Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov, welcome back to our weekly פרשה Parsha perspectives for today. This week, we have the privilege of learning together פרשת וישב Parshas Vayeishev, continuing with the incredible narratives that begin in the book of בראשית Bereishis, the story of the formation of the first family, a family learning to get along, learning to be able to function as a family with a sense of cooperation and with a sense of loyalty. I want to thank our generous sponsors, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family, who sponsored the פרשה Parsha series in loving memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manish, and as well I want to thank our sponsors today in honor of Murray and Faye Eisenberg, our dear, beloved members by their loving children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We love Murray and Faye, they should continue to have good health and happiness and share שמחות simchas with their beautiful and wonderful and outstanding family.Okay, as I said this week we have the privilege of learning פרשת וישב Parshas Vayeishev together, action-packed so much. Also the week in which חנוכה Chanukah falls. We'll try to get to, if we can, some חנוכה Chanukah allusions or references in the פרשה Parsha as well. If you're following inside, it is in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash on page 198, page 198. וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען Vayeishev Yaakov b'eretz megurei aviv b'eretz Canaan. Yaakov lives, he dwells in the land of his father's sojourns in the land of Canaan. And רש\"י Rashi famously tells us that ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה bikesh Yaakov leishev b'shalva. Yaakov just wanted some peace, some serenity. He just wanted some rest, some מנוחת הנפש menuchas hanefesh. His life has been characterized by running, by being on the go, by fleeing, by hardship, the abduction of his daughter דינה Dinah and the confrontation with his brother עשיו Eisav, and all Yaakov wants is some מנוחת הנפש menuchas hanefesh, some peace of mind. All he wants is some rest. And yet, nevertheless Hashem says, \"Rest is for the next world. Rest is for the future.\" In this world, we're meant to work, to toil. In this world, no pain, no gain. In this world, it is the suffering, the struggle that stimulates the growth and the breakthrough and therefore Yaakov was not destined. אלה תולדות יעקב יוסף בן שבע עשרה שנה היה רועה את אחיו בצאן Eileh toldos Yaakov, Yosef ben shva esrei shana hayah ro'eh es echav batzon. The next pasuk tells us, these are the תולדות toldos, these are the offspring, this is the progeny, this is the continuity of Yaakov. And instead of then listing all of his children, which is what one would expect, Yaakov has 12 children. אלה תולדות יעקב Eileh toldos Yaakov, I would expect after saying these are his children, you would list the 12. Instead, אלה תולדות יעקב יוסף Eileh toldos Yaakov, Yosef. We list only one. Yosef, יוסף בן שבע עשרה שנה Yosef ben shva esrei shana, he was 17 years old, היה רועה את אחיו בצאן hayah ro'eh es echav batzon, and he is a shepherd with his brothers of the flock, והוא נער את בני בלהה ואת בני זלפה נשי אביו v'hu na'ar es bnei Bilhah v'es bnei Zilpah neshei aviv, and he is a youth, he's a child, he is a teenager with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, who are his father's wives as we know, ויבא יוסף את דבתם רעה אל אביהם vayavei Yosef es dibasam ra'ah el aviham, and Yosef brings the דבתם רעה אל אביהם dibasam ra'ah el aviham. Yosef is a snitch. Yosef is a tattletale. Yosef brings the דבתם רעה dibasam ra'ah, he brings the bad or the negative word about what his brothers are doing to his father. And therefore he alienates himself from his brothers and he hopes maybe to ingratiate himself to his father, but he's not successful there either. We're gonna start off with a רב דרוק Rav Druck. רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisrael Meir Druck, this year in the Parsha class, we've been sharing a lot of the Torah of the great Rosh Yeshiva, רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisrael Meir Druck of Yerushalayim, his wonderful ספר אש תמיד sefer Eish Tamid. And here on this pasuk, אלה תולדות יעקב Eileh toldos Yaakov, he quotes the רש\"י Rashi as דבתם רעה כל רעה שהיה רואה באחיו בני לאה היה מגיד לאביו dibasam ra'ah, kol ra'ah she'hayah ro'eh b'echav bnei Leah hayah magid l'aviv. All the negativity that he saw in his brothers, all the liability, all the deficiency, everything he saw wrong, he didn't keep it to himself. He didn't say, \"You know what, they've got shortcomings, I've got shortcomings. I wouldn't want someone highlighting mine, I'm not going to highlight theirs.\" Instead, what does he do? He brings it to his father. And what does he say? שהיו אוכלין אבר מן החי she'hayu ochlin eiver min hachai. What does he accuse the brothers of? What does he see them doing or inaccurately see them doing? That אבר מן החי eiver min hachai, they're eating the limb of a live animal. This is a biblical prohibition, one of the שבע מצוות בני נח sheva mitzvos bnei Noach. ומזלזלין בבני השפחות לקוראם עבדים u'mezalzelin b'vnei hashfachos likrosam avadim. And the children of the שפחות shfachos, his father's co-wives, not לאה'ס Leah's children, but the children of בלהה Bilhah and זלפה Zilpah, he's ridiculing, he's mocking, he's denigrating. He's saying they're just slaves, even though they're his father's children. וחשודים על העריות v'chashudim al ha'arayos. And he even suspected his brothers of עריות arayos, of licentiousness, of promiscuity, of violating moral boundaries. ובשלושתן לקה u'vishloshtan laka, and because of this they were struck. על אבר מן החי וישחטו שעיר עזים במכירתו Al eiver min hachai v'yishchatu se'ir izim b'michiraso. He was punished for accusing them of these three significant violations. For for accusing them of eating a limb of a live animal, the goat we know was שחטד ולא אכלוהו חי shachted, v'lo achluhu chai. על דיבה שסיפר עליהם שקורין לאחיהם עבדים Al dibah she'sipar aleihem she'korein lacheihem avadim. The fact that he spoke so denigratingly, negatively, and he accused them of being the of being עבדים avadim, what happened? לעבד נמכר יוסף l'eved nimkar Yosef. He was sold as an eved. מדה כנגד מדה midah k'neged midah. ועל העריות שסיפר עליהם ותשא אשת אדוניו V'al ha'arayos she'sipar aleihem, vatisa eshes adonav. And because he accused them of licentiousness, the wife of פוטיפר Potifar, he was relentlessly pursued and he was relentlessly propositioned by the wife of Potifar. So all of this is רש\"י Rashi. אז אויסגעקלערט רש\"י Az oisgeklert Rashi. Rashi in the second פסוק pasuk of the פרשה parsha, אלה תולדות Eileh toldos, Yosef falsely accused his brothers of these egregious behaviors and מדה כנגד מדה midah k'neged midah, because he falsely accused them of these egregious behaviors, he struggled or suffered something of the like. Where does this come from? Where did Rashi get it? A תלמוד ירושלמי Talmud Yerushalmi in פאה Peah that says ויבא יוסף את דבתם רעה אל אביהם מה אמר Vayavei Yosef es dibasam ra'ah el aviham, ma amar? What was the negativity that Yosef brought to his father? רבי מאיר אמר חשודים הן על אבר מן החי רבי יהודה אמר מזלזלין בבני השפחות רבי שמעון אמר נושאין עיניהן בבנות הארץ Rebbi Meir amar chashudim hein al eiver min hachai. Rebbi Yehuda amar mezalzelin b'vnei hashfachos. Rebbi Shimon amar nosesim eineihem b'bnos ha'aretz. So three תנאים Tannaim have a debate what was the negativity that he thought he witnessed that he brings as the דבתם רעה dibasam ra'ah as the negative report to his to his father. נראה לבאר בזה מה שאמר לו יעקב לאמר לו nir'eh l'havir b'zeh mah she'amar lo Yaakov l'umar lo. So what was his father's reaction? Yaakov hears these accusations. One son comes to the Abba, the Tatti, the father and says, \"You're not going to believe what I see my brothers doing. You're not going to believe it. You sent them to Yeshiva and you modeled and you taught all of us. You brought us all to avos ubanim and v'shinantam.\" And do you know what they're doing? אבר מן החי Eiver min hachai and עריות arayos and לשון הרע lashon hara. So what does Yaakov do? Yaakov turns to Yosef and says, לך נא ראה את שלום אחיך ואת שלום הצאן והשבני דבר Lech na re'eh es shalom achicha v'es shalom hatzon v'hashiveini davar. He turns Yosef around and he says, \"I have a mission. I have something for you to do. I want you to go, your brothers have taken the flock, your brothers are in the field, they're shepherding. I want you to go check on the well-being of your brother, check on the well-being of the flock, and come back and bring me a report.\" וצריך ביאור כל ענין שליחות זה v'tzarich biur kol inyan shlichus zeh, and one can't help but ask, what is going on? Yaakov understands that Yosef has alienated his brothers. Yaakov understands that there's a tension with the brothers. So what does he do? He tells Yosef, \"Nu, go check on them.\" וגם פשוט מה שאמר לו שלום הצאן v'gam pashut mah she'amar lo shalom hatzon. What does he care about the well-being of the flock? The brothers haven't come back. They're in the שכם Shechem area. Maybe he's worried the revenge, but the flock? ואם נאמר דצדיקים חביב עליהם ממונם יותר מגופם V'im n'omar d'tzadikim chaveiv aleihem mamonam yoser m'gufam. להיות שולח יוסף לראות שלום הצאן l'hiyos shole'ach Yosef l'ros shalom hatzon. Now, we know that the righteous care about every penny. Every penny matters. We saw that in last week's פרשה parsha when Yaakov goes back to get the פכים קטנים pachim ketanim. Yaakov goes to retrieve those small jugs. Why? Because the more righteous you are, not the more you dismiss the value of money, but the more you care about every penny. You understand that these resources can do good things in the world and that we're not entitled to squander or waste these resources. We have to therefore care about them. We have to care about them. But, so I understand that Yaakov was concerned about the the flock. But to go, שלום הצאן shalom hatzon, in the same sentence, you describe in the same sentence, שלום אחיך שלום הצאן shalom achicha, shalom hatzon. As if equating the two, your brothers and the flock are of equal value. Checking on both of them? נראה לבאר nir'eh l'havoir says רב דרוק Rav Druck, שרמז לו בזה את ג' חטאם שלהם sheramaz lo b'zeh es gimmel chatam shelahem, that here, Yaakov was embedding, he was implying מוסר musar within the instruction to Yosef to go check in on his brothers. How? לך נא ראה את שלום אחיך Lech na re'eh es shalom achicha. Go check on the well-being of your brothers. שלום רומז על ענין האשה כדיברי הגמרא כל אדם שאין לו אשה שרוי בלא שלום shalom, romez al inyan ha'ishah, k'divrei ha'Gemara, kol adam she'ein lo ishah sharui b'lo shalom. The Gemara in יבמות Yevamos says that a person who lives without a wife, a person who lives alone, lives without שלום shalom. The peace of mind, the companionship, the notion of continuity is lacking for the person. We bless all those who want to get married. You should be זוכה zocheh, should find your שידוך shidduch, should dance at your wedding. You should find that peace, and that peace of mind that you search for, that you long for. But the גמרא Gemara says that a person who doesn't, until they do, lives without שלום shalom. וזה ששולחו לראות אם הם נושאים עיניהם בבנות הארץ וחשודים בעריות V'zeh she'sholcho l'ros im heim nosim eineihem b'bnos ha'aretz v'chashudim b'arayos. So the first part is, לך נא ראה את שלום אחיך lech na re'eh es shalom achicha, go check on the שלום shalom of your brothers, is embedding an allusion to Yosef and saying, \"Yosef, go see what your brothers are busy with. Whom are they dating? What שידוכים shidduchim are they listening to? What are they checking out?\" את שלום הצאן Esh shalom hatzon, go check the well-being of the tzson. Go check whether they're eating אבר מן החי eiver min hachai. Are those animals whole? Are they complete? Or are the brothers that you accused of אבר מן החי eiver min hachai, go check on the tzson. והשבני דבר V'hashiveini davar, and bring me back a word. דבר Davar is דיבור dibur, like דבתם רעה dibasam ra'ah, like לשון הרע lashon hara. השבני דבר Hashiveini davar means bring me back a good word. That when Yaakov sent Yosef to go check on his brothers, he wasn't trying to increase the animosity, he wasn't trying to deepen the problem and the conflict between them, but quite the opposite. He was embedding מוסר musar within this message to his son and saying, \"Go check and you'll see they're not engaged in arayos. Go check and you'll see they don't eat eiver min hachai. Go check and you'll see there's something worthwhile that you can bring back, not דבתם רעה dibasam ra'ah, not a negative observation or speech, but rather bring back something positive, bring back a positive message.\" All of that is number one, רב דרוק Rav Druck on the פרשה אלה תולדות parsha eileh toldos. I will tell you that רב שמחה בונים מפשיסחה Rav Simcha Bunim of Pshischa has a beautiful insight. We've shared it in the past, where he says יוסף Yosef brings דבתם רעה dibasam ra'ah, Yosef brings a negative report. He sees the negative in their brothers. He sees what's missing, חסרונם chesronam, their חסרונות chesronos. He sees what's lacking, he sees what's missing. He accuses them and that's why he comes with דבתם רעה dibasam ra'ah. He has a negative report for his father. So what does Yaakov do? He turns Yosef around and he says, \"Nu, go and לך נא ראה את שלום אחיך lech na re'eh es shalom achicha. Go check the שלום shalom.\" says רב שמחה בונים מפשיסחה Rav Simcha Bunim of Pshischa, \"Don't read it שלום shalom, but read it שלם shalem. Go see how your brothers are whole. In what way are they complete? In what way are they not lacking?\" רב אלימלך מליז'נסק Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk, the great נועם אלימלך Noam Elimelech, the great חסידישע רבי Chasidishe Rebbe, the רבי רב אלימלך Rebbe Reb Elimelech, he says, you know, this beautiful song, אדרבה Aderaba, it's a תפילה tefillah that he composed that Avraham Fried turned into a magnificent song, אדרבה Aderaba, and in it he encourages all of us. We ask Hashem to give us the strength not to see, to see what's whole within our friends, ולא חסרונם v'lo chesronam, not to focus on what's missing, to see what's there. If you see what's missing then you come with דיבור רע dibur ra'ah, with a negative report. But rather, לך נא ראה את שלום אחיך lech na re'eh es shalom achicha. Go check what is שלם shalem in אחיך achicha. Go check what is whole, what is complete, what is virtuous. Go check what is right and you will connect with that, you will be drawn to that, you will be inspired by that. Now in this pasuk, Yosef is referred to somewhat peculiarly as, יוסף בן שבע עשרה שנה והוא נער Yosef ben shva esrei shana... v'hu na'ar. He's described as a נער na'ar, which Rashi tells us, והוא נער שהיה עושה מעשה נערות v'hu na'ar... she'hayah oseh ma'aseh na'arus. Why is he called a נער na'ar? He's a child, he's an adolescent, he's 17 years old. In Florida, at 17, you could drive. Maybe elsewhere also, in Florida at 16 you could drive, everywhere at 17. 17 years old, you could drive. So what's a why is he called a נער na'ar at this age? And the answer Rashi says is he's engaged in מעשה נערות ma'aseh na'arus. מתקן בשערו mesaken b'se'aro, he's always looking in the mirror doing his hair, ממשמש בעיניו כדי שיראה יפה m'mashmesh b'einav k'dei sheyir'aeh yafeh. He wanted to look cool, he wanted to look in, he wanted to look with it. He wanted to look handsome. He was always looking in the mirror and he was always fixing himself. And that's a מעשה נערות ma'aseh na'arus. We call it נארישקייט na'arishkeit, comes from the word נער na'ar. You're acting like an adolescent, an impetulant young fool, נער na'ar. He was vain, Yosef. He was consumed by his vanity, he was looking in the mirror. But the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, the הייליגע גער Heilige Ger, רב יהודה לייב פון גער Reb Yehuda Leib of Ger asks the question. He says, \"Why did Rashi ask here?\" Rashi wonders, Rashi's quoting the Midrash. Yosef 17 years old and we're calling him a נער na'ar? Why are we calling him a נער na'ar at 17? And we give an answer. But you know where Rashi didn't ask this, says the Sfas Emes? Earlier. Earlier, with אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, when it comes to the Akeida at the end of פרשת וירא Parshas Vayeira, ואני והנער נלכה עד כה v'ani v'hana'ar neilcha ad ko. אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu says, \"You, אליעזר Eliezer, ישמעאל Yishmael, stay here. עם הדומה לחמור am hadomeh lachamor. You stay here with the חמור chamor, with the donkey. You're a nation that's similar to a chamor, you're like a nation of donkeys. You stay here.\" We spoke about it at the end of פרשת וירא Parshas Vayeira. Right, that יצחק Yitzchak saw, didn't just see a barren desert. He saw a mountain with a glow with the heaven. He had a imagination, a creativity of spirituality. Whereas אליעזר Eliezer and ישמעאל Yishmael, they said, \"I see a desert.\" And Avraham says, \"Stay here. You're no different than a donkey. All you see is the חומר chomer while יצחק Yitzchak, my יצחק Yitzchak, sees the צורה tzurah. He sees something so much more.\" So אברהם Avraham earlier used the expression ואני והנער נלכה עד כה v'ani v'hana'ar neilcha ad ko. Avraham earlier used the expression נער na'ar. Why didn't Rashi jump all over it? How old was יצחק Yitzchak at the עקידה Akeida? If Yosef is 17 years old now, and Rashi is so bothered that he says, \"Why does the Torah call a 17-year-old a נער na'ar?\" How old was יצחק Yitzchak at the עקידה Akeida? He was 37. He was far older than 17. He was 20 years older. So why didn't Rashi ask there, \"Why does אברהם Avraham call him a נער na'ar?\" So listen to what the גער רבי Ger Rebbe says. Listen to what the Sfas Emes says. He says, מאותו פסוק אין קשיא ששם אמרו זו אברהם אבינו על בנו בעיני האב בנו אהוב הוא תמיד נער Me'oso pasuk ein kashya, she'sham omro zo Avraham Avinu al b'no, b'einei ha'av b'no ahuv ho tamid na'ar. כאן התורה היא שמעידה והוא נער לפיכך חיקש מדרש יוסף בן שבע עשרה שנה ואתה אומר והוא נער Kan haTorah hi she'me'irah v'hu na'ar. L'fichach chikesh Midrash... Yosef ben shva esrei shana v'atah omer v'hu na'ar? Earlier, it was אברהם Avraham calling יצחק Yitzchak a נער na'ar. When a father calls his son a נער na'ar, you could be 70 years old and your 95-year-old mother or father will call you kid. \"Hey kid, come here. I love you, kid.\" You can be 70, 75 years old and if your parent is still alive, they're still going to call you a kid. Avraham is calling יצחק Yitzchak a נער na'ar, a kid. That's why רש\"י Rashi, the מדרש Midrash weren't bothered. Why are we calling a 37-year-old a kid? Because who's the one who's calling him the kid? His father. A father always calls a child a kid. But here it's the Torah itself testifying to יוסף Yosef as a נער na'ar. If the Torah itself is testifying to יוסף Yosef being a נער na'ar, then it must be there's something objective, there's something insightful, there's a reason. And רש\"י Rashi and the מדרש Midrash give us that reason, namely, what's the reason? The reason is because מעשה נערות ma'aseh na'arus. He's occupied and preoccupied with his vanity, with his looks. This Shabbos we're going to have a women's שיעור shiur at BRS, שבת חנוכה Shabbos Chanukah, women's שיעור shiur and we're going to talk about vanity and beauty and the message of חנוכה Chanukah. יון Yavan. We reject יון Yavan, which is all about the aesthetic, the external, the superficial. Worshipping the body, the Olympics, the Greek gods. And yet, the holiday of חנוכה Chanukah seems to focus on beauty. The הידור מצוה hidur mitzvah, we have מהדרין מן המהדרין mehadrin min hamehadrin. הידור hidur means beauty, to glorify. So which is it? Are we rejecting beauty or accepting beauty? חנוכה Chanukah gives us a philosophy and an attitude to beauty. What is beauty? When is it vain and when is it valuable? And we'll talk about that. So here, and we'll incorporate this יוסף Yosef. יוסף Yosef was a נער na'ar. He was, he was very bothered by his looks and he looked in the mirror. And that רש\"י Rashi, the מדרש Midrash calls a מעשה נערות ma'aseh na'arus.Now, what happens? He goes to check on his brothers and, Pasuk Yud-Daled. ויראו אחיו כי אותו אהב אביהם מכל אחיו Vayir'u echav ki oso ahav avihem mikol echav. We know that the father יעקב Yaakov favored יוסף Yosef. He gave him this multicolored coat so that we would have a musical to listen to. And the brothers grew very upset. The brothers said, \"How could our father favor our brother? How could he treat him better?\" ויראו אחיו כי אותו אהב אביהם מכל אחיו Vayir'u echav ki oso ahav avihem mikol echav. They saw that their father loved him more. וישנאו אותו Vayisne'u oso, so they hated him. Hate is a very, very strong word. It doesn't say they didn't like him or they couldn't tolerate him or they didn't want to hang out with him or they struggled to love him. It says they hated him. Hate is a very strong word. Hate. They hated. ולא יכלו דברו לשלום V'lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. They hated him so much they couldn't even, לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. We spoke in the past, אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, אפילו לשלום afilu l'shalom. אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says they couldn't even give him a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. They walked right by him. He came, they came this way, they looked down, they looked away. לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. We're living in such a polarized, divisive time. If someone voted differently than you, if somebody thinks differently, observes differently than you, if somebody has COVID restrictions or behaviors different than you, לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. We're unable to even give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. We're unable to even say hello. That's tragic. That leads to the שנאת חנם sinas chinam of יוסף Yosef and his brothers. It leads to a ירידה למצרים yeridah l'Mitzrayim, it leads to a place of גלות galus, of exile. לא יכלו דברו לשלום Lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. Doesn't matter how different a person is from us, how their conclusions and their behavior are different than us. We can disagree, we can disagree vehemently and respectfully. But לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom, to be unable to even say שלום עליכם shalom aleichem, to not even be able to see the other, that the other is our adversary, that they're positioned as the other. We're all one. לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom, that's what began this whole thing. So רש\"י Rashi says דבתם רעה כל רעה שהיה רואה באחיו בני לאה היה מגיד לאביו dibasam ra'ah, kol ra'ah she'hayah ro'eh b'achav bnei Leah hayah magid l'aviv, as we said, all of these, all of these different areas. So back to רב דרוק Rav Druck in the אש תמיד Eish Tamid. Sorry. רש\"י מתוך גנותם למדנו שבחם שלא דברו אחד בפה ואחד בלב Rashi, mitoch g'nusam lomadnu sh'vacham, shelo dibru echad b'peh v'echad b'lev. Now on the one hand when you read the pasuk, it's an indictment of the brothers. What do you mean they carried such animosity? What do you mean they had such hatred, וישנאו אותו vayisne'u oso? That's intolerable, it's unacceptable. Jews can't help, Jews can't hate other Jews. Look what it leads to. Look at its devastation, look at the crisis it leads to. On the other hand, Rashi quotes that there's something, there's something praiseworthy. It's not only a גנות gnus, it's not only negative about them that they hated, but there's a שבח shvach. And you know what the שבח shvach is? At least they were authentic and genuine. They didn't speak אחד בפה ואחד בלב echad b'peh v'echad b'lev. So many people are disingenuous. So many people are duplicitous, so many people are hypocritical. They give you a hug while they drive that knife in your back. They give you a smile while they speak negatively about you to mutual friends. There are people who are so inconsistent, so duplicitous. Says Rashi, \"True, they displayed their animosity. But at least they were genuine through and through. They didn't feel one way internally and act another way externally, and that's something which is a שבח shvach.\" What we should feel both internally and externally is love to all Jews. Even the Jews that we don't like, we have to love. We've spoken in the past the difference between like and love. We have to love even the Jews that we don't like. But if a person feels a tension, at least they shouldn't fake it, they shouldn't lie, they shouldn't be disingenuous about it, but rather they should be honest. So says רב דרוק Rav Druck, כי הנה מצינו בין האנשים כאשר שונאים אדם אחר אין מערין לו בפניו ומראין לו סבר פנים יפות ki hinneh motzinu bein hanashim ka'asher son'im adam acher... ein ma'arin lo b'fanav... u'mar'im lo seiver panim yafos. We smile at them and we're cordial to them, and they give him a ברכה bracha and a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem and externally we act like we're friends, but בתוך ליבם חושבים עליו מחשבות שנאה b'toch libam... choshvim alav machsh'vos sinah, have a hatred, have an animosity, wish poorly, not well. The brothers on the other hand were consistent. לא דברו אחד בפה ואחד בלב lo dibru achas b'peh v'achas b'lev. מכיון ששנאו את יוסף לא היה עליהם עמו שלום m'keivan she'sanu es Yosef... lo hayah aleihem eimo shalom. So they didn't have peace. At least they were straightforward and transparent. לפיכך ביארנו לאביכם הגאון רב חיים קנייבסקי מה שתבת לשלום נכתב בלשון חסר L'fichach b'arnu l'avichem ha'Gaon Rav Chaim Kanievsky... mah she'teivas l'shalom nichtav b'lashon chaser. Look at, look at the Chumash. Page 200 in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash. And you'll note, in this pasuk, in פרק ל\"ז פסוק ד Perek Lamed Zayin Pasuk Daled, in this pasuk, לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom, the brothers could not speak peacefully, they could not even give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem, how is the word שלום shalom spelled? You'll notice that the word שלום shalom is spelled, it's missing a ו vav. It's written חסר chaser. It's written missing the ו vav. ש ל ם Shin lamed mem, we pronounce it שלום shalom, but it's missing the vav. Why? says רב חיים קנייבסקי Rav Chaim Kanievsky, because כיון שהשלום שלהם היה חסר k'eivan she'hashalom shelahem hayah chaser. It wasn't really shalom. They didn't have peace, they had hatred. וזאת היא הסיבה שלא יכלו דבר עמו לשלום v'zohi ha'sibah she'lo yachlu davar eimo l'shalom. The reason they couldn't speak peacefully, the reason they didn't get along, שהשלום שהוא חסר הם לא דברו עם יוסף she'has shalom she'hu chaser, hein lo dibru im Yosef. They didn't tell him that their שלום shalom was incomplete. כיון שלא רצו דבר אחד בפה ואחד בלב k'eivan she'lo ratzu davar echad b'peh v'echad b'lev. So that's Rav Chaim Kanievsky's observation, because they didn't want to be disingenuous, they didn't even speak to him at all, and that's why there's a missing vav, because of what was missing. Says רב דרוק Rav Druck he quotes his father אבי מורי Avi Mori, the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai, רב מרדכי דרוק Rav Mordechai Druck. היינו להבין מה שהשולחן ערוך בהלכות תשעה באב פסק Hayinu l'havin mah she'ha'Shulchan Aruch b'hilchos Tisha B'av pasak. There's a very interesting halacha in הלכות תשעה באב hilchos Tisha B'av in אורח חיים Orach Chaim סימן תקנ\"ד סעיף כ' Siman... Taf Kuf Nun Daled... Seif Chaf, Shulchan Aruch tells us that on תשעה באב Tisha B'av you're not supposed to give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. We know that, we give a reminder. Please God we've observed our last תשעה באב Tisha B'av, we'll never have to observe another one. But last תשעה באב Tisha B'av, you remember that the night of איכה Eicha, or two תשעה באב'ס Tisha B'avs ago, because last תשעה באב Tisha B'av we were all watching on Zoom, two תשעה באב'ס Tisha B'avs, we announced at the end of איכה Eicha, when you leave, everyone part from one another but don't give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. It's not time for a kiddish, it's not time for a social scene. We don't give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem to one another. And people ask on the Shulchan Aruch, \"I don't understand. The whole reason we observe תשעה באב Tisha B'av is because of שנאת חנם sinas chinam, baseless hatred led to the demise of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, led to the being thrust into exile, because we didn't get along. So davka on the day that commemorates the consequence of not getting along, we should act like we don't get along? We don't say שלום עליכם shalom aleichem to one another? That day there should be a מצוה mitzvah. תשעה באב Tisha B'av there should be an obligation. Every Jew, find another Jew, get up off the floor and go find someone and give the biggest שלום עליכם shalom aleichem that you ever gave.\" So why is the הלכה halacha, אין שאלת שלום לחברו בתשעה באב ein she'eilas shalom l'chaveiro b'Tisha B'av that you're not allowed to give a shalom aleichem on Tisha B'av? וביאר אבי מורי הדרש מרדכי שכיון שדרך בני אדם נותנים שלום אחד לחברו אך בתוך ליבם חושבים מחשבות שנאה עליו ומדברים עמו אחד בפה ואחד בלב u'bi'er Avi Mori... the Drash Mordechai, she'keivan she'derech bnei adam nosnin shalom echad l'chaveiro... ach b'toch libam choshvin machsh'vos sinah alav, u'medabrim imo echad b'peh v'echad b'lev. Because you know what's going to happen? All the פֿעקרוניס fekrunis, all the פֿעקערײַ feckerai, all the people who will walk around and give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem because they want to look like the biggest צדיק tzaddik. \"Oh, I'm the biggest קנאקער kanaka in the שול shul on תשעה באב Tisha B'av. I give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem to everybody.\" I go person by person by person, shaking hands as if we're ever going to shake hands again, and I give a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem to everybody. But you know what? Half the people I gave the שלום עליכם shalom aleichem to, I despise. Half the people I can't stand. Half the people I want nothing to do with. I'm just giving a superficial, fake שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. לכן אמרו חז\"ל עדיף הדבר שלא יקדימו כלל שאלת שלום ביום תשעה באב Lachein amru Chazal, adif hadavar she'lo yaktimu klal she'eilas shalom b'yom Tisha B'av. On Tisha B'av, better for everyone to be genuine and transparent. Better to not give a fake שלום עליכם shalom aleichem than to not give שלום עליכם shalom aleichem at all. Because, as this Rashi teaches us, that the only thing worse than hating someone in your heart is being duplicitous, disingenuous, is hating them in your heart but acting like you love them with your lips. You have to transform your heart and soften your heart and learn to love everyone in your heart. Learn to love every Jew with your heart and learn to love every Jew also with your words and with your gestures, with your actions. But until then, to be duplicitous is even more egregious than to only hate in our heart. And based on this Rashi, is how the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai understood this הלכה halacha of why we don't give שלום עליכם shalom aleichem on תשעה באב Tisha B'av. Continuing. פרק ל\"ז פסוק ט' Perek Lamed Zayin, Pasuk Tes. Moving right along. So what happens in the story? So, we have these dreams. ויאמרו לו אחיו המלך תמלך עלינו אם משל תמשל בנו ויוספו עוד שנא אותו על חלמתיו ועל דבריו Vayomer lahem, halom timloch aleinu im mashol timshol banu? Vayosifu od s'no oso al chalomosav v'al d'varav. ויחלם עוד חלום אחר ויספר אותו לאחיו ויאמר הנה חלמתי חלום עוד והנה השמש והירח ואחד עשר כוכבים משתחוים לי Vayachalom od chalom acher vayasaper oso l'echav, vayomer hinei chalamti chalom od, v'hinei hashemesh v'hayarei'ach v'achad asar kochavim mishtachavim li. Yosef has two dreams and he makes a mistake. A lot of people have big dreams, but he makes the mistake of telling his dreams to his brothers, of telling his dreams to his father. First dream is these sheaves, and the second dream is that the stars and the constellations are bowing down. Now there's a fundamental difference between the first dream and the second dream. I noticed this when I was being ma'avir sedra and I was very gratified to see that Rav Druck asks it in his Eish Tamid. What's the fundamental difference? Do any of you know? If you were not muted, and you could respond to me, I am sure you would identify it, because it jumps off the page. In the first dream, הנה אנחנו מאלמים אלמים בתוך השדה hinei anachnu m'almim alumim b'soch hasadeh. He says we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field. והנה קמה אלמתי וגם נצבה v'hinei kama alumasi v'gam nitzava. And my sheaf, that stood up, my sheaf got up. והנה תסבינה אלמתיכם ותשתחוין לאלמתי v'hinei tisubeina alumoseichem vatishtachaveina l'alumasi. Your sheaves gathered around and they bowed down to my sheaf. So how does Yosef perceive himself in his first dream? He is one of these symbols, the sheaves in the dream. He's one of them and the brothers are bowing down to him. In the second dream, what's happening? הנה השמש והירח ואחד עשר ככבים משתחוים לי hinei hashemesh v'hayare'ach v'achad asar kochavim mishtachavim li. He's not one of the objects. In the second dream, he's not a star or the moon. He is being bowed down to and how is he taking a form in the second dream? He is the form of himself. He is the form of Yosef. So which is it? Does he take the form of one of the objects of the dream, one of the symbols of the dream, or does he take the form of himself? Asks Rav Druck, יש להקשות מדוע בחלום הראשון נאמר ותשתחוין לאלמתי yesh l'hakshos madua b'chalom ha'rishon ne'emar vatishtachaveina l'alumasi? In the first dream, he's bowing down to Yosef. Yosef sees himself as one of the sheaves. In the second dream, it's משתחוים לי mishtachavim li, it's bowing down to Yosef himself. וכתב בפירוש הטור שהמושזקינום ותשתחוין לאלמתי v'kasav b'feirish ha'tur she'ha'mosh'zekeinim vatishtachaveina l'alumasi. אינו אומר משתחוים לי eino omer mishtachavim li, like the second dream, לפי שבחלום ההוא לא היה יכול לאמר משתחוים לכוכבי כי מנא ידע שהוא שלו אבל כאן אמר לאלמתי שהאלמתי שלי היא היו משתחוים l'fi she'b'chalom ha'hu lo hayah yachol lomar mishtachavim l'kochavi, ki manah yadah she'hu shelo, aval kan omar l'alumasi she'ha'alumasi sheli hi hayu mishtachavim. Because in the first dream, each of the brothers had a sheaf, so it was very clear, his was labeled Yosef. And it was very clear that the other ones were bowing down to his, which was labeled Yosef. But in the second dream, it's bowing down to a star, what's to say whose star is which, and therefore it's unclear. On the Madanis Yesh L'Ayan, but Rav Druck is not satisfied with that answer of the Tur in the name of the Moshe Z'keinim. מדוע לא שייך להשתחוות לכוכבי madua lo shayach l'hishtachavos l'kochavi? Why not? Just like the sheaf could be labeled, the star could be labeled. Just like the sheaf could be identified as Yosef's and that's bowing down to his, so to the star could be identified as Yosef and they're bowing down to him. So therefore Rav Druck offers a different suggestion. יש לישב בהקדם מה שכתב הרמב\"ן yesh l'yashev b'hekdem mah she'kasav ha'Ramban. So he says let's understand it based on the insight of the Ramban. The Ramban says that there's a fundamental difference between the two dreams that Yosef has. ויזכר יוסף את החלומות אשר חלם להם ויאמר הכתב כי בראות יוסף את אחיו משתחוים לו זכר כל החלומות אשר חלם להם וידע שלא נתקיים אחד מהם בפעם הזאת כי יודע פתרונם כי כל אחיו ישתחוו לו בתחילה מן החלום הראשון והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלומים אנחנו ירמז לכל אחד עשר פעם שנית שתחוו לו השמש והירח ואחד עשר כוכבים vayizkor Yosef es ha'chalomos asher chalam lahem, vayomer ha'kosev ki b'ros Yosef es echav mishtachavim lo, zachar kol ha'chalomos asher chalam lahem, v'yada shelo niskaiyem echad meihem b'pa'am ha'zos k'yodea pitronam, ki kol echav yishtachavu lo b'tchila min ha'chalom ha'rishon, v'hinei anachnu m'almim alumim. Anachnu yirmoz l'chol echad asar. Pa'am sheinis she'tishchavu lo ha'shemesh v'hayareach v'achad asar kochavim. In the first dream, his father and mother are not in it. It's just the brothers bowing down to him. In the second dream, his father and his mother are in it as well. מדוע בדיבור הרמב\"ן חלוקים בית החלומות ביסודם madua b'divur ha'Ramban chlukim beis ha'chalomos b'ysodam. Fundamentally, there is a difference and a distinction between these two dreams. The first dream, they're all bowing down as one. ונתקיים רק בירידת אחיו בפעם השנייה למצרים לקנות אוכל החלום השני ישתחוו אביו ואמו ושבטיו ונתקיים אך שנגלה להם v'niskayem rak b'yeridas echav b'pa'am ha'shniya l'Mitzrayim liknos ochel. Ha'chalom ha'sheini, yishtachavu aviv v'eimo u'shvacharav, v'niskayem ach she'niglah lahem. So the Ramban says how are these two dreams foretelling what's to come? The dreams that actually happen. Again, this פרשה parsha can be read very superficially as the story of a family, a seemingly dysfunctional family, learning to become functional, the story of a family, brother sibling rivalry and animosity, and a father's role in favoring a son, and how they figure it all out. But there's a much deeper and higher way to understand this פרשה parsha and frankly the rest of the פרשיות parshios of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis. And that is something much more transcendent, something happening in the cosmos, something that Hashem is trying to bring about in the destiny of this family, turning into a nation, turning into a people until today. Yosef's dreams are not egotistical, self-centered, maniacal dreams. Yosef's dreams are about the Jewish destiny. So these dreams, says the Ramban, are describing. In the first dream when the brothers bow down to him, when is that? When the brothers come to מצרים Mitzrayim, when he has risen to be the viceroy of Egypt, when he is responsible, he's the secretary of the economy, of the treasury, and they've come to him. And in fact, the brothers all essentially bow down to him. They defer to him, they beg him, because he's the one who will be able to sustain them. In the second dream, when his father is included, when is that? It's when everyone comes to מצרים Mitzrayim after Yosef has already revealed himself. And now his father is included. וזה ביאור הרמב\"ן חלק בית החלומות חלום הראשון v'zeh biur ha'Ramban, chelek beis ha'chalomos. Chalom ha'rishon. The first dream is just the brothers. The second dream includes the father and the whole family because it's when everyone descends to Egypt to be able to live there. So based on this says Rav Druck, based on this understanding of the רמב\"ן Ramban, now we can understand. בזמן שעוד לא נזדגלה ולא הכירו, כיוון שכן אין כאן השתחוויה אליו. מה שאין כן בחלום השני שהיה אחרי ירידת כולם מצרימה, לאחר זדגלש שלו. Bizman she'od lo nizgaleh v'lo hikiru, keivan she'kein ein kan hishtachavaya eilav. Ma she'ein kein bachalom hasheini shehaya acharei yeridas kulam Mitzraima, l'achar zgalesh shelo. In the first dream when the brothers are coming down to Egypt there is no father because it represents when they come down when they're hungry, יוסף Yosef hasn't revealed himself. They don't know it's him. And therefore they're bowing down לאלומתי l'alumasi, to a manifestation of me. They're bowing down to an expression of me, the viceroy of Egypt, but they don't know it's me, they don't know it's יוסף Yosef. But when it comes to the second dream, now יוסף Yosef has revealed himself. By the time they come down and bring their father and families, now יוסף Yosef has revealed himself. Since in the second dream, it is a reflection of a time when יוסף Yosef would have revealed himself, now they bow down משתחווים לי mishtachavim li, because יוסף Yosef has revealed himself. I think it's a very beautiful and very accurate insight to answer a question again that bothered me, I don't know if it bothered you. Why is there this difference between the two dreams? So Rav Druck explains it based on the רמב\"ן Ramban. The first dream corresponds with when the brothers come down without their father and they don't yet know it's יוסף Yosef. And the second dream corresponds with when they come down and bring the father and they know it is יוסף Yosef. And that's why in the first dream it's their bowing down לאלומתי l'alumasi, to my sheaf, and in the second dream it's משתחווים לי mishtachavim li, they're bowing down to me as יוסף Yosef, the יוסף Yosef who is revealed. וכעין זה כתב האברבנאל U'k'ein zeh kasav ha'Abarbanel. My friend Mendy will appreciate this. The אברבנאל Abarbanel writes similarly. שלכך ההשתחוויה הייתה לאלומתו, כמשתחווים לו משום האוכל שנתן להם, ולא בתורת יוסף אחיהם. She'l'kach ha'hishtachavaya haysa l'alumaso, k'mishtachavim lo mishum ha'ochel she'nasan lahem, v'lo b'toras Yosef achihem. They were bowing down to the sheaf of wheat, you know why? Because the first dream corresponds to when the brothers come to Egypt to beg for provisions and food. So what are they bowing down to? Not יוסף Yosef the person. They're bowing down to the שמוג shmorg, to the buffet. They're bowing down to the food. They're bowing down לאלומתי l'alumasi, to the sheaf of wheat. רק אחר שכירו השתחוו ליוסף Rak achar shekiru hishtachavu l'Yosef. Only in the second dream when they know it's יוסף Yosef and now they're deferring to יוסף Yosef as the viceroy of Egypt, only then is it משתחווים לי mishtachavim li, that they are bowing down to me, יוסף Yosef, the revealed one.פרק ל\"ז פסוק ט\"ו. Perek Lamed Zayin Pasuk Tet Vav. יעקב Yaakov sends יוסף Yosef to go check on his brothers. We were referencing it earlier. וימצאהו איש Vayimtzahu ish. And on his way, יוסף Yosef is looking for his brothers but he gets lost. And he finds a man. He finds an איש ish. He finds a man. Now who is this man? Who is this man? The man gives him directions. What is the פסוק pasuk? We're on page 202. פרק ל\"ז, פסוק ט\"ו. Perek Lamed Zayin, Pasuk Tes Vav. וימצאהו איש והנה תועה בשדה, וישאלהו האיש לאמר מה תבקש. Vayimtzahu ish v'hinei toeh basadeh, vayishaleihu ha'ish leimor ma sevakesh. A man discovered him and he was blundering, he was wandering in the field and the man says to him, \"Nu, מה תבקש? ma sevakesh? What are you looking for?\" We might talk about this on שבת Shabbos, the קאצקער רבי Kotzker Rebbe says every Jew, when we meet another Jew, the fundamental question is מה תבקש? ma sevakesh? Are you a מבקש mevakesh? מה תבקש? Ma sevakesh? What do you want? A bigger house, a nicer car, more money? What do you want? More fame, more friends, more followers? What is it that you want? Because what we want says everything about us. And that was the question that this angel asks יעקב Yaakov, יוסף Yosef. מה תבקש? Ma sevakesh? What are you looking for? What are you asking for? But you didn't hear that because we might talk about it on שבת Shabbos. So if you're here for שבת Shabbos pretend you didn't hear that. So who is this man? וימצאהו איש Vayimtzahu ish. Who is this man? Says רש\"י Rashi, זה גבריאל zeh Gavriel. It's the מלאך גבריאל malach Gavriel, the angel Gabriel. שנאמר והאיש גבריאל She'ne'emar v'ha'ish Gavriel. Because the pasuk in דניאל Daniel refers to the angel Gabriel as the איש גבריאל ish Gavriel. Rabbi Soloveitchik in the רב חומש Rav Chumash, the אהלי יוסף רב חומש Ohalei Yosef Rav Chumash, writes the following. The איש ish in the drama of the sale of יוסף Yosef plays an uncanny role. Who was he? Why did he approach יוסף Yosef? Torah purposefully, purposely repeats the term איש ish, prima facia unnecessarily. It could have omitted the term in the second half of the sentence. Right? Let's read the pasuk again. וימצאהו איש Vayimtzahu ish. A man finds him. והנה תועה בשדה V'hinei toeh basadeh, he's wandering. וישאלהו האיש Vayishaleihu ha'ish, and the man asks him. You could have taken out the second האיש ha'ish. You could have just read the pasuk, וימצאהו איש vayimtzahu ish, a man found him, וישאלהו vayishaleihu, and he asked him. Why do I need the word האיש ha'ish the second time? Moreover, the noun איש ish appears in the next pasuk as well. ויאמר את אחי אנכי מבקש, Vayomer es achai anochi mevakesh, I'm looking for my brothers. הגידה נא לי איפה הם רועים. Hagida na li eifoh hem ro'im. ויאמר האיש, נסעו מזה, Vayomer ha'ish, nas'u mizeh, and the man says, and so on. So even here the Torah could have left out the word. Why is it repeated? It's as if the Torah unnecessarily repeats the word איש ish over and over again when it absolutely did not need to. Why does it? What is the message of employing the term, the word איש ish over and over again? So listen to what the Rav says. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik. The repetition of the term איש ish comes to emphasize the unusual character of coincidences. The strange role played by the anonymous man who knew neither יעקב Yaakov nor יוסף Yosef. It was tactless on the part of the איש ish to approach יוסף Yosef. He apparently guessed that יוסף Yosef was lost. Then a man found him and behold he was in the field. Why did יוסף Yosef confide in this איש ish, an anonymous stranger? Right? What's happening here? It's sort of bizarre. A man walks over to יוסף Yosef. יוסף Yosef's on his way, he's looking, maybe he's wandering a bit. But what kind of a stranger walks over to somebody and says, \"Nu, where are you going? מה תבקש Ma sevakesh? What are you looking for? What are you looking for?\" And then the fact that יוסף Yosef engages him and יוסף Yosef confides in him. He says את אחי אנכי מבקש. Es achai anochi mevakesh. I'm looking for my brothers. How could the man relate to יוסף Yosef's cryptic answer to the ten people he had met before? It's a strange coincidence that the איש ish knew where the brothers moved from Shechem. So יוסף Yosef says I'm looking for my brothers and he says, \"Oh, your brothers! I know where they went. That direction. Go there.\" The Torah repeats the term איש ish to emphasize that the איש ish was not just a man. The איש ish was the angel who watches over Jewish history, who has the plenipotentiary of the Almighty, guides its events and pursues its objectives. He met יוסף Yosef and because of this meeting, יוסף Yosef's drama became more complex, more puzzling, more awesome. יוסף Yosef was hesitant. Ultimately, he simply surrendered to the איש ish, to his destiny. The איש ish made the decision for יוסף Yosef to go to Dothan. And so doing, he sealed the fate of יעקב Yaakov and his household and exposed them to bondage, affliction, and loneliness. יוסף Yosef acted in accordance with the instructions of the mysterious איש ish. Indeed, all the humans involved in the יוסף Yosef story acted compulsively, not because they considered their action sound and good, they were forced by the sheer impact of Jewish destiny and the inexorable dynamic of historical realization of the Jewish people to act in the way in which God has planned. Says the Rav essentially, that this איש ish, this גבריאל Gavriel, this מלאך malach, there are מלאכים malachim that escort us through our own destiny. There are מלאכים malachim that have taken us through the chapters of our history. And rather than reject them, and rather than push them off or try to avoid them, one sometimes needs to surrender to them, sometimes need to confide in them. Sometimes we need to trust them. This איש ish is repeated over and over again, says the Rav, to tell us that it's no ordinary איש ish. This is not simply a man giving directions, a woman giving directions. This איש ish is an angel. And the angel means an expression of God in this world, an ambassador of God. And sometimes life takes us in strange ways. And instead of resisting it, sometimes we need to lean into it and we need to go with it because it's part of our destiny. יוסף Yosef's destiny was to find his brothers and to be thrown in a pit and to be sold into slavery. And this angel was sent by השם Hashem to escort and to enable that destiny to occur. יוסף Yosef confides because sometimes we intuit and we know that we have to lean into our destiny and it cannot be avoided. And that is how Rabbi Soloveitchik understands this section. Now we read this pasuk, מה תבקש? Ma sevakesh? This angel גבריאל Gavriel asks יוסף Yosef, \"Nu, who are you looking for? What are you doing?\" And what does he answer? ויאמר את אחי אנכי מבקש. Vayomer es achai anochi mevakesh. I'm looking for my brothers, הגידה נא לי איפה הם רועים. hagida na li eifo hem ro'im. Tell me where they are. What does the word רועים ro'im mean? Tell me where they are shepherding. רועה Roeh is a shepherd. Tell me where they're shepherding, where they're pasturing, where are they serving as as pastures. But the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the וויזניצער רבי Vishnitzer Rebbe, you knew we were going to get to an אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim today, has a פשט pshat I absolutely love. הגידה נא לי איפה הם רועים. Hagida na li eifo hem ro'im. He says, \"מה מבקש? Ma mevakesh? What are you looking for? You look lost. Where are you going?\" He says, \"I'm looking for my brothers, I can't find them. Do you know where they happen to be רועים ro'im?\" Now, the simple understanding as we just said, רועים ro'im means, \"Do you know where they happen to be serving as shepherds? Where are they watching and tending to the flock?\" But the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim says read it differently. Not רועים ro'im shepherding, but rather רעים re'im, מלשון ריעות mi'lashon reius. That same word רועה roeh, shepherd, has another meaning. You could be a רועה roeh, you could be a shepherd, but you could also be a רע rea. What's a רֵעַ rea? A friend. הגידה נא לי איפה הם מתראים. מי הם חבריהם? באיזה חבורה הם יושבים וכיצד הם מתנהגים בענייני חברותא. Hagida na li eifo hem misro'im. Mi hem chaveireihem? B'eizeh chabura hem yoshvim u'keitzad hem misnahagim b'inyanei chavrusa. Says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, you know what יוסף Yosef was saying? \"I'm looking for my brothers. Would you know who they're hanging out with? Who's their חבר'ה chevra? Who are their חברים chaveirim? Who are their רעים re'im?\" Because you learn so much about a person by whom their friends are, who we choose as friends, with whom we hang out, how we socialize, what is our social circle, how we define ourselves. הגידה נא לי איפה הם רועים. Hagida na li eifo hem ro'im. Do you happen to know who they're hanging out with? We have to choose our friends wisely, because we are a product so much of our environment. Certainly while there's nature, there's also nurture. We're a product of our environment. So יוסף Yosef is not only inquiring where are they serving as shepherds, but with whom are they hanging out? Who are their חבר'ה chevra? Who are their חברותא chavrusa? Who are their רעים re'im? הגידה נא לי איפה הם רועים. Hagida na li eifo hem ro'im. That is number one. I love that, I love that, we'll call it a פשט pshat, I love that דרוש drush. Number two. את אחי אנכי מבקש. Es achai anochi mevakesh. I'm looking for my brothers. Says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, he says אחי achai, my brothers, is an acronym. It stands for ימי חנוכה אלו yemei Chanukah eilu. In על הניסים Al Hanissim, we describe חנוכה Chanukah as ימי חנוכה אלו yemei Chanukah eilu. הקדוש ברוך הוא אנכי השם אלוקיך מבקש את עבודת נרות חנוכה הקדושים. Hakadosh Baruch Hu anochi Hashem Elokecha mevakesh es avodas neiros Chanukah ha'kedoshim. את אחי אנכי מבקש. Es achai anochi mevakesh. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, who's the אנכי anochi? הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu. אנכי השם אלוקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים. Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher hotzeisicha me'eretz Mitzrayim. When we see the word אנכי anochi, it's a reference to השם Hashem, to the Almighty. אנכי Anochi, what does he מבקש mevakesh, what does he want? He wants אחי achai, ימי חנוכה אלו yemei Chanukah eilu. And we want ימי חנוכה אלו yemei Chanukah eilu. Again, this is clearly not the פשט pshat, but it's a beautiful חסידישע דרוש Chasidishe drush of the וויזניצער Vishnitzer, the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim. את אחי אנכי מבקש. Es achai anochi mevakesh. Why do I share it with you? Because if you're like me, I've never been so desperate for some light. We're living in a time of darkness. We're living in a time, third wave, terrible numbers, poor projections, despair, despondency. It's a time of darkness. אחי אנכי מבקש. Achai anochi mevakesh. אחי Achai, ימי חנוכה אלו yemei Chanukah eilu. So I'm desperate for ימי חנוכה אלו yemei Chanukah eilu. Can't wait for this חנוכה Chanukah. Can't wait to light the מנורה menorah. Can't wait to illuminate the world. Can't wait to look into the lights and see hope and optimism and faith and such a brighter future of an unrolling of a vaccine and please God a return to some sense of normalcy. We should be able to take out the best of what we learned in the last year and leave behind the worst of what we experienced in the last year, and let's see it in the vision, because חנוכה Chanukah is the holiday of vision. We're not allowed to להשתמש בהם אלא לראותם בלבד. l'hishtamesh bahem ela lirosam bilvad. You're not allowed to use the חנוכה Chanukah candles. You can't read next to them or count coins next to them. אלא לראותם בלבד. Ela lirosam bilvad. We look at them. And what do we see when we look into them? That light illuminates, it dispels the darkness. What we see in them, what we see is against all odds. What do we say in הנרות הללו haneiros hallalu? Against all odds, we triumphed against an army that was greater in number and greater in strength. A little oil that should have lasted one night, lasted eight. All of these things are against all odds. We are a people who make the impossible possible. We are a people who don't see what is right in front of us, we see with our imagination what can be. And so in this time of darkness and despair, ימי חנוכה אלו yemei Chanukah eilu, את אחי אנכי מבקש es achai anochi mevakesh, את ימי חנוכה אלו אנכי מבקש. Es yemei Chanukah eilu anochi mevakesh. I can't wait for these days of חנוכה Chanukah to light that מנורה menorah and to look into that light and to be able to use the light to illuminate a path to see a brighter, a happier, a better, a better future that lies ahead of us. So, את אחי אנכי מבקש es achai anochi mevakesh and he says, \"I'm looking for my brothers.\" Why? Because I want to see with whom they are hanging out. Who's their חבר'ה chevra, who are their friends? איפה הם רועים. Eifo hem ro'im. In 1966, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, the שרידי אש Sridei Eish. שרידי אש Sridei Eish was the Rav in Switzerland, in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. The great Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, he wrote the תשובות tshuvos, the response of שרידי אש Sridei Eish. He lived 1878 to 1966, I think. And towards the end of his life he wrote an essay called את אחי אנכי מבקש. Es Achai Anochi Mevakesh. It was a longing for the non-observant and the observant to get along. And in it, בין חילוני לדתי bein chiloni l'dati, he describes how הופיע דתי לא יוכל לשמש במקרה זה רק נוח למושג הסובלנות, ואין הדבר נובע חלילה ממיעוט השכלו סו מצמצום אופק המורם של הדתי. Ha'ofia dati lo yuchal l'shamesh b'mikreh zeh rak noach l'musag ha'savlanus, v'ein ha'davar novea chalila mi'miut haskalo so mi'tzimtzum ofek ha'muram shel ha'dati. He, he rejects the notion that the religious and not religious should be tolerant of one another. He writes, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, and I'm fond of quoting this, he says you tolerate, he doesn't use these examples, they're mine. You tolerate a bad rash. You tolerate slow Wi-Fi. You tolerate a little traffic. You don't tolerate a fellow Jew, you love a fellow Jew. And in this essay, which he calls based on our pasuk, את אחי אנכי מבקש es achai anochi mevakesh, he says that can't be the bar so low that all we want is to tolerate one another. Jews, religious and non-religious, orthodox, conservative, reform, the bar can't be so low that our goal is to tolerate one another. The goal has to be to love one another. את אחי אנכי מבקש Es achai anochi mevakesh. And he ends with the following sentence, לא נימוס והסתפקות כי אם לבביות. Lo nimus v'hispakus ki im l'vaviyus. Not politeness and not restraint, but our heart. You have to give your whole heart. Herz, love. לא סובלנות ואדיבות אלא אהבה ואחווה. אנו מבקשים ודורשים מכם. Lo savlanus v'adivus ela ahava v'achva. Anu mevakshim v'dorshim mikem. We want your love and we want your loyalty. We don't want politeness and we don't want restraint and we don't want tolerance of one another. We want love and we want loyalty, and we want to be able to come together as a family. And the name of the essay, I share that with you, because the name of that essay is את אחי אנכי מבקש achai anochi mevakesh, based on our pasuk, that יוסף Yosef says, \"I'm being מבקש mevakesh. I'm looking for and I'm longing for my brothers, with whom are they hanging, what says um, who, who are they and how can I come to, how can I come to know them?\" The um, good. Let's keep going. ל\"ז כ\"א. Lamed Zayin, Kaf Aleph. So, he finds the brothers. He finds the brothers. Every year we mention, and I'm sure we will in the next couple of weeks, why, why does יוסף Yosef when he finds his freedom in Egypt not make contact with his father? And one of the suggestions Rav Yoel Bin-Nun gave, others reject, is because יוסף Yosef is suspicious that his father was in on this. Why is he suspicious of it? Because this pasuk, our parsha. He knows that his father had a brother, Esav, and his father was the chosen one and Esav was the reject. His grandfather had um, his grandfather, Yitzchak, had a brother and Yishmael was the reject and his grandfather was the chosen one. And he starts to think to himself, \"Maybe I'm the reject. I'm the Yishmael. I'm the Esav of our family.\" And why would יוסף Yosef have erroneously concluded that? For a very good reason. Because his father just sent him on a mission, a kamikaze mission. What was it? He says, \"Go to your brothers and check in on them. Go to Shechem, go see how your brothers are doing.\" And he never comes back. What are the brothers doing when he goes there? They see the dreamer come. הנה בעל החלומות הלזה בא. Hinei ba'al hachalomos halazeh ba. Oh, here comes that dreamer. ועתה לכו ונהרגהו. V'ata l'chu v'nahargeihu. Let's go kill him and throw him in one of the pits and we'll say an animal ate him. So יוסף Yosef endures this threat to murder him, ultimately thrown in a pit, ultimately sold into slavery. And who put him in that position? Who sent him into that moment? None other than his father, his loving father. So do you blame יוסף Yosef if he were to have concluded, \"I'm the Yishmael, I'm the Esav of our family\"? וישמע ראובן. Vayishma Reuven. In the meantime, Reuven hears ויצילהו מידם vayatzileihu miyadam. And Reuven saves יוסף Yosef. How? ויאמר לא נכנו נפש. Vayomer lo nakenu nafesh. Let's not kill anyone. There can't be any murder here. ויאמר אליהם ראובן אל תשפכו דם, השליכו אותו אל הבור הזה אשר במדבר ויד אל תשלחו בו. למען הצילו מידם להשיבו אל אביו. Vayomer aleihem Reuven, al tishpichu dam, hashlichu oso el ha'bor hazeh asher bamidbar v'yad al tishlachu bo, l'maan hatzilo miyadam l'hashivo el aviv. Reuven says, \"Don't, don't kill anybody, no murder. Throw him in the pit and don't touch him.\" And and what was Reuven's plan? That he was gonna come back, למען הצילו מידם l'maan hatzilo miyadam, he was gonna come back to save him to bring יוסף Yosef back where? To bring יוסף Yosef back to his father. Says the אש תמיד Eish Tamid on this pasuk. Reuven had the best intentions. Reuven was gonna bring him back. Reuven was gonna bring him back. The Medrash says דודאים נתנו ריח, זה ראובן שהציל את יוסף. Haduda'im nasnu reiach, zeh Reuven she'hitzil es Yosef. In last week's parsha, Reuven found these דודאים duda'im, these flowers, unclear exactly what they were. They had some fertility power. And that's when Rachel asks Leah, can I have some and Leah says, \"You took my husband, you also want to take my דודאים duda'im?\" So the Medrash in שיר השירים Shir Hashirim says that these דודאים duda'im had a pleasant fragrance. And this is a reference to Reuven who rescued יוסף Yosef. ועל פתחנו כל מגדים אלו נרות חנוכה. V'al pischenu kol megadim eilu neiros Chanukah. So what is the connection between Reuven saving Yosef from the pit and Chanukah? What's the connection? We always read this parsha around Chanukah, connected with Chanukah. The מדרש שיר השירים Medrash Shir Hashirim actually makes a direct connection between Reuven saving Yosef and Chanukah. What's the connection? הנה לבר בשעה, שהנה בלשון הפסוקים כאן בפרשה מבורר כי רק כאשר רצו אחים להרוג את יוסף, ובא ראובן להציל מידם לא הזכיר ראובן לכו להצילו, שהרי אם היה אומר להם כן לא היו שומעים לקולו. Hinei l'var b'sha'ah she'hinei b'lashon ha'psukim kan b'parsha mevorar ki rak ka'asher ratzu achim l'harog es Yosef, u'va Reuven l'hatzil miyadam, lo hizkir Reuven l'chu l'hatzilo, sheharei im haya omer lahem kein lo hayu shom'im l'kolo. Now Reuven has a strategy but he keeps it to himself. If Reuven had said, \"Look, don't lay a hand on him. No murder on my watch. We're not killing him.\" Reuven's the oldest. I'm the oldest, nobody's killing anybody. Let's save him, let's bring him home, let's work it out, we'll go to family therapy, we'll get it done. Reuven knew the brothers would never listen to him. He'd run the risk, he'd get thrown in the pit. משום כך רק אמר להם שלא ישפכו דם, אלא ישליכו לבור אשר במדבר. Mishum kach rak amar lahem she'lo yishpichu dam, ela yashlichu la'bor asher ba'midbar. So he had a thought. He said, \"I need to buy myself some time. They'll never listen to me if I say let's bring Yosef home. How do I buy myself some time? I know, I'll tell them throw him in the pit.\" והיה במחשבתו עם הס\"מ לבור כבר יהרגו אותו, רק שאחר שישמעו לגדול עונשם תבטל מחשבתו הרעה של ראובן ומחשבתו הרעה של יוסף מידם בכדי להשיבו את אביו חי. V'haya v'machshavto im hasamech mem la'bor kvar yaharagu oso, rak she'achar sheyishm'u l'gadol onsham sevatal machshavto ha'ra'ah shel Reuven u'machshavto ha'ra'ah shel Yosef miyadam b'chdei l'hashivo es aviv chai. Now the truth is we know that this pit was no ordinary pit. It was filled with snakes and scorpions. It was a lethal pit. It had lethal animals that could have killed Yosef. But Reuven's intent was pure. Reuven didn't want to throw him in to kill him. Reuven wanted to throw him in to rescue him. So what do you see from here says Rav Druck? למדנו מזה כי כשהאדם עושה איזשהו דבר טוב, אף שהוא עצמו שעושה את המעשה הטוב לא גילה ולא הזכיר שכוונתו טובה, בכל מקום הקדוש ברוך הוא יודע מחשבות הפנימי של אדם. Lamadnu mizeh ki k'she'ha'adam oseh eizeh'shehu davar tov, af she'hu atzmo she'oseh es ha'maaseh ha'tov lo gila v'lo hizkir she'kavanoso tova, b'chol makom Hakadosh Baruch Hu yodea machshavos ha'pnimi shel adam. When a person does a good deed for good reason, for good motivation, even if they don't share that with others, Hashem knows. God knows what's in our heart. ועל כן בתורה גילתה את מעשה הטוב של ראובן. V'al kein baTorah gilsa es ma'aseh ha'tov shel Reuven. And therefore the Torah reveals that Reuven's intent was pure. The Torah could have just recorded that Reuven said, \"Don't kill him, put him in the pit.\" We would have never known that Reuven's intent in putting him in the pit was only temporary, was only to buy some time. But the Torah wants us to know that when we do things for the right reasons, God knows. God understands our intent and rewards us for it. הוא הדין כשאנו באים להודות להקדוש ברוך הוא על הניסים והנפלאות שעשה עמנו בימי חנוכה. אנו מפרסמים את הנס שעשה הקדוש ברוך הוא לדורות. וכשם שהקדוש ברוך הוא פירסם את מה שעשה ראובן, כמו כן באותו מידה אנו מתנהגים עם הקדוש ברוך הוא. Hu ha'din k'she'anu ba'im l'hodos l'Hakadosh Baruch Hu al ha'nissim v'haniflaos she'asah imanu b'yemei Chanukah. Anu mefarsim es ha'nes she'asah Hakadosh Baruch Hu l'doros. U'chshem she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu pirsem es ma she'asah Reuven, k'mo kein b'oso mida anu misnahagim im Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So the same is true with us. Hashem made a miracle with Chanukah. And if you want to look at it as coincidence, if you want to look at it as simply something unlikely, then you can dismiss it. But the same way here in the parsha, Hashem publicized what Reuven did, we publicize what Hashem did for us. It is reciprocal. The same way Hashem rewarded and acknowledged and promoted that Reuven had the right intent and did things for the right reasons, the miracle of Reuven's behavior, so too, we come on חנוכה Chanukah, להודות ולהלל, פרסומי ניסא l'hodos u'l'hallel, pirsumei nisa, we publicize the miracle of what Hashem did for us. זאת היא השייכות בין ראובן שהציל את יוסף לבין נרות חנוכה שאנו מדליקים, אשר עשה עמנו הקדוש ברוך הוא. ולהכין שם המדרש על זה. Zos hi ha'shayachus bein Reuven she'hitzil es Yosef l'vein neiros Chanukah she'anu madlikim, asher asah imanu Hakadosh Baruch Hu. U'lechain sham hamedrash al zeh. That's the connection between the two. Hashem will let known that we do things for the right reasons and we make known when Hashem does something extraordinary for us as well. We acknowledge it and we and we promote it. There is a beautiful insight by the אלכסנדר רבי Alexander Rebbe. The מדרש Medrash says in ויקרא רבה Vayikra Rabbah, listen to this מדרש Medrash, many of you are familiar with it. שאלמלא היה ראובן יודע שהקדוש ברוך הוא מכתיב עליו וישמע ראובן ויצילהו מידם, She'ilmalei haya Reuven yodea she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu machtiv alav \"Vayishma Reuven vayatzileihu miyadam,\" We just mentioned how in the storyline itself, all we know is Reuven says put him in the pit. His intent was to come back later and save him, but of course that never happened. They ended up selling him. So the מדרש Medrash says if Reuven only knew that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu was going to write, he was going to author, he was going to include Reuven's role in the story, then, שהיה טוענו ומוליכו אצל אביו. she'haya to'ano u'molicho etzel aviv. He wouldn't have put him in the pit. He would have been even more dramatic. He would have been more forceful. He would have been more insistent. He would have taken his brother Yosef and he would have taken him home. וכי בשביל כבוד בלבד יוסף מה שעשה? V'chi bishvil kavod bilvad Yosef ma she'asah? אלכסנדר רבי רבי חנוך העניך מאלכסנדר Alexander Rebbe Reb Chanoch Henoch mi'Alexander says, \"What, you think Reuven's driven by his ego? If Reuven only knew that somebody was gonna write a post that was gonna go viral about what happened, ooh, then he would have done it very differently. Then he would have done it very differently.\" What, do you think Reuven's driven by honor, by kavod? If Reuven would have known the story would go viral, then he would have been more heroic. The reason to go heroic is because the story is going to go viral? What? Yes the Alexander Rebbe, what kind of a person is Reuven that we're accusing him of being so ego driven? So listen what the Alexander Rebbe says. He says what the מדרש Medrash is telling us is not that Reuven is driven by honor or ego. Not that if Reuven knew his story would go viral, he would have acted differently. The idea of the story being publicized is not that others would know about it, is that it would be recorded in history and in Torah, and most significantly, it would be recorded for his children and grandchildren to see. If we would only know that the way we behave ultimately can be a model for others, will be learned and seen by others, will be promoted to others, we'd be much more vigilant and judicious, much more careful and considerate in what we do. We wouldn't simply get away with the least or with good enough. We wouldn't cop out and find an easy way out. If we understood the cosmic implications, if we understood the implications in the long term to our own behavior and our own decisions, then we would put in an even greater effort. So one should never make an effort in the here and now. One should never get away with the bare minimum. One should never be a minimalist. One should never underachieve because you say who cares and who's gonna see and who's gonna know. It it becomes known. It matters. It matters to Hashem and it matters in the stage of of history and of the world, but it also matters to the people around us because it means that we either take advantage or we squander that opportunity to model for them and to make that enormous difference, to make that enormous difference. Okay, we have time for a couple quick more thoughts. A couple quick more thoughts. Um, there's two great ones, but I'm going to skip them for now. We'll go right to וימאן Vayima'en. One, פרק ל\"ט Perek Lamed Tet. Let's go all the way later in the parsha. The wife of Potiphar, let's end with something salacious. Wake up those who have fallen asleep in the parsha class. This is the part of חומש Chumash which we are skip as kids and which wakes us up when we become adults. פרק ל\"ט פסוק ח'. Perek Lamed Tet Pasuk Ches. The Torah tells us the story of the wife of Potiphar, a beautiful woman who relentlessly tries to seduce Yosef, a very handsome young man, and she propositions him. And she comes on to him and she refuses to take no for an answer. And the Torah tells us, ויהי אחר הדברים האלה ותשא אשת אדוניו את עיניה אל יוסף ותאמר שכבה עמי. Vayihi achar hadevarim ha'eleh vatisa eshes adonav es eineha el Yosef vatomer shichva imi. She places her eyes on Yosef and she says, \"Lie with me.\" Propositions him, explicitly, no nuance, no subtlety. And what does Yosef respond? Says the Torah, וימאן. Vayima'en. I'm on page 214 of the Artscroll Stone Chumash, פרק ל\"ט Perek Lamed Tet chapter 39 פסוק ח' pasuk ches, verse 8. וימאן Vayima'en, he refuses. ויאמר אל אשת אדוניו הן אדוני לא ידע אתי מה בבית וכל אשר יש לו נתן בידי. Vayomer el eshes adonav, hein adoni lo yada iti ma ba'bayis v'chol asher yeish lo nasan b'yadi. \"Are you crazy? Look at me. Here in my master's house, he's trusted me with everything. And you're his wife. You think I'm gonna violate his trust with his money, let alone with you his wife? Forget about it.\" And where does Yosef find that courage? So the pasuk tells us, וימאן vayima'en, ויאמר vayomer. וימאן Vayima'en, ויאמר vayomer. He refuses and then he and then he says. Where is this connection? וימאן Vayima'en, ויאמר vayomer. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, \"Above the Hebrew word for 'and he refused', what is the טראפ trop? What is the cantillation? What is the trop? What is the musical note above the word וימאן vayima'en?\" The answer is, it's a שלשלת shalsheles. It's a very unusual טראפ trop, only appears a handful of times in the Torah. וימאן Vayima'en is a שלשלת shalsheles. שלשלת Shalsheles means (sings the trop). Sorry that you had to hear that. It's a, it's a chain. That's the trop. It's it's threefold. And it symbolizes that the two words וימאן vayima'en and ויאמר vayomer, he refused and he said, are distinct and separate. Yosef's refusal and explanation do not constitute a cause and effect verbal relationship. His refusal stemmed from the unbroken chain of previous generation. The שלשלת shalsheles, his genealogy, his patrilineal descent, which impelled him to declare his refusal to be seduced. The word וימאן vayima'en is an expression of unwillingness, of demural without any reason. This unwillingness and obduracy surfaces instinctively. It is the characteristic of the Jewish people throughout the millennia. Do you know where Yosef found the courage, the fortitude, the tenacity, the resilience to refuse? Here he is in a foreign land, far from his family, far from his home country, far from a place where he has to care about his reputation. And there's a beautiful woman who's propositioning him. And he's a young man. He has every reason in the world to give in. And yet he finds the courage and he finds the resolve to reject her advance. וימאן Vayima'en. Where did he find it? Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, the answer is in the טראפ trop. The טראפ trop above the word וימאן vayima'en is a שלשלת shalsheles. שלשלת Shalsheles means a chain. Yosef understood he was a link in the chain. And when he saw himself as a link in the chain of the people who came before him and those who will come after, it gave him the courage to do the right thing. He couldn't break that chain. He was a link in the chain. He was the son of Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov. And he was going to be the father of Efraim u'Menashe and the future of the Jewish people. And by seeing himself as part of a שלשלת shalsheles, as part of a chain, that gave him the courage of וימאן vayima'en, it gave him the courage to be able to refuse. And says Rabbi Soloveitchik, that unwillingness is the characteristic of the Jewish people throughout the millennia. We've wanted to throw in the towel. We've wanted to give up and give in, whether it's to our enemies and adversaries who are persecuting us, or whether it's to the nations like the one we're living in now who welcome us to assimilate and to drop our identity. We've been ready to give up and give in. וימאן Vayima'en. We have to refuse. And where do we get the courage to refuse? שלשלת Shalsheles, by remembering that we're part of a chain, we are a link in the chain and we have to act that way. But I'll end today by telling you another insight. וימאן Vayima'en. Where did he get the courage from? This comes from רבי יחזקאל מהשינאווא Reb Yechezkel mi'Shinova. The שינאווא Shinova says the following. קשה שבתוך כדי וימאן ואחר כך כתוב ויאמר, הלא היה לו לאמר תיכף ויאמר. Kasha she'b'soch k'dei vayima'en v'achar kach kasuv vayomer, ha'lo haya lo l'omer teikef vayomer. So why did it says וימאן vayima'en with the שלשלת shalsheles, and if you look in the Torah, if you look in the חומש Chumash, there's a line, there's a pause between the word וימאן vayima'en and ויאמר vayomer. וימאן Vayima'en. And then pause, and only then ויאמר vayomer. It should have been right away, \"He refused and he said to her, 'No way!'\" Why is there a pause in between? So he says the following. Because what is וימאן vayima'en? The word וימאן vayima'en to refuse is the same root of the word אמונה emunah. Where does one get the courage to refuse? Because you have to speak spend a moment, more than a moment. The שלשלת shalsheles, this cantillation is threefold. You have to meditate three times, three minutes on אמונה emunah, וימאן vayima'en. You have to think about that there's a God and there's a creation and I'm here for a reason, he has expectations of me. He created me and I'm capable and I have the ability to overcome and I know the difference between what's right and what's wrong. And that's why there's a pause and break between וימאן vayima'en and ויאמר vayomer. Because before he found the courage to answer her back, before he found the words to refuse her and to reject her, וימאן vayima'en, he needed to first spend a moment in אמונה emunah, reflecting on אמונה emunah, meditating on אמונה emunah, leaning into a sense of אמונה emunah in Hashem because that's what gave him the courage ultimately to be able to reject her advance and to refuse. We need to lean on our שלשלת shalsheles, we're all a link in a chain. We need to lean into our אמונה emunah and that will give us the courage as well. Have a great day everyone, stay happy.
