The Parsha begins with the recounting of the twelve children of Yaakov. The Ohr Hachaim says that the Torah is praising them for going down and staying in Mitzrayim. They could have left - they had gone back to Eretz Yisroel to bury Yaakov - and yet they stayed in Mitzrayim, for that they deserve to be mentioned again.
Pesach night we begin the narrative of yetzias Mitzrayim saying that Esav settled in his land - Sayir, while Yakov and his sons went down to Mitzrayim. Who invited Esav to the Seder? Why do we mention him in our narrative of Mitzrayim?
The Medrash says that the land of C'naan was promised to Avrohom and Yitzchok. Of Yitzchok's two sons it remained unclear who should inherit the Eretz Yisroel - Yaakov or Esav. The catch was that Eretz Yisroel comes with a price. It is one of the things that can only be acquired with yisurim. Avrohom was told that his descendants would have to travel through 400 years of golus before they returned to Eretz Yisroel. The golus mitzrayim was the first step to us acquiring Eretz Yisroel. Esav knew all of this and he made a decision that he does not want the yisurim, nor Eretz Yisroel. It's not worth it. Esav took his family and nation and left Eretz Yisroel to settle in Sayir where he was happy and complete. Yaakov on the other hand was focused on the long term. He knew that there was a bumpy road ahead, but he also knew that it was rewarding. Instead of choosing to settle anywhere with his family and be content, he went down to Mitzrayim. He had a nation of Hashem to build. He had to start in golus.
We begin the Pesach seder with the realization that golus is not a punishment, but rather the growing pains to acquire Eretz Yisroel. These are the hardships that Esav chose to give up. So to the Torah begins the golus Mitzrayim giving a special mention to Yaakov and the shevatim for choosing the path of golus in order to inherit the land that was promised to Avrohom.
23 December, 2010
17 December, 2010
Vayichi
Sorry this is the unedited version due to time constraints.
After Yakov died the Shevatim asked Yossef for forgivness. Yosef answered; וְאַתֶּם חֲשַׁבְתֶּם עָלַי רָעָה אֱלֹהִים, חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה, לְמַעַן עֲשֹׂה כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה, לְהַחֲיֹת עַם-רָב.. You thought that you were doing bad but in reality it was for the good – for today I am here and I am able to feed you all.
The Ohr Hachaim says that Yosef answered his brothers; you’re totally innocent. If someone who thinks he is eating trief meat and while not realizing it, it is really kosher meat - he is innocent. The punishment depends on the outcome, is it a good or bad deed. So to, Yosef told his brothers, even though you thought to harm me since it led to good, there is no wrongdoing on your part and you’re free of any punishment. (On a side note- this seems to contradict the famous Chazal that the Shevatim were not totally forgiven and the asarah harugai malchus were an atonement for them.)
The Gemora in Nedarim says; if a lady makes a vow, her father or husband can be nullify it. If it happened that a woman made a vow and goes ahead and breaks the vow. Unbeknown to her at the time of the transgression her neder had been nullified already and in reality she did nothing wrong – she still needs a kaporah for her intention. In light of this halacha the Ohr Hachaim is obviously perplexing. The Shevatim had done wrong – they sold their own brother as a slave. How can they be totally innocent? Even if the end of the story was that it all was for the good, their intention wasn’t for the good and would be enough to warrant a kapporah.
The Pardes Yossef offers an answer that while it may not fit into the words of the Ohr Hachaim it clarifies an issue. What the Shevatim were thinking when the sold Yosef is beyond our comprehension. We cannot begin to understand the machlokas that went on between yosef and his brothers. But there is one thing that we have to know; They all were 100 percent leshaim shomaim – not a tiny bit of their own selves involved. The argument wasn’t a petty one of jealousy, rather a machlokas of two different ways of how to serve Hashem. The Shevatim clearly felt that what Yossef was doing warranted them selling him amd even killing him- his death or his selling- (Just like Sorah and Rivka threw out Yismael and Esav from the family, they to felt that Yossef should be thrown out.) Their intentions bein adom lemokom were one hundred percent to do the right thing.
The Halacha of the Gemora in Nedarim is true when someone has bad intentions and yet his actions are innocent that is when he needs forgiveness. Yosef told his brothers; Being that your intentions were clearly good and so is the outcome – it is just the middle that seemed bad – there is no need to ask for forgiveness, you are totally innocent.
After Yakov died the Shevatim asked Yossef for forgivness. Yosef answered; וְאַתֶּם חֲשַׁבְתֶּם עָלַי רָעָה אֱלֹהִים, חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה, לְמַעַן עֲשֹׂה כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה, לְהַחֲיֹת עַם-רָב.. You thought that you were doing bad but in reality it was for the good – for today I am here and I am able to feed you all.
The Ohr Hachaim says that Yosef answered his brothers; you’re totally innocent. If someone who thinks he is eating trief meat and while not realizing it, it is really kosher meat - he is innocent. The punishment depends on the outcome, is it a good or bad deed. So to, Yosef told his brothers, even though you thought to harm me since it led to good, there is no wrongdoing on your part and you’re free of any punishment. (On a side note- this seems to contradict the famous Chazal that the Shevatim were not totally forgiven and the asarah harugai malchus were an atonement for them.)
The Gemora in Nedarim says; if a lady makes a vow, her father or husband can be nullify it. If it happened that a woman made a vow and goes ahead and breaks the vow. Unbeknown to her at the time of the transgression her neder had been nullified already and in reality she did nothing wrong – she still needs a kaporah for her intention. In light of this halacha the Ohr Hachaim is obviously perplexing. The Shevatim had done wrong – they sold their own brother as a slave. How can they be totally innocent? Even if the end of the story was that it all was for the good, their intention wasn’t for the good and would be enough to warrant a kapporah.
The Pardes Yossef offers an answer that while it may not fit into the words of the Ohr Hachaim it clarifies an issue. What the Shevatim were thinking when the sold Yosef is beyond our comprehension. We cannot begin to understand the machlokas that went on between yosef and his brothers. But there is one thing that we have to know; They all were 100 percent leshaim shomaim – not a tiny bit of their own selves involved. The argument wasn’t a petty one of jealousy, rather a machlokas of two different ways of how to serve Hashem. The Shevatim clearly felt that what Yossef was doing warranted them selling him amd even killing him- his death or his selling- (Just like Sorah and Rivka threw out Yismael and Esav from the family, they to felt that Yossef should be thrown out.) Their intentions bein adom lemokom were one hundred percent to do the right thing.
The Halacha of the Gemora in Nedarim is true when someone has bad intentions and yet his actions are innocent that is when he needs forgiveness. Yosef told his brothers; Being that your intentions were clearly good and so is the outcome – it is just the middle that seemed bad – there is no need to ask for forgiveness, you are totally innocent.
10 December, 2010
Parsha Point to Ponder - Vayigash
In Parshas Vyeshev Rashi tells us that all the Torah Yaakov learned in the yeshiva of Shem and Ever, he taught to his son Yosef.
Why did Yaakov send Yehudah to Mitzraim to open a Yeshiva and not give the job to Yosef who was in Mitzraim already?
Why did Yaakov send Yehudah to Mitzraim to open a Yeshiva and not give the job to Yosef who was in Mitzraim already?
03 December, 2010
Chanukah
By definition golus is when one is exiled in a foreign land. The third golus we went through as a nation- the one that gave us Chanukah, was that of Yavan- the Greek empire. Yet we were in our homeland, with the Bais Hamikdosh standing, all along. What about the struggles we went through with the Greeks is categorized as golus? The Marsha (Megillah 11a) answers: The objective of the Greeks in their conflict with Yisroel was to take the kedusha out of Am Yisroel. The Greek philosophy was that there is no kedusha in the world, nothing is holier then the next thing- Yisroel is just like any other nation, the Torah is just as mundane as any other subject and the Holyland, Eretz Yisroel, is just like any other land in the world. In their fight against Yisroel the Greeks were successful in uprooting the kedusha from Eretz Yisroel thus making our homeland foreign to us. The three golios that took place outside of Eretz Yisroel are compared to a son that is lost and far away from his father. The golus of Yavan is compared to a son who doesn’t recognize his father’s house, thus feeling like a foreigner while he is in his own home. With the kedusha taken out of Eretz Yisroel, Eretz Yisroel itself became the foreign land we were exiled to. The victory of Chanukah had to have included in it the freedom from this struggle. With the Neis of Chanukah the kedusha was put back into Eretz Yisroel and was once again the home of Klal Yisroel.
Chanukah was the completion of the dedication of the second Bais Hamikdosh. Chasmal tell us that when they returned to Eretz Yisroel to build the second Bais Hamikdosh, Ezra sanctified the land for eternity- ‘kudsha leshata ul’usid lavoh’. R’ S. R. Hirsch (Bamidbor 15;18) explains this to mean, that the goal of the second Bais Hamikdosh was to equip Klal Yisroel and prepare them for the centuries of dispersion that lay ahead of them. The victory over the mighty Greeks completed the work of sanctifying the land that Ezra had started, making the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel a reality for eternity. Bringing the second Bais Hamikdosh and the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel to completion- a kedusha to last for eternity.
Chanukah was the completion of the dedication of the second Bais Hamikdosh. Chasmal tell us that when they returned to Eretz Yisroel to build the second Bais Hamikdosh, Ezra sanctified the land for eternity- ‘kudsha leshata ul’usid lavoh’. R’ S. R. Hirsch (Bamidbor 15;18) explains this to mean, that the goal of the second Bais Hamikdosh was to equip Klal Yisroel and prepare them for the centuries of dispersion that lay ahead of them. The victory over the mighty Greeks completed the work of sanctifying the land that Ezra had started, making the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel a reality for eternity. Bringing the second Bais Hamikdosh and the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel to completion- a kedusha to last for eternity.
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