בּ"ה
Parshas Mikeitz
May this edition of Shabbos Sparks, and the learning that comes from it be as a zechus for
a Refuah Shleimah mi’heira to HaRav Meshulam Dovid HaLevi ben Alta Hendel, who is in need of Tefillos.
We see the extremely unlikely happen. Seemingly because of dreams, Yosef is not only released from prison, but ends up being elevated to an extremely high position. Would anyone expect their salvation to come about in such a seeming strange way, and further, for their situation to be about-faced in such a drastic way?
But we see from here that no matter how bleak the situation looks, R”L, Hashem will never abandon us, and He will certainly help us. Even through the most unlikely means, He can bring about our salvation. As HaRav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik zt”l actually says (Beis HaLevi), the dreams were not the reason why Yosef was released from prison; Yosef being released from prison was the reason for the dreams. Hashem brought them about so that he would be released from prison and rise to high rank.
Hashem will help us in any and every situation. Trust me. Actually, trust Him.
(Tal U’Matar)
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‘And he slept, and he dreamt a second time, and behold! Seven ears of grain were going up on one stalk -- healthy and good.’ (Bereishis 41:5)
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The Kli Yakar zt”l notes that regarding the bad ears of grain (see v. 6), the Torah does not say that they all grew on one stalk. And he expounds that this is because whereas the seven years of plenty and satiation, which the good ears represented, all came one after the other and were joined together, the seven years of famine -- represented by the bad ears of grain -- were split up. For, as we are told, after only two years of the famine, when Yaakov Avinu came down to Egypt, it ceased, and only continued again after his passing.
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‘And Paroah sent and he summoned Yosef, and they ran him from the pit, and he shaved and he changed his clothes and he came to Paroah.’ (Bereishis 41:14)
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The Torah tells us that before Yosef appeared before Paroah he changed his clothes and had his hair cut. Rashi zt”l comments (from Midrash Bereishis Rabbah) that he did so out of respect for royalty.
The question is asked; the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 10b) states that Yosef HaTzaddik was released from the prison on Rosh Hashanah. So how could he have shaved on Yontiff, when that would be forbidden?
And the Meforshim (see, for example, Torah of Brisk; Sefer Bereishis, and Chasam Sofer) explain that this is what Rashi is explaining with his comment: Yosef HaTzaddik shaved out of respect to Paroah (i.e. perhaps so that he would not be killed for showing a lack of respect to him). Otherwise, he definitely would not have been allowed to shave.
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‘And Paroah sent, and he summoned Yosef, and they ran him from the pit [i.e. jail].’ (Bereishis 41:14)
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When it reaches the designated time for something to happen, explains the Chofetz Chaim zt”l, HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not delay even one moment. Once the time that Yosef needed to be in jail was finished, he was rushed in a flash from the prison -- as it says, ‘and they ran him from the pit’.
Similarly, says the Chofetz Chaim, when the time comes for our Geulah (Redemption), for the coming of Mashiach, he will not be delayed even one instant past the time. Rather, ‘suddenly he will come’, and we will be rushed from our Galus (Exile) to our Holy Land, very speedily in our days.
(Chofetz Chaim al HaTorah; see also Sforno zt”l)
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‘And Paroah called the name of Yosef ‘Tzafnas Paneiach (צפנת פענח)’’ (Bereishis 41:45)
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One who explains hidden things -- מפרש צפונות (Rashi zt”l based on Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan).
Asks the third Gerrer Rebbe, the Sfas Emes zt”l; if this is the meaning of the name, should it not have been the other way around -- ‘פענח צפנת’?
Explains the Sfas Emes beautifully: Yosef HaTzaddik merited this high level of being able to explain hidden matters because he was so humble, and he hid his righteousness. And this is the sense of the name: ’צפנת’ -- because he hid (צפון) his full righteousness and acted modestly, ‘פענח’, he merited this level of being able to elucidate hidden matters.
(Brought in Maayanah Shel Torah)
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‘And they said, a man to his brother: “In truth, we are guilty about our brother that we saw the distress of his Soul, when he supplicated to us, and we did not listen; therefore this trouble came to us.”’ (Bereishis 42:21)
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Says Mori v’Rebbe, HaRav Elyakim Rosenblatt zt”l, adapted from a shmuess of HaRav Leib Chasman zt”l: How could the brothers possibly know exactly why they were suffering at the hands of this harsh viceroy of Egypt? Why must it have necessarily been on account of their lack of compassion towards Yosef and not due to their lack of compassion towards someone else?
Perhaps we can answer both of these questions by dramatizing the scenario. The brothers were being tormented by this harsh ruler of Egypt. “But,” they thought, “If we are suffering, surely it cannot be by mere chance. Rather, this is a manifestation of Divine Providence, Hashgacha Pratis, a punishment sent from Heaven for a sin that we must have committed. But, how are we to know what we have done wrong, to be able to correct it through Teshuva? It must be because, as we know, that when Hashem punishes a person for a sin, He does so Middah Ki’negged Middah, measure for measure. The form of punishment corresponds to the nature of the original transgression. In His infinite kindness, Hashem dispenses punishment in this manner so that the sinner can study the punishment and detect from it where and how he did wrong, in order to help him repent.”
Thus both questions are now beautifully resolved. The brothers, with their fervent belief in Hashgacha Pratis, realized that their abuse by this very harsh viceroy of Egypt was no mere coincidence, but was actually a punishment meted out by Heaven. Thus they were aware that they had committed some sin and were now being punished. In studying the nature of the punishment they were being subjected to, they were able to trace via their perception of middah ki’negged middah, exactly what their sin was.
They focused on this cruel ruler of Egypt who displayed no compassion toward them. That signaled to them that they themselves must have committed an action that lacked compassion, since the form of punishment corresponds to the nature of the original transgression, middah ki’negged middah. This prompted them to examine all of their deeds. Where did they act with less than the ideal amount of sympathy and compassion? The only action that they could find after exhausting all possibilities was their lack of compassion toward Yosef. (This itself is living testimony of the righteousness and holiness of the brothers. After examining all their deeds of the past 22 years, the only person they showed a lack of compassion to was Yosef, and no one else).
May we realize that the world is not hefker (ownerless). Things do not happen by chance. Rather, HaKadosh Baruch Hu oversees the world with Hashgacha Pratis by concerning Himself with each and every individual. Amein.
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After Yosef, pretending to be viceroy of Egypt, had had Shimon remain with him in Egypt, he also told the other brothers that though they could bring up the food they had bought to their home in Eretz Yisroel, he wanted them to return with their youngest brother. Yaakov Avinu, having been separated from Yosef for a long time, and now seeing that Shimon was gone, was very reluctant -- understandably so! -- to allow Binyomin to go down to Egypt with them. So Reuven offered that if he did not bring back Binyomin safe and sound, Yaakov Avinu could kill his two sons.
But Doesn’t this seem like a somewhat obsolete suggestion? What would it help? (See Rashi zt”l here).
And some time later, when the need arose to go back down and buy more food, etc. Yehuda approached Yaakov about bringing Binyomin down, as they couldn’t go see the viceroy without him. And he guaranteed the offer. To this, Yaakov actually agreed.
Based on what Chazal say in Masechta Bava Basra (118), that getting a share in Eretz Yisroel is living, the Chasam Sofer {HaRav Moshe Sofer zt”l} explains that losing one’s inheritance in Eretz Yisroel can be considered in some way like death.
Reuven, explains the Chasam Sofer, knew that he was the firstborn, and figured that his two sons would be given a share in Eretz Yisroel like the other Tribes -- as we find happened afterwards with Ephraim and Menashe. So he told Yaakov Avinu that if he failed to bring Binyomin back to him, then he could take the share of Eretz Yisroel from his two sons. Yaakov, however, for certain reasons, had already transferred the firstborn status onto Yosef, and therefore, his sons, Ephraim and Menashe would already be the ones who would be added to the Tribes in inheriting the Land.
(Chasam Sofer on Orach Chaim)
Still, though, it is asked; why did Yaakov Avinu acquiesce to Yehuda’s offer, but not to Reuven’s?
HaRav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt”l answers that Yehuda showed that he knew how far-reaching one’s responsibility and liability is in taking care of someone else. To the point where he would give up even his eternal portion of life (see Rashi) if he failed to live up to his duty. Someone like this, who was clearly very serious about being responsible, could surely be relied on.
(Sichos Mussar)
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HaRav Meir Zlotowitz zt”l suggests a different explanation: When Yaakov Avinu said “Upon me has it all fallen” (42:36), he implied, as mentioned by the commentators, that only a father could realize the magnitude of the loss of his two children. Of all the brothers, only Yehuda who had lost two children (38:7-10) could appreciate his father’s grief. Therefore, when he accepted responsibility for Binyomin’s welfare, Yaakov acquiesced.
(Artscroll Bereishis)
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‘And Yosef said to them. . . Didn’t you know that a man like me does divination?’ (Bereishis 44:15)
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The question is; how could Yosef have said this? Even though he was under the guise of an Egyptian ruler, he still couldn’t lie! And certainly he did not practice divination!
However, explains the Orach LaChaim, with ‘a man like me’ Yosef meant Paroah, as we find in the beginning of Parshas Vayigash (44:18), that Yehuda says ‘For you are like Paroah’. Meaning: Paroah, who is a man like me, practices divination. But Yosef said it the way he did so that it would sound like he did divination, when really he was talking about Paroah.
(Cited in Maayanah Shel Torah)
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Chanukah:
Our Gedolim explain that we are given Chanukah specifically at this time of year, because during the long nights of wintertime, we have the lights of Chanukah to illuminate the darkness.
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There is a well-known dispute in the Gemara (Shabbos 21b) between Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai: Beis Hillel holds that on the first night we light one candle (aside from the Shammos -- the candle that is used to light the others), and then we continue to do one more each night. Beis Shammai however, holds that on the first night, we light eight (aside from the Shammos), then we keep doing one less each night throughout the Festival. Of course, as is evident, we hold like Beis Hillel.
There is a big lesson we learn from the order in which we light: Sometimes, starting small is a huge step. A small change for the better in how we treat others; a little more Torah each day; etc.
And if we can implement that, then it goes up from there. Mitzvah goreres Mitzvah -- one Mitzvah leads to another Mitzvah, we are taught in Pirkei Avos. Meaning that if we can just make a small step forward in our Service of Hashem, it can lead to many more good changes and things. We light one candle on the first night -- and then it goes up from there.
This concept is brought out further in the story of Chanukah itself: HaRav Shlomo Ganzfried zt”l writes (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch; Siman 139, Se’if 1) that in the time of the Second Beis HaMikdash, when the kingdom of Yavan ruled, they decreed bad decrees upon the Jewish People, and they didn’t let them engage in Torah and Mitzvos.
And as we know, after the Yevanim came into the Beis HaMikdash and defiled the holy things, the Jews couldn’t find oil with which to light the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash to keep it lit as it was supposed to be. Baruch Hashem, they were able to find one container of it that still had the Kohen Gadol’s special seal on it, which proved that it was still tahor (pure), and untouched by the Yevanim -- but that was only enough to last usually for one day. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu made a miracle and caused the oil to last for eight full days, the amount of time it would take until they could get more!
They did what they could, and found a little bit of oil, and Hashem made it last. In our own lives, expanding on the concept we discussed above, if we can just make a small step forward in improvement, and really try to get better, Hashem will give us special Help to go even higher.
(Tal U’Matar)
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In a somewhat similar vein, the Seforim explain that Beis Hillel’s opinion -- that we go up one candle each night -- represents that we should try to ascend in our spiritual level each day.
We may expand on this concept: By letting us wake up in the morning, Hashem is giving us an incredible gift and opportunity. The gift of another day of wonderful life, and the opportunity to use that life for an exalted and fulfilling purpose.
It is so very important to take the message of the Chanukah candles, and really try to make sure that we grow and ascend at least a little spiritually each and every day. We mustn’t just let days -- which quickly turn into weeks and months -- go by, remaining essentially the same person. Even a little self-improvement is an extremely good thing (see above comment). In this way, we will, b’Ezras Hashem, take fuller advantage of this wonderful opportunity called life.
(Tal U’Matar)
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Rebbe Naftali Halberstam zt”l, the previous Bobover Rebbe, once wrote in a letter to someone that Chanukah teaches us faith and trust in Hashem. Because, as we know, the Chashmonaim were very few in number, and they battled against the mighty and numerous Yevanim -- and Hashem made them prevail! Even though the situation would have seemed hopeless! So too, we must trust in Hashem, because even in the bleakest situation, He will help us.
(Told over to me by my Rebbe, HaRav Moshe Shulman shlit”a)
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The Midrash tells us that the original, exalted light (the ohr haganuz) that Hashem created, He hid away. Rebbe Pinchos of Koritz zt”l said that when we light the Chanukah lights, part of that exalted hidden light is there with us. He brings a proof for this: Adam HaRishon, we are taught, got to see the ohr haganuz for 36 hours -- and that is the exact amount of Chanukah candles (not including the Shammos) we light over the entire period of the holiday!
(Told over to me by my Rebbe, HaRav Moshe Shulman shlit”a)
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The Yevanim, as we know, attempted to uproot our Torah observance and service of Hashem. Our Gedolim give different aspects, though, that the Yevanim were specifically trying to strike at. (Although, obviously, it was the entire service of Hashem, in general.) I heard the first three of the following explanations from HaRav Yehoshua Kalish shlit”a himself:
1) ----- HaRav Avraham Schorr shlit”a gave a drosha about how when Klal Yisroel do any Mitzvah, it literally is connected to and affects the very Heavens.
The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 2:5) tell us that the Yevanim tried to make the Jews write down on the horn of an bull/ox that we have no portion with the G-d of Yisroel. We thus see that they were mainly trying to break our direct connection to Hashem.
2) ----- HaRav Yosef Tzvi Salant zt”l says that the Yevanim were upset that the Torah Sages (the Chachamim) even knew more things in the realm of science than them. Therefore, they specifically targeted the oil of the Menorah, because they thought that that was what makes us so wise -- as we are taught that oil represents wisdom.
3) ----- HaRav Kalish shlit”a adds his own insight: The Yevanim were an “elite” nation, and they were mad that Klal Yisroel are so special -- more so than them. That is why they tried to make us stop keeping Shabbos, Bris Milah, and Kiddush haChodesh (the sanctification of the new months), as is taught in Megillas Antiochus. Because they are three quintessential Mitzvos of our special and exalted status. Shabbos -- this is specifically for us Jews; the non-Jews are actually not supposed to keep the Shabbos. Bris Milah -- it distinguishes and elevates us physically from all other nations. And Kiddush haChodesh -- Hashem made it that the Sages of the Jewish People have power over the calendar.
4) ----- The Yismach Yisroel, the Alexander Rebbe zt”l explains as follows: The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah delineates the various animal horns that may be used to perform the mitzvah of blowing the Shofar. However, our Sages explain that while all shofars are horns, not all horns are fit to be shofars. It singles out the horn of the bull/ox as being the primary example of a horn that is just a horn, but does not qualify as a shofar.
The Yevanim were therefore trying to allude to the Jewish People with this decree (see the Midrash from Bereishis Rabbah brought in explanation number 1) that they were merely a mundane people, just as the bull horn is mundane. The bull horn cannot be elevated to become a vehicle for performing the mitzvah of shofar, and thus has no link to the spiritual or to holiness. So too, the Yevanim wanted the Jews to abandon their belief that they themselves were vehicles for spiritual connection and attachment to the Divine. The Yevanim thus decreed that they inscribe their message of severance from Hashem specifically on a bull horn, to signify their detachment from spirituality, Chas v’Shalom. (From a Dvar Torah of my Rebbe, HaRav Binyomin Goldstein shlit”a).
5) ----- The Chiddushei HaRim zt”l, the first Gerrer Rebbe says: We say in Ma’oz Tzur, ‘And they breached the walls of my towers‘. What this means is that the Yevanim sought to break the wall of the fear of Heaven. Because the laws of the Torah should be to us like a wall -- that we know that we just cannot transgress the Word of Hashem from the incredible fear and awe we have of Him. And the Yevanim wanted to breach that wall, and make people not have Yiras Shamayim.
HaRav Avraham Schorr shlit”a adds that these days of Chanukah are days when it is easier for us to overcome this alien idea of the Yevanim, and implant within our hearts the pure fear of Heaven. (HaLekach Vi’HaLibuv).
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The Sfas Emes zt”l, the third Gerrer Rebbe, explains that the Mitzvah of the Chanukah lights is a little bit of a consolation during our bitter Galus. Because when we light the Menorah, it is a remembrance of the service of lighting the Menorah back in the Beis HaMikdash.
(Sfas Emes; Chanukah 5633 -- 1st night)
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As we know, even though the Yevanim defiled a lot of the things in the Mikdash, one flask of oil fit for lighting the Menorah remained pure. The Chiddushei HaRim zt”l says that this alludes to us that no matter what happens, there will always remain within us that holy spark that no impure force can touch or affect.
(Sfas Emes; Chanukah 5633 -- 3rd night)
I might add that, like we said above, we see further that if we try to ignite that inner spark into a “holy fire”, and make an effort to spread the holiness from it throughout our lives, then Hashem will surely help us to reach and grow to beyond what we even thought we could.
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The Chiddushei HaRim zt”l brings another beautiful message from the way in which we light the Menorah: The flame can represent illumination; incinerating the bad things from within ourselves, and also the fiery and passionate desire to come closer to Hashem. We hold like Beis Hillel, that every night we go up one light, meaning that if we continue and increase our holy fire and passion in Avodas Hashem, that will illuminate us, and thus help to purify ourselves, and “burn up” the bad things within us.1
(Sfas Emes; Chanukah 5654 -- Parshas Mikeitz and Chanukah)
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1 See there for his explanation of Beis Shammai’s opinion.
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There is a famous question on Chanukah that the Beis Yosef {HaRav Yosef Karo zt”l} asks: Why is it eight days? If the oil would have normally burned for one day but it burned for eight, then only the seven days that it was a miracle that it burned should have been made into the Festival, and not the first day when it’s burning was just normal!
Perhaps we can answer, though, that it is to teach us that everything is really a miracle. Even the “natural” things are really miraculous and straight from Hashem. And that is one of the things that Chanukah is about.
(Tal U’Matar)
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~ Maasim Tovim ~ It was Chanukah in the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, and somehow, Rebbe Yisroel Spira zt”l, the Bluzhever Rebbe, had managed to keep track of the calendar, even in those extremely difficult times. It was time to kindle the lights. But a jug of oil was not to be found, no candle was in sight, and a Menorah was a thing of the past for the time being. In an incredible effort to fulfill the Mitzvah, a wooden clog, the shoe of one of the inmates, became a makeshift Menorah; strings pulled from a concentration camp uniform, a wick; and the black camp shoe polish was used as pure oil.
Not far from the heaps of bodies, the living skeletons assembled to participate in the kindling of Chanukah lights.
The Bluzhever Rebbe lit the first makeshift light, and chanted the first two blessings in his pleasant voice, and the festive melody was filled with sorrow and pain. When he was about to recite the third blessing -- the Shehecheyahu -- he stopped, turned his head, and looked around as if searching for something.
But immediately, he turned his face back to the quivering small lights, and in a strong, reassuring, comforting voice, chanted the third blessing: “Baruch Atah Hashem. . . shehecheyanu, vi’kiyimanu, vi’higianu lazman hazeh -- Blessed are You, Hashem. . . Who has kept us alive, and sustained us, and let us reach this time.”
Among the people present at the kindling of the lights was a Mr. Zamietchkowski, one of the leaders of the Warsaw Bund. He was a clever, sincere person, who had a passion for discussing matters of religion, faith, and truth. Even here in camp Bergen Belsen, his passion for discussion did not abate. He never missed an opportunity to engage in such discussion.
As soon as the Bluzhever had finished the ceremony of kindling the lights, Zamietchkowski elbowed his way to the Rebbe, and said, “Spira, you are a clever and honest person. I can understand your need to light Chanukah candles in these wretched times. I can even understand the historical note of the second blessing, ‘Who has done miracles for our fathers, in those days, at this time.’ But the fact that you recited the third blessing is beyond me. How could you thank G-d and say, ‘Blessed are You, Hashem. . . Who has kept us alive, and sustained us, and let us reach this time’? How could you say it when thousands of dead Jewish bodies are literally lying within the shadows of the Chanukah lights, when thousands of living Jewish skeletons are walking around in camp, and millions more are being massacred?. . . This you call ‘keeping us alive’?”
“Zamietchkowski, you are a hundred percent right,” answered the Rebbe. “When I reached the third blessing, I also hesitated and asked myself, what should I do with this blessing? I turned my head in order to ask the Rebbe of Zaner and other distinguished Rebbes who were standing near me, if indeed I may recite the blessing. But just as I was turning my head, I noticed that behind me a throng was standing, a large crowd of living Jews, their faces expressing faith, devotion, and concentration, as they were listening to the rite of the kindling of the Chanukah lights. I said to myself, if Hashem, blessed be He, has such a nation that at times like these, when during the lighting of the Chanukah lights, they see in front of them the heaps of bodies of their beloved fathers, brothers, and sons, and death is looking from every corner; if despite all that, they stand in throngs and with devotion listen to the Chanukah blessing ‘Who has done miracles for our fathers, in those days, at this time’; if, indeed, I was blessed to see such a people with so much faith and fervor, then I am under a special obligation to recite the third blessing.”
Some years after liberation, the Bluzhever Rebbe, then residing in Brooklyn, New York, received warm regards from Mr. Zamietchkowski. Zamietchkowski asked the son of the Skabiner Rebbe to tell Rav Spira, the Rebbe of Bluzhov, that the answer he gave him that dark Chanukah night in Bergen Belsen had stayed with him ever since, and was a constant source of inspiration during hard and troubled times.”
(Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust)
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Gut and meaningful Shabbos and Freilichen Chanukah to all!
