life and this world are really all about. We're tested, we grow, we become better, we pass it forward. He's quoting the בת עין Bas Ayin. The simple understanding of רש\"י Rashi, דרך בתמיה derech be'tmiah. But the בת עין Bas Ayin הקשה על זה hekshah al zeh. דהרי כתיב darei ketiv, רצון יראיו יעשה retzon yerei'av ya'aseh. The בת עין Bas Ayin was bothered. What was wrong with what יעקב Yaakov wanted? After all, do we not say in אשרי Ashrei every day, רצון יראיו יעשה retzon yerei'av ya'aseh? השם Hashem, you fulfill, you perform the will of the righteous. רצון יראיו Retzon yerei'av, the רצון rotzon, the will of יראיו yerei'av, those who fear you, יעשה ya'aseh, you do. So אם כן im kein, למה לא יעשה הקדוש ברוך הוא רצונו של יעקב לישב בשלוה lama lo ya'aseh HaKadosh Baruch Hu retzono shel Yaakov leisheiv be'shalva? Why couldn't הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu answer in the affirmative? Why couldn't he טאקע takkeh let יעקב Yaakov live with some peace, some serenity, some quiet, some happiness, some joy? ולכך מפרש הבת עין דברי רש\"י בניחותא V'le'chach mefaresh ha'Bas Ayin divrei Rashi benichusa. So the בת עין Bas Ayin, he translates, he understands רש\"י Rashi entirely differently. You listening? I never heard this my whole life. I always understood רש\"י Rashi a certain way. The בת עין Bas Ayin understands it entirely differently. Because חז\"ל Chazal tells us, the מדרש Midrash tells us, ראוי היה יעקב אבינו לרדת למצרים בשלשלאות של ברזל Ra'ui hayah Yaakov avinu lareides le'Mitzrayim beshalshala'os shel barzel. The truth is that it was יעקב Yaakov, יעקב Yaakov who originally was destined to descend to Egypt, chained. וגלגל הקדוש ברוך הוא מכירתו של יוסף, שעל ידי זה ירד יעקב למצרים בכבוד גדול V'gilgel HaKadosh Baruch Hu mechiras shel Yosef, she'al yedei zeh yarad Yaakov le'Mitzrayim be'chavod gadol. It was יעקב Yaakov. The Jewish people had to get to get to Egypt. We'll get to why. Why did we have to go to Egypt? What lesson did we need to learn? What experience did we need to have? But we needed to spend a little time in מצרים Mitzrayim, in Egypt. We had to spend some time in מצרים Mitzrayim. Originally, says the מדרש Midrash, יעקב Yaakov was going to bring us down chained. יעקב Yaakov was bringing us down. יעקב Yaakov would be in slavery and suffering. But הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu instead paid it forward, and it wasn't יעקב Yaakov, it was his son יוסף Yosef. So that when יעקב Yaakov came down, how did יעקב Yaakov come down? With dignity, with honor, with glory, with a parade and an entourage and a welcome celebration. ובזהו מבאר דברי רש\"י U'v'zehu meva'er divrei Rashi. כיוון שביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה Keivan she'bikesh Yaakov leisheiv be'shalva, על כן אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא al kein amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu, דודאי אעשה כן ליעקב וימלא רצונו Devadai e'eseh kein le'Yaakov v'yismalei retzono. Don't read it that יעקב Yaakov wanted to live with peace and serenity and quiet, and השם Hashem said, \"No, that's not the purpose of this world. Get to work, I'm going to test you.\" The בת עין Bas Ayin reads it entirely different. יעקב Yaakov wanted to לישב בשלוה leisheiv be'shalva and השם Hashem said, \"Okay.\" Because רצון יראיו יעשה retzon yerei'av ya'aseh. השם Hashem fulfills the will of those who fear him. הרי רצון יראיו יעשה Ha'rei retzon yerei'av ya'aseh. ובזהו שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא בניחותא U'v'zehu she'omar HaKadosh Baruch Hu benichusa, שבאמת she'be'emes, לא דיים לצדיקים לפי מעשיהם השכר שמתוקן להם לעולם הבא lo dayam la'tzaddikim le'fi ma'aseihem, hasachar she'mesukan lahem l'Olam HaBa. And that's why it's not sarcastic or cynical or a question. It's not enough for the righteous that they want reward in the world to come, they also want peace and quiet in this world. No, don't read it as a question sarcastic from השם Hashem. Read it בניחותא benichusa. The בת עין Bas Ayin says, you know, טאקע takkeh it's not enough that the righteous get peace and quiet in the world to come. They deserve it here now too. So instead of bringing יעקב Yaakov down in chains, קפץ עליו רוגזו של יוסף kafatz alav rogzo shel Yosef. השם Hashem orchestrates and curates and choreographs that it's יוסף Yosef who comes down, who's sold, and when יעקב Yaakov comes down, he comes down with honor, he comes down with he comes down with glory. Why do I share? It's a fascinating re-read or reinterpretation of רש\"י Rashi. Interesting, I never heard it before. The הייליגע בת עין heilige Bas Ayin, and it's fascinating.But it also strikes me and it occurs to me that in the moment that sometimes we want and we request and we ask for things for ourselves, be careful what you ask for. Because here, השם Hashem fulfills יעקב'ס Yaakov's request, but who suffers instead? His son. השם Hashem had to bring about a certain result. And יעקב Yaakov intervenes, intercedes, and he appeals to השם Hashem and he says, \"That result, don't bring it down through me.\" השם Hashem says, \"Okay, no problem. You're righteous. I won't do it through you. Come here, יוסף Yosef, you're gonna suffer instead.\" Had יעקב Yaakov known that יוסף Yosef would suffer instead, would he still be ביקש לישב בשלוה bikesh leisheiv be'shalva? So we sometimes don't know, and we have to be careful to protect ourselves from ourselves. And to ask השם Hashem, \"השם Hashem, here's the way I see it, here's what I want or need, here's what I hope it works out, but you do you. You do what you see is best, the way you see is best.\" And sometimes we have to be safe. ושועתם יושיעם Ve'shavasam yoshi'eim. We continue also in אשרי Ashrei. What do we say? הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, you hear שועתם ויושיעם shavasam v'yoshi'eim. You hear our prayers, ויושיעם v'yoshi'eim, and you save us. If you hear our prayers, why do we need to be saved? If we're being saved, did you hear our prayers? So commentators say, you may recall this from אשרי Ashrei, last night we hit סידור סניפט Sidur Snippet number 600. Big milestone. Big מזל טוב mazel tov. Thank you. Apparently nobody's as excited as I am. I'm the only one who's heard all 600, so. So 600. We're in ותחזינה עינינו V'sachazena eineinu at the end of the עמידה Amidah, all the way back in אשרי Ashrei. Several hundred סידור סניפטס Sidur snippets ago, we explained. Why does הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu שועתם ויושיעם shavasam v'yoshi'eim, why do we have to be saved if he hears us? Because sometimes, be careful what you ask for. You wanted that job? You force השם'ס Hashem's hand, you pressure and מוטשער mutcher him, you relentlessly beg him, he says, \"No problem. That job's not best for you. And it's gonna be a miserable boss, and you're gonna suffer, and it's gonna be difficult, but here's the job.\" You want that שידוך shidduch? You דאווען daven that it go through, you work on it going through, 7,000 references, interrogations, interviews, pictures, resumes, you demand it, you asked השם Hashem, you begged it go through. Be careful. So ויושיעם v'yoshi'eim means sometimes he hears our תפילה tefillah, ויושיעם v'yoshi'eim, and he saves us from ourselves. He doesn't answer positively. He doesn't answer in the affirmative for what we're asking, 'cause what we think is best for us, it's not best for us. So that's why it's so important when we דאווען daven to say to השם Hashem, I'm not trying to twist your arm and do it my way. I'm trying to tell you from my limited finite view and vision, this is what I think is best, but choice between me and you, let's go with you. Let's go with you. If you're gonna close this door, close this door, open another. 'Cause if that's not the right job, that's not the right שידוך shidduch, if it's not right for me to לישב בשלוה leisheiv be'shalva, 'cause instead you're gonna give it to my son, I'm gonna suffer through my son. You do you. Let's do it your way, השם Hashem, not my way. So this new interpretation of the בת עין'ס Bas Ayin's understanding and reading of רש\"י Rashi and חז\"ל Chazal is interesting because it's very different than what we've seen before or how most of us have learned it until now. But I also think it's interesting because it's a reminder to be careful what we ask for and how we ask for it, and to ask for it with humility and flexibility that השם Hashem, I don't know the great calculation and the matrix above, so from my perspective, this is what I think would be best. But I don't want to pay it, I don't want to pass it off to one of my children. So you do what you think is right, in the most right way, in the best way. That's what we ask, that's what we ask the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. Okay.Next. פרק ל\"ז פסוק ב' Perek Lamed-Zayin, Pasuk Beis. Moving right along. אלה תולדות יעקב, יוסף בן שבע עשרה שנה Eileh toldos Yaakov, Yosef ben shva esrei shana. אלה תולדות יעקב, יוסף בן שבע עשרה שנה היה רועה את אחיו בצאן והוא נער את בני בלהה ואת בני זלפה נשי אביו, ויבא יוסף את דבתם רעה אל אביהם Eileh toldos Yaakov, Yosef ben shva esrei shana hayah ro'eh es echav batzon v'hu naar es bnei Vilhah v'es bnei Zilpah neshei aviv, v'yavei Yosef es dibasam ra'ah el avihem. So immediately we continue. That's what יעקב Yaakov wanted, and השם Hashem made something else unfold instead. These are the תולדות toldos. What are the תולדות toldos? Not the first time we're seeing that word. What are תולדות toldos? Offspring, progeny, outcome. These are the תולדות toldos of יעקב Yaakov. יוסף Yosef is 17 years old when he's a shepherd with his brothers, with the flock, but והוא נער את בני בלהה ואת בני זלפה נשי אביו v'hu naar es bnei Bilhah v'es bnei Zilpah, neshei aviv. He's a youth with the sons of Bilhah and sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and יוסף Yosef had this terrible practice, he would bring דבתם רעה אל אביהם dibasam ra'ah el avihem, evil reports, he would report negatively about his brothers to their father. Now one question I'll pose, but we're not going to address. It's addressed by many, but I'll leave it to you as a question. I got to keep you coming back future years. אלה תולדות יעקב Eileh toldos Yaakov. How many sons does יעקב Yaakov have? He's got 12. He has 11 until now. He's got a lot of sons. It's setting it up for a disaster that even the תורה Torah seems to be contributing to the problem. יעקב Yaakov favors יוסף Yosef, and the תורה Torah seems to be favoring יוסף Yosef right now. These are the offspring of the great יעקב Yaakov. יוסף Yosef. ראובן, שמעון, לוי, יששכר, זבולון, נפתלי, דן, אשר, גד Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yissachar, Zevulun, Naftali, Dan, Asher, Gad. They're not all, hi, hello, yeah, what about me? What about דינה Dina? They're almost... And דינה Dina, and each of them was born with a twin, a female twin. So where's everybody else? אלה תולדות Eileh toldos, these are the offspring. Where's everybody else? Where's everybody else? We know the way it does not work out well when the family lists a מזל טוב mazel tov in the weekly and you left out one of the kids. Doesn't work out well when you take out an ad in the journal of that organization, signed on behalf of the parents, some of the children, and you leave off one of the kids. And here the תורה Torah leaves off all of the kids, except for יוסף Yosef. And that's how this whole problem begins with, because יעקב Yaakov favors יוסף Yosef, and here the תורה Torah seems to favor יוסף Yosef. אלה תולדות יעקב Eileh toldos Yaakov, these are the progeny, the offspring, the continuity of יעקב Yaakov, this is his legacy. יוסף Yosef, he's 17 years old, and he's a shepherd. Okay, where's everyone else? Where are all the older brothers, those who come first? I'm leaving that for you as a question. But now on the words, והוא נער v'hu naar. והוא V'hu. והוא V'hu is a pronoun, and he is a נער naar. Who's he? So the simple understanding of the text is, who is the נער naar? יוסף Yosef. יוסף'ס Yosef's 17 years old. And at 17 years old, he still acts somewhat, and again, it's not me saying this, lightning shouldn't strike, it's the תורה Torah. He's a little bit emotionally immature. He's an immature 17-year-old. He's still reporting negatively, he's still tattletaling. In my family, we were told, \"snitches get stitches\". And יוסף Yosef didn't get the memo, \"snitches get stitches\". We don't endorse violence, of course, I'm not... Okay, all the disclaimers. But you don't tattletale. You don't turn in. You know, siblings can have rivalry, siblings can fight, siblings can have tension, siblings can compete, but one unwritten rule among siblings, you don't snitch. You don't tattletale. You don't turn in, you're not מוסר moser. There's no tolerance for that. Even as parents, sometimes we say, you know, when one child comes to tell on another, you don't hold the child that's telling about accountable, you tell them, \"Listen, I got to deal with that, what they did may be wrong, but you can't, you can't turn on your sibling. You can't turn on your sibling.\" Unless it's for their well-being, to protect them from themselves, and so on. So, so יוסף Yosef, והוא נער v'hu naar, the simple understanding of the פסוק pasuk is, והוא נער v'hu naar, who's the נער naar? יוסף Yosef. Comes along the בית אהרן Beis Aharon, the קרלינר Karliner. אלה תולדות יעקב, יוסף Eileh toldos Yaakov, Yosef, צריך להוסיף תמיד מחדש בעבודת השם יתברך Tzarich lehosef tamid mechadash be'avodas Hashem Yisborach. A person always needs to be renewed and rejuvenated and fresh. So he quotes from רב אשר מסטולין Rav Asher Stoliner, והוא נער v'hu naar, שצריך להיות תמיד כמו נער לעבודת השם יתברך בהתחדשות ובחיות she'tzarich l'hiyos tamid kemo naar le'avodas Hashem Yisborach be'hischadshus u've'chayus. נער Naar here is not a criticism. נער Naar here is not a statement of immaturity. נער Naar is a compliment. Be a נער naar. What does the word נער naar, לנער l'na'er is to shake off. Be active, be moving, be youthful, be vigorous, be dynamic. Have energy and enthusiasm in your יידישקייט Yiddishkeit, in your life, כאילו לא עשה עד עכשיו כלום, ואתה מתחיל לעבוד את השם יתברך מתוך התחדשות ושמחה וחיות ke'ilu lo asah ad achshav klum, v'atah matchil la'avod es Hashem Yisborach mi'toch hischadshus v'simcha v'chayus. As if today's your first day. It's your first time putting on תפילין tefillin, first time lighting שבת Shabbos candles, first time opening the סידור siddur, first time doing חסד chesed, first time learning פרשת וישב Parshas Vayeishev. נער Naar, be a נער naar. Youthful curiosity, youthful energy, youthful vigor for life. We mentioned last שבת Shabbos our דרשה drasha was the holy student of רבי נחמן Rebbe Nachman, the great רבי נתן Rebbe Nosson of ליקוטי הלכות Likutei Halachos, who said, what was ויאבק איש עמו vaye'avek ish imo. יעקב Yaakov is wrestling. And there are a lot of words and synonyms for wrestling. Why does it use the word ויאבק vaye'avek? אבק Avak, dust. So רש\"י Rashi tells us the simple understanding is in that wrestling match, they kicked up dust. When two people wrestle on the ground, on the earth, they kick up dust. They kick up dust. But the הייליגע רבי נתן heilige Rebbe Nosson says, \"No, you know what it means? You know what the fight was? You know what the battle was for? This שר של עשיו sar shel Eisav, this alter ego of יעקב Yaakov, in the language of IFS, internal family systems, this part of יעקב Yaakov, it wanted him to just lie down and collect dust.\" The image of dust, dust is stillness, stagnation. When does something collect dust? When it just sits. When it just sits. It's lost its useful usefulness. There's nothing in motion. There's no growth, there's no progress, there's no dynamism. It just sits and collects dust. So this angel says to יעקב Yaakov, \"You're about to reconcile and meet your brother, he wants to kill you. You've got no chance, there's no point. Lay down, collect dust, you're done, you're finished, it's over.\" And what's the antidote, what's the answer to collecting dust? Movement, dynamism, energy, enthusiasm, activity, vigor. And that's what יעקב Yaakov does. ויאבק Vaye'avek, he wrestles. He refuses to accept. Refuses to accept. והוא נער V'hu naar. נער Naar is to shake off. Shake off that dust. Refuse to collect dust. I don't care what age you are. Don't collect dust. You could be a hundred-year-old נער naar, and you could be a 15-year-old זקן zaken. You could be a 15-year-old, by the way, if you sit at 15 years old and all you do is play video games, and you're sitting on your couch, and you're collecting dust, then you're then you're an old man even at 15. And if you're a hundred-year-old who's dynamic and going, and active and excited, and energized and enthused in the performance of מצוות mitzvos and relationships in life, then you could stay a נער naar even into, even into being a a hundred years old. Even into old age. והוא נער V'hu naar. Maybe the והוא v'hu is not יוסף Yosef. Maybe the והוא v'hu is יעקב Yaakov. והוא נער V'hu naar. But נער naar says the בית אהרן Beis Aharon, נער naar here is not a criticism. נער Naar is a compliment. לנער L'na'er, shake it off. Don't collect dust. Stay youthful, stay active, stay busy. To be a נער naar. Be a נער naar. פרק ל\"ז פסוק ד' Perek Lamed-Zayin, Pasuk Daled.So what's יוסף'ס Yosef's problem? He brings דבתם רעה dibasam ra'ah. He has negative reports to the father. He's tattling, he's a snitch. Now ישראל Yisrael, יעקב Yaakov loved יוסף Yosef from all of his sons. I'll pose a second question for the day I'm not giving an answer to. We saw last week that יעקב'ס Yaakov's name is changed. That's not accurate. We spoke last week, that's not accurate. אברם'ס Avram's name is changed to אברהם Avraham. שרי'ס Sarai's name is changed to שרה Sarah. יעקב'ס Yaakov's name is not changed. He's given an additional name. He remains יעקב Yaakov and he also gains the name ישראל Yisrael. And an important exercise is to go through תורה Torah and see when do we refer to him as יעקב Yaakov, when do we refer to him as ישראל Yisrael? Learn תהלים Tehillim, read תהלים Tehillim. When does דוד המלך David HaMelech refer to him as יעקב Yaakov? מגיד דבריו ליעקב Magid devarav le'Yaakov. And when does he refer to him as ישראל Yisrael? ישראל בו יבטח השם Yisrael bo yivtach Hashem. When is it יעקב Yaakov, when is it ישראל Yisrael? So here, note, in describing the favoritism for יוסף Yosef, it does not say יעקב Yaakov, which I might have expected, because as we spoke about last week, יעקב Yaakov is the lesser name, the inferior name, the the non-ideal name, יעקב Yaakov. So who showed favor to יוסף Yosef, אהב את יוסף מכל בניו ahav es Yosef mi'kol banav? It's ישראל Yisrael. ישראל אהב את יוסף Yisrael ahav es Yosef. I would have expected it to be יעקב Yaakov. Why does the תורה Torah here refer to it as ישראל Yisrael? Question number two I'm not giving you an answer to. פסוק ד' Pasuk Daled, turn the page. ויראו אחיו כי אותו אהב אביהם מכל אחיו Vayir'u echav ki oso ahav avihem mi'kol echav. And the brothers saw that that יוסף Yosef was more beloved to their father from all of them. וישנאו אותו Vayisne'u oso, so they hated him. ולא יכלו דברו לשלום v'lo yachlu dabro le'shalom, and they could not, translate the words. לא יכלו Lo yachlu, they could not, that part's easy. דברו Dabro, does דברו dabro mean to speak? לא יכלו לדבר Lo yachlu ledaber. What is דברו dabro? לשלום Le'shalom. What letter is missing in the word לשלום le'shalom? The ו' vav is missing. It's a clumsy phrase. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro le'shalom. So רש\"י Rashi tells us, לא יכלו דברו Lo yachlu dabro, מתוך גנותם למדנו שבחם, שלא דברו אחת בפה ואחת בלב mi'toch genusam lamadnu shivcham, she'lo dibru achas ba'peh v'achas ba'lev. In this horrible, terrible, miserable episode that has created problems that we continue to suffer from until today, but at least we see something praiseworthy for the brothers. And what's that? At least minimally, they're not duplicitous. They're not hypocritical. They don't, you know sometimes somebody gives you a hug while they drive the knife into your back? To your face they're giving you the hug, \"I love you and you're the best\" and \"כבוד הרב Kavod HaRav\" and \"you're amazing.\" They're driving the knife, they're twisting the knife. You know those people that when you're with them, \"I love you, my best friend, I have the greatest things to say about you,\" but at the שבת Shabbos table or, you know, other times they're done exercising and to the person they played with, afterwards, they're busy talking all about you. These brothers, at least what you see is what you get. They're direct, they're straight, they're transparent. They hated יוסף Yosef and they didn't make any bones about it. They didn't pretend they didn't. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro le'shalom. They did not pretend to be kind and friendly and loving to his face and then behind his back slam him. What you see is what you get, they were transparent. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk in his לבוש lavo'eish. מורי ורבי Moreh v'rabi, רב חיים קנייבסקי זצ\"ל Rav Chaim Kanievsky zatzal, מביא רעיון מפליא מהפסוק mevi ra'ayon meflash me'pasuk. It says, לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro le'shalom בכתיב חסר b'ktiv chaser, בלא האות ו' b'lo ha'os vav. The way it appears in the תורה Torah, look in your חומש Chumash, there's no ו' vav in the word לשלום le'shalom. We read it לשלום le'shalom, but how does it appear? לשלם le'shalem. לכך אף בפה לא דברו עמו לשלום Le'chach af ba'peh lo dibru imo le'shalom. We see, שנאמר כן she'ne'emar kein, כיוון שבלבם לא היה להם עמו שלום, אף בפה לא דברו עמו בשלום keivan she'belibam lo hayah lahem imo shalom, af ba'peh lo dibru imo be'shalom. Since, since they could not, since they were not duplicitous, since they weren't fake, since they weren't one way with this and another way there, therefore, it appears the way what you see is what you get, it's incomplete. Even the printing of the word לשלום le'shalom is not with the ו' vav. על כן נאמר לשלם חסר Al kein ne'emar le'shalom chaser. כיוון שלא יכלו לדבר עמו בשלום מלא Keivan she'lo yachlu ledaber imo be'shalom malei, שמאחת שלא דברו אחת בפה ואחת בלב she'ma'achas she'lo dibru achas ba'peh v'achas ba'lev, אם כן Im kein, מחמת שלא היה עמו בשלום בלבם machmas she'lo hayah imo be'shalom be'libam, היה חסר מלבם מאשר לממו hayah chaser mi'libam ma'asher le'mimo. אף בפה הם לא דברו עמו בשלום Af ba'peh heim lo dibru imo be'shalom. ועל כן תיבת 'בשלום' חסרה V'al kein teivas 'be'shalom' chaserah. The reason you have a כתיב ktiv and a קרי וכתיב kri v'ktiv here, the reason it appears without the ו' vav is because that's exactly the message as רש\"י Rashi said, that at least they were transparent. At least they were transparent. But come back to that word דברו dabro. It's a funny word, a clumsy word. לא יכלו דברו Lo yachlu dabro. So the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer points out, he continues, לא יכלו דברו עמו לשלום lo yachlu dabro imo le'shalom. It could have said לא יכלו לדבר lo yachlu ledaber. They couldn't speak. דבר איתו Daber ito, with him. What does it mean לא יכלו דברו lo yachlu dabro, דברו dabro? סובר בזה So be'er be'zeh, שלא יכלו האחים לראות כיצד יוסף מדבר עמם לשלום she'lo yachlu ha'achim liros keitzad Yosef medaber imam le'shalom. Who's the דברו dabro? Who's the דברו dabro? So a second time we're seeing today that the תורה Torah is so beautiful and so open that you can read things so differently. Who's the והוא נער v'hu naar? יעקב Yaakov or יוסף Yosef? Who's the דברו dabro? So the simple understanding is that the brothers are incapable of speaking peacefully to יוסף Yosef. There's just a tension, they can't speak kindly, nicely. It's just there. They do not ever present peacefully. לא יכלו Lo yachlu, they couldn't, דברו שלום dabro shalom. But the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer understood it differently. לא יכלו דברו Lo yachlu dabro is not how the brothers speak to יוסף Yosef. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro le'shalom. They could not experience or interpret or absorb that יוסף Yosef was actually speaking to them בשלום be'shalom. יוסף Yosef may have not been doing the right thing by turning them in, but all he wants is peace. All he wants is to connect. All he wants is to be accepted. He wants to be one of the brothers. לא יכלו Lo yachlu, because they hated him, וישנאו אותו vayisne'u oso, they hated him, ולא יכלו v'lo yachlu, and they couldn't. You know, it's a young person phrase. Young people say, \"I can't. I just, I can't.\" You can't finish the sentence. You can't what? We finish the sentence. \"I can't tolerate, I can't accept, I can't go there, I can't continue the conversation, I can't.\" Young people just say, \"I can't. I can't. I can't.\" לא יכלו Lo yachlu. That's the text here. לא יכלו Lo yachlu, they couldn't, they couldn't. They hated him. וישנאו אותו Vayisne'u oso they hated him, לא יכלו lo yachlu, I can't. And what couldn't they? דברו Dabro. What they couldn't was דברו לשלום dabro le'shalom. They couldn't accept that יוסף Yosef was speaking to them לשלום le'shalom. So it's a whole other way of seeing the דברו dabro. Who is struggling? Who's דברו dabro? They couldn't speak peacefully to יוסף Yosef, or they couldn't see that יוסף Yosef was trying to speak peacefully to them. Trying to speak peacefully to them. רב נתנסון Rav Nathanson, of Nathanson, understands this differently in his ספר sefer, שואל ומשיב Sho'el u'Meishiv. He says, what does it mean לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro le'shalom? In his commentary on חומש Chumash. He says, \"What does it mean? שלום עליכם Shalom aleichem.\" Sometimes there's such tension, such animosity between people, such enmity, that they're not even able to give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem to one another. They can't be in the room at the same time. You know those people? It's the hardest part of making a שמחה simcha. Who you can't sit at the same table? נעבעך Nebach, we wonder why we still don't have a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. Who you can't sit at the same table? Why? 'Cause they can't even give each other a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro le'shalom. They can't... you don't have to be best friends. You don't have to go on vacation together. You don't have to go on the cruise together. You don't have to go on the BRS empty nester trip to Panama together. You don't have to go שבת Shabbos meals together. But to give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem, you can't walk by and say \"Good שבת Shabbos\"? You can't walk by and say \"שלום עליכם Shalom aleichem\"? That's how bad it got. That the brothers hated יוסף Yosef, such venom that they couldn't even give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro le'shalom, they couldn't even give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. Why? What happens over here? יוסף Yosef makes these critical mistakes. And he shares, ויאמר אליהם vayomer aleihem, שמעו נא, החלום הזה אשר חלמתי Shimu na, hachalom hazeh asher chalamti. \"Hey brothers, who can't even look at me and give me a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem and hate me so much and keep turning me in to... You know what? Let me tell you about my dreams.\" Now, to say that יוסף Yosef brought this upon himself is the understatement of the century. This is very unwise what יוסף Yosef does. And his father's critical of it. Don't alienate your brothers. You contributed to this whole thing. And the brothers answer, they hear, and what do they answer? פרק ל\"ז פסוק ח' Perek Lamed-Zayin, Pasuk Ches. ויאמרו Vayomru, they hear this dream and what do they say to יוסף Yosef? המלוך תמלוך עלינו, אם משול תמשול בנו Hamaloch timloch aleinu, im mashol timshol banu? ויוסיפו עוד שנא אותו על חלומותיו ועל דבריו Vayosefu od sno oso al chalomosav v'al devarav. \"What, are you going to rule over us? You have this whole dream, the stalks and the bowing down, then the stars and the... What do you think, you're going to rule over us? You're in charge of us? You're going to control us?\" ויוסיפו עוד שנא אותו Vayosefu od sno oso. And just when you thought that their hatred couldn't get worse, they hated him even more. על חלומותיו Al chalomosav, on account of his dreams, ועל דבריו v'al devarav, and all of his speech, everything that he was saying. What is this expression, המלוך תמלוך עלינו Hamaloch timloch aleinu? Why the double expression? Why not just say, התמלוך עלינו Hatimloch aleinu? \"Who do you think you are, hotshot? Younger bro? You think you're going to rule over us? You're a גורנישט gornisht, you're a nothing. What do you think you are, these dreams? What are these fantasies? This is what you're dreaming about? This reveals what you're thinking about during the day, your subconscious. But why not just formulate it התמלוך עלינו Hatimloch aleinu? You think you're going to rule over? What's the double language, המלוך תמלוך Hamaloch timloch? Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, יש דבר בזה כי אחים רצו לומר ליוסף שאין יכול להיות מלך עליהם אם אינו מלך על עצמו yesh davar be'zeh ki achim rotzu lomar le'Yosef she'ein yachol l'hiyos melech aleihem, im eino melech al atzmo. \"You think you can rule over us when you can't even rule over yourself?\" What's the evidence you can't even rule over yourself? אם הלך להוציא דיבה על אחיו ולספר בגנותם אצל אביהם, ודאי אינו חשוב למלכות Im halach lehosi dibah al achav u'lesaper be'gnusam etzel avihem, vadai eino chashuv le'malchus. \"You don't even have the judgment to not go tattle to our father. You don't even have the judgment to get along with us, to not alienate us by sharing your dreams. You can't even regulate and control yourself and your behavior and have good judgment, and you think you're going to rule over us? המלוך תמלוך עלינו Hamaloch timloch aleinu? You're not even a מלך melech, you can't be, you can't rule over yourself. You think you're gonna rule over us?\" That's as רב דרוק Rav Druk is the double language. המלוך תמלוך עלינו Hamaloch timloch aleinu. \"You think you can rule over us when you can't even rule over yourself?\" The brothers are making an accurate criticism. It's an accurate, it's a fair response to these dreams. You can't be a leader if you can't lead yourself. If you can't regulate yourself, if you don't have self-control over yourself, if you don't... Now, leaders aren't perfect. I'm in a position of leadership and I'm telling you all the time, I'm very far from perfect. I can give you a long list of people that you can confirm that with. I'm far from perfect, far from perfect. But a person has to demonstrate self-regulation, self-sovereignty, that they can practice what they're preaching. If you can't practice what you preach, stop preaching. If you can't implement in your own life, stop telling other people what to do. If you can't be a מלך melech over yourself, then you can't תמלוך timloch other people. And that's what the brothers are saying. Say, \"Listen brother. 17-year-old teenage brother. First learn to not tattle, first learn to not be a snitch, first learn to control yourself, then you can talk about one day being this senior brother ruling over us.\" But until then, המלוך תמלוך hamaloch timloch? חז\"ל Chazal tells us, says in the גמרא בבא מציעא Gemara Bava Metzia, קשוט עצמך ואחר כך קשוט אחרים Kshot atzmecha v'achar kach kshot acheirim. First be honest with yourself and then... נמצא שהיה לו שני מיני צער, על עצמו שבבית אדוניו המצרי, והנה ויהי השם את יוסף. בזמן שאדם בצער, הרי הוא עלול ליפול ולעצבות. When a person is בצער b'tza'ar, when a person is suffering, they often fall to a place of sadness. But sadness is a גפערליך זאך gefehrlich zach. עצבות Atzvus, he writes, אל כן עשה יוסף כל מיני פעולות להיות בשמחה Al ken asa Yosef kol minei pe'ulos l'hiyos b'simcha. יוסף Yosef understood what ר' נחמן R'bi Nachman dedicated his life to, what a מורה ושמש Morah V'Shemesh and many others. Sadness is the kryptonite of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. When we're sad, when we're down and out, when we're depressed, when we're despondent, when we're hopeless, we become helpless. יצר הרע Yetzer Hara can bring us right down. We'll give up. We'll make poor decisions. It's over. A איד Yid has to remain בשמחה b'simcha. A Jew has to find a way to put a smile on our face. כפת ורקע כדי שיהיה בשמחה Kafats v'raka k'dei she'yihiyeh b'simcha. יוסף Yosef, even though he's sold into slavery, abandoned by his father and by his brothers, or he perceives his father and by his brothers, and ultimately falsely accused and sitting in slavery, he stubbornly continues to smile and to be positive and to fight off that depressive state. Not talking about clinical depression, that's not our fault, that's chemical and needs to be treated. חלילה Chalila, God forbid, no one should ever be judgmental. I'm talking about non-clinical, but what we can control, all of us, to choose. Happiness is a choice. It's not an emotion. Choose happiness. Choose happiness. And it's the way out. It's the way out. מי שנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה Mi'she'nichnas Av mema'atin b'simcha. He טייטש'ט taitcht, he translates, מי שנכנס אב ממעטין mi'she'nichnas Av mema'atin how? בשמחה B'simcha. בשמחה B'simcha. מי שנכנס אב ממעטין Mi'she'nichnas Av mema'atin, but how? בשמחה B'simcha. That's why ויהי איש מצליח vayehi ish matzliach. יוסף Yosef becomes an איש מצליח ish matzliach. How does he become an איש מצליח ish matzliach even in those conditions and even in that place? How and why? Because he stubbornly continued to be בשמחה b'simcha. He remained positive with a smile. He remained happy. He remained happy. And that's why, fast forward to the end of the פרשה parsha, we didn't get to it two years ago, we're not getting into it again now, but if you fast forward, פרק מם, פסוק זין Perek Mem, Pasuk Zayin will end with this. יוסף Yosef ultimately finds himself in prison. He's with the שר המשקים ושר האופים sar ha'mashkim v'sar ha'ofim. And what does he say to them? He says iconic words that are the catalyst that got him out of there, that led to his freedom, that led to his rising to be the viceroy of Egypt, that led to the Jewish people going down to Egypt, that led to the birth of our people. And what were the words that began it all, without which who knows where we would be? What does he say, פרק מם, פסוק זין Perek Mem, Pasuk Zayin? He asks them, וישאל את סריסי פרעה אשר אתו במשמר בית אדניו, לאמר Vayishal es srisei Paroh asher ito b'mishmar beis adonav, leimor, מדוע פניכם רעים היום Madua pneichem ra'im hayom? What's going on? Why are you so sad today? Now יוסף Yosef's sitting in prison and had every right to worry about himself. Why is he turning and looking at these two strangers and asking, hey, brothers, what's with the sad face? What's with the long face? What's going on? And so, here they are sitting in prison, every man for himself, and all of a sudden a stranger is asking them why they're sad and what's going on. They share about their dreams. He interprets them. Remember him. He gets out. It leads to his freedom and to the rest of the story. All because he bothered to turn to them to say, why are you so sad? Now, first of all, what day on the Hebrew calendar was that? Anyone know? The גמרא Gemara tells us in ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah, it was ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. It was ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. You want a new beginning in your life? Care about other people who are sad. Ask them why they're sad, relieve them of their sadness, make them better and happier. That's a new ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. A new beginning for us comes when we care about other people. It begins his freedom because יוסף Yosef says, מדוע פניכם רעים madua pneichem ra'im. I'll leave you with a fourth question to think about. I was going to give you the answer, but we don't have time. He should have said, מדוע פניכם madua pneichem, why are your faces sad today? He says, why are your faces רעים היום ra'im hayom? What does רעים ra'im mean? Bad. What's with the, he doesn't say what's with the sad face. He says, what's with the bad face? Why does he call a sad face a bad face? See פרשת וישב תשפ\"ו Parshas Vayeishev Taf Shin Pey Vav, hopefully in ירושלים עיר הקודש Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh, all of us together. May we hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos. Please remain to say all of ספר תהלים Sefer Tehillim. We should hear בשורות טובות, ישועות ונחמות besoros tovos, yeshuos v'nechamos.
