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Rabbi Wein on the Parsha
Torah Thought
Parshas Vayigash
By Rabbi Berel Wein
The brothers and Joseph finally meet each other head-on, without pretense and subterfuge. When Joseph reveals himself to the brothers, the veil of secrecy, role-playing, distrust, and enmity is ripped away. The dreams that apparently were the cause of this gripping family drama now reappear in their stark and simple meaning.
The sheaves of grain are the brothers and the constellation of stars in heaven are to be taken literally as the brothers bowing down to Joseph. It is noteworthy that the brothers never asked why Joseph is entitled to such respect and discipline from them. They apparently never search out the merit or qualities that have made Joseph their ruler.
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There are many commentators who believe that Joseph never recounted to them the story of his life with Potiphar and how he had risen to such glory and power. For the brothers, as perhaps for Joseph himself, it was sufficient that the dreams had meaning and had come true. All the rest of the story became almost incidental and unimportant. It was the dreams that were the central issue, and when proven to be accurate and effective, that was all that really mattered. a mortal threat to their very survival and to the necessary nation-building process that would create the Jewish people.
Then, in a moment, this entire understanding and assessment of the data.
situation with Joseph was turned on its head. This occurred because they had refused to give credit or to display confidence in the dreams that Joseph had related to them. It is, thus, superfluous to state that the Jewish people have survived only
No longer would the brothers, or their descendants, mock dreams or dreamers. In effect, they now realize that somehow the dreamers were more practical than the pragmatic people of the world. Certainly, as part of Jewish life was to be concerned, it would only survive and prosper based on dreams and not based on based on dreams.
When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, they are naturally shocked by the turn of events. Until now, they had always believed that they were within their rights, and that the actions that they had taken against Joseph were not only justified but necessary. They saw him as
The return of our people to the land of Israel in our time is perhaps the greatest of dreams. We are taught in the book of Psalms that the return to Zion must be viewed as a dream, for based on pragmatism alone it could never have happened. The same thing is true regarding the revival of Torah in Jewish society in our time. Only dreamers could imagine, that at some level, the long-standing tides of ignorance and hostility towards Judaism and Jewish values could be checked. The great Ponovezher Rav summed up the situation succinctly when he told me: “I sleep little, but I dream all the time.” Shabbat shalom.
From the Fire
Parshas Vayigash Protect the Candle, then Light a Bonfire
By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
Chazal (Yalkut Shimoni 150) connect the confrontation between Yehuda and Yosef at the beginning of the parsha to a pasuk in Tehillim (48:2-5) we read every Monday morning in the Song of the Day: “Hashem is great and very much praised in the city of our G-d, the mountain of His holiness. A beautiful view, joy of the entire world, the mountain of Zion…for behold the kings have assembled; they have passed together.”
When Dovid Hamelech said, “The kings have assembled,” the Midrash says that this refers to none other than Yehuda and Yosef. Yehuda was the king of the brothers and Yosef was the king of Egypt. Why does the Midrash connect this encounter with Dovid Hamelech’s description of the beauty of Yerushalayim, the Temple Mount, and the Beis Hamikdash?
We see from the Mishna in Pirkei Avos (2:1) that there are two types of tzaddikim, two ways of serving Hashem. The Mishna says, “Rebbi says, ‘Which is the straight path which a person should choose? Any one which gives glory to the one who does it and glory from other people.’” In other words, there are two paths, both of which appear good and straight, so it is difficult to choose between them. But Rebbi advises that one should choose the path that not only gives himself glory, but also causes others to give him glory.
One type of tzaddik serves Hashem to perfect himself and get closer to Hashem, but he does not involve himself in teaching or attempting to influence others. This type of tzaddik includes the thirty-six hidden tzaddikim. Such a tzaddik follows the path which “gives glory to the one who does it.” While service of G-d in this way certainly affects the world through its influence on the higher worlds, a tzaddik who follows this path secludes himself and does not attempt to influence others. This is the way of private, secluded service of G-d.
But there is another type of tzaddik, one who follows a path that “gives glory to the one who does it and glory from other people.” Tzaddikim who serve Hashem in this way work to bring G-d’s glory not only into their own lives, but also into the lives of everyone around them. This is the way of public service of G-d.
Both of these types of tzaddikim have their place. The pasuk (Tehillilm 96:11) says, “The Heavens will rejoice and the earth will delight.” In other words, “the Heavens will rejoice” as a result of those tzaddikim who seclude themselves to serve G-d in a state of total purity. And “the earth will delight” through the service of those tzaddikim who serve G-d by teaching and influencing their brothers and sisters here on earth. Both paths are precious before Hashem. Both have their proper time and place.
Yaakov Avinu himself struggled to find his place between these two paths. He dreamed (Bereishis 28:12) of a “ladder set up on the ground and its top reached to Heaven.” On one hand, his grandfather Avraham Avinu was devoted to the path “which gives glory to the one who does it and glory from other people.” Avraham went out into the world to bring all of mankind to belief in and service of G-d. And his father Yitzchak separated himself from the world, devoted to a path in which he did not travel to teach others about G-d but stayed in Eretz Yisroel and worked to perfect himself. Yaakov Avinu felt drawn to both paths and attempted to find a middle ground.
We see which path Yosef and Yehuda chose based on the Gemara (Sota 36b), which says, “Yosef sanctified the name of Heaven in private, so one letter of Hashem’s name was added to his name. Yehuda, who sanctified the name of Heaven in public, has all the letters of Hashem’s name in his name.” Yosef sanctified Hashem’s name in private by refusing to be with the wife of Potifar when no one was there to see. But Yehuda sanctified G-d’s name publicly by proclaiming, in front of everyone, “She is more righteous than me” about Tamar. Similarly, the pasuk which refers to the greatness of those tzaddikim who give glory to Heaven and increase G-d’s glory on earth also contains Hashem’s four letter name: “The Heavens will rejoice and the earth will delight.”
Rav Kook explains in Ein Aya (on Shabbos 21b) a deeper way of understand the Gemara’s teaching: “It is a mitzvah to light the Chanukah candle by the door of the house on the outside… But at a time of danger, one may place it on his table, and that is sufficient.” Rav Kook explains that, at one time, when we had a Beis Hamikdash and
had experienced the redemption of Chanukah, we placed the menorah on the outside of the house to illuminate the outside world with the light of Torah and holiness. That is the way of Yehuda. But in a time of exile, when the dangers of the outside world’s influences press on our homes, attempting to come inside, we lock our doors, close our shades, and concentrate on keeping the pure light of holiness burning inside. We do not attempt to influence the outside world in exile because we have a difficult enough time keeping the influences of the non-Jewish world out. That is the way of serving G-d in exile. That is the way of Yosef HaTzaddik.
The Sfas Emes uses this Gemara to illustrate a very similar teaching. In the old days, there was a separation between the nations of the world and the protected holiness of a Jewish home. Then, we fulfilled the mitzvah to light the menorah “outside.” But today, the outside world is now inside. Every type of distraction and impurity rides into our homes through the same devices found in the outside world. Because the world out there is now in our homes, we fulfill the mitzvah to light the menorah outside by lighting it in our houses. And by doing so, we daven to Hashem that He illuminate our houses with the light of His Torah so that our homes with have the sanctity and wholesomeness that does not exist outside.
What was the nature of this meeting between the two kings? How does it relate to these two says of serving G-d, and how does it connect to the beauty of the Temple Mount and Yerushalayim?
Their debate was about their brother Binyomin. And we know that the Beis Hamikdash and the Holy of Holies were situated on both Binyomin and Yehuda’s portions of Eretz Yisroel (Zevachim 53b-54a). In other words, their debate was about the soul of the Jewish nation, the Beis Hamikdash. Which of their paths in the service of G-d represent the pinnacle of man’s service?
Yehuda’s way of redemption, of public teaching and influence, or Yosef’s way of exile, of secluding one’s self from the world to serve G-d in purity? Yehuda’s path of “a beautiful view, joy of the entire world” and “the earth will delight”? Or Yosef’s path of “let the Heavens rejoice”?
Yehuda argued that, just like in the time of the redemption, “Yerushalayim will be settled like unwalled towns” (Zecharia 2:8). When we live in the proper way, we will no longer need the high walls of Yerushalayim to keep the outside world out. Instead, the light of Yerushalayim will be open, illuminating the entire world.
What is the appropriate time for each of these approaches?
Protecting the Fire
This week is the fast day of Asara (the tenth of) B’Teves. According to Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 580 and Magan Avraham there), Asara B’Teves is one of the most terrible fast days because it was instituted after tragedies which befell our people on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of Teves. It is so severe that, were it possible for it to fall on Shabbos, we would still fast. On the 8th of Teves, Talmai Hamelech decreed that the Sages translate the Torah into Greek. This was considered a horrible degradation of the Torah. While it is true that this could theoretically be a good thing because “the beauty of G-d goes to Yefes [the father of Greece] and it shall dwell in the tents [houses of study] of Shem [the father of the Jewish people]” (Bereishis 9:27), it could not have come at a worse time. The walls of the Jewish community were down and many Jewish people were becoming mesmerized with Greek culture. Translating the Torah meant strengthening Hellenists’ penchant for viewing the holy Torah as merely another topic for intellectual study.
And the 9th of Teves is the yahrtzeit of Ezra Hasofer, who caused the Assyrian script we find in sifrei Torah to be used for seforim accessible to the general public. He brought the depth and richness of the Torah’s writing, in which the shape of every letter has significance and every crown on every letter teaches scores of halachos and secrets of Torah, to the Jewish world. Losing Ezra was a tragedy of untold proportions because he introduced a new depth of understanding to the Jewish people’s understanding of the inner, deeper part of Torah.
And on Asara B’Teves, the 10th of Teves, the king of Bavel began the siege on Yerushalayim at the time of the first Beis Hamikdash.
These three things share one
common denominator. All of them demonstrate how important the walls of holiness are to increasing the depth and purity of our connection to and understanding of the Torah.
The ultimate goal, the way of redemption and Eretz Yisroel, is to break down the walls and spread Torah to the whole world. That is the way of Yehuda, the father of Dovid Hamelech and Moshiach. But that is only possible after we first protect the sanctity of our people and ourselves by sanctifying Hashem’s name in private, where no one in the world can see us. That is the way of Yosef HaTzaddik, the father of Moshiach ben Yosef who prepares the way for Moshiach ben Dovid. We must light the menorah in our homes in exile before we can light it outside with the redemption.
It is told that Rav Chatzkel Shinover, the author of the Divrei Yechezkel, once had to travel with his gabbai on a very cold and windy night. The two of them were suffering tremendously from the cold so Rav Chatzkel asked his gabbai to make a fire for them. The gabbai took some flint stones and tried mightily but he was unsuccessful. So the rebbe asked if he could try, and when he did so, a fire started immediately.
Rav Chatzkel then told his gabbai, “I know when we get back, you’re going to tell all of the chassidim that the rebbe did a miracle. But you should know that it isn’t true. But Rav Hirsch Riminover… he could do wonders. Once on Shabbos, there was a large storm outside the beis midrash, and one of the windows shattered. The wind was howling through the window and the chassidim wanted to go find a non-Jew to put something over the window, lest the wind blow out the candles in the beis midrash. But Rav Mendel looked out of the window this way and that way, and told them that the candles would be fine. Just then, the wind stopped blowing through the window. So you see, Rav Hirsch Riminover could do wonders but I cannot. All I know how to do is to cup my hands over the spark to allow the flame to grow.”
The tzaddikim of the earlier generations miraculously protected us from the winds of the outside world. But today, our job is to cup our hands around the fire of our Yiddishkeit and not to let it go out. We must protect the holiness of our minds, our eyes, and our ears from the impurity of the outside world. And we must fill them with Torah, tefillah, mitzvos, and words and acts of kindness. If we first protect the candle, we can use it to light a bonfire.
With G-d’s help, may we protect the holiness within us so that the Heavens will rejoice and the path will be prepared for the way of Yehuda and Moshiach ben Dovid, who will bring about the time when “the earth will delight,” may it come soon in our days.
Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.
