Transcript
Good morning and a פרייליכער חנוכה freilicher Chanukah. Happy Chanukah. Want to thank our co-sponsors this morning, Morty and Millie Rosner in memory of his beloved mother, Cissy Rosner, and Zmira Mazarowski for a רפואה שלמה refuah shlemah for all of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. Thank you for your generosity. Again, if you want to sign up to sponsor the פרשה parsha class, you can coordinate through the shul office.Also, I want to share with you a gift this morning. In honor of Chanukah and in honor of our daughter's בת מצווה Bat Mitzvah which happened last Sunday, I produced a little Chanukah digest, eight דברי תורה divrei Torah on Chanukah. There's a box full of the pamphlets up front. On your way out, please take one. It's filled with דברי תורה divrei Torah, nice inspiring thoughts for the course of Chanukah. And I'll begin by sharing one with you quickly before we get into our פרשה parsha itself.We know that the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, רב לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, tells us that each of the different holidays on the Jewish calendar correspond with another one of our senses, another one of the ways with which we interact with the world. So for example, פורים Purim corresponds, correlates with the with the sense of hearing. We listen to the מגילה Megillah, we imbibe, we absorb the message of the מגילה Megillah through the sense of hearing. פסח Pesach, we literally taste the Exodus. We eat the מצה matzah, we eat the מרור maror, we drink the ד' כוסות daled kosos. פסח Pesach, it's our sense of taste which is sharpened and we experience the יום טוב yuntif, the energy of פסח Pesach through the sense of taste. And he says that חנוכה Chanukah, it's the sense of sight. It's our ability to see that we harness. It's the ability to see that we grow. הנרות הללו קודש הם, ואין לנו רשות להשתמש בהם, אלא לראותם בלבד Haneiros halalu kodesh hem v'ein lanu reshus l'hishtamesh bahem, ella lirosam bilvad. We know that the Chanukah candles have a קדושה kedusha. You're not allowed to use them for pragmatic reasons. You can't use them to accomplish, to achieve, to work. I wrote an article last week, you can't use them to increase the business. You have to sit idle. There's a מנהג minhag with women, משנה ברורה Mishnah Berurah brings down that it applies also to men, not to do מלאכה melacha, not to do work while the מנורה menorah, while the Chanukah candles are burning. Doesn't mean not to do work, that there's an איסור מלאכה issur melacha like the ל\"ט מלאכות lamed-tes melachos, the 39 categories of creative labor, but it means that your usual task list, your to-do list, you got to do the dishes and you got to do the laundry and you got to clean up the room and you got to go shopping, you got to get out of here. Stop. Interrupt, stop the busyness. Build some margin, have some quiet time. אין לנו רשות להשתמש בהם Ein lanu reshus l'hishtamesh bahem. The מנורה menorah, the Chanukah light is not there for all the work you got to do, all the to-do list you got to fill out next to the light. But rather, to לראותם בלבד lirosam bilvad. Supposed to sit there and gaze at the light. It's one of my pet peeves. On Chanukah, most people, you light the candles and then you leave the room. It's time to give the gifts, it's time to make the latkes, it's time to have the sufganiyot, it's time to attend the Chanukah party, and you neglect the lights that you just lit. And the whole reason to light them is of course the פרסומי ניסא pirsumei nisa, the impact on those who observe it on the outside. But primarily it's to transform us on the inside. You're supposed to sit לראותם בלבד lirosam bilvad, to sit and to gaze, to peer, to look at, to observe those lights. There's a סגולה segulah that it's supposed to improve your eyesight. Eating carrots and looking at the Chanukah candles. It's good for your eyesight. So the question is, what kind of eyesight? What does that mean that we're honing the sense of sight? פורים Purim is the sense of hearing. פסח Pesach is the sense of tasting. חנוכה Chanukah is the sense of sight. What exactly are we honing?So the חז\"ל Chazal tell us that וחושך על פני תהום, זו גלות יוון v'choshech al pnei sehom, zu galus Yavan. פסוק Pasuk in the beginning of בראשית Bereshis that describes creation, תוהו ובוהו tohu vavohu, that the world was chaotic. This corresponds, it correlates with the four separate exiles. And the חושך choshech, the darkness that surrounded the world, the darkness that clouded and cloaked the world, that was גלות יוון galus Yavan. And חז\"ל Chazal further tell us that the entire goal of יוון Yavan, the Syrian-Greeks, the יונים Yevanim, שהחשיכו עיניהם של ישראל she'hichshichu eineihem shel Yisrael. Our eyes were bright, they were wide, they were optimistic, they were hopeful. We had an incredible sense of sight. We lived with this amazing vision. And what was their goal? שהחשיכו עיניהם של ישראל She'hichshichu eineihem shel Yisrael. It was to darken our eyesight. It was to ruin our sense of sight. It was to cloud our sense of vision. What does that mean? So, again, you could find this, I'm sharing with you one of the articles, or part of one of the articles. But essentially, a sense of sight enables and empowers us to navigate the world. Sense of sight doesn't necessarily change anything in the world, but it gives us the tools and it gives us the strength to be able to navigate the world in front of us. But it's more than just what you see with your eyes, it's the capacity to live with vision. It's the ability to see beyond what meets the eye. You know, a person who's depressed and despondent, a person who can't imagine and doesn't believe in a brighter future, they're, we in our own vernacular, we describe them as living in darkness. A person says I'm in a very dark place. I feel very dark inside. And a person who's optimistic and hopeful, who has vision and dreams and aspirations, even if they seem impossible, we tell such a person that they're living with light. They have a lot of light in their eye, in their life, a lot of light in their eyes.חנוכה Chanukah is the miracle of the חשמונאים Chashmonaim. They didn't see their few numbers, they didn't see the weak army, they didn't see the impossible task that lay ahead. They refused to see what was right in front of them. Instead, they chose to live with vision of what could be, not exactly what was. And it's כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, it's only because of our capacity over the last numerous millennia that we were able to ignore what was right in front of us and instead choose to live with vision and a hope and faith about what could be. That's the only reason that we're here. And perhaps that's what the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi means, that חנוכה Chanukah hones that sense of sight. אין לנו רשות להשתמש בהם Ein lanu reshus l'hishtamesh bahem. Don't use them to see what's right in front of you, להשתמש בהם l'hishtamesh bahem. Don't play dreidel next to the Chanukah lights using the lights. Don't use the light of the candles even to learn Torah, don't use them to read the newspaper, don't use them for whatever task. Because the whole idea of חנוכה Chanukah is not to see what's right in front of you, it's to look at the light and dream about what could be, to have that vision beyond just as the חשמונאים Chashmonaim did, responsible for our being here today, and also what our ancestors did. I end and now I'll get you to take the booklet, because I'm not going to tell it to you. Professor Yaffa Eliach, who passed away recently, עליה השלום aleha hashalom, has in her Hasidic tales of the Holocaust an incredible story of Chanukah lighting in Bergen-Belsen. An unbelievable story with the Bluzhever Rebbe lighting the menorah in Bergen-Belsen. You talk about a dark place, the darkest place on earth, has there ever been a darker place than the concentration camp in the Holocaust? How could one find the courage, the strength? How do you light the menorah and believe in what that light represents in the darkness of Bergen-Belsen? So you'll read the story of the conversation between the Bluzhever Rebbe and the one who challenged him, how can you say שהחיינו shehecheyanu in this very place? And the answer the Bluzhever Rebbe gave him, but it's very much in line with the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, that חנוכה Chanukah, these remaining nights of חנוכה Chanukah, don't run away from the menorah. Light the menorah and then don't go fry the latkes and eat the sufganiyot and play the dreidel and eat all the chocolate candy. Take a few moments and sit with the candles and look at that light and think about in your life, not what is, the challenges and the obstacles, the impossible situation. Collectively we're all feeling still the sting, the acute sting of the betrayal, of the ambush by our own beloved United States for Israel at the UN. I tell you, in reflecting on it these last few days, why I feel so traumatized by it, I think the answer is and I'm sure you all relate, we felt like maybe we've broken through. Look at all the technological advancement, look at all the medical breakthrough, look at what we're contributing the world. Maybe finally they're accepting us and they love us. Maybe finally they'll allow us to have what was promised to us. There was such a hopefulness that maybe finally the world can embrace the Jew and stop hating us. Maybe this great United States of America will always be our ally and always have our back. Maybe we were feeling that. And I think the reason this stings so badly is what a wake-up call, that הֵן עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן hein am levadad yishkon, how alone we are in this world. I made the terrible mistake, someone sent me a link and I opened it on Friday and I watched the vote at the UN as it happened. And if I had a scissor with me, I would have torn קריעה kriah on my shirt because I tell you, I was shaken by the pain. To watch these pathetic, nothing countries, Venezuela, New Zealand, countries, I can't even find on a map other countries, Senegal, I'd never even heard of. To watch them go around one by one and rip and disparage and accuse the incredible only liberal democracy in the Middle East, while this body is ignoring half a million Syrians who are slaughtered, it's only Israel taking in the victims of Aleppo. Only Israel said come, we'll care for you, we'll take care of you. And could we be more alone? הֵן עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן Hein am levadad yishkon. So on Chanukah, and דווקא davka they orchestrated this ambush on the eve of חנוכה Chanukah. What does חנוכה Chanukah celebrate? It's our liberation from the occupation of the Greeks of הר הבית Har Habayis and the כותל Kotel. And on the יום טוב yuntif of our being liberated from the occupation of others to accuse us of occupation, if you daven at the Kotel, you're now, according to the UN with the consent of the United States of America, you are now davening in an illegally occupied space, you're violating international law. It's mind-boggling on Chanukah. So it's so easy to be hopeless. הֵן עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן Hein am levadad yishkon, when you realize how lonely we still are and what our fate is to be isolated by the world, you could just give up. So look at the Chanukah candles, spend a couple extra moments and realize the חשמונאים Chashmonaim didn't give up. And Bergen-Belsen, the Bluzhever Rebbe didn't give up. And countless others in between didn't give up. And in our history if they ever looked at the vote of the UN, if they ever looked at the reality in front of them, they would have given up long ago. It's only our capacity to לראותם בלבד lirosam bilvad, the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, it's our ability to live with vision, not with sight, that is responsible for why we're here, and please God will for many years. Let's look at our פרשה parsha, מקץ Mikeitz, page 222 in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. I feel much better now. ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro.פרשת מקץ Parshas Mikeitz page 222. As always, we give our overview of the פרשה parsha and then we'll analyze and get into specific פסוקים pesukim. Our פרשה parsha begins with dreams, a big theme of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereshis has been these dreams. פרעה Pharaoh after two years, יוסף Yosef is retrieved from the, or יוסף Yosef rather is sitting languishing in prison and פרעה Pharaoh has this dream. And we're all familiar with the dreams of the cows and then the dreams of the stalks of wheat. There's something incredible about this first dream. What happens? He wakes up, he has this credible dream, and what what does he do right after he wakes up from the dream? He's startled. You ever have such a traumatizing dream you wake up in the middle of your sleep and you take a moment to have to kind of figure out where you are and differentiate was the dream real, was it just a dream? פרעה Pharaoh has that experience. He's jolted awake in the middle of the night. And what does he do right away? פסוק ה' Pasuk Hei, ויישן ויחלום שנית Vayishan vayachalom sheinis. He has a second dream. What is necessary in order to have that second dream? You're jolted awake by the starkness of your first dream. What has to happen for you to have a second dream? You have to go back to sleep. ויישן ויחלום שנית Vayishan vayachalom sheinis. He has another dream because he went back to sleep. רב שלום שבדרון Rav Sholom Schwadron, the great מגיד Maggid of ירושלים Yerushalayim says, think about the impact of פרעה's Pharaoh's dream versus יעקב's Yaakov's dream. In ויצא Vayeitzei, יעקב Yaakov has a dream. The angels, the ladder, coming down, going going up, coming down, the significance of the bridge between heaven and earth, בית אל Beis El, ירושלים Yerushalayim, יעקב Yaakov has this incredible dream. And when he awakens, he's so moved by that dream. He says I never knew, God is in this place. Even in the mundane, even in the secular, holiness, spirituality can be found. יעקב Yaakov awakens from his dream and what happens? He's transformed as a result. פרעה Pharaoh is awakened by his dream and what happens? He goes back to shluff. ויישן ויחלום שנית Vayishan vayachalom sheinis, he goes back to sleep and he has a second dream, and then what happens? ויהי בבקר Vayehi baboker. Only in the morning does he summon his advisors and does he solicit their counsel, their interpretation. It means that after the first dream he goes back to sleep till the second dream, and the second dream the Torah then tells us, ויהי הבקר Vayehi haboker. What happened after the second dream? He went back to sleep. He stayed asleep until the morning. So יעקב Yaakov dreams something significant, he's awakened, he's transformed, his he's ready to lead a new life, he's changed. פרעה Pharaoh has this dream and what happens? He goes right back to sleep. רב שבדרון Rav Schwadron says there's a third dreamer, שלמה המלך Shlomo Hamelech. שלמה המלך Shlomo Hamelech, בגבעון נראה ה' אל שלמה בחלום הלילה ויאמר אלוקים שאל מה אתן לך B'Givon nirah Hashem el Shlomo bachalom halayla vayomer Elokim sha'al mah eten lach. One night שלמה Shlomo is dreaming, God visits him in a dream and he says, ask for anything you want. What do you want and I'll give it to you. And what does שלמה Shlomo ask for, quite nobly? He asked for a לב שומע לשפוט את עמך lev shomea lishpot es amcha, an understanding heart in order to best judge your people, God. So שלמה Shlomo awakens from his incredible dream and what does he do next? We would read it actually the Haftorah if it weren't Shabbos Chanukah, it would be the Haftorah of this week because it is the binding theme of dreams and so on. But it says ויקץ שלמה והנה חלום ויבוא ירושלים Vayikatz Shlomo v'hinei chalom vayavo Yerushalayim. שלמה Shlomo wakes up. The dream jolts him awake. God comes to him. What do you want? He negotiates, he tells God what he wants. And what does he do? ויבוא ירושלים Vayavo Yerushalayim. He's awakened by his dream, invigorated, transformed, inspired. So רב שבדרון Rav Schwadron says contrast יעקב Yaakov and שלמה Shlomo with להבדיל פרעה l'havdil Pharaoh. What makes them great? They all dream. Their dream all portends the future, but the difference is יעקב Yaakov and שלמה Shlomo are awakened and moved to action, and what does פרעה Pharaoh do? פרעה Pharaoh goes back to sleep. There's a פסוק pasuk we sing every time we eat bread on Shabbos, on יום טוב Yom Tov. We sing שיר המעלות Shir Hamaalos, בשוב ה' את שיבת ציון היינו כחולמים b'shuv Hashem es shivas Tzion hayinu k'cholmim. That when Hashem will bring us back to ציון Tzion, redemption comes, דוד המלך Dovid Hamelech describes, what will redemption feel like? It will be כחולמים k'cholmim. It will be like dreamers. Why like dreamers? Of all metaphors, of all examples, when the redemption comes, when משיח Moshiach will herald our return, when we will rebuild the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash on הר הבית Har Habayis occupied by the כהנים kohanim who will bring the קרבנות karbanos, it will be כחולמים k'cholmim, will be like dreamers. There's a number of different مفسريم mefarshim. The בן איש חי Ben Ish Chai has a beautiful pshat, there's beautiful pshatim. But I once heard I was at a rabbinic conference in Israel, and I heard רב חיים דרוקמן Rav Chaim Druckman, who's the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of אור עציון Or Etzion, he's the רב Rav of all of בני עקיבא Bnei Akiva, and he explained the following. He said, you know sometimes a teacher is in front of a classroom, teacher's trying to teach, transmit information. And suddenly you call on a child in the classroom and ask a question. The child is startled and caught off guard and you could tell the child was not at all paying attention to what the teacher had been saying. What would you call the child? How would you describe, what was the child doing? They were daydreaming. What's a daydream? A daydream is when you're awake but you're asleep even while you're awake. Your mind is so elsewhere, you're so mindless, you're so not in the present that you can hear and see and you're breathing and experiencing, but you're so distracted that what's happening around you doesn't register. You don't really absorb or integrate it. So רב דרוקמן Rav Druckman said, היינו כחולמים hayinu k'cholmim means that when Hashem will bring us back and miracles will unfold and there'll be things going on around us which are supernatural and miraculous, which are unbelievable, which we only could have dreamed of for 2,000 years, but היינו כחולמים hayinu k'cholmim, we're going to be like daydreamers, that we're going to be so removed and distracted and preoccupied, it won't even register. That like פרעה Pharaoh, we'll go back to sleep taking it for granted, rather than being jolted awake by the dream of having our promised land back. רב דרוקמן Rav Druckman was describing that the longer we go on having ארץ ישראל ומדינת ישראל Eretz Yisrael u'Medinat Yisrael, the more used to it we've become, instead of it being the fulfillment of a dream that jolts us awake, transformed and changed, we're like daydreamers who are sleeping even while we are awake and we're taking it for granted. So the beginning of our פרשה parsha, פרעה Pharaoh has these dreams and it's a theme of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereshis, but note says the רב שבדרון Rav Schwadron, the contrast, that יעקב Yaakov is awakened to action, he transforms himself, whereas פרעה Pharaoh chooses to go back to sleep. He solicits all of his חרטומי מצרים chartumei Mitzrayim, nobody can interpret the dream accurately. He, שר המשקים Sar Hamashkim, all of a sudden remembers, you know there was this guy who were in prison, I had a dream, he asked me what's wrong, I told him, he interpreted my dream. פרעה Pharaoh says, we'll give it a shot. And he calls יוסף Yosef. יוסף Yosef shaves, showers, changes, and he appears before, he appears before פרעה Pharaoh. What is it about יוסף's Yosef's interpretation? Why does פרעה Pharaoh embrace יוסף Yosef as correct when he rejected all the others? We spoke about this a few years ago in the פרשה parsha class. Some say that the main difference was the others all interpreted the dreams to describe a problem that was going to arise. What did יוסף Yosef do differently? He was the only one who interpreted the dream not only to foretell a problem but also offered a solution. He also offered a solution. Don't bring problems unless you're ready to offer or volunteer a solution. פרעה Pharaoh was moved by that. He didn't just want to hear about the problems. What he saw the wisdom, חכם ונבון כמוך chacham v'navon kamocha. He's so moved by יוסף Yosef, איש רוח אלוקים ish ruach Elokim, he sees a divine inspiration to יוסף Yosef, because יוסף Yosef doesn't just interpret the dreams to describe a problem. יוסף Yosef sees built into the dreams that God was offering a solution and that's what moves פרעה Pharaoh. פרעה Pharaoh was so moved that he anoints יוסף Yosef to be his viceroy, his vice president, his second in command, gives him a ring which signifies this ascension to leadership. In this short conversation יוסף Yosef has already had this remarkable impact on פרעה Pharaoh, because יוסף Yosef, the man whose שם שמים שגור בפיו shem Shamayim shgur b'fiv, who God, God's name is always dripping off his lips, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, אם ירצה השם im yirtzeh Hashem, בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem. When פרעה Pharaoh calls him and he says, I heard you're pretty good at dreams. And any other normal person, this is his ticket out. He's languishing in prison, he's got no future, abandoned by his family, falsely accused, this is his chance. All he has to do is say to פרעה Pharaoh, yeah, I'm pretty good. I've interpreted a dream or two in my time. But he doesn't. What does he say? בלעדי Biladai, it's me? No, it's not me, it's God. And in this short conversation, he transforms פרעה Pharaoh. By the time they're done, פרעה Pharaoh now is talking to יוסף Yosef about God. ויאמר פרעה אל יוסף אחרי הודיע אלוקים אותך את כל זאת אין נבון וחכם כמוך Vayomer Pharaoh el Yosef, acharei hodia Elokim oscha es kol zos, ein navon v'chacham kamocha. אלוקים Elokim, all of a sudden פרעה Pharaoh is talking about God. The best way to do outreach is not to indoctrinate. It's nuance and subtlety, is to expose people to Hashem, and they'll turn around and accept it as well. יוסף's Yosef's plan is implemented. יוסף Yosef is the first great economist. He can see the economic cycle. He's able to see what's happening in מצרים Mitzrayim, and he is giving this advice which ultimately is going to spare and save Egypt's economy. יוסף Yosef has children, מנשה Menashe and אפרים Ephraim. Very interesting names he chooses. מנשה כי נשני אלוקים את כל עמלי Menashe ki nashani Elokim es kol amali. אפרים כי הפרני אלוקים בארץ עניי Ephraim ki hifrani Elokim b'eretz onyi. The names he chooses for his sons reveal how he's still feeling about everything he's been through and about his being in Egypt at this time. The famine comes, it devastates Egypt. יעקב Yaakov sends his son, his sons to go and to, and to retrieve some provisions, to get food which will sustain them through the famine. They come, they bow to יוסף Yosef. יוסף Yosef recognizes them, but they don't recognize יוסף Yosef. יוסף Yosef falsely accuses them, he chooses, they have to leave somebody behind and we have the, they go back. The conversation they have with their father is an unbelievable conversation. It's an unbelievable conversation when they say, אבל אשמים אנחנו aval ashemim anachnu. Where is it? Page 238? Page 236. ויאמרו איש אל אחיו אבל אשמים אנחנו על אחינו אשר ראינו צרת נפשו בהתחננו אלינו ולא שמענו על כן באה אלינו הצרה הזאת Vayomru ish el achiv, aval ashemim anachnu al achinu asher ra'inu tzaras nafsho b'hischanino eileinu v'lo shamanu, al kein ba'ah eileinu hatzarah hazos. The brothers feel this incredible sense of remorse and regret. Where do they feel it from? Why אבל אשמים אנחנו aval ashemim anachnu? What about this moment, what about this moment? They're in Egypt, יוסף Yosef is about to choose his, his hostage, the one he's going to keep behind. And all of a sudden they have this epiphany, אשמים אנחנו ashemim anachnu. They feel regret, remorse, they feel guilt. مفسريم Mefarshim say they're overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu. Having to go back to their father and tell him that they lost a brother gives an incredible sense of déjà vu. This is familiar to us. We've had to go to dad and tell him that we're one less sibling, that we've lost a brother. And all of a sudden they're overwhelmed with this sense of regret. אבל אשמים אנחנו Aval ashemim anachnu. רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik says about this, אבל אשמים אנחנו aval ashemim anachnu, the word אבל aval is not used here in the usual sense of but or however. Only if we correctly interpret the word אבל aval shall we find in this confession a cogent expression of the repentance which comes in the wake of the sense of sin when the sinner can no longer bear the great fear or dread. Says the Rav, this is in the Rav Chumash, until now, we've not admitted or confessed our sins. Until now, the voice of our pleading brother did not shrill in our ears nor trouble our conscience. Until now, we did our very best to repress and ignore the feeling of guilt which gnawed away inside us. We did not want to admit our guilt. We did not dare to give voice to these thoughts. Now we see that the sin surfaces and confronts us. We see that Providence avenges itself upon us. That שמעון Shimon is in jail, that the viceroy conspires against us, though we are completely innocent, accusing us of the preposterous crime of espionage. Is it not obvious we're called upon to answer for the blood of our brother whose pleas still reverberate and assail our ears? This must be a punishment from heaven. Our denial of sin will no longer avail. The sin confronts us in all its dread. There is no escaping it. Come, brothers, and let us confess, indeed, אבל aval, indeed we are guilty. And like the admission of guilt, says the Rav, by the sons of יעקב Yaakov, the heads of the tribes of Israel, so is the confession we recite repeatedly on יום כיפור Yom Kippur. How do we say, what do we say on יום כיפור Yom Kippur? We are not so insolent and obstinate as to say before you God, Lord of our forefathers, righteous are we and we have not sinned. We are not so, צדיקים אנחנו ולא חטאנו, אבל אנחנו ואבותינו חטאנו tzadikim anachnu v'lo chatanu, aval anachnu v'avoseinu chatanu. We are dealing with confession. Why do we suddenly begin extolling ourselves? We're not so insolent and obstinate. Why is this self-praise in the middle of our confession? In fact, says the Rav, the passage does not praise, it's emphasizing our guilt. Our Lord and Lord of our forefathers, let our prayer come before you and turn not your back on us, though we are not insolent and obstinate to say righteous are we, we've not sinned. Why are we not so insolent and stubborn? It is not because we've completely repented. It is because we can no longer deny our guilt. אבל Aval, everyone sees it. It cannot be concealed. So אבל aval, what motivates, what stimulates, what provokes wanting to change? When you finally feel a sense of אבל aval, אשמים ashemim, it has to come from within. Change happens when you've had enough of being who you are and when you're willing to confront yourself in the mirror and be truthful and honest with yourself with that sense of אבל aval. And I think what the Rav is alluding to is in our own lives. The same way these brothers, they're going through this horrible episode, an episode in which they feel innocent. There's false accusation, שמעון Shimon is imprisoned, they have to go and retrieve בנימין Binyamin or שמעון Shimon won't be released. And they're innocent, falsely accused. But rather than dwell on their innocence, rather than play the victim card and carry themselves with a sense of martyrdom, what do they do instead? אשמים אנחנו Ashemim anachnu. They react with a sense of אבל aval. Why might we be experiencing this? What in our own lives might we have to repair? What guilt do we carry with us? Guilt as in being guilty and guilt as in feeling guilty. What guilt do they carry that might have brought on this situation? We too go through things in life where we feel victims and martyrs and innocent and don't understand why it's happening. We can either position ourselves looking for the sympathy of others, or אבל aval, we can have that sense of אבל aval. What in our lives, where is the guilt, what might we need to repair? And that's the brothers' reaction. They go back and they have to tell their father. יעקב Yaakov hesitates, he does not want to send בנימין Binyamin. We're going to talk about this in a moment. They go back down. The famine gets so bad they have to take בנימין Binyamin. They take בנימין Binyamin down and it doesn't go the way they think. They're invited into the palace for a meal. Why would they be invited to the palace? They have the whole episode with the money, maybe it's because of their guilt for this money they're going to be falsely accused of having stolen. And then the final test. Now בנימין Binyamin is accused of being a thief, and we have this cliffhanger till next week's פרשה parsha as if we have no idea what's going to happen. שמעון Shimon is imprisoned, בנימין Binyamin is being falsely accused. Will anyone stand up? What is going on here? Of course, the overarching question, which we've discussed in the past as well, and I don't want to spend time on, but what what's going through Yosef's mind? What is Yosef doing? Orchestrating this entire drama? Why is he holding out? How is he holding out? Why not finally reveal himself to his brothers? Why not reconcile? Why not reunite with his father? What in the world is going on here?The רמב\"ן Ramban famously says, Yosef is reminded of his dreams. He had forgotten about them. How could he believe in those dreams still when he was being sold by a caravan into slavery? When he's being falsely accused sitting languishing in prison. He had given up on those dreams, they weren't meant to be. And all of a sudden his brothers come, and his brothers say, we desperately need you, you are the leader who can save us. And all of a sudden Yosef says, a second, this reminds me of something. Oh yeah. So the רמב\"ן Ramban says, the whole story is Yosef orchestrating events to unfold, to get בנימין Binyamin down, so that in fact, like his dream described, they would all be bowing down to him. So he needed to orchestrate events to bring the dreams to fruition, to make them true, so he as the progenitor of the Jewish people could begin to effectuate the destiny. That's the רמב\"ן Ramban.We have later commentaries who take two polar opposite extreme views. רבי יואל בן נון Rav Yoel Bin-Nun, in a somewhat controversial piece, suggests, you know what's going through Yosef's mind? Yosef knows a little family history. Yosef is familiar with the family narrative. What does Yosef know about his grandfather? Who's Yosef's grandfather? His grandfather, יצחק Yitzchak. He knows he has a great uncle. Who is his great uncle? עשיו Esav. What happened to great uncle עשיו Esav? Why didn't his great-great-grandfather אברהם Avraham pass on the baton of what he had started? He knows the family story. He knows his great-great-grandfather אברהם Avraham chose one son over another, gave the transmission of this movement only to יצחק Yitzchak, not to ישמעאל Yishmael, I'm sorry, I said עשיו Esav. Only to יצחק Yitzchak, not to ישמעאל Yishmael. He also knows about his grandfather יצחק Yitzchak, that he had two sons יעקב Yaakov and עשיו Esav, and he empowered the transmission of this mission only to his father יעקב Yaakov, not to his uncle עשיו Esav. Says רבי יואל בן נון Rav Yoel Bin-Nun, you know what Yosef is thinking? When he's sent by his father to go check on his brothers, and the next thing he knows, he's at the bottom of a pit, sold down to Egypt. What does he conclude in his heart? Dad must be in on this. It's happening, I can't believe I've been voted off the island. I can't believe I'm the odd man out. First ישמעאל Yishmael's exiled. עשיו Esav rejected. And now I'm the brother on the outs? And why does he conclude that? Because who sent him to go check on his brothers that resulted in everything? His own father. So says רבי יואל בן נון Rav Yoel Bin-Nun, when Yosef is sitting in Egypt, he's not orchestrating anything. He doesn't believe his father loves him. He doesn't believe these brothers have any regret. He thinks his father and brothers schemed to totally expel him.In the opposite extreme, you have commentators who say, Yosef is so magnanimous, Yosef is so generous, that of course, he knows his brothers must have regret and remorse, and he believes with all of his heart that his father never had any part in this, but in order to preserve their dignity, in order not to embarrass them and shame them, and have his father reject them, he's just going to hold back, conceal his identity, they'll take the provisions and they'll eventually go back, but he's doing whatever it takes not to embarrass them.So you have numerous suggestions. רבי יואל בן נון Rav Yoel Bin-Nun's suggestion, what's nice about it is it explains why does Yosef not reach out to his father? How can he hold back? His father with whom he was so close, with whom he learned everything. How does he show this self-restraint, not to reunite? Well, if he thinks his father's in on it, you understand why he's holding back. For the רמב\"ן Ramban, he's holding back in order to be the catalyst for the unfolding of this destiny. So all these different interpretations, what exactly is going on. Let's go to פרק מ\"ג פסוק א' Perek Mem Gimmel Pasuk Aleph. פרק מ\"ג Perek Mem Gimmel, we're going to now look at the text. Page 238. In fact, go back one more פסוק pasuk. When יעקב Yaakov tells them, ויאמר לא ירד בני עמכם כי אחיו מת והוא לבדו נשאר וקראו אסון בדרך אשר תלכו בה והורדתם את שיבתי ביגון שאולה Vayomer lo yered b'ni imachem, ki achiv meis v'hu l'vado nishar, ukra'o ason baderech asher teilchu bah, v'horadtem es seivasi b'yagon sh'eolah. יעקב Yaakov says, there's no way, I'm not sending him. You're not going back with בנימין Binyamin. I've lost one son, I'm not losing another. What's going to happen? וקראו הוא אסון Ukra'o hu ason. He does not say, פן יקראו הוא אסון pen yikra'o hu ason, maybe something will happen. He says וקראו אסון ukra'o ason, something's going to happen. A disaster is going to happen. I'm not losing another. No way.Some of the commentaries point out, where's יעקב'ס Yaakov's אמונה emunah? Why not trust in השם Hashem? If בנימין Binyamin needs to go down in order to get the provision, send בנימין Binyamin. Because כל מן דעביד רחמנא דטבא עביד kol man d'avid Rachmana d'tova avid, everything God does is for the best. It's reasonable you're sending your sons, it's reasonable to send בנימין Binyamin too, and whatever God will do, God will do. So some, the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh not here but elsewhere and others say, you see the power of free will. It's not so simple that we always submit to divine providence. But there's a notion of the power of free will. We have a responsibility to take our own initiative. My brother-in-law spoke at שלוש סעודות Shaleshudes last week. He quoted רב וואלבע Rav Volbe in the second volume of עלי שור Alei Shur. And רב וואלבע Rav Volbe talks about why is Yosef punished, because he put his faith in the שר המשקים sar hamashkim and the שר האופים sar ha'ofim. What's the balance between initiative and faith? When do you show initiative, and when do you rely on and trust in faith? And רב וואלבע Rav Volbe there writes that people make a critical mistake when they sometimes fail to take the initiative they should because they say השם Hashem will, whatever השם Hashem does. And rather than take responsibility for a failure of initiative, when something goes wrong they say, oh, it must be the way השם Hashem wanted it. No, השם Hashem wanted you to succeed, you just didn't do what you needed to do. This פסוק pasuk is evidence. יעקב Yaakov says calculatedly, I don't want to send בנימין Binyamin. וקראו הוא אסון Ukra'o hu ason. It's not a matter of אמונה emunah or בטחון bitachon. It's a matter of initiative. It's a matter of doing what's reasonable. So you see that there's a delicate balance, very complicated subject, the balance between השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis and בחירה חפשית bechira chofshis, between free will, between human initiative and divine providence. והרעב כבד בארץ V'hara'av kaved ba'aretz, the famine is very heavy. And the provisions had concluded. We did all this last year, I want to pick up where we left off last year.So יהודה Yehuda says, העד העיד בנו האיש לאמר לא תראו פני בלתי אחיכם אתכם ha'ed he'id banu ha'ish leimor lo tir'u fanai bilti achichem itchem. I don't want to see you again unless you're with your brother. Don't bother coming down unless you bring בנימין Binyamin. Why is Yosef here described as an איש ish? He's this mysterious, anonymous individual. He's an איש ish. We talked about it last year. You can listen to the פרשה parsha class, it's on WhyUTorah. אם ישך משלח את אחינו אתנו נרדה ונשברה לך אכל, ואם אינך משלח לא נרד, כי האיש אמר אלינו לא תראו פני בלתי אחיכם אתכם Im yeshcha meshale'ach es achinu itanu neirda v'nishbera l'cha ochel. V'im eincha meshale'ach lo neired ki ha'ish amar eileinu lo tir'u fanai bilti achichem itchem. If you're going to send בנימין Binyamin, Dad, good. We'll be able to live, we'll save our family. But if you are not, if you'll stubbornly refuse to send him, we're toast, we're done. We have nothing to eat. We can't bother going down there without him. ויאמר ישראל למה הרעותם לי להגיד לאיש העוד לכם אח Vayomer Yisrael lama hare'osem li l'hagid la'ish ha'od lachem ach? יעקב Yaakov turns to his sons and he says, where was your יידישע קאפ yiddishe kop? How could you do something so stupid? למה הרעותם Lama hare'osem? Why would you do this wickedness? Why would you visit this wickedness upon me? Why did you have to volunteer you have another brother? If you never would have revealed and volunteered you have another brother, we wouldn't be in this predicament. Why in the world did you have to do it? So they answer, שאול שאל האיש לנו sha'ol sha'al ha'ish lanu. Because he was relentless in asking us about our background, our upbringing. We of course, knowing the whole story, understand why Yosef was so curious. We understand. I mean, could you imagine the unemployment office? You're coming to collect your unemployment paycheck, and the clerk behind the desk wants to know everything about your ancestors. How's, tell me, how's your father doing? Father still alive? Is he have vigor? Is he feeling well? You'd be like, what? The brothers don't find it strange. But Yosef is pursuing, how's your father? Tell me what's going on, where are you from, how's your family? Tell me about your community. So we just wanted our unemployment check, just give us our provisions. It's a famine, we want to get out of here. So they tell their father, we didn't volunteer that we have a brother, he pushed us, and he pressured us.Notice in פסוק ו' Pasuk Vav, how is he described, which name is used? ויאמר ישראל Vayomer Yisrael. We've been mentioning over the last couple of weeks the difference between יעקב Yaakov and ישראל Yisrael. The one name which once God changed, we still continue to use both alternatives. אברם Avram became אברהם Avraham permanently. שרי Sarai became שרה Sarah permanently. יעקב Yaakov became ישראל Yisrael when it serves the Torah. Sometimes יעקב Yaakov, sometimes ישראל Yisrael. Says רב הירש Rav Hirsch, I'm reading to you from רב הירש Rav Hirsch now. Why here of all places? We talked about Ari Sacher's suggestion, same suggestion as others, the difference between the names יעקב Yaakov and ישראל Yisrael, and what they reflect about his role at that moment. So now plug it in here. Why דוקא Dafka here is the Torah calling him ישראל Yisrael rather than יעקב Yaakov? Says רב הירש Rav Hirsch: Until now, since the loss of Yosef, he's always referred to as יעקב Yaakov. For יעקב Yaakov designates the depressed state of mind in which one feels oneself dependent, sinking, limping behind, unable to be the master, having to submit to being dragged along by circumstance. But the true Jew only feels depressed when he doesn't know what he should do. Only two things depress the righteous Jew. Number one, guilt, having done wrong, and number two, being in doubt as to what he ought to do, but not about what could happen. As long as יעקב Yaakov was in doubt whether he ought to let בנימין Binyamin go with him or not, for so long does he appear as יעקב Yaakov. But from the moment when the pressing necessity was cleared in his mind, בנימין'ס Binyamin's life would be in as great a danger if he stayed back and starved as it would be if he went, he pulled himself together and he was ישראל Yisrael. As soon as the Jew knows that it's beyond his human powers to help himself further, he is told, גול על השם gol al Hashem. What is too difficult for you, roll over to God. Just what is most difficult but must be done, does he do with fresh-raised courage. For just there where it is beyond man's own power to direct matters, God's direction begins for him. Therefore, he makes no further complaint. He only reproaches them for having quite unnecessarily mentioned their youngest brother at all to the man in power. So says רב הירש Rav Hirsch, why does the name change? ישראל ישר כי שרית Yisrael, yashar ki sarita, a champion, you're strong. You understand what you have to do. You're ready to go straight with strength. יעקב Yaakov is to limp along. Until now since the loss of Yosef, he hasn't known what to do with himself. But now that he understands that he has to send בנימין Binyamin, says רב הירש Rav Hirsch, now he becomes ישראל Yisrael. ישראל Yisrael within him is being awakened. The story, the drama is beginning to unfold. It's a next scene in which yes, they're going back and yes it's unclear what will happen, but the reader, we are being hinted to, it's alluded to us through the transition from יעקב Yaakov to ישראל Yisrael that this is going to turn in our favor.Okay, back to the פסוקים psukim. ויאמר יהודה אל ישראל אביו, פסוק ח' Vayomer Yehuda el Yisrael aviv, pasuk ches. שלחה הנער אתי ונקומה ונלכה Shilcha hana'ar iti v'nakuma v'neilecha. יהודה Yehuda now asserts himself. ונחיה ולא נמות גם אנחנו גם אתה גם טפנו V'nichyeh v'lo namus gam anachnu gam ata gam tapeinu. יעקב Yaakov had not listened to ראובן'ס Reuven's plea. But he's moved by יהודה Yehuda. אנכי אערבנו מידי תבקשנו Anochi e'ervenu miyadi t'vakshenu. I will be his ערב arev, I will be his guarantor. אם לא הביאתיו אליך והצגתיו לפניך וחטאתי לך כל הימים Im lo havi'osiv eilecha v'hitzagtiv l'fanecha v'chatasi l'cha kol hayamim. If I fail to bring him back, if I'm unsuccessful in my promise, you can have a טענה taina on me כל הימים kol hayamim. All the days. All the days means, not just the days here, says רש\"י Rashi, all the days, לעולם הבא l'olam haba. כי לולא התמהמהנו כי עתה שבנו זה פעמים Ki lulei hismahmahnu ki ata shavnu zeh pa'amayim. And now, יהודה Yehuda says something which I would have interpreted as being a little bit חוצפה'דיק chutzpadik. יהודה Yehuda turns to him and says, Dad, enough arguing. If you would have let us go, if you would have let us travel, we could have gone back and forth twice by now. It's a little חוצפה'דיק chutzpadik, no? So look at the מפרשים meforshim. Says רש\"י Rashi, לולא התמהמהנו ואתה הייתך lulei hismahmahnu v'ata ha'yit'cha, had we not delayed because of you, כבר היינו שבים עם שמעון ולא נצטערת כל הימים הללו k'var hayinu shavim im Shimon v'lo nitzta'arta kol hayamim halalu. We could have been back already with בנימין Binyamin, with שמעון Shimon, united, with food. You're you're causing yourself this grief. This stress, it's self-imposed. Why are you doing this to yourself? We could have been out of here a long time ago.A few weeks ago, we did our first class of Jewish music unplugged, where we listen to Jewish music and then we study its background, so that we might as well, the music we listen to and sing and exercise to and cook to and enjoy in the car, might as well know where it comes from and what we're seeing and be moved by it. And we looked at three beautiful songs, פצחי לי Pisch li sung by Simcha Leiner. It's a Simcha Leiner concert here in Boca tonight. The second song we looked at was כל העולם כולו גשר צר מאוד Kol ha'olam kulo gesher tzar me'od, which comes from רב נחמן Rav Nachman of Breslov, written by Rav Boruch Chait. So how does it end? כל העולם כולו גשר צר מאוד והעיקר לא לפחד כלל Kol ha'olam kulo gesher tzar me'od, v'ha'ikar lo l'fached klal. And the main thing is not to have fear. It's a lovely song, just problem is it's not accurate. רב נחמן Rav Nachman does not write, it's a paraphrase of רב נחמן Rav Nachman. Let me put it that way. It's a paraphrase. If you look in ליקוטי מוהר\"ן Likutei Moharan where this originally appears, רב נחמן'ס Rav Nachman's teaching is not והעיקר לא לפחד v'ha'ikar lo l'fached, והעיקר לא להתפחד v'ha'ikar lo l'hispached. What's the difference between והעיקר לא לפחד v'ha'ikar lo l'fached and לא להתפחד lo l'hispached? לא לפחד Lo l'fached means the main thing is, don't be afraid. But fear is natural. And fear to a degree is healthy. The fearless person doesn't obey healthy boundaries. The fearless person does fearless stunts and acts and it's very dangerous. So רב נחמן Rav Nachman is not saying that the expectation or the עיקר ikar, the main thing, is not to have fear. What's the main thing? להתפחד L'hispached. What is להתפחד l'hispached? It's התפעל hitpa'el. It's reflexive. And what does it mean? לא להתפחד Lo l'hispached means, don't drive yourself crazy and make yourself afraid. It's reflexive. Something you do to yourself. The world's a narrow bridge, got to get from this point to that point, the world's going to feel narrow. And the main thing is, don't make yourself crazy. Don't stress yourself out. Don't turn yourself into a worrywart. Have a sense of אמונה emunah and בטחון bitachon, take the initiative we talked about a moment ago that you have to take. And once you've done what you have to do, לא להתפחד lo l'hispached. Don't torture yourself. I was talking recently to somebody who suffers, struggles with anxiety, and she said something so profound. She said to me, you know, I hate that I do this to myself. I know that what I'm worried about, I shouldn't worry about. I know that each time I worry about this, it turns out fine and I'm worrying for nothing, and I hate myself that I do this to myself. It's very profound. That's what רב נחמן Rav Nachman was saying. והעיקר לא להתפחד V'ha'ikar lo l'hispached. Don't do it to yourself. Don't do it to yourself. So here, you can listen to that whole Jewish music unplugged on the שול shul website or WhyUTorah. Beautiful songs and the explanations. So here רש\"י's Rashi's explaining, יהודה Yehuda turns to his father and he says, let us go. Enough. You're driving yourself crazy. לא להתפחד כלל lo l'hispached klal. Could have been back already with שמעון Shimon, with בנימין Binyamin, with lunch, with dinner. Let us go already. But it still seems a little bit חוצפה'דיק chutzpadik.So look at the ספורנו Sforno. Says the ספורנו Sforno, כי לולא התמהמהנו אתם שקיבלתי עלי חטא עולם אם לא אביא יוסף. וזה שדבר ברור אצלי שלולא התמהמהנו מאז שהשיבנו אליך דבר האיש, או מאז שכלנו לשבור Ki lulei hismahmahnu, atem shekibalti alai chet olam im lo avi Yosef. V'zeh she'davar barur etzli she'lulei hismahmahnu me'az shehishivnu eilecha dvar ha'ish, o me'az she'kolanu lishbor. The ספורנו Sforno says, less חוצפה'דיק chutzpadik. What יהודה Yehuda was saying was, I'm so confident that I can get בנימין Binyamin and שמעון Shimon back, that if you would have let me go already, I would have been back, I could have gone back and forth twice. He didn't mean it in a חוצפה'דיק chutzpadik way, new dad, enough already. What he meant is, is evidence of how confident I am that I'll bring back שמעון Shimon and בנימין Binyamin. I could have been back and forth twice. כי עתה שבנו זה פעמיים Ki ata shavnu zeh pa'amayim, says the ספורנו Sforno, שלא היה האיש מעכבנו כלל, כי יוסף ירא אלקים. ולא יוסיף להרע עמנו כאשר ידע האמת. אני מאמין שכלנו לשבור Shelo haya ha'ish me'akvenu klal, ki Yosef yerei Elokim. V'lo yosif le'hara imanu ka'asher yeda ha'emes. Ani ma'amin she'kolanu lishbor. I believe that that man, the mysterious man in Egypt, it's a bizarre man who keeps asking us about our background, the spooky, sketchy man, I believe he's ירא אלקים yerei Elokim. I think he's God-fearing. He doesn't want to harm us. So I'm so confident, I could have been back and forth twice already. That's how confident I am.ויאמר אליהם ישראל אביהם Vayomer aleihem Yisrael avihem. By the way, why is יעקב Yaakov moved by יהודה'ס Yehuda's pleas when he wasn't by ראובן'ס Reuven's? What was it about יהודה'ס Yehuda's pleas that were more compelling than ראובן'ס Reuven's? What's the difference between יהודה Yehuda and ראובן Reuven in their own life story? What did יהודה Yehuda have in common with his father that ראובן Reuven didn't, or at least that we know of? What? What happened to his sons? יהודה Yehuda had lost children. He knew what it mean, what it meant to say goodbye, to lose, to bury a child. And he's turning to his father and he's saying, you know, ראובן Reuven thinks he's tough stuff, he's promising you, it's easy for him to make the promise. But I know what it means to have buried children, and I'm telling you, I wouldn't make this promise lightly because I know what it means. And yet I'm telling you, I'm going to bring him back.ויאמר אליהם ישראל אביהם אם כן אפוא זאת עשו קחו מזמרת הארץ בכליכם והורידו לאיש מנחה מעט צרי ומעט דבש נכאת ולט בטנים ושקדים Vayomer aleihem Yisrael avihem im kein eifo zos asu, k'chu mizimras ha'aretz bichleichem, v'horidu la'ish mincha, me'at tzori ume'at dvash, nechos v'lot, botnim ushkeidim. He gives them a whole, a whole list. This is what you need to do. יעקב Yaakov, now ישראל Yisrael gives in. He says, good, go. But you need to take gifts with you. You have to bring מנחה mincha. You have to bring gifts. What should you bring? The best that we have. A little balm, a little honey, wax, pistachios, almonds. I don't know, if anyone brought me that, it's nice, but I'm not sure it would move me to great action, but I guess at the time these were the delicacies of כנען Canaan. The מפרשים meforshim say Pharaoh had access to everything. יוסף Yosef, the viceroy, would have had access to everything in Egypt. You're not going to give the wealthiest person in charge of the economy, what are you going to give him? What do you give a gift to someone who has everything? What didn't he have? The delicacies of כנען Canaan. So even though they seem insignificant to us, they were the delicacies of כנען Canaan that would have been appreciated by someone in מצרים Mitzrayim who had, who had everything.Why did he come up with this idea? Why give him gifts? What role will these gifts play? The ספורנו Sforno says, אם כן אם הדבר כן כמו שאמרתם שהתגרה האיש בכם והוא ירא אלקים im kein, im hadavar kein k'mo she'amartem, she'hisgarah ha'ish bachem v'hu yerei Elokim, if you're right, that the man respects you, that the man is God-fearing, then give, bring gifts. Why? כי אומנם המנחה שתובא לאיש נבהל יצטרך שתהיה רבה כמו שהספיק אינן ומזה המין היתה מנחת יעקב לעשיו. אשר כאשר קבל לו די שהכסף לא יחשב וראוי שתהיה מעט אבל תהיה דבר נבחר מדברים הנמצאים אצל המעט Ki omnam hamincha she'tuva la'ish nivhal, yitz'tarech she'tihyeh raba k'mo shehispik einan, u'mizeh hamin hayta minchas Yaakov l'Esav. Asher ka'asher kibel lo dai she'hakesssef lo yechashev. V'ra'uy she'tihyeh me'at, aval tihyeh davar nivchar mi'dvarim hanim'tza'im etzel hame'at. First of all, you'll notice a correlation between these items and the gifts that יעקב Yaakov brought עשיו Esav. So יעקב Yaakov, these gifts were close to his heart because they were effective, they were successful with עשיו Esav. But moreover the ספורנו Sforno says, these are the delicacies of מצרים Mitzrayim that will be, of כנען Canaan that will be appreciated. And the ספורנו Sforno continues, and והורידו לאיש מנחה קודם שתלכו לראות פניו למען תראו איך יקבל המנחה ברצון v'horidu la'ish mincha kodem she'teilchu lir'os panav l'ma'an tir'u eich yikabel hamincha b'ratzon. It's not just the generosity of יעקב Yaakov suggesting give him a gift, but he says the gift will be the test. Strategic. The gift will be the means to know. Before you actually see the man, when you first arrive, give them the gift, and you'll see how it's received. If they're gracious in receiving the gift, then it's a promising sign. They throw the gift back in your face, if they refuse to take it, now you've got problems. ובזה תדעו איך יקבל אתכם בסבר פנים יפות כמאמרו לחבוש את השם המעיד לנו לוקח מידינו כל המנחה ואחר כך Uv'zeh teid'u eich yikabel eschem b'sever panim yafos, k'ma'amaro lach'vosh es Hashem ha'meid lanu, loke'ach mi'yadeinu kol hamincha. V'achar kach... So the ספורנו Sforno says, the gift is not just to butter him up, it's not just generous, but it's going to be a test, it's a strategy.וכסף משנה קחו בידכם V'kesef mishneh k'chu b'yadchem, take money. ואת הכסף המושב בפי אמתחתיכם תשיבו בידכם V'es hakesssef hamushav b'fi amtichoseichem tashivu v'yadchem, and return the money that you had received incorrectly. אולי משגה הוא ulai mishgeh hu. ואת אחיכם קחו וקומו שובו אל האיש V'es achichem kachu v'kumu shuvu el ha'ish, take your brothers and go. וקל שקי יתן לכם רחמים לפני האיש ושלח לכם את אחיכם אחר ואת בנימין, ואני כאשר שכלתי שכלתי V'Kel Shakai yiten lachem rachamim lifnei ha'ish v'shilach lachem es achichem acher v'es Binyamin, v'ani ka'asher shakolti shakolti. And now, יעקב Yaakov has given them the gifts suggestion. יעקב Yaakov has told them what to do. And now, he concludes with a prayer. וקל שדי יתן לכם רחמים לפני האיש ושילח לכם את אחיכם אחר ואת בנימין ואני כאשר שכלתי שכלתי V'Kel Shakai yiten lachem rachamim lifnei ha'ish v'shilach lachem es achichem acher v'es Binyamin, v'ani ka'asher shakolti shakolti. And may God give compassion to this man, before this man, and send you with your brothers to and בנימין Binyamin, your brothers in the plural and בנימין Binyamin, and I, כאשר שכלתי שכלתי ka'asher shakolti shakolti, we'll see what that means in a moment.First of all, why does יעקב Yaakov invoke the name of God here of שקי Shakai? God has many names. We use seven different descriptions to describe God's names. Why specifically here this name? So רש\"י Rashi tells us, מי שאמר אין לכם חסר כלום אלא תפילה הריני מתפלל עליכם. וקל שדי, שדי בנסיוני רחמיו. וכדי יכולת בידו לתן יתן לכם רחמים. מי שאמר לעולם די יאמר די לצרותי. ששכלתי בני רחל, צרת לבן, צרת עשיו, צרת רחל, צרת דינה, צרת יוסף, צרת שמעון, צרת בנימין, קל שדי די Mi she'amar ein lachem chaser klum ela tefillah, hareini mispalel aleichem. V'Kel Shakai, she'dai b'nisyonai rachamav. U'k'dai yecholes b'yado litein, yiten lachem rachamim. Mi she'amar la'olam dai, yomar dai l'tzarosai. She'shikalti b'nei Rachel, tzaras Lavan, tzaras Esav, tzaras Rachel, tzaras Dina, tzaras Yosef, tzaras Shimon, tzaras Binyamin. Kel Shakai, dai. God who said to the world, די dai, done, I've completed it, ready to go. God who was able to say to the world, די dai, may he say enough of my צרות tzaros. God who's been able to say די dai when he created the world, he said enough, may he say enough to my challenges, to my struggles. It's so heartfelt, you almost you feel יעקב'ס Yaakov's pain. It's enough. He invokes this name of God because this is the attribute of God who's able to say enough. It's enough of my צרות tzaros.The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says differently. קל שקי Kel Shakai, says the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, שיש לו כוח לעשות כאלה she'yesh lo koach la'asos k'eileh. He can do anything. And he refers you back to פרק י\"ז Perek Yud Zayin, to פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha, when אברם'ס Avram's 99, God appears to him and he says, ויאמר אליו אני קל שקי, התהלך לפני והיה תמים Vayomer eilav ani Kel Shakai, hishalech l'fanai v'heyeh samim. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra there says, why does God reveal himself to אברם Avram with that name? Why specifically that name, what does it mean? It means שם התואר מתם תקיף ורבים פירשו מגזרת שודד להתגבר שהוא מנצח ומתגבר shem ha'to'ar mitam takif, v'rabim peirshu migzeras shoded, l'hisgaber, shehu menatze'ach u'misgaber. God says I can overpower, I can vanquish, I rule the world. I have dominance and providence over the whole world. And that's the name that's being invoked here. יעקב Yaakov is saying to his sons, I don't know what's going on, this has been miserable, I've had enough, all I've ever wanted is לשבת בשלוה l'sheves b'shalva, I want some peace and quiet. קל שקי Kel Shakai. Whether רש\"י'ס Rashi's interpretation, the one who can say די dai enough may say enough to my struggles, or the אבן עזרא'ס Ibn Ezra's interpretation, the one who can overpower any circumstance, may he in fact overpower this circumstance as well.וכאשר שכלתי שכלתי Ka'asher shakolti shakolti. What does that mean? כאשר שכלתי שכלתי Ka'asher shakolti shakolti, as I've been bereaved, I've been bereaved. Says רש\"י Rashi, first of all I have to go back, I'm sorry. יעקב Yaakov says, come back with your brothers and בנימין Binyamin. What do you mean brothers in plural? It should be come back with your brother שמעון Shimon and בנימין Binyamin. What do you mean brothers? So רש\"י Rashi says, רוח הקודש ruach hakodesh, he knew יוסף Yosef was coming back. Subconsciously, without even realizing it, יעקב Yaakov here had this inspiration, this divine inspiration to know יוסף Yosef was coming back. But he says, כאשר שכלתי שכלתי ka'asher shakolti shakolti. He's inconsolable. I've been bereaved from יוסף Yosef and from שמעון Shimon. The רשב\"ם Rashbam, the ספורנו Sforno both allude to שכל שכלתי shakol shakolti like כאשר עברתי עברתי ka'asher avarti avarti in מגילת אסתר Megillas Esther. You go, and you know what? If you lose בנימין Binyamin, I'm already in mourning, I'm already in pain, nothing could add more to the pain that I already feel, so you might as well risk this mission, go for it, try it, check it out.There's a lot more I wanted to do, but we're out of time, and Rabbi Moskowitz's incredible class is going to go here. Let me just share one more thing with you. Oh, so much more I was going to do. Let me just share. One more. No, you know what, we'll save it for next year. It's the origin of grandparents in the Torah. The Rav's insight when יוסף Yosef turns to his brothers and he says, השלום אביכם הזקן Hashalom avichem hazaken? Why does he call their father the old man? I'm not sure יעקב Yaakov would appreciate that. Why is יוסף Yosef referring to him as הזקן hazaken, the old man? And the Rav sees in here the notion of זקן zaken doesn't mean old in a disparaging way, but the role of the זקן zaken. All right, fine.The Rav writes, יעקב Yaakov is frequently called זקן zaken, the old one in the Torah and the מדרש Medrash, despite the fact that אברהם Avraham and יצחק Yitzchak lived even longer. He never achieved their longevity. In Talmud and Medrashic literature, יעקב Yaakov is recalled, is referred to as ישראל סבא Yisrael Saba, the old ישראל Yisrael. In what manner did יעקב Yaakov distinguish himself that his name became the generic name for an entire people? And why is he called the זקן zaken? Says the Rav. with this we end. יעקב Yaakov is the first patriarch to establish direct communication with grandchildren. Our people are called Israel or יעקב Yaakov. He created the community which ensures continuity. What preceded him were patriarchal families. Though the covenant was made initially with אברם Avram, it was not until יעקב Yaakov that the secret of perpetuating the מסורה Mesora was discovered. He laid the foundation for a people. אברם Avram only talks to the next generation. יצחק Yitzchak only talks to the next generation. יעקב Yaakov is the only one, מנשה Menashe and אפרים Ephraim. יעקב Yaakov is the first grandfather, the first זיידע Zayde, the first סבא Sabba, first אופא Opa in the תורה Torah. So יעקב Yaakov, we are בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael because it's not just the next generation. You need three generations to guarantee the continuity and the transmission. You see the role of a grandfather. יעקב Yaakov is the first grandfather in the תורה Torah. א פרייליכן חנוכה A freilichen Chanukah. Have a wonderful week.
