THE STORY OF YOSEPH

The story of Yoseph being sold to Egypt, ending up in prison and then being appointed the viceroy to the king of Egypt is well known. Nine years later, ten of his brothers, all of them except Binyomin, were send by Yaakov, their father, to Egypt to replenish their supplies.

At the same time, bearing in mind how their father had for 22 years grieved over the loss of his beloved Yoseph they decided that they would try and find him and make extensive enquiries in Egypt in order to do so.

When they finally arrived, they split up and went into the country via ten different entry points. As Yoseph received lists of all the foreigners who were entering Egypt to try and buy food to take back abroad, the fact that ten people called Reuven ben Yaakov, Shimon ben Yaakov etc all arrived on the same day at different entry points did not escape his attention.

He, therefore, instructed his employees to look out for these people and when they finally were discovered, searching for Yoseph, they were brought before him.

We are told that his brothers bowed down before him and Yoseph recognised them and spoke to them harshly. They explained that they had come from Canaan to buy food and then the Torah repeats “Yoseph recognised his brothers and they did not recognise him.” Rashi comments that he had left as a 17 year old boy and his beard had not yet grown whereas now he was a 39 year old man who had a full beard.

Yoseph then went on the attack. He suggested that they were, in fact, spies and they had come to spy out the land. They denied it, but Yoseph stuck to his line pointing out that they had entered at ten different places. The brothers then tried to explain that originally there were 12 brothers, one of them was young (Yaakov had said he would not let him go down for fear of the same thing happening to Binyomin as had happened to Yoseph, namely disappearing) and they continued, that as being 10 brothers they would not all be sent as spies.

The Medrash as quoted by Rashi explains that Yoseph then asked them what would happen if they would find their long lost brother. They answered, “We would take him back with us to our father”. “And what happens if you were not allowed to do so” “Oh, we would find a way of doing it, even if we had to fight to achieve this.”

“Ahh” said Yoseph “I did say that you were spies and wanted to spy out the land. Now you are contemplating fighting as well, you are troublemakers.”

Yoseph then continued “I am only going to let you go if your younger brother comes here to prove that you are telling the truth. Chose one brother to go back to Canaan and he should go and fetch Binyomin here.” Meanwhile, he put them all in prison.

Three days later, he called them in again and said, “On reflection, nine of you can go home, but I am going to keep one as a hostage”. He then had Shimon, who was kept by him, bound up in chains in front of them. The nine brothers then proceeded to return home. On the way, Levi opened his sack and found the money that had been used to pay for the food in his sack and then they all opened theirs and also found money. This shook them considerably.

When they returned to Yaakov and he saw that Shimon was not there, he was extremely upset. He had lost Yoseph, he lost Shimon and now they wanted to take Binyomin as well, “I have had enough” declared Yaakov.

Reuven suggested that his two sons should be a security that he would make sure that Binyomin would come back. Yaakov flatly refused.

However, when they once again ran out of food, and Yaakov suggested, please go and bring some more from Egypt, Yehuda stated “there is no way that we could go down, if we do not bring our brother Binyomin with us.” To which Yaakov Avinu retorted, “Who asked you to mention that you had another brother”. At that stage, Yehuda said, “the man, the viceroy, asked about everything to do with our family and knew the details of our babyhood and childhood. We are not to blame.”

Finally, very reluctantly, Yaakov allowed them to take Binyomin with, also sending presents and they appeared once again before Yoseph. Yoseph saw Binyomin and, therefore, instructed that all the group should be taken to his own house. That was done.

When Yoseph finally came home, and the brothers were brought into his house, they bowed down to him. He greeted them and asked how their old father was and was his still alive, and they said “Yes, he is” and they again bowed down to him. He then saw Binyomin and blessed him. He ordered that food should be brought in and the Medrash tells us that he, using his goblet as a diviner, stated that the oldest six sons, Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehuda, Yissochar, Zevulun, all having one mother, should sit at one table, that the four others, Gad, Osher, Dan and Naftali should also sit together. Finally, he turned to Binyomin and said “you have no mother, I have no mother, you are going to sit with me.”

I find all this incredible!!

Ten brothers who have been looking for Yoseph, could not collectively or at least individually, one or two of them at least, have picked up on the fact that this person, the viceroy of Egypt, knew too much. To the extent, that when Yoseph finally revealed himself to his brothers, they were gobsmacked, unable to say anything, shocked to the core.

I mentioned, earlier on, that Rashi states that Yoseph had left them without a beard and now had a beard. But to me, this does not seem to be a sufficient reason for them to not even consider the remote possibility that they were speaking to Yoseph. We know that at that time, people believed in astrologers, psychics etc. and as Yoseph used his goblet as a “diviner” it might have explained his knowledge of the family etc but, alternatively, it might not!!

I have even heard it suggested that what might have passed through their minds, was that Yoseph had met this person who was now the viceroy and had been told his life story. Therefore, he knew so many intimate facts about their family.

Furthermore, why had the brothers not asked anybody about this viceroy and his antecedents? You would have thought, that after all the trouble that he caused them, putting them in prison and then sending them home without Shimon etc. they would have questioned people as to his background, if only to understand how to deal tactically with him. We do not find this, at all. The whole episode is most puzzling and for years I have wondered as to how it could be that the penny did not drop for at least one of ten brothers namely, that maybe, just maybe, the person who was their adversary was, in fact, their own brother, Yoseph.

We know that Yoseph never spoke to them directly because there was an interpreter involved. That interpreter we are told, was his son Menashe, and we also told by the Medrash that when Shimon tried to struggle whilst being tied up, Menashe came and gave him such a blow between his shoulder blades that he was forced to stop struggling and said “That blow came from somebody connected with our family.” Even then, the penny still did not drop!!

On Shabbos Chanukah, I had the pleasure of having our children and grandchildren with us for Shabbos. Our seven year old grandson mentioned that he liked the stories in the Sefer HaYosher. This is an old Medrash which has certain stories and explanations which do not appear in other medrashim. I retrieved the sefer from my library and looked through it, and it was Parshas Miketz, I read about this particular incident.

I discovered something which gave me a key to an explanation which in turn has given me some satisfaction regarding my puzzlement.

In the Sefer HaYosher, it states that when Pharaoh appointed Yoseph as his viceroy, he not only gave him royal clothes and a crown, as well as a special chariot which originally belonged to Pharaoh on which to ride, he did more. Pharaoh gave him 100 servants and Yoseph acquired hundreds more. Yoseph also had 4,600 people who bore arms. In effect he had his own retinue, bodyguard and a small army. Thinking about this, I realised, that my idea of how the brothers met Yoseph and saw him, etc., was flawed.

I had assumed that they had been brought to Yoseph into a normal room. Perhaps they stood by the door with Yoseph was sitting maybe five or ten yards away from them and with an interpreter shuttling between them. However, bearing in mind the amount of servants and guards that Yoseph had as a private retinue, I therefore, revised my thinking and realised that he would, have, therefore, sat in a very large room, perhaps on a small throne with many servants there, as well as armed soldiers around guarding him as well as patrolling the whole room.

The Sefer HaYosher states clearly that when they came before him, he was sitting בהיכלו, in his state room. He was surrounded by גיבורים, warriors. The whole atmosphere created a feeling of awe and fear.

Perhaps one could compare this to the very large state rooms at say Windsor Castle or other such palaces, which the readers of this article might have visited. It is true that they appeared before him and bowed to him but his brothers were maybe 50 yards or more away from him and, at that distance, could not see clearly a person’s features. They saw a king or viceroy in all his royal glory with servants flanking him, and armed soldiers watching them intimidatingly. In addition, as Rashi states, the person they were looking at had a beard, whereas the Yoseph that they knew, was without a beard.

By Yoseph immediately suggesting to them that they were spies, he stopped an avenue of investigation by them. A spy asks people about things that he feels are important, and what could be more important if they were really spies than finding out about the person who was interrogating them, bullying them, and terrorising them. By virtue of him accusing them of being spies, they had to keep their mouths shut and not ask about him because otherwise, that would have more or less proved that they were spies. Remember, we are concerned with a viceroy who had the power of life and death in his hands and answerable to virtually nobody. Life was very cheap in Egypt.

Yoseph was afraid that as he had only been appointed to his position nine years before and, at that time, people knew he was an Eved Ivri, a slave and an Ivri, not a Canaani, this would easily get to his brothers’ knowledge unless he stopped them from asking, they would be able to put two and two together.

Furthermore, he used his goblet as a “diviner” to start telling them details about their life from the time they were small children, therefore, this reinforced the impression that he would almost a “divine” being rather than an ordinary human being.

He then put them in prison to sweat for a few days, changed his mind as to how many could stay or go back and, then to trump it all, instructed that the money they had paid for the food should be hidden in the sacks.

Not for nothing were they in a state of panic whilst they were travelling and when they got back to their father, even more so.

Yoseph had created a situation whereby they could not think straight, and completely put them off the trail. He mesmerised them,

When they came back the second time with Binyomin and the brothers were brought to his house, once again, I originally was under the impression that as it was his own house the tables would be set very near one another. Remember that he told six of them to sit at the table and another four at another table and he sat together with Binyomin at a third table.

But, on reflection, as he was the viceroy and bearing in mind the size of the state rooms at Windsor Castle and other such palaces, one can understand that they really did not sit near one another. There were still many yards between them and this viceroy who was leading them a merry dance. They must have been scared to look him in the face, because he had the power to have them put back in prison at any moment or even worse, take away Binyomin or even have them all killed. There was an interpreter shuttling between them all the time.

To cap all of that, once they went back home the second time, he, of course, had the goblet that he used, ostensibly as a diviner, hidden in Binyomin’s sack and this was finally discovered.

One revealing point is that Binyomin, at that stage, did not complain, he did not deny the fact that he had this goblet, did not deny the fact that he had stolen it, did not shout scream or otherwise object. The medrash tells us that Yoseph asked Binyomin if he had any children. Binyomin replied that he had ten of them all named, in one way or another in connection with Yoseph.

Once again, I turned to the Sefer HaYosher, which tells us that when he was sitting with Binyomin at the meal on his throne, with Binyomin sitting next to him, also on a throne, Yoseph then produced a type of globe, a star gazing instrument. He suggested to Binyomin that he should try and find Yoseph on this globe. Binyomin finally exclaimed “I can see my brother Yoseph sitting near me.” Yoseph then said to him “Shhhh, yes, it is me, but don’t tell the other brothers. I am just trying to make 100% sure that they really regret what they did when they sold me originally 22 years ago.” In view of that, Binyomin just played along with the whole story.

We then come to the final episode, Yehuda, who had undertaken to bring Binyomin back and if not, lose both worlds, stepped up to Yoseph to beg him to have mercy and if necessary take him in place of Binyomin.

Yehuda was obviously in a state or turmoil. He realised that this test had been sent by Hashem and was struggling to find the right words with which to address Yoseph. He was not concentrating on looking this viceroy in the face, who had caused such misery to him and his family. He was trying to clarify his thoughts on the best way of retrieving this horrible situation. The atmosphere of awe and fear was, if anything, even more intense than when they first stood before Yoseph.

Not for nothing was it, therefore, that when Yoseph finally said to his brothers “I am Yoseph” they were shocked and gobsmacked.

I would like to hear people’s comments on this possible explanation of a very interesting and strange episode.

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VAYIGASH

This week’s sedra is Vayigash and it starts off with the famous confrontation between Yehuda and the person he thought was the viceroy, virtually the ruler of Egypt, leading on to the revelation that it was in fact his own brother Yosef, as we know.

As usual, I have a few questions.

Firstly, why did Yosef play so long with his brothers? Why did he not reveal himself much earlier to them?

The second question is, his father, Yaacov, was obviously upset and we know he mourned for 22 years for him and Yosef, no doubt, sensed this because he kept on asking his brothers “how is your father?”, time after time. In that case, why was it, that not only did he keep them all in suspense, but he kept Shimon in Egypt and insisted that Binyomin should be brought to Egypt, knowing full well that this would cause his father even greater aggravation, more agmus nefesh?

Looking at the first verse in the posek, ויגש אליו יהודה ,you will find that Rashi comments on the words כי כמוך כפרעה , who can be compared to you, to Paroi, with four different explanations. I don’t think that this happens anywhere else. Surely there must be a very good reason for Rashi to have to give so many explanations?

I think, as usual, it is worth while exploring the whole story in depth.

In reality, one has to go back to Yaakov Avinu arriving at Horon and asking for the hand of Rochel בתך הקטנה , Rochel your younger daughter. Yaakov agreed to serve Lovon for seven years as equivalent to giving a dowry. We all know that his future father-in-law, Lovon, was a very deceitful person and that seven years later, he switched Leah in place of Rochel. Yaakov was such an upright gentleman that although this upset him, he ended up by having both Rochel & Leah for wives.

We also know that Hashem took pity on Leah and she began to have children in rapid succession. Firstly there was Reuvain, then there was Shimon followed by Levi and then Yehuda. After those first four children born to Yaakov, she stopped having children. Bilha and Zilpa, the two handmaidens, whom Rashi quotes as being also daughters of Lovon from a פילגש a concubine, then bore two children each, Don, Naftoli, Gad and Osher. It was only subsequently that Leah had two more sons Yissochor and Zevulun, and then, of course, she had Dina as well.

All this took place before Yosef was born.

The first four sons of Yaakov felt, not surprisingly, that they were the top, elite, boys. They had, however, different natures. Reuvain was sensitive but impetuous, not leadership material. Shimon and Levi were very strong characters and took the law into their own hands, to wit the story with Dina in Shechem. Yehuda was also a strong character but was leadership material.

When Yosef was finally born to Yaakov’s preferred wife, Rochel, this, no doubt, caused friction as the children grew up and this also was the reason for Yosef being friendly with the children of Bilha and Zilpa as the Torah clearly states in parshas Vayeishev.

In that sedra, Yosef had his famous dreams concerning the sheaves of wheat and also regarding the sun, the moon and the stars bowing down to him, as you will all recall. Yaacov also make him a כתונת פסים , a multicoloured coat.

It is, therefore, not surprising that his brothers were jealous of him and you will all recall that when Yaakov Avinu sent Yosef to see how his brothers were getting on with pasturing in Shechem, he was sighted from afar by his brothers. The Torah tells us ויאמרו איש אל אחיו One man said to his brother “Behold, our dreamer is coming”, we are told that these two were Shimon and Levi who had already tasted blood in the case of Shechem and this story took place in the vicinity of that very city Shechem and their attitude was, once again, to carry out such a deed. We also know that Reuvain, who was obviously sensitive, stopped this happening.

The continuation of the story there was that Yehuda said to his brothers “What will we get out of killing him, let us sell him on” and that is what happened.

It was due to this, that Yosef arrived in Egypt. We also can appreciate that Yosef realised that it was Shimon and Levi who were the prime movers in having action taken against him. Therefore, he decided when thinking about his tactics of how to deal with the whole matter when his ten brothers (except for Binyomin) first arrived in Egypt, to keep Shimon in custody in Egypt on the basis, that he, understandably, did not want Shimon and Levi to join forces again.

Incidentally, although Shimon and Levi were both very strong minded, we find that later on there was a complete difference in what happened to their tribes. From the Shevet of Levi came Moshe Rabbenu and Aharon Hacohen and all the Cohanim. Shimon does not figure anywhere of consequence.

If you look carefully at the names given to all the shevotim, you will find that in virtually every case, either Rochel or Leah gave the names, the one exception is Levi. In Vayeitzei is says על כן קרא שמו לוי , and therefore “he” called his name Levi. Rashi comments that Hashem sent the malach Gavriel who gave him that name. Gavriel is known as the malach of strength, Levi acquired this strength of character, no doubt, with the naming of him by Gavriel. The net upshot was that when the Yidden went to Mitzraim, the tribe of Levi did not become enslaved in the same way as the other shevotim. They had the strength of character not to become so assimilated and they used this strength of character in a good way which, therefore, bore fruit of having such great and illustrious people as Moshe Rabbenu, Aharon Hacohen, Pinchas etc.

Returning to the background of the story, before parsha Vayigash, as the Torah tells us clearly, Yosef recognised his ten brothers when they arrived to buy produce and they did not recognise him. He, therefore, took a decision to not reveal himself but to play out the matter with, I would suggest, two motives.

Firstly, to check whether this brothers had sincerely repented for having sold him into slavery. Secondly, to ensure that the dreams that he had related, came true. Because of this he could not reveal himself to them immediately so that the news would then have got back to Yaakov quickly, he had to play a long game.

Furthermore, another factor working against him revealing himself immediately was that only 21 years had gone by since he had been separated from his father and Yaakov Avinu had to atone for the 22 years that he was away from his father Yitzchok and there was still one more year to go. I believe that this was not Yosef’s motive, it was part of the whole scene and interwoven in the whole story.

We have all read in Mikkeitz how Yosef accused his brothers of being spies and they tried their best to persuade him that they were not. If you look at the posek immediately after Chamishi, which says
ויאמרו איש אל אחיו אבל אשמים אנחנו על אחינו אשר ראינו צרת נפשו בהתחננו אלינו ולא שמענו
Then one man said to his brother, indeed we are guilty concerning our brother as we saw his heartfelt anguish when he pleaded with us and we paid no heed.

And Reuvain then said “I told you all not to sin by doing anything to the child”, and Yosef was so affected by all this that he even turned aside and cried.

It, interestingly, uses the expression, איש אל אחיו one man to his brother and that is exactly the same expression as the Torah used when Yosef came to visit them in Shechem. I believe that the ones who spoke to one another were Shimon and Levi again. So Yosef had some good news in that it appeared to him that Reuvain, Shimon and Levi had all repented but what about Yehuda? Yehuda was, after all, the other leadership material (Yosef was also leadership material as we all realise, having become the viceroy of Egypt) he had to somehow manoeuvre the situation so that Yehuda would also have to show that he had really retracted and done תשובה and changed his previous attitude towards Yosef. In order to do that he decided that the best way would be to insist on having Binyomin come down to Mitzraim and then to so organise things, that Binyomin would be accused of a felony a גניבה.

Yosef would then see if Yehuda would stick up for the other son of Rochel, namely Binyomin and Yosef would then be able to make his own mind up as to whether he should then reveal himself to his brothers.

I believe that having given this background so far, we have, in fact, dealt with the two questions that I started with. They were, why did Yosef play so long with his brothers and why did he keep them all in suspense especially knowing that his father was upset and had mourned for 22 years for him.

Let us now turn to the beginning of Vayigash, Yehuda was faced with a grave problem, he had undertaken to bring back Binyomin to Yaakov and had stated clearly

אנכי אערבנו מידי תבקשנו אם לא הביאתיו אליך והצגתיו לפניך וחטאתי לך כל הימים

I will personally guarantee him and you can demand him from my own hand. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you I will have sinned to you for all time.

Rashi comments that this means, even Olam Haboh. He was, in effect, stating that he was putting his chalek in Olam Haboh, his part in the world to come, on the line. When the silver goblet of Yosef was discovered in the sack of Binyomin, Yehuda knew that he had a major problem on his hands, he said so in fact at the end of last week’s sedra

מה נאמר לאדוני מה נדבר ומה נצטדק האלקים מצא את עון עבדך

What can we say to you our master, how can we speak and how can we justify ourselves. Hashem has uncovered the sin of your servants.

Yehuda then had to try and save the situation with the power of his oratory. Remember that this viceroy of Egypt had the power of life and death in his hands and there would have been no national or international outcry if he would just have killed all of them. Yehuda was well aware of the gravity of the situation. Nevertheless, he girded his loins and that is where the sedra Vayigash starts. Yehuda gathered together all his strength and went to speak personally to Yosef. He drew near to him, that is he did not speak from afar but man to man. He pleaded with him
Please my lord, בי אדני
may your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, ידבר נא עבדך דבר באזני אדני
and let not your anger flare up on your servant. ואל יחר אפך בעבדך

Then we have the strange words, כי כמוך כפרעה . You could translate this as Rashi starts off with “You are as important as Paroi in my eyes” but Rashi adds three further explanations. The first one is “I am warning you that you will have צרעת , commonly translated as leprosy, brought on you as Paroi had done to him, when my grandmother Soroh was taken into his palace. Furthermore, (another explanation is) in the same way as Paroi decrees but does not carry out, promises and does not fulfil, you act similarly. Is this the way to inspect Binyomin that you talked about? You are, in fact, wishing to take him into captivity as a slave. Finally, Rashi says, as the fourth explanation and he emphasises the words כי כמוך כפרעה , if you anger me, I will kill you and your master the king.

What you have here is the epitome of political double talk, treble talk or quadruple talk. The honeyed words with the threat of strong action underlying it. Yehuda was, in effect saying, please treat me nicely, otherwise who knows what the consequences are going to be for you and the whole of Egypt.

He then proceeded to give a very brief resumé of the whole story as it had happened and tried to touch Yosef’s heart cords and to make him sympathetic to the plight of this poor Binyomin who had been left as the one and only son alive of Yaakov’s favourite wife Rochel. Yehuda even offered to change places and become the slave in place of Binyomin. Yosef was, by now, convinced that Yehuda was sincere in his change of heart and his teshuva.

Yehuda succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Not only, of course, was Binyomin pardoned, but as we know, Yosef then revealed himself as being the brother who not only forgave them but comforted them, saying that Hashem had sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival and to save you לפליטה גדלה to a momentous deliverance.



In addition to all the nuances and politics contained in the whole story and especially in the first posek and parsha of Vayigash, I think that the explanation of the Vilna Goan on the טעמי המקרא that is the neginos, which the Baal Koreh reads and sings is very illuminating in this particular case. The first six words of the posek are ויגש אליו יהודה ויאמר בי אדני , if you look at the נגינות , the trop on the words ויגש אליו יהודה you have קדמא ואזלא רביעי . The next few words are ויאמר בי אדני , on which there are זרקא מונח סגול and the Vilna Goan explains in his own inimitable style that these טעמי המקרא are themselves an explanation of the posek. Yehuda was, in fact, saying to Yosef (whom, we know from parshas Mikeitz knew exactly which brothers were older and younger) I was born number four of the sons and why am I the one who is coming to beseech you to let Binyomin free and take me in his place? It is because I guaranteed that he would come back to our father alive.

Therefore the trop קדמא ואזלא means, he stood up and went (to Yosef) and the next trop, on the word יהודה is רביעי , the fourth, in other words the fourth son. As I mentioned earlier on, he had told Yaakov Avinu that if he did not bring Binyomim back, Yehuda would forfeit his portion in Olam Haboh and therefore זרקא , I will be thrown out, he said, מונח סגול from being in the special nation of Am Yisroel. Indeed, a beautiful explanation.



I have had a different idea, which I think fits in perfectly with the posek.

If you look back just a few posukim, Yehuda had stated when the silver goblet was found in Binyomin’s sack, מה נאמר לאדני – האלקים מצא את עון עבדיך What can we say to our master, Elokim has found the sin of your servants. It does not say Hashem it says Elokim which is known as middas Hadin, the strict judge. Yehuda realised that this was not just a viceroy in Egypt being nasty, this came direct from הקב'ה . Now what does a Yid do who sees middos Hadin מתוחה עליו , Hashem’s stern judgement hovering over him. He beseeches Hashem that Yud Kay Vov Kay, namely Hashem of rachamim to intercede and overturn the middos hadin. This, I think, is encapsulated in the first posek of Vayigash.

I am going to give everyone here a copy of the first posek where I have highlighted the first letters of each word and also added in numerical numbers all with colour codes as you will see. I will explain it verbally as well, as follows:-

If you take the first six words ויגש אליו יהודה ויאמר בי אדני you will find that the first letters together add up in gemmatria to 26. We all know that alef equals 1, and vov for example equals 6. The gemmatria of the first letters of the first six words adds up to 26 and you will note that it does not say ויגש יהודה אל יוסף , the מפרשים , comment that he was not only talking to the viceroy of Egypt, Yehuda at the same time was praying and beseeching Hashem so that the expression אליו fits perfectly. These six words state that Yehuda drew near to him (it could be Hashem of course, as well) and he said please, the next word אדני can also be read as, my Lord, meaning Hashem. What did he ask, that Hashem should overturn the middas hadin.

If you go on to the next two words which are ידבר נא the first two letters add up in gemmatria to 60. 60 plus the original 26 for the first six words are 86 in total which is exactly the gemmatria of Elokim, alef lamed hay yud mem.

Now, we find that basically, Yehuda had three problems on his hands, one problem was concerning Yosef. This was in fact an old problem because it has been going on for over 20 years and his father had asked the brothers to try and see if they could locate Yosef. The second problem was Binyomin. He was now faced with Binyomin being kept as a slave by this viceroy and, on top of it all, of course, Yehuda had the problem with Yaakov, because he was going to be in great trouble with his father as I mentioned above. Let us proceed with the posek. After ידבר נא we have עבדך which has got an ayin at the beginning of the word, an ayin is 70. If you add this 70 to the 86 previously, all the roshe hatevos, first letters, then add up to 156 which is exactly the gemmatria of Yosef יוסף.

The first letters of the next two words דבר באזני total 6.

6 plus 156 is 162, and that is exactly the numerical value of Binyomin as it is written when he was born and Yaakov named him בנימין beis nun yud mem yud nun.

If you now go forward to the rest of the posek, the next words are אדני ואל יחר אפך בעבדך and the first letters of those words add up to another 20, add this to 162 and you have 182 and that is the exact gemmatria of the name Yaakov יעקב, yud ayin kuf beis. So we see a precise pattern. Yehuda had in mind when speaking to Yosef, the middos harachamim (Haviya) should overcome the middos hadin, (Elokim) in respect of Yosef, Binyomin and Yaakov.

But let us just go one stage further. If you go back to אדני ואל יחר אפך בעבדך דבר באזני Again the rosh hateves, the first letters add up to 26, and therefore you have Haviya again and the first letters of the last three words of the posek כי כמוך כפרעה , three times כ20 equals 60. If you add that 60 to the 26 I mentioned just before you again have a total of 86 which is again Elokim. So in fact, in the posek you have encrypted Haviya, Elokim, Yosef, Binyomin, Yaakov, Haviya, Elokim. A very neat sandwich giving the whole story.

This, together with the Vilna Goan’s explanation just amplifies the depth of the posek which I highlighted by mentioning that Rashi gives four explanations.

Truly our Torah is deep. Sometimes, we have the merit to find hidden depths in it.

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VEYEITZEI - THE NAMING OF THE AVOS

We find in this week’s sedra that when, at long last, Rochel gave birth to a son, the Torah tells us the following. ותקרא את שמו יוסף לאמר יסף ה' לי בן אחר She called his name Yosef, יוסף, saying, Hashem should add for me, יסף, another son. As a baal koreh, I immediately noticed that the first time the Yosef is spelt, it has in it a ו, יוסף, whereas the second time the ו is omitted. There must be a very good reason why, especially in the same verse, a word is spelt מלא, and then חסר.

In order to understand this, I think we have to go back to the first time we find a person is instructed to give his son a name in Torah. I am referring to Avrohom who was told to name his son Yitzchok, יצחק. Rashi explains that this was because of the merriment and happiness that Avrohom experienced when he learned that he was going to have a son, at long last, at the age of 100 with his beloved wife, Soroh, who would then be 90.

Rashi, furthermore, comments that each individual letter has a significance. The י refers to the 10 tests that Avrohom was put through. The צ refers to the 90 years of Soroh. The ח is an allusion to the 8 days of the bris mila. Finally, the ק is the 100 years, the age of Avrohom at that the time that Yitzchok was born/

Obviously, there is more depth in that name than just a simple explanation, as we can all see.

What occurred to me, was that the full gemmatria, numerical equivalent, of the name Yitzchok is 208 (י equals 10, צ is 90, ח is 8 and ק equals 100).

The significance of that figure is that it is exactly 8 times 26. 26 is the numerical value of י-ה-ו- ה. We have a rule that 7 is the apex of nature. Hashem created the world in 7 days, we have 7 in the case of shmitta etc. 8 refers to that which is למעלה מן הטבע higher than nature, supernatural.

As both Avrohom and Soroh were elderly and it was a miracle, למעלה מן הטבע, that they were blessed with a son. Not only were they blessed with a son, but one who was very holy. Therefore, his name, numerically 208, is 8 times 26 as mentioned above.

When Yitzchok had two sons, everybody called Eisav by his name, as the Torah states. In the case of Yaakov, Rashi comments that הקב''ה called him by that name. Yaakov equals 182 (י equals 10, ע is 70, ק is 100 and ב equals 2). This equals 7 times הוי'. Yaakov Avinu represented the maximum that a person could elevate himself naturally in this world. Our chochomim tell us that the beauty, שופרא, of Yaakov was similar to that of Odom Harishon. Namely, his spiritual level reached a similar level to that of Odom Harishon the prototype, ideal man created by Hashem, Himself.

At the beginning of Vayeishev, the Torah tells us אלה תלדות יעקב יוסף. The commentators tell us that the main son of Yaakov was Yosef who was on a higher level than the 11 שבטים, his brothers. If you calculate the gemmatria of יוסף, it adds up to 156 (י equals 10, ו equals 6, ס is 60 and פ is 80). This equates to 6 times 26.

We therefore see a pattern emerging. Yitzchok equals 8, Yaakov equals 7 and Yosef equals 6 times the שם הוי'.

As far as Avrohom is concerned, we all know that his father was Terach, who originally named his אברם, therefore his name does not fit into the pattern. Hashem gave him the extra ה in his name and by doing so the numerical value of אברהם equals 248 (א equals 1, ב equals 2, ר is 200, ה is 5 and מ equals 40). That, of course, is the same as the 248 limbs which a man possesses. It is also equal to the 248 positive mitzvos in the Torah. Avrohom positively elevated his whole being physical as well as spiritual to an indescribably high level.

Coming back to the original question I posed as to why in the one verse the name Yosef is spelt with a ו and then without, I believe that the answer is now apparent. The first time, it is spelt fully, as I have explained above, because it equals 6 times 26 and it is to convey the continuity of the holiness of the generations of our אבות. However, although Rochel was asking for another son, she knew that even though her son, eventually born, namely Benyomim, would be a Tzaddik, he could not be on the same level as Yosef. Therefore, the ו is omitted and the word is spelt יסף.

ז כסלו תשס''ט

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טעמי המקרא - שלשלת

At the same time as Moshe Rabbenu was given the Torah by Hashem, he was not only given the actual words to write down, but the vowels, the way to pronounce words, were given to him at the same time, for example, when to use a קמץ, חיריק, חולם etc. Also at the same time, he was given the טעמי המקרא, the cantillations, trop, the notes to be sung on each word.

You will note that these are called טעמי המקרא, they are not just fanciful musical accompaniments they are, in fact, deeper hints and guidance to understanding some further depth in Torah which does not appear by just reading the words even with the vowels.

There are two types of טעמי המקרא. They are known as מלכים and משרתים, kings and servants.

Basically, a servant is a note or series of notes leading to a final note, where there is then a distinct pause. The final note is known as a מלך, melech, a king.

There are a number of these notes known as melech but the greatest one is the שלשלת, the “King of Kings”.

The note only appears a few times in the whole of Torah and its significance is, therefore, even greater.

I would like to go through the various places that a שלשלת is found and discuss the matter in some depth.

The first time we come across a שלשלת is in the sedra וירא. Lot was told to get out of Sedom fast, in order that he should not be destroyed with Sedom. The Torah continues, ויתמהמה, and he tarried. On that word there is a שלשלת.

In order to understand why there is this “King of Kings” special note at this juncture, let us go back a little while. Avrohom Avinu was told to leave his homeland and go, in fact, to the land of Canaan, and Lot joined him. When they arrived, there was immediately a famine and they went down to Egypt. They were very poor at that time. Avrohom Avinu had to borrow money to keep going.

When they came out of Egypt three months later, not only Avrohom was rich but Lot also. We then see that Avrohom on his way back, as Rashi states, פרע הקפותיו, paid up his debts. Avrohom was not affected by the sudden wealth he received, he ruled his money and not his money ruling him.

Lot, however, did not have the same attitude. Immediately afterwards we find that his shepherds were involved in a squabble with Avrohom’s shepherds. Rashi tells us that Lot’s shepherds were feeding from the pastures of individual people and when Avrohom’s shepherds objected, the rejoinder was, “Well Avrohom has no children and, therefore, Lot will, in due course, inherit his lands and these lands have been promised to Avrohom. Therefore we are doing no wrong.”

Very bad thinking. Obviously, this was coming from Lot himself. Not only had he acquired wealth, he wanted to acquire even more wealth in whatever manner he could, not caring too much about the means. Avrohom said to Lot “We must part company even though we will remain brothers.” What did Lot do? Instead of making up with Avrohom, promising to improve and that his shepherds would not do this in future, he looked out at the best part of the land, namely Sedom and its environs (now the site of the Dead Sea) and decided that that was the place for him to live.

The Gomorra in Sanhedrin ק''ט and in particular, in even more detail, in the Sefer Hayosher, a famous medrash sefer, goes into great details as to how beautiful and lush that particular part of the country was. Because of this, the effect on the citizens was that they became very miserly and did not want anybody to share their good fortune. They passed draconian laws to stop people even passing through their land.

This was the place that Lot wanted to go and live and he did go there. His character was flawed and his eagerness for the good life and luxury, leading to his latent bad middos being brought forth at full blast, was the consequence.

He was once taken away from Sedom by the four kings who rampaged through the area. Avrohom chased the four kings and released him, but Lot went back to Sedom. He could not keep away from the fleshpots of luxury together with the licentiousness.

When finally, the angels came to save him, in the merit of Avrohom, despite the fact that he was told that if he did not leave, he would be destroyed together with the inhabitants and everything else in Sedom. ויתמהמה, he tarried. The שלשלת is a treble note as the word שלשלת implies because it comes from the root of שלש, three. He Tarried, and Tarried and Tarried and the angels had to turn themselves into men and take himself and his wife and daughters by the hand to physically eject them from Sedom.

We can see the importance of the שלשלת.

This was not only a lesson for what happened in the past, history repeats itself. Nowadays, we are in the midst of a major world financial upheaval. The monies which have been made over the past years, one could almost say the obscene monies made over the past years by fair means and foul have unfortunately, in many case, led to people doing almost anything in order to increase their wealth. The money, unfortunately, has been ruling the person and the chickens have now come home to roost, as is well known.

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Turning to the next שלשלת we find, it appears in חיי שרה. Eliezer had just reached ארם נהרים having been sent to look for a shidduch for Yitzchok, and he tethered the camels and then he prayed to Hashem for success. On the word ויאמר there is a שלשלת.

Once again the background leading up to this is very important. Avrohom and Soroh were fortunate enough, after many years of not having children to, at the age of 100 and 90 respectively, to have a son called Yitzchok. When Yitzchok was 37 years of age, the story of the עקידה took place and Soroh died. Subsequently, Avrohom thought to himself that he must look round for a suitable wife for his son as a matter of urgency.

This was a major problem because of various factors. Avrohom was, of course, known as the standard bearer of the new revolution proclaiming that there was a one and only Hashem in the world. People had got used to him and he was even known as אב המון גוים, father of all the nations. He and his wife were known as people of great kindness, אנשי חסד.

Yitzchok, however, concentrated on serving Hashem in a different way, namely with fear of heaven and strength of purpose. There were no compromises, no easy way. He was very strict on himself.

Furthermore, he had to stay in our Holy Land and, in fact, never went out of it for all his life.

Eliezer was faced with three major problems. He had to look for a wife who was suitable for such a person as Yitzchok and also the prospective Choson would not come to visit her or her family and Eliezer realised that in order to create a good marriage, the wife for Yitzchok had to be somebody with utmost kindness, similar to Avrohom and Soroh. He, therefore, started off his plea to Hashem to show him a girl who would fit this task and also belong to the family of Avrohom and so they would be able to continue the dynasty commenced by Avrohom and Soroh.

The Torah emphasises the Tefilla of Eliezer, with the שלשלת on ויאמר.

He was, of course, successful as we all know.

This is also a lesson relevant to shidduchim in our times. People have been known to arrange marriages with an eye on the יחוס of the family, the wealth and prestige and what the world will say, etc.

My Rebbe, the Bais Yisroel, used to quote the verse כי יקח איש אשה חדשה נקי יהיה, When a man takes a new wife he should be נקי, which is normally translated as free or unencumbered. However, if one looks at the three letters, a נ has a numerical value of 50, a ק has a numerical value of 100 and י is 10. The hint, that the Bais Yisroel used to quote, I believe in the name of his father, the Imrei Emess, was how to approach a shidduch. People usually look for three things, first there is the נדן, dowry represented by the letter נ. If only 50% of the figure originally floated is actually forthcoming, be satisfied.

ק represents קרן, the prospective Choson or Kallah themselves. This has to be 100%, it is the most important part of a shidduch.

י represents the יחוס, if this is only 10% of that which is mentioned, that is enough.

The most important thing in a shidduch is that the boy and girl should be of first class quality. They should be compatible and be able to live together happily and bring up future generations in the correct manner. The rest is bonus.

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The next time we find a שלשלת is in וישב. Yosef had been purchased by Potiphar, one of Pharoh’s ministers and he became his “head of the household”. Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him and Yosef refused. ויאמן (“He refused”) has a שלשלת, once again a three fold note, No, No, No.

If we look at the background of the whole story, we will see how great this act was.

Yaakov finally had a son by his beloved wife Rochel. Yosef grew up to be a special lad, the apple of his father’s eye. At the age of 17 he was suddenly torn away from all this and sold by his brothers and eventually was sold to Potiphar a minister of Pharoh in Egypt. Yosef had gone from a household of righteousness, of Yaakov as well as Yitzchok who was still alive and the great matriarchs, into a degenerate society in Egypt. He was depressed and broken. He could easily have been influenced the wrong way and have done the wrong thing. The Chochomim tell us אין אפוטרפוס לעריות

As our Chazal tell us, Yosef saw the face of his holy father and had the strength of character not to be influenced. He emphatically said “No” whatever the consequences. And there were consequences. We all know that he ended up in prison for many years, but the end of the story was that he came out of prison and became the second in command in Egypt and eased the path of Yaakov and his children and the Bnei Yisroel in their going down to Egypt.

Not for nothing, is there a שלשלת at ויאמן.

Today, this is also very relevant to ourselves.

We live in a society where media in general, and the internet in particular, are trying to seduce many people, righteous, naïve etc. with very attractive filth. We must have the strength of character to say “No, No, No”.

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The final שלשלת is in פרשת צו. Once again the background here is very important. Aaron and his sons had been appointed to be Kohanim and the Torah tells us the procedure that was carried out to complete the investiture. After they had put on special clothes and in particular Aaron with the eight special vestments, the Torah continues with the korbonos, the sacrifices which were specially brought all on the 1st day of Nissan, the day the Mishkon was consecrated. The final sacrifice was the איל המלאים, the inauguration ram. Then, Moshe having carried out the final acts that Hashem commanded to do to Aaron, he became the Kohen Godol. On the word וישחט, “he slaughtered” (the איל המלאים) there is a שלשלת. This is because it was the culmination of the investiture of Aaron as Kohen Godol and his children as Kohanim.

This was a great event at the time because it was in the merit of Aaron that the Shechina came down and dwelt in the Mishkon. Aaron blessed the Bnei Yisroel and it was the inauguration of a new way of life for the Bnei Yisroel which has continued ever since.

Once again, it was not just for that particular time, it was for all generations including ours.

Furthermore, the word שלשלת nowadays is applied to a family tree, in the same way as the Kohanim have a separate family tree.

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You may have noted that all the four places mentioned above are leyned in the winter months (צו is actually read before פסח). This is a רמז, hint, to us that even when things look dark, one can overcome difficulties בס''ד.

As one can see the use of a שלשלת highlights very important matters that are not to be glossed over.

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