Transcript
Good morning, a freilichen Chanukah. It is great to be back Parsha perspectives for today. As always we begin with an attitude of gratitude and thanking our generous sponsors. Our series sponsors, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman, li'ilui nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנש, it should be in memory of Becky's father David Grossman. The shiur is also dedicated anonymously for the refuah shleimah of רב נתנאל בן מירל, should have a complete, speedy, and painless refuah shleimah, and also a thank Hashem for the refuah of יוסף צדוק בן יעל רוס, should also have a complete, continued, complete refuah shleimah. We are reading Parshas Mikeitz page 222. This is a parsha near and dear to my heart. You're not allowed to play favorites among parshios. Every one of them of course is all of our favorite, every one has timeless lessons for today, but I love this parsha even if it didn't always love me. But page 222, we continue with the story that we last left off, the drama that is unfolding. Even though we know the way it turns out, nevertheless, every year when we reread it, we can't help but be gripped by the drama, by what is unfolding before our eyes, by what was orchestrated and choreographed from above, all these dreams to actually come to fruition and come true in the most unexpected of ways. So I want to begin with an insight of רב אברהם שאר שליט\"א in his new sefer Nezer HaParsha, halacha v'libuv, which really connects the parsha and Chanukah. I'd be remiss if we came together to learn, the menorah's burning bright over there as it does in shul in the mornings, not only at night, and to not draw from the light of Chanukah to illuminate our lives. So he has a beautiful idea, beautiful essay here, we can't learn or read the entire thing, but just to bring the highlight. And he says we know the parsha begins, Yosef interprets the dreams of Pharaoh, and the two dreams that Yosef, that Pharaoh has in succession have the same interpretation. And Yosef's able to do something that none of the other advisors, magicians, sorcerers, none of the others can do. And what is it exactly that appeals to Pharaoh about Yosef's interpretation over the interpretation of others, so much so that not only is Pharaoh moved by and does he accept the interpretation, but he indeed immediately pivots to recruit Yosef to be the viceroy, his vice president, to be the secretary of the economy and to lead all of Egypt. What is it? Yosef sees in the two dreams not only the same interpretation, but embedded within the dream was the outcome, was what to execute, what to do, was the solution. Others interpreted the dream to be a problem, Yosef interprets the dream not only to see what is a challenge and a problem, but to find the solution. And we'll get into a moment exactly what that means and how that manifests. But what's the solution, of course? It's one that too many still haven't learned from these thousands of years later, which is to save in the good years, the fat years, for the thin and the lean years. That when the economy is robust, when people are doing well, when people have a little surplus and a little extra, don't assume that will be your lifestyle or your income forever. Don't build a lifestyle around the best year you've ever had, because when the economy's thriving and doing well, when you're having great years, it's all well and good, it's wonderful, but a person has to anticipate and be ready that the economy can also turn, and a person has to have savings. I'm not going to get into it now, I'm not an expert and it isn't my subject, nor do I even want to rant about it. But you can all Google and see, you'll all know, particularly among a younger generation, how many are living in debt, as opposed to those who live lives and were raised to know you have to save, save for retirement, save for a rainy day, save for a leaky roof, save to the ability that you can, it's a luxury not all have. But of course, there was a value and a virtue once to saving, whereas today people are spending to the extent of going into deep debt, not only not putting away for that rainy day, but having debt even before that rainy day comes. What's the connection to Chanukah? So here's where רב אברהם שאר שליט\"א in his wonderful sefer describes that ימי חנוכה הם מסוגלים לקנות ביראת שמים. These days, the light of the menorah and the energy, the electric energy of Chanukah, these are days of mochin d'gadlus. If it's dark, then you can't see. We come and light the menorah and we illuminate the world and we have a certain clarity, we have a certain confidence, we feel miracles, כדי להודות ולהלל. We can be grateful, and even this Chanukah which is so painful and difficult, the attack and atrocity in Australia took the lives of too many. I just saw a video this morning of an attack of Jews on a subway in New York, everyone were bystanders and just watched as the Jews were, were literally choked and attacked, thank God, please God will be okay, and you say how can we enjoy, how can we celebrate, how. we sing this *Chanukah*? The answer is with the challenges, with the struggles, there are miracles, there are miracles all around us. So *Chanukah*, the *z'mochan d'gavra* less, we have a certain broader perspective we can see more clearly, we feel more confident. We appreciate the miracles that are every day and that are around us. And what we need to do says Rav Shore, is bottle them. on the *yamim tovim*, why are they called *yamim tovim*? Jewish holidays are called *yamim tovim*, good days. Why are they good days? Because we eat well? They're good days because a lot cuz and *sufganiyot*? They're good days because of a brisket and corn beef? They're good day, yes, they're good days because of all of that. Yes. But why are they called *yamim tovim*? He describes there are *yamim tovim* and *yamim ra'im*. There are the days that we see the good and feel the good and appreciate the good. There are the days that we are surrounded by family and lighting the menorah and exchanging gifts and spinning a dreidel and eating delicious donuts and attending concerts and events and supporting organizations and having the time of our lives. But as we're experiencing that, we need to know that there'll be difficult days ahead and that we don't live those eight days permanently. And we bottle, we take those *yamim tovim* and we bottle them so the days that feel like *yamim ra'im*, and the days, there are no bad days, they're all dictated from above, but the days that are not as pleasurable and they feel painful, the days that we perceive and feel as *yamim ra'im*, we can still draw from and be inspired by and feel empowered with those days. *Yosef HaTzadik*, let me read to you inside. Again, it's a long essay, I wish I could read the whole thing but a little bit. *Yosef HaTzadik* also אוצר עבר ותבואה של מצרים. Yosef made a storehouse. This is what he introduced and how he was put in charge, that when the economy was thriving, when there was a surplus, the great free state of Florida, so many advantages to living here, not least of which is the weather, maybe we won't have any property taxes soon, a state income tax, the ability to defend ourselves with the second amendment and many others. We have a surplus, state of Florida. We've had a surplus while other states have not. Yosef takes that surplus and he buys a storehouse, he buys goods, he collects from the field. האוצר היה שמירה על התבואה שלעת ליום ממלא יקיים לתבואה לשבע שנים ויותר. So in the fat years and the good years when there was a surplus, he built silos and storehouses and he put away all the extra *tvuah*, the grain and the produce. Why? So in the seven thin lean years there wouldn't be famine. They'd be able to live off of what they had stored. על ידי זה יהיה להם אוכל בשנות הרעב. כן יש ליהודי תבואה רוחני. Every Jew has spiritual produce, spiritual grain, spiritual sustenance, *mazon hanefesh*, that which sustains the soul. It says in the *sfarim ha'kedoshim*, the *sfarim*, the holy *sfarim* say that *tvuah*, *osios v'ahavta*. *Tvuah*, which is what Yosef stored, that produce, that grain, is the same letters as *v'ahavta*, to love. וצריך לראות שלא יתליע האהבה לתלות אהבה זרה חס ושלום. והעצה לזה הוא עקב כל בני שומר תבואה כדי דאיתא בגמרא. *Yiras Shamayim*. Our storehouse, *yiras Hashem* he *otzaro*. What's our *otzar*? what's our storehouse? The *pasuk* in *Yeshayahu*, יראת השם היא אוצרו. When a person lives with an awe, a fear, a connection, when a person feels highly connected, there are times that we struggle. We have very, we're buffering in our relationship with Hashem. You know it's funny ten years ago no one would know what I'm talking about, buffering. We're buffering in our connection with Hashem. We're in, we're out, are you still there? I can't hear you. It's a poor connection, it's a bad connection. There are those days that we're buffering. And then there are days, high speed connection. Total clarity. Wow, what a picture, what sound, high speed connection, high speed. How do we create the high speed connection is *Yiras Hashem*, that consciousness and awareness, that connection, that feeling of Hashem in our lives. Korem *parshas Mikeitz b'Chanukah*, ויש בו לימוד משנות הסובע ומהרעב לימוד למעשה. We read this *parsha* in these days, not just to recall or commemorate or study history. The story of Yosef is not one of the past, the story of Yosef is very much one of the present. Financially, economically, it is a reminder. Yosef was way ahead of his time of economic cycles, top of the world, bottom of the world. There's the bull market and a bear market, how a person has to save and store to be able to know that they'll have what to draw from, how much based on your income, how many months you have to put away in order to anticipate, if you don't have, a person has to learn from the *parsha* certainly financially and economically. But says Rav Shore, we read *Miketz Chanukah*, כי ימי השובע קודמים מהרעב והם חלק מהכללה. כי מי שבמי השובע אינו מצמצם את עצמו הרי זה גורם שיהיה הרעב והקללה גדולה ביותר. When all is well and good, when you're thriving, when you have such high speed connection and there is such income. income, that you're downloading ruchnius, you're on fire, listening to shiurim and you're reading divrei Torah and you're watching videos about Chanukah and you feel so highly connected, and you're sitting and staring and watching. We'll talk more about another time, the tragedy of Chanukah, how it's become somewhat distorted. You know, the idea is to light the menorah and sit there and gaze and look and bask in its light and count your blessings. Instead, what do we do? We run to the other room, fry the latkes, spin the dreidel. We gotta get out. There's an event, a concert, the next thing, and we got to exchange the gifts, and we got to get going. And the menorah is sitting there by itself. Seven seconds you lit it, however long it took to sing Maoz Tzur and everybody was out of there. Everybody was out of there like Vladimir. And comes the menorah, all depressed and says, \"Hey, hi, the mitzvah over here, the light, this is can illuminate the world, this is where you can bring redemption into your life, this is where you can see clearly who you're meant to be and to become that person.\" So we got to get back to sitting and looking at that light. So right now we're living in a period not of darkness, but of light. Chanukah, these eight days. Sorry, sorry. I'm such a big talker. I told everybody to silence. I thought I put on do not disturb. I don't know what I'm doing. So, these are the days that we're downloading that light, but a person who doesn't store, and a person who doesn't have a storehouse in the fat years, in the fat time, will not have what to draw from in the yemei harav. ואז בימי הרעב אין יכול לשמור על עצמו ויעלה על עצמו דברים לא טובים על חוסר כל הרגל. וכן בכל אדם ואשר יש לו זמנים טובים צריך לראות לצמצם עצמו שלא יחרב רק בצימצום, כי אם לא כשיבא הגלגל חוזר בעולם ויהיה בחוסר כל לא יוכל לשאת את המצב. So this is the idea of all yomim tovim. During the period and the time of the, of the mochin de'gadlus, when we see clearly, when we have clarity and confidence, when we feel high connection, grab onto it. Store it, bottle it, write yourself a letter about it. Leave yourself a voice note about it, make yourself notes on it, draw from it, turn to it, and collect it on the yomim tovim to the yamim raim. This is אמור ואמרת להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים. Take from the great days, the high periods, the high connection. It's true for every area of life. You know, in marriage, which waxes and wanes, all marriages have ups and downs, feelings of incredible connections and feelings of who is that person? I can't even recognize this behavior. Draw from and store and recognize the incredible times to remember and to radiate and to and to be able to project onto the challenging times. Yomim tovim and the yamim raim. That's what we're doing on Chanukah. That's why according to Rav Schorr, we're reading Miketz on Chanukah to draw and extract this lesson of Yosef not only financially, economically, but also spiritually and in our lives. Page 222, back to parshas Miketz. ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים ופרעה חולם והנה עומד על היאור. It happened the end of two years, Pharaoh is dreaming, and here he is standing on the bank of the river. והנה מן היאור עולות שבע פרות יפות מראה ובריאות בשר ותראינה באחו. And here is from the river come seven cows, they're beautiful, they're robust, zaftig, and they're grazing in the marsh. והנה שבע פרות אחרות עולות אחריהן מן היאור רעות מראה ודקות בשר, and then seven, seven frail, mees, weak, nebach looking cows come out. ותעמודנה אצל הפרות על שפת היאור. and they're standing right next to the other fat cows, on the bank of the river. And what happens? ותאכלנה הפרות רעות מראה ודקות הבשר את שבע הפרות יפות מראה והבריאות וייקץ פרעה. The cows that are ugly and mees and meek, they eat the fat cows. And what happens? Pharaoh wakes up. Now, we've studied in the past, what does Pharaoh do? If you have such a jarring dream, if you wake up in this cold sweat, if something is so disturbing and bothering you, you don't know how to interpret it, what it means, what it portends, what are you going to do? Jump out of bed. You're gonna grab a tehillim, you're going to call an advisor, you're going to turn to somebody who could help you interpret it. What does Pharaoh do? Vayishan vayachalom sheinis. He turns over, shluf gezunt, goes right back to sleep. Right back to sleep. Tells you everything about Pharaoh. There are dreamers who are so awakened by their dream, they can't sleep. They're so driven, they're so excited, they're so ambition, they have such vision, they have such a dream, their dreams drive them. What does Pharaoh do with his dream? Vayishan vayachalom sheinis. He turns over. I'll deal with the dream if or when I wake up. And he has a second dream, and now it's not the cows but it's the stalks of grain, again, thin, scorched by the wind, the other fat and and robust grains. Vayehi baboker, he wakes up. He calls his chartumei mitzraim, nobody can interpret it, and the rest as they say is history. I want to introduce you to a new sefer. It was a gift from my friend Daron Katz who's involved in this organization. I met with its head. It's called Chumash Hagiborim. It was just published, five volumes. It is called the chumash of the giborim. And it is a chumash that is dedicated in memory of all the soldiers who were killed since October 7th fighting in battle. And throughout each parsha of the Torah, each parsha has a biography of the soldier. dedicated to, and then a d'var Torah, if that soldier lived in a community whose rabbi wanted to submit a d'var Torah about connected to the soldier, and if not, divrei Torah that the editors took and connected to it. It's a magnificent sefer, and you turn every page of our Chumash and you see our heroes in it. And on Chanukah dafka, our modern day Maccabees, Chashmonaim, our incredible heroic soldiers, those injured should have should heal and have a recovery and those fighting should be safe on the front lines, and those next to the kisei hakavod, we think about them, certainly on this on this Chanukah. I I don't ordinarily do this, but I'll mention that the wonderful person who put this together and has the organization to commemorate, to keep alive the memory of those killed, did so, he had a brother of 13 years old who was killed in a terror attack many years ago, and he's been commemorating those who were killed in terror and now the soldiers. They're trying to put it out in English, translate it. They need people to dedicate parshios, dedicate volumes. If anybody's interested, let me know. Happy to make a connection. So he has here in the beginning of Miketz a lot of beautiful divrei Torah. I'm tempted to share them all, but we have a lot to cover. But the first I'll share is a soldier, Tzvir Dovid Pima, HaShem yikom damo. He was killed on the 15th of Teves, the 27th of December 2023, buried in Beit She'an, and there's a biography of each of these soldiers. So here it quotes from Rav Simcha Bunim of Pshischa. The great Rav Simcha Bunim, a Chasidic Rebbe who lived long time ago. ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים and he interprets it or reinterprets it Chasidish homiletically. רבים מבני אדם המעבירים חייהם בסוג של תרדמה There are so many people who sleepwalk through life, they're half asleep through their lives. yeshenim b'amidah, they're sleeping while they're standing. poalim osim v'ratzim, they're they're acting, they're doing, they're running mibli muda'ut, but without any consciousness, without any mindfulness, without any awareness. They don't really know לשאול את עצמם מי אני באמת who am I? u'mah tachlis chayai what's the essence of my life? me'ayin basi, where do I come from? u'l'an ani holech, where am I going? They're living a physical existence, but their spirit is asleep. So it says Rav Simcha Bunim of Pshischa, how do you wake up? It's hinted to in the parsha. Vayhi miketz shnasayim. Ketz is the end. L'hakitz. Ketz also means l'hakitz is to wake up. Wake up. להקיץ משנת הימים הנובע מקושיות העורף Vayhi miketz, Paro. Paro is the same language as heref, oref, which is the the burden that puts us to sleep, the stress, what there is to do. How do you miketz, how are you l'hakitz, how do we wake up? והנה עומד על היאור To stand at the light. To look at the light of Chanukah. To stand next to the light. כי נר מצוה ותורה אור What's the light that illuminates our lives? Torah. Torah is the light that illuminates this world, meaning and purpose and essence, who are we, where do we come from, why are we here, where are we going, what do we live for? הנה עומד על היאור If a person wants to miketz, l'hakitz, if you want to wake up and live life, then attach yourself to Torah which illuminates life and illuminates the world. Connect, I'll expand, to the Chanukah candles. Look at the light. Don't run away from the menorah after you light it. Sit and stare at those candles. See in it a reflection of who you could be. See your essence and yourself. Use it to wake up and that is l'ilui nishmas Tzvir Dovid Pima. He has another on this opening pasuk. This is the memory of Uriel Segal. He died in the was killed on the seventh of October 2023, fought in Gdud 51 of Golani, and he died fighting in Kisufim, 19 years old. 19 years old. He lived in Petach Tikvah and his rabbi, Rav Shalom Berger, the Admor of Mishkoltz, wrote the d'var Torah for him. And he writes the following. ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים again our opening pasuk. כל אדם צריך להיות בוחן בחייו ובימי חייו Every person has to be contemplative and thoughtful and be awake and aware every day of their life, to look ולבחון בעינה ואיך עבר עליו היום. At the end of every day say, did I live this day to its fullest? Did I make this day count? Do I even remember what I did today? What was today? כי הרי אם הוא לא נהג בו כראוי אינו נחשב לו ליום. If at the end of the day you don't even remember what you did, if at the end of the day it was no different than yesterday or tomorrow, the days just blend together. If you didn't live that day to its fullest, if you didn't embrace and lean in and live that day, the day didn't even count. And that's what the Torah is telling us. Vayhi miketz, when you get to keitz shal Adam, shnasayim yamim. אם הוא רוצה שהשנים שלו ימלאו ימים Shnasayim, yamim. Vayhi miketz, at the end of your life, shnasayim yamim, if you want your shnasayim, your years, to be filled with yamim, if you want your years to have been filled with days that you made the days count, then the answer is u'Paro cholem. Paro's m'lashon gilui. The name Paro, ופרע את ראש האשה Paro means to reveal to take away that which is blocking what's hidden, to reveal, to expose. פרעה מלשון ופרע לגלות to reveal. שידיו יגלה שכל העולם הזה כחלום יעוף. At the end of your life, vayhi mikeitz shnasayim, your years, yamim, if you want your years to have been filled with days, uParoh cholem. Then pull back and reveal the depth of what is hidden and live a meaningful and purposeful and a true life. Don't get caught up in the superficial, don't just live in the rat race of life, don't just live what is external, but peel back uParoh u'para, peel back and see the essence, the pnimius. And his rabbi from Petach Tikva describes that Ori על אשר יקום דמו, ידע לצקת תוכן תורני לחייו. He knew how to put a Torah perspective in his life. He came with his father to the beis medrash, he came to shul to daven, he attended shiurim, and he gave his life on the base in Kisufim where he fought valiantly and was killed al kiddush Hashem. That's how he lived. He was, it says at the end of his biography, לפני שאוריאל התגייס לצבא, when Uriel was brought into the army, they asked him, what would happen if he died in battle? And he answered, אם אפול בקרב אני רוצה שזה יהיה בשביל לשמור על המולדת שלי בשביל אלה שעשו את זה בשבילי ויעשו גם אחרי. If I die, I'll have done it for the people who came before me and those who will come after me to protect my land and to protect my people. It's filled, it's a beautiful chumash so you can understand it in the Hebrew, great. I hope you can help them come out with it in the English. It's really a very, very beautiful contribution. chumash hagiborim with biographies of all these soldiers and connection to Torah. I don't is there another army or country in the world that honors its fallen soldiers by connecting them to our Torah roots and inspiring Torah different ways? It really is a very beautiful project. Rabbi Sacks at the opening of the parsha, we're going to get past the opening pasuk. We're going to. I say it every week. Two years passed. Rabbi Sacks writes, for the first time in the whole story, Yosef decided at the end of last week's parsha to take fate into his own hands. Knowing the chief butler was about to be restored to his position, he asked them to bring his case to the attention of Paroh. When it goes well with you, remember me and do me this kindness, mention me to Paroh so as to free me from this place. The truth is I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, here too I have done nothing to deserve being placed in this pit. A double injustice has been done and Yosef sees this as his one chance of regaining his freedom. But at the end of the parsha delivers a devastating blow. The end of last week's parsha. Pasuk says that still the chief cupbearer did not remember Yosef, he doesn't remember him, vayishkacheihu, and he forgot him. The anticlimax is intense, emphasized by the double verb. He didn't remember and he forgot. We sense Yosef waiting day after day for news, none comes. His last best hope has gone. He'll never go free, or so it seems. To understand the power of this anticlimax, we must remember that only since the invention of printing and the free availability of books have we been accustomed to tell what happens next merely by turning a page. For many centuries, there were no printed books. People knew the biblical story primarily by listening to it week by week. Someone hearing the story for the first time would have to wait a week to discover what Yosef's fate would be. Parsha break is thus a kind of real equivalent to the delay Yosef experienced in jail, which as we know now took two years. It is then that Paroh has two dreams that no one in the court can interpret, prompting the chief butler to remember the man he had met in prison. Yosef is now transformed within hours from a prisoner without hope to viceroy of the greatest empire of the ancient world. Hashem answers our prayers, but often not when we thought or how we thought. What a powerful insight and message by Rabbi Sacks. החפץ חיים על התורה says something very similarly. החפץ חיים על התורה says that on the pasuk vayishlach Paroh, after, after the sar hamashkim tells Paroh, you know I was in prison with this guy, he's pretty good at dream interpreter, I think you should get him. Paroh sends for him, vayishlach Paroh, vayikra es Yosef, he calls for Yosef, vayiritsuhu min habor, and they rush him out of the pit. The Chofetz Chaim writes, again, we read the story, we know the story, but Chofetz Chaim, it's being echoed here by Rabbi Sacks, not by name, but they write, imagine, picture it through the perspective of Yosef hatzaddik, falsely accused, sitting and languishing in prison. Sar hamashkim goes out and he thinks, this is my way out. Remember me, please invoke me, get me out. But day after day passes, and there he is, you can picture on the prison wall, he's making the lines, 1 2 3 4, 5, 1 2 3 4, 5, on the wall of the prison in the dungeon of Egypt, hopeless and helpless, counting the days, a full two years and he thinks, this is it. Sold into slavery by my brothers, abandoned by my father, falsely accused in this foreign land, and this is it. I'm done, I'm finished, hopeless and helpless, no way out. out. And in a moment's notice, there's a key opening the gate of his prison cell. They say, hey Hebrew, Yosef. He says, yeah. Come, quickly, shave, take a shower, here's an outfit, you're coming. Where are we going? And moments later, he's named the viceroy of Egypt. Moments later he's living in the palace, moments later he's running the economy of the greatest empire in the world at its time. And it all happened in a flash, it happened in a moment. And says the Chofetz Chaim, sometimes we are sitting in the bore, we're sitting in the pit of life, longing and waiting, when will my shidduch come? How many days, months, years, decades are people looking lonely, longing, waiting for companionship, for love, for a shidduch? It feels like a pit, a bore. How many, how many pregnancy tests come back negative? How many attempts to bring a child to hold a baby in one's arms? How many bills with no idea how they'll be paid? How many people sit and suffer in their bore? But just like for Yosef, it turns on a dime when a person holds out hope, when a person endlessly davens, when a person has big dreams and big ideas, ויריצוהו מן הבור. In a moment. Chofetz Chaim writes, לכל זמן כשמגיע קץ הזמן המיועד היותו לטובה או למוטב, אין הקדוש ברוך הוא מתמהמה אף רגע אחד יותר על הזמן. When your moment and when your time comes, Hashem doesn't delay, not a millisecond. מכיוון שזה הזמן יוסף היה צריך להיות בבית האסורים ויריצוהו במהירות הבזק מבית האסורים, ויריצוהו מן הבור. They rushed him. Vayaritzuhu is from ratz to run. They ran him out of the pit. They rushed him up to Paroh. Why? His moment had come. Two years he suffered, but his moment had come and Hashem says, when it's your moment, when it's right, when you're going to find the shidduch, when you're going to find out you're carrying that child, when you're going to have some relief and know how you're going to pay your bills, when please God you're going to get a clean bill of health, vayaritzu, it's going to feel like vayaritzu, it could come in a moment. ויריצוהו מן הבור. And similarly says the Chofetz Chaim, כשתגיע העת לגאולתנו לפדות נפשנו, when Mashiach's going to come, bias Mashiach tzidkeinu, לא נשתהא אף רגע יותר על הזמן. It's not going to delay, it's not going to shlep, it's not going to take forever, it's not going to be a long line, why isn't it happening yet? Ela pito yavo, ויוציאו אותנו במהירות מן הגלות לארצנו הקדושה במהרה בימינו. We're going to go from this pit called the gulus, the pit of the subway in Manhattan, the pit of the anti-Semitic cesspool of Australia. It's going to be vayaritzu, Hashem is going to take us from that bore, from that pit. So Rabbi Sacks, back to Rabbi Sacks. Hashem answers our prayers, often not when we thought or how we thought. Yosef seeks to get out of prison, he does get out of prison, but not immediately, and not because the butler kept his promise. The story is telling us something fundamental about the relationship between our dreams and our achievements. Yosef is the great dreamer of the Torah and he becomes the leader as he dreamed he would. But first he has to hone his practical and administrative skills in Potiphar's house, then in prison. Even when Hashem assures us that something will happen, it will not happen without our effort. A divine promise is not a substitute for human responsibility. To the contrary, it is a call for responsibility. But effort alone is not enough. We need siyata dishmaya, the help of heaven. We need the humility to acknowledge that we are dependent on forces not under our control. No one embraces and invokes Hashem more than Yosef. He credits Hashem for each of his successes. He recognizes that without God he could not have done what he does and out of that humility comes patience. What a parsha, what an insight. In other words, we have dreams, we have aspirations, we even sometimes have a timeline of how and when we want to see them happen. But Hashem says, hey buddy, relax. Relax. I don't operate on your timeline of when you want to have that financial breakthrough, of when you want that date on the calendar you'll get married, of what pace you want to build your family. I don't operate on your timeline. I hear your tefilos and I will answer them. And please God, the picture will come to be. Yosef's dreams come to fruition. But this is a story of how we surrender to Hashem's timeline, he doesn't operate on ours. But as we're going through the bore, the pit of our lives, to hold out that hope and to keep and maintain that faith, to have that courage and that clarity to know, ויריצוהו מן הבור. It could come in a moment. It could come in a moment. I keep talking about it and I am going to do this series on shidduchim because I get so many emails of people who are waiting and longing and wondering, and it's such a difficult period of life to go through. But I mentioned to when we went to see the Munkatcher Rebbe last year, זאל זיין געזונט און שטארק. Got a bracha for somebody who I said is in shidduchim and he corrected. corrected me. He said they're not in shidduchim, they're in shidduch. Okay, I thought my Yiddish was off or something, you know, the Munkatcher Rebbe is telling me shidduch, not shidduchim. And he said, yeah, because a person only needs one. You're not in shidduchim. You're in shidduch. They only need one, one. That next call from that next shadchan, that next event, that next meeting, that next opportunity. ויריצוהו מן הבור. A person could be drawn and pulled out of that pit in a moment's notice, so don't lose faith and hope, but recognize that it's not our timeline but Hashem's, but if we continue to daven and turn to him, we can walk in the footsteps of a Yosef HaTzaddik and we can draw from his strength to find our way out. פרק מ\"א פסוק ט'. So what happens? The Sar HaMashkim remembers him in prison. וידבר שר המשקים את פרעה לאמר, Sar HaMashkim, the cupbearer tells Paro, את חטאי אני מזכיר היום. Right, because how's he initiating this conversation with Paro? He's present while Paro's telling his advisors, I had these dreams, they were jarring, not enough to get me out of bed. I turned over and went back to sleep. But after seven snooze buttons, I'm out of bed, and now I finally made this appointment and I'm telling you all my dream, and what does it mean? Help me. I need to know, what does it mean? And nobody's doing a job and Paro's losing his cool. And Sar HaMashkim says, do I tell him that I got a guy? Do I tell him I know someone? He's gonna say, how do you know your guy? Where did you meet him? When did he interpret your dream? So how does he introduce it? את חטאי אני מזכיר היום. Paro, I need to, את חטאי אני מזכיר היום, my transgressions do I mention today. I have to mention my transgression today. The Ach Pri Tevuah, הייליגע אך פרי תבואה we started to study a little bit. The Liska Rav, the Rebbe of Reb Shaya'le Kerestir, the Ach Pri Tevuah. He writes, הנה קשה הלא באמת יצא זכאי בדין. What do you mean it turned out that the Sar HaMashkim was exonerated? Sar HaMashkim was released from prison. It was a false accusation. He was placed back in his position. So why does he say את חטאי אני מזכיר היום? Why does he say to Paro, I hesitate, I demur, I'm a little worried to mention it, but you remember that time, the fly in the cup, you put me in prison. Well, I met a guy, I've got a guy. What do you mean es chattai? It wasn't chattai. He's exonerated. Omnom yeish lomar שזה גופא אמר לו לפרעה שבאמת גם הוא היה חייב. The truth is he was guilty, he wasn't exonerated. רק שהיה לו ליוסף כח בפיו לתקן הכל. Yosef has this gift that when Yosef speaks, he can fix anything. When Yosef interprets a dream, when Yosef offers a vision, when Yosef provides a solution, he has this incredible energy, this charisma, this capacity to fix anything. כמו שאמרו חז\"ל גמרא ברכות כל החלומות הולכין אחר הפה. וזה שאמר הוציאהו שיבה וגם הוא סולח. על ידי פיו של יוסף, Yosef through his power of speech put the Sar HaMashkim back in his position and solved it all. And that's what he's telling, that's what he's telling Paro too. And that's what he's telling Paro is, אתה תוכל לפרש החלום לטוב אם תרצה. Dreams can be good or bad. Yosef through his power of interpretation but even more his power of speech. Yosef is the first rebbe. You go to the rebbe, I had a dream. So, the rebbe, Yosef, turns it into a bracha or a klala. He can hear the dream and say, ooh, that's bad news, that's a bad sign. That's not gonna go well. Or he can hear the dream and say, no, no, that's a good sign. I give you a bracha, I bentch you. It means soon you're going to in three days, you're going to be back in your position. Alles gut, it's all going to be good. And that's what the Sar HaMashkim is telling Paro, the truth is I was guilty. There was a fly in the cup, and I had this dream, but Yosef has that capacity to spin, to turn even that which seems negative into positive, to give a bracha and make everything okay, and he can do that for you too. And that's why, says the Ach Pri Tevuah, the Liska Rav, that's why the pasuk says, ויריצוהו מן הבור. What's vayiritzuhu? What does it mean to be meratzeh? Lefayes, piyus. To be mefayes, piyus means שיבשרו אותו לטובה. Yosef, turn it to the good. I'm sure this dream could be interpreted negatively and it can be bad, turn it to the good. Turn it to something positive. That's what's going on, and that's why takeh it was את חטאי אני מזכיר. It was a cheit that he was invoking. But listen to this Meshech Chochma. What word is extra in the pasuk? את חטאי אני מזכיר when? Hayom. את חטאי אני מזכיר היום. Why couldn't he have just said את חטאי אני מזכיר? Hey Paro, I got a guy. Now before you tell me how do I have a guy, I have to mention this cheit. You remember the episode, the fly, the cup, the prison, that's where I met him. He interpreted it for me, he was right. I've got a guy. Why does he have to say את חטאי אני מזכיר היום? What does the word hayom add? Oy vey. What does the word hayom add? So the Meshech Chochmah and I'm not reading to you from the primary source of the Meshech Chochmah, one of the new sfarim I got, שאלות של רבינו מאיר שמחה, it's a collection of the great Rabbeinu Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, the Meshech Chochmah from Meshech Chochmah, Ohr Someach, his Chiddushei HaShas, all of his writings organized according to the parsha. This comes taka from the Meshech Chochmah. But on that word hayom, it seems extra and extraneous. He could have just said es chata'ai ani mazkir. So the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh is bothered, Meshech Chochmah is not the first. The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh was bothered by this question too, and he says דקדק לומר היום כי הוא עת הצורך כי זולת זה היה מעלים וזיכרון מעשיו פחוסים. He says the only thing motivating and driving me to mention this mistake is hayom. The fact that I happen to be here while you're telling your dreams and your disappointed by the failure to interpret them, hayom. It's this moment, it's this occasion, it's this meeting that's driving me to be mazkir my chet. In other words, why didn't you tell him earlier? Sar HaMashkim is never pouring a cup of wine for Paroh and says, \"Paroh, you know, I was in prison. Actually I had a dream this was gonna happen, you were gonna put me back in place. There was this guy, this Jew, this Hebrew, nobody liked him, we mistreated him, but he was good at one thing, and that was he interpreted.\" How come he never told him earlier? So that's why he's mentioning hayom says the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, there was no reason. Why would I invoke that previous mistake, that previous error? He's only doing so because of hayom, because the moment calls for it. Azoy zogt, that is what the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh says. However, the Meshech Chochmah has another. Meshech Chochmah says the whole time Sar HaMashkim is in prison, languishing himself, שלחוהו לבית האסורים על לא עול בכפו. He's sitting thinking, this isn't fair. It's not my fault. A fly flew into the cup. It's because the dishwashers didn't wash the cup well. It's because the exterminator never shows up on time. He missed a week, he didn't do a good job. That's why there were flies flying around. It's because the garbage men didn't collect the garbage and therefore there are flies. It's everyone else's fault but his own. And I can't believe here I am, thrown in prison, being blamed, not my fault, what an injustice. What's going on over here? He blamed it on Paroh, he blamed it on everyone else. However, כאשר שמע את השר המשקים את כל חלומותיו של פרעה ונוכח לראות שאין איש פותר אותם. Now that he hears Paroh's dreams, and there's nobody you can interpret and satisfy Paroh, he realizes. He now retroactively understands that he wasn't cast into prison because Paroh made a mistake. It was a גזירה קדומה של השגחה עליונה שסובב הכל לטובתו של יוסף. All of it was orchestrated from above. Only that day, only hayom does he realize, \"I made a mistake. Hashem wanted me in prison, so I'd have a dream, so I'd meet this Jew, so later I can say I have a guy. I'd make this introduction.\" All of it was for the good of Yosef, so he would ultimately be free and rise to the viceroy of Egypt. את חטאי אני מזכיר היום. היום הכרתי בכך שחטאי הם שגרמו לי לחדש בבית האסורים. Only today did it all come clear. You know, we go through things in life and we don't understand. Why did I have to miss that flight? Why did that person mess me over in business? Why did that person say no in that shidduch? Why did they take my seat in shul that Shabbos? Why? We don't know, and we point fingers and we blame others. And sometimes we get clarity. Sometimes the picture comes together. Sometimes things come and they make sense, and that's hayom. For Sar HaMashkim, it was davka on that day, es chata'ai ani mazkir. I can now mention because now I see the picture and the way it unfolded and why it did in that fashion. Hayom, it all came together today. Perek Mem-Aleph, pasuk Lamed-Zayin. Turn two pages, 226. Sorry, three pages, 228. וייטב הדבר בעיני פרעה ובעיני כל עבדיו. This is after Yosef successfully interprets the dreams, doesn't only identify the problem that the dreams predicted, but also offers a solution. So וייטב הדבר בעיני פרעה. Paroh says, \"Oh, you're saying good.\" That's for sure how Paroh answered. \"You're saying good. וייטב הדבר, you're saying good. Nu, say more.\" So the plan seemed good, writes Rabbi Sacks in his Chumash. Yosef had three gifts that many people have in isolation but few have in combination. Vayitav hadavar. Why is Paroh blown away? Paroh sees something in Yosef that is amazing, very rare, very unusual to see it together. This Shabbos we have a great visitor coming who's become my dear friend, is also a coach and mentor named Tzvi Schwartz. We are at our shul rolling out this system called EOS, Entrepreneurial Operating System. Really excited by it, a lot to talk about it. So this Shabbos afternoon, he and I are doing a conversation about EOS and life and its connection to Parshas Mikeitz because it connects exactly to this interpretation. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Google it, or don't care about it, but... you should, because EOS is really a phenomenal platform for how to live a most meaningful life designed for business but also in life, that's what he and I are going to talk about on Shabbos afternoon, and I'm really excited about it. So in the EOS model, EOS has a library of books you could read. Primary one is called Traction, how to gain traction in life, but there's one called Rocket Fuel, which is all about these two people in a business, the one who is the visionary and the one who is the integrator. Visionary and the integrator, and how to set up a whole platform and system that speaks to people's strengths and allows them to delegate and elevate and hold accountable, it's an entire it's an entire system. Delegate and elevate, it's an entire system of the visionary and the integrator. So most often in life, Rabbi Sacks points out, you have the visionary, you have the dreamer, person who has dreams. This organization, this program, this institution, this idea, this breakthrough, there's the dreamer. But the dreamer doesn't know how to put on doesn't know how to match his socks. You know, the dreamer doesn't, Rabbi Soloveitchik was a dreamer, zatzal. He was a dreamer. He didn't drive. I was told this story, I think it's true, not apocryphal. He got his license, he drove once, but his mind was wandering. He was thinking of chiddushei Torah, nearly got in an accident, they took his driver's license away from him. The dreamer, the visionary, who's lost in their dreams, they can't get behind the wheel of a car. For that you need an integrator. The integrator says, I don't have a vision, I don't have dreams, I'm not a big thinker, but I can make anything happen. You give it to me, I make it happen. I hold others accountable, I follow through, I execute on dreams, I make it happen. So in any organization, in a successful one, there's the visionary and there's the integrator, and the visionary has to let go of micromanaging and recognize, stick with the visions, let the integrator integrate. And the integrator, your skill set, your strength is not having vision and dreams, you integrate and you execute. Okay, more on that Shabbos afternoon. I'm looking at a bunch of blank faces. Most of you are retired and you don't care less about what I have to say about this, but those of you who are working, look into this and read these books, and thank me later, and whatever the difference of what you're going to make in your business between when you just heard this and then, ten percent comes back to BRS. Anyway, but you'll realize that EOS is not just about business, it's about life. Come Shabbos afternoon. Why am I telling you all that? What does it have to do with anything? Says Rabbi Sacks, Yosef has three gifts many people have in isolation, few have in combination. First is, in other words, why is it vayitav hadavar? What blew away Paroh? Why is Paroh so impressed? Why does Paroh say, he's got it. He's right. And not only has he got it and is he right, he's in charge. First is, he dreams. He dreams dreams. Dreaming is often thought to be impractical. Not so. It is one of the most practical things we can do. There are people who spend months planning a holiday, but not even a day planning a life. They let themselves be carried by the winds of chance and circumstance. It's a mistake. It is our dreams that give us direction. Second, Yosef can interpret the dreams of others. Leaders interpret other people's dreams. They articulate, they articulate the dreams of others. They find a way of expressing the hopes and fears of a generation. It is not Yosef's dreams that made him a leader, it's Paroh's. Our own dreams give us direction, it is other people's dreams that give us opportunity. Yosef's most impressive achievement though, is this third gift, the ability to implement dreams, solving the problem for which they are an early warning. No sooner has he told of a seven year famine that he continues without pause to provide a solution. Good leaders either are or surround themselves with problem solvers. It's easy to see what is going wrong. What makes someone a leader is the ability to find a way of putting it right. Dream dreams, understand and articulate the dreams of others, and find ways of turning a dream into reality. These three gifts are Yosef's lessons in leadership. Most often found in isolation, the visionary and the integrator. Yosef's the whole package. Yosef is the whole package in one, and that's what blows away, that's what really impresses Paroh. פרק מ״א פסוק מ״ה. And here, I saw something I always wondered. I probably brought up in previous Parsha shiurim. I always wondered, but never really saw a satisfactory answer. Now, Paroh elevates Yosef. ויאמר פרעה אל יוסף ראה נתתי אתך על כל ארץ מצרים. I put you in charge. ויסר פרעה את טבעתו מעל ידו ויתן אתה על יד יוסף. He takes his ring, his signet, he puts it on Yosef's hand. He gives him the power. I guess this was the first auto-pen. ויסר פרעה את טבעתו מעל ידו ויתן אתה על יד יוסף. Yosef's got the power of the auto-pen. וילבש אתו בגדי שש וישם רביד הזהב על צוארו. And he parades them around, and he gives him a new name, and he makes, he becomes a shadchan. All of a sudden, Paroh becomes a shadchan. He says, you know, it's pas nisht that my viceroy is not going to be married. Vayikra Paroh shem. Yosef Tzofnas Paneach. Vayiten lo, he becomes a shadchan. Perek mem hey, מם א' פסוק מ\"ה. ויקרא פרעה שם יוסף צפנת פענח ויתן לו את אסנת. He says, Yosef, forget a resume, forget reference calls, just schedule the chuppah because I've got a girl for you. And her name is Osnas. Yosef says, Osnas? Sounds good. I don't know, it was Egypt, did they pronounce it Osnat, Osnas, however they pronounced it. Osnas, Yosef says, sounds good. Paroh says, but there's one thing. בת פוטי פרע כהן אן. Who's her father? Yosef, you may have met her father and mother before. I don't want this to be uncomfortable, but Osnas's mother, last time you saw her she grabbed your jacket and you ran away. And her father, you brought incredible success to his house, but it didn't go well. ויצא יוסף על ארץ מצרים. Yosef goes to work. That's the pasuk. It always bothered me. Like there's no reference to the irony here? What did Thanksgiving dinner look like? What was the Chanukah mesibah like when Yosef and Osnas go to her parents to light candles one night? What what what what's what's going on? How does that work? And Paroh, of all the young ladies of Egypt, of all the resumes that Paroh has in his hands, he can't think of anyone else other than Osnas bas Poti Fera? What's going on over here? What's going on over here? And Potifar, what happened to his name? When did Potifar become Poti Fera? So that already Rashi quotes the Gemara in Sota, פוטיפרע שנסתרס מאליו. He became sterile. It was a punishment. He really was attracted to Yosef himself. It's a whole separate story. But wonders the Meshech Chochmah, mi'kol noshos Mitzrayim, לא מצא פרעה שידוך מתאים יותר ליוסף? There's no better shidduch for Yosef מבת אדוניו לשעבר than the daughter of his former master who has this false accusation that he tried to #MeToo Mrs. Poti Fera. I'm paraphrasing. Yitachein, says the Meshech Chochmah, yitachein כי רצה שלא יבזוהו מצרים. הרי עבד אב שר שעלה לגדולה ומהם המכירים מעשה יוסף בבית אדוניו ושבהם תלה קנאה יותר. It's a brilliant insight of the Meshech Chochmah. When the Sar HaMashkim, את חטאי אני מזכיר היום. He says I got a guy. I got a guy for you. How do you know this guy? He says, remember back when I was in prison because the fly in the wine? Yeah. Well, there was another guy in prison. Why was he in prison? Ooh, he used to work for Potifar, and Mrs. Potifar accused him that he crossed boundaries and he was inappropriate with her. And so he was there in prison. Ah. Anyway, he interpreted my dream, he could help you. Paroh stores that in the back of his mind and right away he says to himself, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? I'm going to take this Yosef who was languishing in prison. Previously, anyone Googles his name, I'm going to make Yosef the viceroy. He's gonna be my vice president, he's going to be my secretary of the economy, he's going to run all of. What's going to happen? They're going to Google his name, Yosef, the Ivri, and what's going to come up on all the websites? The whole incredible, salacious controversy of Eishes Potifar. Paroh says there's only one way around that. What am I going to do? He's marrying Osnas bas Potifera. They're going to be his in-laws, and because I'm Paroh, they're going to love him, they're going to praise him, they're going to accept him, and no one's going to have anything to say about this whole episode because, in the end, it's Potifar and Mrs. Potifar who are going to be his, his very in-laws. And that's Paroh's brilliant way of avoiding a controversy around elevating Yosef by davka having Yosef marry Osnas, the daughter of Potifar. Lachein, נתן את בת אדוניו לאשה, listom pihem, v'ye'ehovuhu so. It will shut them up, they will learn to love him, Egypt will embrace him, Yosef will be on the cover of all the magazines, and we are good to go. Fascinating, no? I still have some questions. It's always fascinated me, but an insight of why Paroh davka chose out of everyone he could have. Mem beis vav. Perek mem beis vav. Moving in, they get married, they have two children, the names of their children, we discussed all this in the past. You can re-listen to previous shiurim online. Perek mem beis, chapter 42. Yaakov sends his sons to Egypt. Right, this is the drama unfolding. If you were running the theater, curtain comes down, next scene, back to, right, we have We're alternating scenes between what's unfolding in Mitzrayim and what's going on in Canaan. Yaakov, his sons, famine, Yosef still missing, what's happening down in Egypt. Yosef was in a pit, moment later, he's clean shaven, showered, he's dressed like royalty and he's before Paro and he's in charge. Curtain comes down, Perek Mem-beis, curtain comes up, next scene. וירא יעקב כי יש שבר במצרים. Yaakov sees, hey, there are provisions in Egypt. ויאמר יעקב לבניו למה תתראו. He says, why why do you make yourself conspicuous? I heard there are provisions, redu shama, go down there, and hook us up, take care of us, make us better. So, how does he describe it? Yesh shever b'Mitzrayim. What word is used for provisions? There is food, there's produce, there's surplus. What uses word shever? רדו שמה ושברו לנו משם. Go down there and purchase for us. The niche v'lo namus so that we will live and we will not die. You know, the Amoras Tehoros, the Heilige Rachmistrivka quotes from the Zohar HaKadosh. The Zohar HaKadosh, the the Ropshitzer, ויוסף הוא השליט על הארץ הוא המשביר. He is the mashbir. פרק מב פסוק ו. Keep going, Yosef hu hashalit. Yosef is the ruler, he's the mashbir. So there's shever, and Yosef is the mashbir in charge of the shever. ויבאו אחי יוסף וישתחוו לו אפים ארצה. The brothers come down and they bow. Says the Heilige Zohar HaKadosh, the Ropshitzer. זכה יוסף לזה על ידי שהתגבר על יצרו. Why did Yosef merit to rise to this position of power and prominence? Because he had overcome his impulse and his instinct. Because he passed the test with eishes Potifar, with his shvigger before she was the shvigger. U'muvar, המדרש פירש משביר מלשון שבירה. Mashbir, he's the mashbir, shever. על ידי ששבר יצרו זכה להיות השליט המשביר לכל ארץ מצרים. In the merit that he broke his impulse, his his ego, that's why he rose to the greatness. הקדוש ברוך הוא משפיע בכל יום השפעות טובות על העולם. Every day Hashem showers all kinds of blessing to this world. אבל יש הרבה מניעות רחמנא ליצלן, but there are things that prevent, there are blockages, there are, there are things that get in the way. ובזה שמשברים את היצר הרע, when we break the yeitzer hara, Hashem breaks the impediments that are blocking the pipeline of bracha that we have waiting. There's a pipeline of bracha waiting for us. HaKadosh Baruch Hu will break the block in the in the pipe if we break the ego and we break the impulse that we ourselves are struggling with. פרק מב פסוק ז. And here we have this incredible reunion. Vayavo'u achei Yosef, the brothers come down. What do they do? וישתחוו לו אפים ארצה. They bow. Why is that significant? Yosef's dream was my brothers one day will bow. And here it is. The dream that he had begun to give up on, the dream that he thought he had to abandon because it was never going to happen, now the dream seems like it's back on schedule. Writes Rabbi Sacks, today's a heavy Rabbi Sacks day. Writes Rabbi Sacks, listen to this. In Hebrew that word vayakiraim. Go back to the pasuk again. Pasuk zayin. וירא יוסף את אחיו ויכירם. And he recognized them. Vayisnakker aleihem, but he acted like a stranger to them, vayedaber itam kashos, he spoke harshly, ויאמר אלהם מאין באתם, where are you from? They said מארץ כנען לשבר אכל, we came for food. Do you notice the irony in this in this pasuk? The word vayakiraim means he recognized. The word vayisnakker aleihem means he made himself unrecognizable to them. So in Hebrew this root of that same word is what Rabbi Sacks calls a contronym. You ever hear that before? A contronym. One word with two contradictory meanings. Was worth coming today just for a little English lesson. We'll become educated together. It is a, we have antonyms and we have synonyms and now we know that we have contronym. A contronym is one word with two contradictory meanings. It can mean to recognize or the opposite, to be a stranger, someone not recognized. The root appears no less than four times in these two psukim. Three in the sense of recognition and one in the sense of estrangement. Vayakiraim, Yosef recognized his brothers, one. They didn't recognize him, two. Yosef recognized his brothers, three, but he acted like a stranger, four. In these two psukim, that root appears four times, but it's a contronym in contradictory ways. The power of this contronym is intense. The central question of Breishis is. Are human beings friends or strangers, brothers or others? I love that. Are we friends or strangers, brothers or others? That has been hammering at our consciousness since Kayin and Hevel, the first human children. All those years before Yosef's brothers saw him in the distance. Pasuk says, we read a couple weeks ago, that they saw him meirachok. When he's coming in Shechem to check in on them, Yaakov sends Yosef, the brothers look up, they see Yosef and they see him meirachok. He's at a distance, he's far away, he's the other. And by the time he reached them, they plotted to kill him. This sentence like so many others in the story of Yosef has two meanings. On the surface it means what it says, they saw him approach and they planned murder. At another level, however, it is a philosophical statement about love and hate. They were able to contemplate fratricide because they saw him at a distance, meirachok. They refused to allow him to come close. They could see his cloak, but they did not yet see his face, his reality as a person. Distant physically, they would not let him come close emotionally. Soon after Yehuda uttered the devastatingly ironic words, let's sell him to the Yishmeilim and not harm him. Bereishis is about recognition and non-recognition, in the deepest sense, about the willingness to accord dignity to the other rather than see the other as a threat. The irony of Yosef is that his siblings do not recognize him in Egypt as their brother. They recognize him only as a stranger, as an Egyptian ruler called Tzofnas Paneach, who wears Egyptian robes of office and whom they assume cannot even speak their language. Eventually Yosef forces them to recognize just as a brother could be a stranger, a stranger can turn out to be a brother. The dual meaning of the verb gathers itself into itself the whole force and dramatic conflict of Bereishis. It tells us, if we only listen closely to the voice of the other, we'll find beneath the skin we are brothers and sisters, member of the human family under the parenthood of Hashem. When others become brothers and conflict is transformed into conciliation, we've begun the journey to society as a family and the redemptive drama can begin. Very powerful. That same word is used both ways, because it's all about our attitude. Brothers or others? Do we see what's beneath the surface and what we have in common, or is it meirachok? Do we hold and keep people at a distance that they have nothing to do with us? They're unfamiliar, we have no commonality. I spent last week in the UAE three days in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And I have a lot to say about it and I'm sure you'll hear about it over the coming days. I wrote an article. I think it'll be in Mishpacha this week, about the experience. And I'm not, we're not Pollyanish, we don't look at the whole Muslim or Arab world now. They are our cousins, they love us, let's heal, kumbaya, all well and good. Tragically, sadly, we're seeing in real time that the overwhelming majority still hate and seek to destroy, pera adam, they want to eliminate the Jewish people. However, what we discovered there in the United Arab Emirates is a country filled with people who genuinely and sincerely not only want to coexist, don't only want to have peace on paper, but want to go from others to brothers, to come to know, to connect, not only for financial gain and cooperation, but because of common biblical roots and moral values and religious practices and really want to make connection. And I want to know, I want you to know that I formed real friendships and connection. We met with high level Emiratis and people who really shared that perspective. They've demonstrated it. UAE was the first to condemn Hamas after October 7th. While airlines all over America canceled flights, the UAE actually increased them. I think 16 flights a day between Israel and the UAE. But if there was any doubt that maybe it was performative, maybe it's insincere, maybe there's some ulterior motive, on Sunday, when we woke to the news of what happened in Australia, I saw online the people we had met, my new friends, were the first to be posting, condemning, and describing that what happened is a absolute distortion of their religion, doesn't represent it, standing with the Jewish people, standing with Israel. And I've seen much of it. Again, I share that with you not to say that we should kumbaya, reach out in love. I actually wondered myself and it was a question I asked one of the leaders we met with there. When I come back here to Boca and I'm tempted to reach out to the local Imam, how do I know if the leader of the mosque of Boca is more an Emirati or is more like the people who perpetrated what just happened in Australia? How do I know what's in his heart? How do I know how he aligns? How do I know whether it's worth forming a friendship or creating a relationship? I don't have an answer to that yet. But these words of, this insight of Rabbi Sacks and this word Vayakireim, that sometimes you have to travel thousands of miles to discover commonality and familiarity, to bring others from others into brothers, to recognize. not all, but a vocal minority that we should celebrate and elevate. Don't dismiss and don't marginalize and don't just say they don't represent a lot and they're not having an impact on the others, but to identify, to celebrate and to elevate and to expand their voice of what we saw, what we learned. Again, I have a lot more to say about that, but I really see it here in these words, this insight of Rabbi Sacks of vayakeiraym that can be read and interpreted in both directions. I had a lot more I wanted to share, but this is some parsha perspectives for today. Erev Shabbos afternoon. Come hear the conversation with Sri Schwartz. You can apply it in your life no matter what age and stage of life, and I think you'll find it worthwhile. A freilichen and a lichtige Chanukah. Chanukah should bring a lot of light and a lot of hope and a lot of miracles for our people and only good things. Till next time, stay happy, stay healthy. Happy, healthy, and holy.
