Transcript
Good morning. This week we have the privilege of studying פרשת וישב Parshas Vayeishev together. I want to thank our sponsors this morning of the פרשה שיעור Parsha shiur, the Marilles family, in loving memory of טובל צבי בן מנשה Tovel Tzvi ben Menashe of Ted Shiffman, and thank you to Joel and Tali Flamholz in memory of his beloved brother, Jack Flamholz, יעקב שלמה בן ישראל דוד Yaakov Shlomo ben Yisrael David. Our learning this morning should be לעילוי נשמתם l'iluy nishmasam. If you'd like to sponsor, sign up to sponsor one of the פרשה parsha classes, please email the שול shul office. As always, we begin with our overview of the פרשה parsha, and then we'll delve into our specific פסוקים pesukim together.פרשת וישב Parshas Vayeishev begins with the story, the hope, the dream that so many have, maybe particularly in this room, but frankly we all have, וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען Vayeishev Yaakov b'eretz megurei aviv b'eretz Canaan, which רש\"י Rashi tells us, ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה bikesh Yaakov leishev b'shalva. יעקב Yaakov just wanted some peace and quiet. He wanted to retire, he wanted to become an empty nester, he wanted to enjoy the early bird, he wanted to enjoy the mahjong, he wanted to enjoy golf, a little life, sit and learn. And this is a kind of inauspicious allusion to what is to come, the havoc that will be reeked in יעקב's Yaakov's life. The beginning of the פרשה parsha begins, reminding us of יעקב Yaakov and his children, and telling us about these dreams. ויחלום יוסף חלום ויגד לאחיו Vayachalom Yosef chalom vayaged l'echav. That יוסף Yosef was a dreamer, characterized by his dreams. His dreams are not just modern psychology and חז\"ל chazal tell us that dreams essentially reveal what we are thinking beneath the surface. That dreams are in our subconscious what we're concerned with, thinking about, something we saw recently, and so on. But in our פרשה parsha, in פרשת ויצא Parshas Vayeitzei, our פרשה parsha, מקץ Mikeitz, dreams take on a greater significance. Dreams become a vehicle through which the Almighty is actually communicating perhaps what will be or what one should do. There's an entire discussion about the role of dreams in הלכה halacha, which we're not going to talk about, but on the one hand the גמרא Gemara says, דברי חלומות לא מעלין ולא מורידין divrei chalomos lo maalin v'lo moridin, that the words of dreams, that knowledge you attain through a dream has no הלכתית halachic basis. So the גמרא Gemara for example tells, let's say one has a dream that there's a treasure hidden. I have a dream, there's a treasure hidden across the world in someone else's backyard. I make my way to the house, I knock on the door, I ask permission, I go to the backyard, I take my shovel, I start digging, and I reveal a treasure, a wealth of money. So who owns the money? The person on whose property it sits or me, because I had the dream, without which one would never have had access to the money. So you'll say I have a good compromise, split it. And that might be a good compromise, but what's the דין din, what's the הלכה halacha, who owns the money? דברי חלומות לא מעלין ולא מורידין Divrei chalomos lo maalin v'lo moridin. The truth is, it absolutely belongs to the person on whose property it sits on. The fact that I became aware of it through a dream is irrelevant, it's insignificant, it's not בבא חשבון baba cheshbon, it doesn't enter the equation. So there's a whole area of the notion of dreams within הלכה halacha, dreams as a means of connecting with people, with worlds, with information. יוסף Yosef is known as the dreamer, but his dreams alienate others. The Torah tells us, ויוסיפו עוד שנא אותו Vayosifu od sno oso. יעקב Yaakov's, יוסף's Yosef's dreams alienate him. And why do they alienate others? Because יוסף Yosef makes the critical mistake of sharing those dreams. Not every dream do you need to share. In fact, also חז\"ל chazal, the הלכה halacha talks about when you have a dream, sometimes you have a very traumatic dream, you're shaken to your core, you have a horrific vision, a terrible sense, and you wake up, you are tempted to articulate or communicate that dream to somebody, to talk about it. And the גמרא Gemara says the dream only becomes real, you only really have to deal with it once you talk about it. What I think it means to say is, as long as you dismiss it and realize that it's a figment and function of your subconscious, that it bears no connection in any prophetic way or any prescient way to what is to come, then you can dismiss it, you don't have to deal with it. But the moment you articulate it, you've now contributed it to the conversation. Now the substance of your dream becomes part of someone else's life. You ever had a dream something horrible happened to someone and then you see them and you say, 'I had a dream last night that something terrible happened to you!' Good, then you go on with your day, and the person doesn't dream for a week because they can't sleep for a week. So you shouldn't share your dreams, you shouldn't articulate your dreams. If you are haunted by a dream, we also have a means and a mechanism during ברכת כהנים Birchas Kohanim, when the כהנים kohanim דוכ'ן duchen, there's a תפילה tfila composed that you should pray that the dreams that are good come true, those that are bad, not come true. We're blessed to have a wonderful ספרדי מנין Sefardi minyan, they דוכ'ן duchen every single day. If you have a bad day, a bad dream, a bad night, come to the ספרדי מנין Sefardi minyan of the Boca Raton Synagogue and you'll be able to dispense with your dream. To the extent by the way that הלכה halacha says, if you have a terrible dream and it traumatizes you, you can fast. Because if you feel that you need atonement, you need merit, you need to engage in some virtuous activity to offset whatever was indicated in the dream, you could fast. Let's say you have a terrible dream Friday night, and you want to fast on שבת Shabbos. But it's incongruous. שבת Shabbos is a day of תענוג tanug, of עונג oneg. שבת Shabbos is a day of joy and pleasure and happiness. שמחה Simcha. Our זמירות zmiros talk all about how much we eat and we פרעס fress and we enjoy. So you're going to fast on שבת Shabbos? Who you're going to insult, your wife, your mother, the hostess, that you didn't eat a thing at the table? You're going to fast? So הלכה halacha says you're allowed to fast. Why? It's a fascinating הלכה halacha. You're allowed to fast, why? Because the הלכה halacha of שמחה simcha of יום טוב Yom Tov is an objective הלכה halacha of שמחה simcha being defined by בשר ויין basar v'yayin. But the הלכה halacha of עונג oneg on שבת Shabbos is not שמחה simcha, which is an objective pleasure, it's עונג oneg, which is a subjective, personal pleasure. It's relative to who you are and what brings you pleasure. For example, there are even people, I don't want to speak לשון הרע lashon hara, who enjoy מילכיגס milchigs on שבת Shabbos. I don't want to say לשון הרע lashon hara publicly, but there are people who enjoy מילכיגס milchigs in general, they enjoy it even on שבת Shabbos. A מילכיג milchig meal on שבת Shabbos, it's not traditional, but there's nothing wrong with it. If for that, if that's עונג oneg for a person, so that's עונג oneg, that's the הלכה halacha of עונג oneg. So the הלכה halacha says, if the עונג oneg for you will be to fast, meaning, if we force you to eat and deprive you of your ability to fast to offset your dream, you won't get pleasure from the food, the food is torturing you. It's not adding to your שבת Shabbos, your עונג שבת oneg Shabbos, it's depleting you of עונג שבת oneg Shabbos because you're haunted by this dream and you just want to fast. So הלכה halacha says in that circumstance, you're allowed to fast. I don't even know why we got into dreams, it's not even our subject.יוסף Yosef has these dreams. I know why, because you shouldn't share them dreams. ויגד לאחיו Vayaged l'echav. What got יוסף Yosef into trouble, what starts the entire episode that lands our people in מצרים Mitzrayim, 210 years of servitude and oppression, is that יוסף Yosef shared his dreams. Not all your dreams are you meant to share. And it increases animosity and enmity between him and his brothers. He has another dream, and then יוסף Yosef is sent to go visit his brothers. ויאמר ישראל אל יוסף הלא אחיך רועים בשכם Vayomer Yisrael el Yosef halo achecha ro'im b'shchem. Your brothers are serving as shepherds in שכם Shechem. Go. By the way, interesting given what we spoke about last week, the difference between the name יעקב Yaakov and the name ישראל Yisrael, here it doesn't say ויאמר יעקב אל יוסף vayomer Yaakov el Yosef, go check on your brothers. It's ויאמר ישראל Vayomer Yisrael. I'm not going to do your work for you. You have to figure out why it says יעקב Yaakov, why it says ישראל Yisrael, given those, given those differences. So יעקב Yaakov sends יוסף Yosef to go check on the brothers. Was that a wise move? You know, there are so many, so many events in our פרשה parsha in which you say if only that went differently, this whole thing wouldn't have happened. If only that went differently, this whole thing wouldn't have happened. And this is another one of them. And in fact, the ספורנו Sforno says a little bit later that when יעקב Yaakov is told by his sons, they bring back this, the the famous כתונת פסים kesones passim, the multi-colored coat, covered in blood, in order to try to trick יעקב Yaakov into, because his whole life is surrounded by deceit and trickery, but to trick him into believing that his son יוסף Yosef is killed. So יעקב Yaakov proclaims that he tears his garment, and he grieves, and it says he's inconsolable. וימאן להתנחם V'yima'en l'hisnachem. He refuses to be consoled. ויאמר Vayomer, and he says, כי ארד אל בני אבל שאולה ki ered el bni avel sheola. I will go with my son to the death in mourning, meaning I'll never feel happy again the rest of my life. And there are people, רחמנא ליצלן rachmana litzlan, who lose a child. Who was just telling me last night? Somebody who lost a child was sitting שבעה shiva and someone came to pay a שבעה shiva call who had lost a child and the mourner asked the other person, you know, there's שבעה shiva, there's שלושים shloshim for the loss of a child, when does the mourning end? And the other person said, not until the day you die when you lose a child. רחמנא ליצלן Rachmana litzlan. So יעקב Yaakov says, כי ארד אל בני אבל שאולה ki ered el bni avel sheola, I will go to my own death continuing to grieve. ויבך אותו אביו Vayevk oso aviv. So the ספורנו Sforno says, why is יעקב Yaakov inconsolable? יעקב's Yaakov's inconsolable because he takes personal responsibility. He says to himself, if only I hadn't, הלא אחיך רועים בשכם לכה ואשלחך אליהם halo achecha ro'im b'shchem l'cha v'eshlachacha aleihem. Had he not sent יוסף Yosef, he knows there's a rift. He knows there's enmity between the brothers. But he sends יוסף Yosef, go check on your brothers. And when יוסף Yosef doesn't return, he feels such regret. He feels such responsibility. He's plagued by a sense of guilt. I could have done more, I could have protected my child. This didn't have to happen, and so on. He goes, we know the whole story, that they plot to kill him. ראובן Reuven intervenes, thrown in the pit, he's taken out of the pit, he's sold, they come to יעקב Yaakov, and they told the story and יעקב Yaakov refused to be comforted. Then all of a sudden, in the middle, we have this interlude, the story of יהודה Yehuda and תמר Tamar. We're not getting into this today in depth, but of course, the question, one of the many, there are many questions, יהודה Yehuda and תמר Tamar. You don't get a chance to ask them in school, because you don't learn this in school. But there are many questions on this section of יהודה Yehuda and תמר Tamar. One of the most compelling to me is, who is the result, the progeny, who emerges from this union of יהודה Yehuda and תמר Tamar? Go down the line. מלך המשיח Melech HaMashiach. דוד המלך David HaMelech and ultimately מלך המשיח Melech HaMashiach. משיח Mashiach is the result. By the way, not just יהודה Yehuda and תמר Tamar, and then we have after יהודה Yehuda and תמר Tamar, everything, everything about משיח's Mashiach's background and lineage, because you go back to actually לוט Lot and his daughters. לוט Lot and his daughters, יהודה Yehuda and תמר Tamar, everything about משיח Mashiach and his lineage comes from stories that seem so immoral. He has such a tainted, blemished background. Why? You'd think משיח Mashiach of all would have the greatest יחוס yichus. מלך המשיח Melech HaMashiach, the one who will come redeem us, has the worst יחוס yichus. If משיח Mashiach had to submit his שידוך shidduch resume, be a lonely man for life. Tell you about my great-grandparents, and my great-grandmother who slept with her father. Let me tell you about another ancestor, תמר Tamar. You have to understand, she was so desperate for a child, she dressed up as a prostitute, but it was לשם שמים l'shem shamayim. And יהודה Yehuda is one of the שבטי י-ה Shiftei Kah. Okay, but he was with her, he didn't realize it was his own daughter-in-law. Imagine that on the שידוך shidduch resume. I'd hate to be the משיח's Mashiach's rabbi to take that call. So that to me is the most compelling question and there are a series of good answers about why משיח Mashiach is the result, why does he have that that יחוס yichus? But that's the story of יהודה Yehuda, his sons died, they're childless, תמר Tamar is desperate for continued continuation, continuity, she positions herself as a harlot, יהודה Yehuda engages her services, leaves these items with her. Later, she's pregnant, he says my former daughter-in-law is pregnant, she's not married, what a שאַנדע shanda, she should be killed. And she says, I'm not, I'm not saying who the father is, I'm not saying. I'm just going to say whoever owns these things, if he wants them back, I still have them. And חז\"ל chazal see in יהודה Yehuda, חז\"ל chazal see rather in תמר Tamar, unbelievable, unbelievable self-restraint, self-control, she's magnanimous, she's generous, that she doesn't lash out. You're criticizing me in public? You're humiliating me? Are you crazy? Should I reveal to the world the father? Instead she alludes to it. And we learn it's better to die than to embarrass another person in public. תמר Tamar becomes the source of our strength and our capacity to hold in the anger, the rage, to not react in a way which will escalate, but to be able to preserve another's dignity and to not embarrass them in person. You know, my my daughter תמר's Tamar's Bat Mitzvah is this weekend. Anyway, I will not be speaking about this section of the פרשה parsha.יוסף's Yosef's brought back and and we're not going to study this either, but why is it a very strange like interlude right in the middle of the פרשה parsha? Whole story of יוסף Yosef and the brothers and the pit and the sale and Egypt, it now picks up exactly there, that he comes down to Egypt and פוטיפר Potiphar purchases him and he's in the home. What was יהודה Yehuda and תמר Tamar, why is it right there, right in the middle, breaking up the story? What is the significance of the of the placement of the way the narrative unfolds? Also not for our time. יוסף Yosef comes down, he succeeds to bring great blessing to the home of פוטיפר Potiphar. אשת פוטיפר Eishes Potiphar accuses, she's spending her life trying to seduce יוסף Yosef, and חז\"ל chazal are not shy to graphically describe her methodology of trying to seduce יוסף Yosef. And what I think in a very encouraging way for us, חז\"ל chazal also tell us that יוסף Yosef was a was a man, was a regular person, not a regular person, חלילה chalila, our אבות avos were beyond reproach, they were great people, categorically different than we. But יוסף Yosef is relatable, I should say, because he's ready to give in. He's struggling with that opportunity. He's struggling with that temptation. And he has every reason in the world not to show restraint. What's going to happen? He's going to hurt his parents' reputation? What parents? He's going to hurt his brothers? What brothers? He's going to ruin his social standing? What social standing? He's a slave. He's been sold into slavery. He has no community, he has no family, he has no standing. He's gone through hardship. He went from the top of the world, the dreamer who's going to be a leader to a slave who almost narrowly escaped death in a pit. A woman comes on to him, he has an opportunity. He's going to give in. חז\"ל Chazal read in the פסוקים pesukim very powerfully, how close he is. It says that he came that day, where is the פסוק pasuk? The last פסוק pasuk page 214. ויהי כהיום הזה ויבא הביתה לעשות מלאכתו Vay'hi k'hayom hazeh vayavo habaysa la'asos melachto. And it was, there was an opportune day, and he came to the house. Why is it an opportune day? חז\"ל Chazal tell us, it was a Sunday. And אשת פוטיפר's Eishes Potiphar's whole family was heading to church services. And the last minute she says, you know, I'm not feeling so well. I think I'm going to stay home. You go, everybody go, clear out the house, no one here, I'm not feeling great. She stays behind knowing יוסף's Yosef's coming to work. And she dresses the part, and acts the part, and attempts to seduce him. And this was the end of יוסף's Yosef's capacity for restraint. חז\"ל Chazal say, ויהי כהיום הזה ויבא הביתה לעשות מלאכתו vay'hi k'hayom hazeh vayavo habaysa la'asos melachto, he came to do his work. מלאכתו Melachto did not mean to balance the books, to balance the checkbook, to to calculate the taxes for פוטיפר Potiphar. לעשות מלאכתו La'asos melachto, חז\"ל chazal say means, he came to do מלאכתו melachto. He was ready. He was ready. ואין איש מאנשי הבית שם בבית V'ein ish m'anshei habayis sham babayis. No one's there. There was an opportunity. ותתפשהו בבגדו לאמור שכבה עמי vatitpeseihu b'vigdo leimor shichva imi. She grabs him by the cloak and she says, 'No, enough of the cat and mouse game, enough of the charade'. ויעזב בגדו בידה וינס ויצא החוצה Vaya'azov bigdo b'yada vayanas vayeitzei hachutza. Somehow at that moment he finds the capacity, he runs outside. We've spoken about this in the past, I'm sure it's on the previous year's shiurim. But where does יוסף Yosef find this capacity, this strength? דמות דיוקנו של אביב Dmus dyokno shel aviv. He sees the image of his father. Just in the moment of temptation, just in the moment of weakness, just in this critical juncture that could have led his life in such different directions. In that exact moment, all the learning, all the time, all the influence of his father, kicked in. Just in that moment, he saw the image of his father. Very, very powerful. This really summarizes the essence of parenting, is to not only have an influence on your child when you're in their presence, but how to create a relationship that they hear your voice even when you're not with them. You know, חז\"ל chazal say the role of stars, the גמרא Gemara says that מחנכים mechanchim, educators, are like stars in the sky. How are they like stars in the sky? So, all the מפרשים meforshim give different explanations of the גמרא Gemara. Stars shine brightly, stars reflect light. The מהרש\"א Maharsha, רב שמואל איידלס Rav Shmuel Eidels, gives a great פשט pshat. He says, you know why are our מחנכים mechanchim, our educators, our leaders, our influencers are likened to stars? Says the מהרש\"א Maharsha, because even during the day, when you can't see the star, you know it's there. Star is not always visible, it's not always reflecting light, but you know it's there even when it's light out. And the job of a successful educator, the job of a parent, the job of a grandparent is to be such a presence and force in their children and grandchildren's life that their voice is heard, their image is seen even when they're not there and especially in those moments in their children and grandchildren's life that are so critical and that are can lead into so many different directions. A lot more to say about this, we've spoken about it in the past. All these things happen. She holds on to his cloak, his garment. Garments have a big, in תנ\"ך Tanach, garments, the symbol of garments are very powerful. You have it with דוד David and שאול Shaul, you have it here with יוסף Yosef and אשת פוטיפר Eishes Potiphar. We have it actually with שמואל הנביא Shmuel HaNavi as well. We have a number of situations where there's a garment, it's grabbed onto, it's held back, it's torn, it's ripped. There's a whole lot to say about the significance of the symbolism of garments. יוסף Yosef is thrown into prison and our פרשה parsha ends when in prison, two of his prison mates who are not pardoned, two of his prison mates, the cupbearer and the baker, שר המשקים sar hamashkim and the שר האופים sar ha'ofim, have dreams, they do share their dreams because they're traumatized by them, and they're seeking interpretation of them. And יוסף Yosef interprets them, and the פרשה parsha ends. Anyone know, last week we spoke about what day on the Jewish calendar the wrestling match of יעקב Yaakov and the angel was? כל נדרי Kol Nidrei, good. Does anyone know what day on the Jewish calendar was it when יוסף Yosef, languishing in prison, sitting in sackcloth, hair down to his shoulders, long beard because he hasn't shaved, dirty, smelly, miserable, lonely, rejected, dejected, despondent, falsely accused, abandoned, attempted to be killed. What day was it on the Jewish calendar when he turned to the שר המשקים sar hamashkim and the שר האופים sar ha'ofim? It was ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. It was ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. חז\"ל Chazal say it was ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. And he turns to the שר המשקים sar hamashkim and the שר האופים sar ha'ofim. יוסף's Yosef's liberation from prison, יוסף's Yosef's salvation in next week's פרשה parsha comes only because he bothers to ask the שר המשקים sar hamashkim and the שר האופים sar ha'ofim, 'Why the long faces? Hey brothers, what's the matter? Why you look so sad? What's going on?' Had יוסף Yosef never initiated concern, care about another, had יוסף Yosef understandably and rightfully retreated into his own misery and not engaged those around him, he'd still be in prison. It's only because he interrupts his story to say to two people he sees who are sad, 'Hey, what's the matter? Why the long faces? Why are you so sad?' That becomes the catalyst that begins the process because they say we had these dreams, he interprets the dreams, and then next week when פרעה Pharaoh has his dreams, that's how יוסף Yosef is able to get out of prison. And when does it happen? ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah. Part of the message of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah is to bring our own redemption, we have to care not about ourselves, to bring even our own personal redemption begins with caring about those around us. You're sad, you have a sad story, you have problems in your life, the answer is not that the rest of the world should serve you and your problems, your personal redemption is to see someone else who looks sad and say, what's going on? Why the long face? What can I do? How can I help? Okay, that's an overview of the פרשה parsha. Let's go back to the very beginning. Beginning of the פרשה parsha this week. Actually, before we get to the beginning, we're still within the overview. Only because this is, connects the פרשה parsha and ענינא דיומא inyana d'yoma, in case you didn't get the memo, Saturday night, Sunday, the first night, first day of חנוכה Chanukah. The גמרא Gemara in שבת Shabbos, second פרק perek of שבת Shabbos, במה מדליקין Bameh Madlikin, is where the גמרא Gemara has the discussions about חנוכה Chanukah. There is no מסכת חנוכה Maseches Chanukah. We've discussed on another occasion why that is. We have מסכת מגילה Maseches Megillah, we have פסחים Pesachim, we have סוכה Sukkah, we have יומא Yoma. Why is there no מסכת חנוכה Maseches Chanukah? Why is there a few דפים dapim that get put right in there towards the beginning of מסכת שבת Maseches Shabbos? We talked about that on another occasion. But here in מסכת שבת Maseches Shabbos on דף כ\"א daf chaf aleph, the גמרא Gemara says the following. אמר רב כהנא דרש רב נתן בר מניומי משמיה דרבי תנחום Amar Rav Kahana darash Rav Nosson bar Minyomi mishmei d'Rebbi Tanchum. נר של חנוכה שהניחה למעלה מעשרים אמה, פסולה, כסוכה וכמבוי Ner shel Chanukah she'henicha l'maala mei'esrim ama, pesula, k'sukkah u'k'mavoy. If the מנורה menorah is above 20 אמה ama, 30 feet off the ground, ineligible. No good, פסולה pesula. It is an invalid מנורה menorah, one does not fulfill the מצוה mitzva if the מנורה menorah, the חנוכיה chanukia, sits 20 אמה ama, about 30 feet off the ground. It doesn't mean if you're on the fifth floor of the apartment building, it can't sit in your window. That's within 20 אמה ama of your level. It means that relative to where you're standing, it can't be 20 אמה ama off the ground. Like a סוכה sukkah. The הלכה halacha of a סוכה sukkah is the סכך schach has to be within 20 אמה ama of the floor of the סוכה sukkah. The סוכה sukkah can't be higher than 20 אמה ama. And like a מבוי mavoy. The מבוי mavoy, the law is a particular domain, a particular domain in Jewish law, in terms of the law of carrying, it requires at the entrance to the domain, a מבוי mavoy can be open on one side or it can be open on both sides that you pass through, there's different types of, a מבוי מפולש mavoy m'fulash, there are different types of מבוי mavoy, but you need a קורה kora, you need a beam at the entrance of the מבוי mavoy, which serves as what we would call today an עירוב eruv, to be able to carry within it. That beam can't be higher than 20 אמה ama. So the גמרא Gemara's likening the מנורה menorah, the חנוכיה chanukia can't be more than 20 אמה ama off the ground, just like the law of a סוכה sukkah and a מבוי mavoy. זאָג די גמרא ווייטער Zog di Gemara vaiter, says the גמרא Gemara next, אמר רב כהנא דרש רב נתן בר מניומי משמיה דרבי תנחום Amar Rav Kahana darash Rav Nosson bar Minyomi mishmei d'Rebbi Tanchum. מאי דכתיב והבור רק אין בו מים Mai dichsiv v'habor reik ein bo mayim? What does the verse mean when it says that יוסף Yosef is cast into the pit, and the pit is described as והבור רק אין בו מים v'habor reik, ein bo mayim. The pit was empty, אין בו מים ein bo mayim. ממה שנאמר והבור רק, איני יודע שאין בו מים Mimah sh'ne'emar v'habor reik, eini yodea she'ein bo mayim? It says the pit's empty, so why do you have to continue? The pit is empty, there's no water, there's no garbage, there were no basketballs, there weren't any old sneakers, there was not. Well, you just said the pit was empty. If it's empty, it's empty. Why do you have to say it was empty, it had no water? Says the גמרא Gemara, אלא מה תלמוד לומר אין בו מים? מים אין בו, אבל נחשים ועקרבים יש בו. Ela ma talmud lomar ein bo mayim? Mayim ein bo, aval nechoshem v'akravim yesh bo. The pit was empty, means it was empty from water, but what was in the pit? Snakes and scorpions. And a miracle happened that יוסף Yosef is thrown into a pit with snakes and scorpions, and yet when they go retrieve him because they determined that they're better off selling him, he's still alive. Ask all the commentators, what does one גמרא Gemara have to do with the other? What does the law of the מנורה menorah have to do with, in other words, why does the גמרא Gemara bring this דרשה drasha here of all places? והבור רק אין בו מים. מים אין בו, אבל נחשים ועקרבים יש בו. V'habor reik ein bo mayim. Mayim ein bo, aval nechoshem v'akravim yesh bo. Why'd you bring that גמרא Gemara here? What does that have to do with חנוכה Chanukah? What does that have to do with the מנורה menorah and the height? What is it doing here? So a number of different answers are given. תורה תמימה Torah Temima gives two answers. One is, simply it's the same בעל מימרא Bal Memra. It's the same person who taught both הלכות halachos. רב נתן בר מניומי משמיה דרבי Rav Nosson bar Minyomi mishmei d'Rebbi. He taught one law and the גמרא Gemara often does that. When it quotes someone, it then shares a number of his teachings in succession, once you're on a roll, so and so used to say, and let me tell you what else he used to say. So the first answer of the תורה תמימה Torah Temima is there is no intrinsic connection, that's nothing to do with one another. It happens to have been introduced by the same person, and that's why it is put together. But the תורה תמימה Torah Temima gives another answer, and he says the following. How is it that the brothers threw יוסף Yosef in the pit and they weren't worried about snakes and scorpions? If they had just determined, 'You know what, let's not kill him, we're better off not killing him, let's throw him in a pit.' And then you're going to throw him in a pit and it has snakes and scorpions and he's going to die? So then it was an act of murder. How'd you help yourself? So the answer is, what? They didn't see the snakes and scorpions. They thought it was an empty pit. How could you not see it? Look in the pit. How could you not see the snakes and scorpions? What's the big deal? Just look in the pit. אלא מאי Ela mai? It must be that how deep was the pit? More than 20 אמה ama. Because the גמרא Gemara talks about when it comes to the laws of סוכה sukkah and when it comes to the מבוי mavoy, and when it comes for the חנוכה Chanukah, why can't they be taller than 20 off the ground? Because a person's eye, the beginning of עירובין Eiruvin, the גמרא Gemara says, a person's eye is not drawn to that height. The whole idea of the סוכה sukkah is למען ידעו דורותיכם l'maan yeidu doroseichem. You have to know why you're in the סוכה sukkah. If you can't see the סכך schach, it doesn't matter, you don't say, 'Well, I'm sitting in a סוכה sukkah built correctly, I can't see it, but it doesn't matter.' It matters. It's not just about meeting the letter of the law. When it comes to the holiday of סוכות Sukkos, and סוכות Sukkos is an exception here, the טור Tur says, even though generally one does not have to know the reason for the מצוה mitzva to fulfill the מצוה mitzva. Generally, even without understanding the reason for the מצוה mitzva, as long as you pragmatically fulfill the מצוה mitzva, you have accomplished the מצוה mitzva, but סוכה sukkah is an exception, says the טור Tur. Because the פסוק pasuk says, למען ידעו דורותיכם l'maan yeidu doroseichem, you have to know why you're in the סוכה sukkah. Therefore, the סכך schach has to be within 20 אמה ama, a height where eye can be drawn to it and you'll see it. The same is true with the מבוי mavoy. The whole idea of the beam is so that you remember it's a separate domain, it's a separate thoroughfare, and that you're not carrying between inside the מבוי mavoy and outside of it. Well, if your eye... is not drawn above 20 אמה ama, you won't be reminded. And the purpose of the menorah is פרסומי ניסא pirsumei nisa. So you can't say I lit the menorah, I, nobody could see it, who cares, technically I lit it. The whole idea of lighting it is to פרסומי ניסא pirsumei nisa. If it's lit at a height that no one will, their eyes won't be drawn, then you haven't fulfilled.Says the תורה תמימה Torah Temima, that's the connection between the two sections of the גמרא Gemara. Why פונקט punkt in the middle of הלכות חנוכה Hilchos Chanukah, do we have the דרשה drasha that the pit was empty of water, but it had snakes. Says the תורה תמימה Torah Temima, the connection the גמרא Gemara is telling us is, if in fact it had snakes, how could the brothers have thrown יוסף Yosef in? They just decided not to kill him. If throwing in the pit was the alternative to killing him, how could they throw him in a pit that has snakes? And what's the answer? The pit was deeper than 20 אמה ama. So they couldn't see, their eyes not drawn deeper than 20 אמה ama, they couldn't see the snakes and scorpions.The כתב סופר Ksav Sofer, כתב סופר Ksav Sofer, the son of the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer gives a different answer. The כתב סופר Ksav Sofer says that ראובן Ruvein didn't rely on the miracle that יוסף Yosef would live, and that's why ראובן Ruvein insisted they go back and save him. And the חשמונאים Chashmonaim as well, they didn't rely on a miracle passively that everything would be okay, but rather they showed initiative and they brought about their own miracle. וסמיכתא מאמרן בא ללמדנו, שאין לאדם לסמוך על הנס, ויש לעשות כמה שיכול בדרך הטבע. Us'michasa ma'amaran ba l'lamdeinu, she'ein l'adam lismoch al ha'nes, v'yesh la'asos kamah she'yachol b'derech ha'tev_a. The same way ראובן Ruvein came back to check on יוסף Yosef and they took יוסף Yosef out of the pit and they didn't rely on a miracle, but they became the miracle, the חשמונאים Chashmonaim similarly didn't rely on a miracle passively, but actively they became the medium for the miracle. And he says the כתב סופר Ksav Sofer, that's the connection between the two פסוקים psukim. There are other answers which are given to this question.But there's another question. Let's assume not like the תורה תמימה Torah Temima. The brothers knew there were snakes and scorpions in the pit. Why would they throw him in the pit with snakes and scorpions? How could they do, how could they do such a thing? So again, one answer is they couldn't see it. The pit was too deep, they couldn't see it. The אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh here in our פרשה parsha, the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh says they felt that יוסף Yosef was liable for death having violated a capital crime. What capital crime did יוסף Yosef violate? יוסף Yosef came to his father יעקב Yaakov and he says about the brothers, I've seen them. They're eating אבר מן החי Eiver min Hachai. They weren't really eating אבר מן החי Eiver min Hachai. When you שחט shecht an animal it does a פרכוס pirkus, it does, it spasms. It continues to move even though technically it's dead, the muscles are spasming as if it's still alive. So they had done the proper שחיטה shechita then they were eating the animal. But יוסף Yosef only observed it as the animal was spasming, still moving. And יוסף Yosef falsely or inaccurately I should say, reports to his father, my brothers are eating אבר מן החי Eiver min Hachai. And he accused them of being violating the laws of עריות arayos. And among the seven מצוות בני נח mitzvos Bnei Noach, אבר מן החי Eiver min Hachai and עריות arayos, and we talked about last week in the context of the collective punishment of שכם Shechem, that the בני נח Bnei Noach, non-Jews are liable for death for the violation of these Noachide laws. So יוסף Yosef was reporting to their father about their activities, something which would have made them liable for the death penalty. But he was a false witness. He was wrong. He was inaccurate. What's the הלכה halacha of an עד זומם eid zomim? What's the הלכה halacha of a false witness? What's their punishment? כאשר זמם לעשות לאחיו Ka'asher zamam la'asos l'achiv. The punishment is, they receive whatever result they were trying to accomplish for the person they were testifying about. So says the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh, the brothers, the brothers decided, well, you know, he's falsely reporting about us in a way that could get us killed. That means he's an עד זומם eid zomim, it justifies our throwing him into a pit with snake and scorpions because as an עד זומם eid zomim, he is liable, he's liable for death. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar has yet another answer. כלי יקר Kli Yakar says the brothers thought to themselves, a pit with snakes? It's the perfect place for יוסף Yosef. Why? Later in the Torah, we find that the Jewish people are accused of לשון הרע loshon hara. וידבר העם באלוקים ובמשה Vaydaber ha'am b'Elokim uv'Moshe in במדבר כ\"א bamidbar chof aleph. The Jewish people violate לשון הרע loshon hara, וידבר העם באלוקים ובמשה vayidaber ha'am b'Elokim uv'Moshe. And what happens, what's the result, they suffer a plague. And what's the plague later in במדבר bamidbar when they gossip? God sends what's the plague? וישלח השם בעם את הנחשים Vayishlach Hashem ba'am es ha'nechashim. Snakes. And if you remember this is the, they're told to make a metal metal symbol and it becomes the means through which they are healed. And it becomes the symbol until this very day of a physician's symbol. Right? is the snake on the staff. And that comes from ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar. So says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, the punishment for לשון הרע loshon hara is snake. Where does יוסף Yosef, the one who speaks לשון הרע loshon hara about us, יוסף Yosef the dreamer, the gossiper, where does he belong, what should be his punishment? And they therefore cast him into the pit, because they feel that's where he belongs.Okay, let's get back to the beginning of the פרשה parsha. We already said וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען Vayeshev Yaakov b'eretz megurei aviv b'eretz Canaan. יעקב Yaakov comes to the home of his ancestors to the place of כנען Canaan. And then אלה תולדות יעקב יוסף בן שבע עשרה שנה Eileh toldos Yaakov, Yosef ben shva esrei shana. These are the story of יעקב Yaakov. יוסף Yosef is 17 years old. היה רועה את אחיו בצאן, והוא נער את בני בלהה ואת בני זלפה נשי אביו, ויבא יוסף את דיבתם רעה אל אביהם. Haya roeh es echav batzon, v'hu na'ar es bnei Bilhah v'es bnei Zilpah n'shei aviv, v'yavei Yosef es dibasam ra'ah el avihem. יוסף Yosef is described as a נער na'ar. רש\"י Rashi tells us what makes him a נער na'ar? We're we're consumed by na'ars all around us. The whole notion of a selfie. You're trying to talk to a teenager, you're talking to them and they're making a face and they're holding the thing and they're taking the selfie. That's a נער na'ar. מעשה נערות Ma'asei narus, מסקן בשערו mesakein b'sa'aro, ממשמש בעיניו כדי שייראה יפה memashmesh b'einav k'dei she'yinireh yafeh. Obsessed with looking in the mirror, obsessed with their appearance, obsessed with the external. That's what it means to be a נער na'ar. And what, ספורנו Sforno has a little bit different. Look at the ספורנו Sforno. והוא נער, מפני נערותו חטא להביא דיבת אחיו, כי לא נשא להתבונן לאחרית דבר. V'hu na'ar, m'pnei naruso chata l'havi dibas achiv, ki lo nisa l'hisbonen l'achris davar. For רש\"י Rashi, what makes יוסף Yosef a נער na'ar at 17 years old? He's a בר מצוה bar mitzvah. But what makes him a נער na'ar? He's obsessed with his appearance, he's looking in the mirror, he's worried what others think. For the ספורנו Sforno, what makes יוסף Yosef a נער na'ar? That he's not רואה את הנולד roeh es ha'nolad. He doesn't see the consequences of his actions. Both of these are excellent examples of immaturity. ספורנו Sforno says יוסף's Yosef's being a נער na'ar was, he's a tattletale. He's running to tell on his siblings to his father and he doesn't see the consequences, אחרית דבר achris davar. אף על פי שהיה אז משכיל מאד Af al pi she'hayah az maskil me'od, he was certainly very smart, he's יוסף הצדיק Yosef ha'tzadik. He's יוסף Yosef. He's brilliant, he's a prodigy. He's a prodigy. But still שהיה אחר כך מורה לזקני הדור, כאמרו לזקניו יחכם, וזה כאמרם ולא בידיעותי כי עצה. she'hayah acharkach mor l'haziknei ha'dor, k'amro l'z'keinov yichakeim, v'zeh ka'omram v'lo bidyoti ki eitzah. He had book smart, but he didn't use street smarts. You have to know the consequences of your action. If you go report on your brothers, it's going to come back to bite you.וישראל אהב את יוסף מכל בניו כי בן זקונים הוא לו V'Yisrael ahav es Yosef mi'kol banav ki ben zekunim hu lo. And יעקב Yaakov, and ישראל Yisrael, again, not יעקב Yaakov, who loved יוסף Yosef? Not יעקב Yaakov. ישראל Yisrael aspect of יעקב Yaakov loved יוסף Yosef, כי בן זקונים הוא לו ki ben zekunim hu lo. And the רשב\"ם Rashbam writes ישראל אהב, כל זה גרם הקנאה Yisrael ahav, kol zeh garam ha'kinah. The ראשונים Rishonim were not shy, when necessary they viewed necessary to criticize the אבות avos. יעקב Yaakov loved יוסף Yosef. And says the רשב\"ם Rashbam, that started everything. Favoritism, choosing one child over the other, that got all of it started, that's what kicked everything off. ועשה לו כתונת פסים V'asa lo ksones passim. And what was the expression of יעקב's Yaakov's favoritism for יוסף Yosef? He gives him this beautiful multi-colored coat. Says רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, עשה לו כתונת פסים asa lo ksones passim. יוסף Yosef held two visions. He dreamt of his אלומות alumos, the sheaves, which rose and stood on high while the sheaves of his brothers came and bowed down to his. When he told that dream to his brothers, their hatred was deepened and strengthened, but their envy was not aroused. When he dreamt another dream of the sun and the moon and the stars bowing to him, when he told that dream to his father, ויקנאו בו אחיו vayikanu bo echav, then his brothers envied him. Not only did they hate him, but then they became envious of him. In other words, there's two separate emotions that are going on here. There's hatred, we're going to talk more about in a moment. The brothers are consumed with a hatred for יוסף Yosef. Goody two shoes, dad's favorite. He's got everything going. He throws it in our face, shares his dreams. They hate him. But it began with hatred, then this other attribute is introduced, namely envy. Why did the envy come from? Writes the הרב Rav, prima facie interpretation is that יוסף Yosef had two visions. One was of material and economic power, of prosperity and opulence. The other revolved around spiritual greatness, heavenly sweep and heavenly grandeur. יוסף Yosef wanted to be powerful in a political sense, to attain wealth and prosperity, to be respected by people because of his power, feared by people because of his might. But he also wanted to be great spiritually, to be loved and revered because of his wisdom and kindness. Can one person combine both qualities? Can one person fulfill both dreams, asks the הרב Rav? The dream of the sheaves of economic and military power, and the dream of spiritual greatness, of moral heights and communion with God? יוסף Yosef as an executive paid attention to the hard facts of life. He organized the storage of food during the seven years of prosperity. He divided and then removed the peasants from their land. Could he at the same time be a dreamer, a visionary, and the spiritual leader loved by people? Often there are people, they're good in the nitty-gritty, in the details, in the organization, but they can't go to 30,000 feet and dream. And the people who are dreamers, when it comes to executing, their head's in the clouds, they're dreamers. Could one person combine both? These are the two dreams of יעקב Yaakov, of יוסף Yosef. The stars, the moon, the sun, he's in the clouds, vision. The sheaves, the execution, the practical. Apparently writes the הרב Rav, יוסף Yosef thought that he could combine both. And this is the meaning of the כתונת פסים ksones passim. The coat that was multicolored, not monochromatic. The many colors clashing with one another signify inherent contradictions. יוסף Yosef was the synthesis of the earthly sheaves and the heavenly bodies. The multicolored coat which יוסף Yosef wore symbolized his multifaceted personality. There were many colors to his shirt. A lot of בית מדרש Beis Medrash as he probably couldn't get into, but there were many colors to his shirt. His greatness manifested itself in contradiction. On one hand, יוסף Yosef was a very practical man. He managed the Egyptian economy and ran the empire. He saved the Egyptian people from famine. He was the statesman par excellence. He knew how to deal with people, understanding human weakness and human nature. At the same time, he was a dreamer, who was fascinated by a world purged, cleansed from evil, a humanity which reached the apex of moral ascent. He dreamt not only of farming but of stars winking to him from boundless distances. The greatness of יוסף Yosef expressed itself in that strange merger of two mutually exclusive powers. One of logical analysis and precision, of discriminating between facts and fancy, the power to be in contact with reality, no matter how uncomfortable, and another one of dreaming, questing and reaching out for something beyond reality. I love the imagery of the הרב Rav that the multi-colored coat represents the multiple aspects and components of יוסף Yosef. We have people who are very simple, their lives are black and white. They live in black and white. Right and wrong, simple, everything is very clear. And we have others, there's a multiple color. You remember of Hirsch's interpretation of the rainbow. I don't remember if we talked about it in the parsha share this year, or where we talked about it, but Rav Hirsch writes about the rainbow that one of the disappointments of the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam in his creation, and this is the נצי\"ב's Netziv's famous interpretation of the מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel, was that they tried to create uniformity. מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel was that people began to to long for independence. They wanted to set up their own communities. And מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel insisted on uniformity. They wanted to make a tower, says the נצי\"ב Netziv, they tried to create a capital of the world. And all the power would emanate from that capital from that one tower, and the world would speak one language and have one culture. Remember we talked about Rabbi Danny Gordis's article about particularism versus universalism. And this is, he doesn't write it, but it's my suggestion what's happening in the world today, the whole phenomenon with Brexit, the whole phenomenon, the election in the United States, the whole phenomenon with recent other elections in Europe has to do with, the last 10 years was a move towards universalism, to suppress particularism. And now there's a rebellion, that we don't want to be part of the EU and have the same currency and the same language and the same rules and the same, we want our particular nationality, our particular culture, our particular individuality. And מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel was the earliest version that sought to create an EU, to suppress individuality and particularism and to force people into a universalism, to conform, to be exactly the same, to speak one language, to report to one tower that reached the sky. נצי\"ב Netziv says that's why when God disperses them and gives them separate languages, it's not a punishment, it's a correction. The failure was universalism. God says the response is particularism. Languages, countries, cultures, nations, peoples. And says רב הירש Rav Hirsch, the same is true with the rainbow. What is a rainbow if not one ray of pure light that goes through a prism and emerges the colors of the rainbow. It all comes from one source, it all traces back to השם אלוקינו השם אחד Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad, but it expresses itself in the particularism and the many particulars of the, of the various diverse colors of the rainbow. And that, רב הירש Rav Hirsch, is what the הרב Rav is saying about the כתונת פסים ksones passim. יעקב Yaakov doesn't give יוסף Yosef a frock, a רעקל reckel. He doesn't give him a בעקישע bekishe. Here's a black coat. Wear it with your white shirt. I'm not being critical, I'm a person who happens to wear a white shirt every day. I'm not being critical of people who dress a certain way. In fact, I just read about the CEO of I forgot what huge company, maybe Facebook, I forgot what huge company, who describes that in his closet he has all the same shirt and all the same pants, one color of each, because there's so many things to think about during the day, he doesn't want to waste his brain power, one of them to be what he's going to wear in the morning, and he doesn't want to have to fit into whatever style. And I thought this guy is ישיבֿיש yeshivish. It's another way of describing, he's ישיבֿיש yeshivish. For the same reason. So I'm not I'm not I don't mean to speak disparagingly of that. My point is that יעקב Yaakov doesn't give יוסף Yosef a black coat to wear or a white coat to wear. What kind of coat does he give him? A multi-colored coat. He sees within יוסף Yosef diversity. He sees within יוסף Yosef not monochrome, יוסף Yosef doesn't live life in black and white. יוסף Yosef lives life in color, which speaks to a much bigger debate between יוסף Yosef and יהודה Yehuda, יוסף Yosef and the brothers. Understand that their debate, their their fight was not superficial. This was not sibling rivalry. This was a debate about ideology. רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik has a beautiful essay about it. And in fact, in a couple weeks time, if you remember Boca Raton synagogue or you're here on that שבת Shabbos, in January, I think the first שבת Shabbos, you're gonna be getting a postcard in the mail this week calling for you to attend jury duty. In fact, don't go to West Palm Beach courthouse. It looks literally like a jury duty, it's designed phenomenally by our own Carrie, it looks literally like a jury duty summons, but you're all gonna be summoned to jury duty the first שבת Shabbos of בראשית Breishis, where we're gonna have lawyers argue for both sides, יוסף Yosef and the brothers. And we're gonna have a mock trial of the brothers being put on trial for what they did for יוסף Yosef, and we'll see if a good defense attorney can get them off the hook. We'll have a judge who will hear the mock trial and the whole congregation is the jury. You're getting the jury summons in the mail. And what what our lawyers will argue that שבת Shabbos morning, the the points of their arguments are not going to be, well he was mean, he started, he was first, he called me a name. That's not the battle between יוסף Yosef and his brothers. It's an ideological battle, it's a battle about how you see the world. Part of it is, do you see the world in black and white or do you see the world like יוסף's Yosef's coat, in color? Speak more about it that שבת Shabbos. Let's go a little bit further. ויראו אחיו כי אותו אהב אביו מכל אחיו Vayiru echav ki oso ahav aviv mikol echav, the brother see their father loves them more than anyone. וישנאו אותו Vayisnu oso, they hate him, ולא יכלו דברו לשלום v'lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. They hate him and they cannot, translate these words for me now. ולא יכלו דברו לשלום V'lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. It's not just וישנאו אותו vayisnu oso. It's not just that they hated him. Hate's a very strong emotion. Hate is a very destructive force. You know the הרב Rav points out, the רמב\"ן Ramban refers to the book of בראשית Breishis as ספר הסימנים Sefer ha'Simanim. It's the book of signs. It foretells the future of the Jewish people. And it doesn't just tell of a time of blessing and success and prosperity and good fortune. But it also foretells the time of animosity and enmity and judgment and hatred and baseless hatred and strife and conflict that has always punctuated our history. It was practiced at the beginning of the Jewish people, יוסף Yosef and his brothers, and it continues to rear its ugly head even yet today, even yet today. But it's not just that they hated him. וישנאו אותו Vayisnu oso, they hated him, that's easy to translate. What about the rest of the פסוק pasuk? ולא יכלו דברו לשלום V'lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. It's a clumsy expression. ולא יכלו דברו לשלום V'lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. So some translated as, they couldn't speak a kind word to him. Others translate, they could not speak peacefully to him. And yet others translate, they could not speak to him on friendly terms. But look at the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, two words the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra writes. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro l'shalom, writes the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, אפילו לשלום afilu l'shalom. It's not just that they couldn't talk about the issues they disagreed about. It's not just that when politics came up, when Jewish politics came up, when sports came up, they couldn't be peaceful. But lo, אפילו לשלום afilu l'shalom. Not just they didn't want to be closer or loving. It means, not just they couldn't debate respectfully, but אפילו לשלום afilu l'shalom. They couldn't even give them each other a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. The hatred and intolerance had grown so deep, they couldn't even greet one another. אפילו לשלום Afilu l'shalom. They couldn't even give them each other a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. They couldn't even greet one another. אפילו לשלום Afilu l'shalom. They couldn't even give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. What a disgraceful state of affairs. יוסף Yosef and his brothers passed each other in their hallway of their home on the way to the bathroom in the morning, and they couldn't say good morning. They couldn't say how are you? They didn't give each other a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem or a גוט שבת good Shabbos. And the battle, as I said, was not petty sibling rivalry. They were warring over an ideology that would shape the very future of our people, and yet the Torah bemoans the fact that they lost the capacity to even say hello, good morning, גוט שבת good Shabbos. רב יהונתן אייבשיץ Rav Yonasan Eibschutz, in his תפארת יהונתן Tiferes Yonasan, gives a different פשט pshat. He says the words translated literally read, they could not speak him to peace. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. It's like the way an Israeli would translate the פסוק pasuk. What does that mean? So רב יהונתן אייבשיץ Rav Yonasan Eibschutz says that when we disagree with people, we tend to withdraw from them. We tend to stop speaking to them. Why? We see them as the other. They're different. They're apart from us. And as our communication breaks down, the divider, the wall goes up, and it's stronger and stronger. And you can't resolve conflict and you can't coexist and you can't find common ground if לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. If יוסף Yosef and his brothers had been talking, if they could pass each other and at least say who won the Heat game last night? שלום עליכם Shalom aleichem, what's going on? If they were at least talking, it could have opened the doors of communication to say, you know, when you tattle on us to dad, this is how it makes us feel. You know, when you exclude me because I had a different mother than you, this is how it makes me feel. But because לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom, says רב יהונתן אייבשיץ Rav Yonasan Eibschutz, because they withdrew and they saw the other as another, not even capable of talking at all, that precluded their ability to have even the lowest level relationship but one that could have resolved, resolved things. It's, this is a challenge that continues to plague us. This past שבת Shabbos we had an amazing, amazing guest, Rav Ephraim Waxman, he's a ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva and a רב Rav in Monsey. And he spoke in שול shul, there was a Friday night טיש tish, the מלוה מלכה melava malka, מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos was out of this world. The walls in the other room are still reverberating from the singing and dancing that went deep into the night. He was amazingly inspiring. And he's a חסידישע איד chassidishe Yid, he wears the שטריימל shtreimel. And I had a conversation that that disturbs me to my core. Rabbi, how do you bring in a right-winger, how do you bring in somebody, how do you this, how do you this, how do you this, how do you this? I said, we're reading about יוסף Yosef and שנאת חינם sinas chinam. He's a fellow Jew. He didn't come here and criticize us. We're not criticizing him. His speeches were messages of love and gratitude and happiness. He communicated unity. We have differences with those on the left, we have differences with those on the right, religiously, politically, we have differences. Are we only able לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom? Can we only welcome to our community or our שבת Shabbos table or say שלום עליכם shalom aleichem or connect with somebody who is exactly like us? You're a little to the left of me, you're out. You're a little to the right of me, you're out. You have to be me. And other than that, לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom, well, I'm not interested in being your friend, I'm not interested in hearing from you, I'm not interested in talking to you. רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, this is the state of affairs, this is why משיח's Mashiach's not here. We read these פרשיות parshios and we go to שיעורים shiurim and we learn about it and we say, שנאת חינם sinas chinam, horrible, terrible. We need to correct it. Oh, you're going to hear that speaker? That חרדי chareidi? You're going to hear the speaker? That left-wing liberal? I don't understand, רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, it's not academic. Either we buy into אהבת ישראל Ahavas Yisrael and we want to repair that damage and we want to see the best and we want to see that which we have in common. I spoke before מוסף Musaf before the הרב Rav spoke before he came in the room frankly to try to bevorn that reaction before it even happened. And I talked about how יעקב Yaakov, what defined יעקב's Yaakov's life is a sense of אחי achi, my brothers. He comes to the well, these hooligans are at the well, he says, אחי achi, hey brothers, what's going on? He calls לוט Lot his brother, he calls his sons his brother, he calls the soldiers of עשיו Esav his brother. יעקב Yaakov calls everyone brother, brother. אח Ach, the root, ע' ח' ayin ches, like to be מאחד me'ached is to mend, to a brother, you mend, you create a bond, you create a connection. רב דוד מילר Rav Dovid Miller, one of my רביי\"ם rebbeim from Israel, points out. So this is the whole mark, the character of יעקב Yaakov. That word אח ach by the way is the root, the word אחר acher, another. Someone can be an אחר acher if you focus on the difference. But what's inside the אחר acher? אח Ach, they're also your brother. See what you have in common. Which in most cases within the Orthodox community, you have infinitely more in common with those on the right and left than those that which divides you. There's nuanced differences, sometimes very significant differences, but look at the אח ach within אחר acher. Look at the אח ach within אחד echad to become one. I didn't mention it on שבת Shabbos, but perhaps רב מילר Rav Miller says, that's what שמעון ולוי Shimon and Levi correct when the Torah continues by then telling us how דינה Dina is abducted and what do they do? They go rescue. And how does the Torah describe שמעון ולוי Shimon and Levi? They are אחי דינה achei Dina. They function as brothers. When יעקב Yaakov gets damaged, injured by the שר של עשיו Sar shel Esav, why was he alone? How did he get hurt? Because he was לבדו levado. There was no אחדות achdus, there was no אח ach. There was no camaraderie, there was no companionship. He was all by himself, and that's why he was injured. שמעון ולוי Shimon and Levi correct for the abandonment of their father by being there for their sister. The Torah therefore calls אחי דינה achei Dina, they act like אחים achim. And this answers another question we'll end with this of the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer. The חתם סופר Chasam Sofer wonders, the חתם סופר's Chasam Sofer's on פרשת ויחי Parshas Vayechi, not on our פרשה parsha. חתם סופר Chasam Sofer wonders, we said earlier יוסף Yosef is about to give in, he's tempted, the seduction of the wife of פוטיפר Potiphar, and what kicks in at that moment? What does he see? The image of his father. Asks the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer, what happened to the image of יעקב Yaakov when the brothers are ready to kill יוסף Yosef? Why didn't, יעקב's Yaakov's face should pop on the screen. Why didn't they see יעקב Yaakov? Why didn't they feel his influence, hear his voice when they're ready to kill their brother, when they're ready to sell him into slavery? And the חתם סופר Chasam Sofer gives one answer, but I want to suggest a different one. There's a lot of יצר הרע'ס yetzer haras we face. And even in the יצר הרע yetzer hara that יוסף Yosef had to overcome with the wife of פוטיפר Potiphar, דמות דיוקנו של אביו d'mus d'yukno shel aviv can help. But you know there's a יצר הרע yetzer hara so strong, so powerful, so potent that it clouds judgment that even the דמות דיוקנו d'mus d'yukno, even the image of a father can't help. And that is the יצר הרע yetzer hara of hate, of hate. Says וישכם אברהם בבוקר ויחבוש את חמורו Vayashkem Avraham baboker vayachvosh es chamoro, אמר רב שמעון בר יוחאי, אהבה מקלקלת את השורה, ושנאה מקלקלת את השורה. amar Rav Shimon bar Yochai, ahavah mekalkeles es ha'shurah, v'sinah mekalkeles es ha'shurah. The two forces that can penetrate, overwhelm anything are love, people do foolish things for love. They do crazy things for love. Someone in love, you can't talk sense into. They do extraordinary things for love. And people who are filled with hate, it clouds judgment, and it leads to poor decision-making and it doesn't make one open to influence. of others. And perhaps that's why the דמוסתי יקנו demusti yukno did not kick in when they're ready to sell their brother, kill their brother, because שנאה מקלקלת השורה sinah mekakeles hashorah. It's the power and the power of hatred. The משך חכמה Meshech Chochma writes in ויקרא Vayikra, of Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, that every challenge we have today, every contemporary conflict we suffer from today, in Israel, in America, the left, the middle, the right, religious, political, that we can't hear a חסידישע איד chasidishe Yid with a שטריימל shtreimel who has a beautiful message of love because he's a little different than we are. That every conflict today is a remnant of the early act of sibling conflict that continues to plague us and continues to haunt us, and we still continue to suffer its consequence.And so I plead with you and I give us all a ברכה bracha, that we learn the lesson of יעקב Yaakov, of יוסף Yosef and his brothers. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. Someone's a little different, דוקא davka say שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. דוקא Davka go over and give a greeting. דוקא Davka befriend, דוקא davka connect. Yosef's coat had many colors. Jewish people are made up of a diversity of colors. They don't all have to fit into your exact hue. There's many, many colors. And we have to become part of one coat if we're going to experience גאולה geulah. Have a great week.
