Efraim and Menashe

Shavua Tov. A question that is asked related to today's Parsha is why do we bless our daughters that they should be like Sara, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah, but we bless the boys that they should be like Efraim and Menashe? Why not be consistent and bless our sons that they should be like Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov?

We must remember that Egypt was the place of the greatest impurity in the world. The Rambam says that it was so impure that men married men and women married women. So we bless our sons that wherever they travel in the world, and whatever temptations they might be faced with, they should be like Efraim and Menashe. Yosef's two sons managed to keep themselves strong in a very difficult situation. We bless our sons that they be equally strong.

Yisacchar and the Donkey

Among the blessings that Yakov gave to his sons before his death, was the unusual Bracha given to Yissachar. He was compared to a donkey that shoulders a heavy burden.

It was well known that there was an arrangement between Yissachar and Zevulon where Zevulon shared in the reward for the Torah study of Yissachar by supporting them financially. To this day, people make a Yissachar-Zevulon arrangement.

The של״ה הקודש says that the donkey is chosen as the symbol of Torah study for several reasons. The donkey is humble and undemanding. It sleeps in uncomfortable quarters. The donkey is a beast of burden. When one accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, the yoke of government is removed from him.

One who studies Torah is revered in the eyes of G-d. Torah study expels forces of destruction. We must be prepared to take upon ourselves this burden of Torah, so that all other burdens be removed from us. Shabbat Shalom

חסד של אמת

 The final Parsha of the Book of בראשית is ויחי. The important Mitzva that is alluded to in this Parsha, is caring for the dead. Yakov makes Yosef swear that he will do חסד ואמת by seeing to it that he is buried in Erez Yisrael in מערת המכפילה in the city of Chevron.

Many of the burial societies, or חברא קדישא's, call themselves חסד של אמת, as caring for the dead is the highest level of Chessed one can do. It falls under the category of והלכת בדרכיו, walking in the ways of Hashem.

It is considered the highest Chessed because it's clear that it's being done without expecting anything in return as the deceased cannot thank you or repay you.

Other than in Israel, Jewish communities in other parts of the world, rely on volunteers to help with ritually washing the bodies before burial. Those who volunteer for this very difficult Mitzva, are, inevitably, people of the highest character.

More on Tikkun Olam

Another example of תיקון עולם had to do with difficult periods in our history when Jews were taken captive and held for ransom. Similarly , this applied to situations when the Gentiles would steal holy objects such as Torahs, Tefillin and Mezuzot.

The Rabbis made their decree of Tikkun Olam to try and calm down this painful dilemma. On the one hand, they obviously wanted to redeem Jewish captives as well as the holy objects. But, on the other hand, if they paid too high a price and gave in to the  demands of the enemy, it would only encourage them to continue in their crimes.

Therefore, as painful as it was, they set limits as to the maximum they would pay. They did not want to make it worse for future problems of this nature.

The great Maharam MeRottenberg insisted that he die in prison rather than have the Jewish community pay the huge sums asked for his redemption. This was a realistic תיקון עולם in dealing with our long and tortured exile.

Tikkun Olam

There is a concept in Halacha called תיקון עולם, which means making the world a better place. The most famous תיקון עולם is Hillel's Prozbul that allowed lenders to collect their debt in Shmitta. Since the Sabbatical year or Shmitta, became a rabbinic law, Hillel wanted to encourage people to be able to be paid back their loans.

Another example of תיקון עולם was that people who returned lost articles did not have to make a שבועה. This meant that in case the finder was accused of not returning the entire lost object, the owner or loser of the object could not force the finder to make an oath. The תיקון עולם was that people would be encouraged to return lost articles without hassles.

The rabbis were given this power at their discretion in order to answer to the needs of society.

Remorse and Forgiveness

The של״ה הקודש points out the remarkable behavior of Yosef and his brothers, each in their own way.

Yosef stood out in the manner that he found it within himself to give the brothers complete forgiveness.

It takes a very big man to be able to overcome the pain of being so horribly wronged, to be able to move on. Despite the sincere remorse of the brothers, there must have remained a painful wound.

The brothers are also impressive in that they were able to accept total responsibility for their actions. Others may have tried to justify their behavior, but the brothers did not. They made no excuses for what they had done, and were willing to accept the consequences.

The combination of Yosef's ability to forgive and the brothers' ability to accept their own wrongdoings, serves as a great example to all of us. Forgiveness and remorse are two difficult character traits that are hard to acquire. We become much bigger people if we are able to admit our mistakes and learn to forgive those who sincerely ask for it.

Tenth of Tevet

Shavua Tov. Tomorrow is Asara B'Tevet. The fast begins at 5:21 and ends at 5:23 according to Torah Tidbits. It represents the siege of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Bavel on Jerusalem. It lasted three years and ended with the destruction of the First Temple.

The Tenth of Tevet is also designated as יום קדיש הכללי, where Kaddish is recited for those who perished in the Holocaust and their date of death was not known.

According to tradition, there were three fast days in a row on the 8th, 9th, and 10th. The eighth of Tevet was the anniversary of when the Torah was translated into Greek by seventy-two elders. The Torah was intended to be transmitted in Hebrew only and translated orally.

The ninth of Tevet was the date when both Ezra and Nechemia died. May we see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah that the fast of the tenth month should turn into a day of celebration.

Underlying Themes of Parshat Vayigash

The Parshiot that deal with Yosef and his brothers, have an underlying theme regarding the future. The של״ה הקודש says that the main spokesmen to Yosef were Yehuda and Levi. Yehuda would ultimately wear the Crown of Malchut, kingship, and Levi, the Crown of Kehuna, priesthood. Yosef wore the crown of a good name.

It's also interesting that Binyamin had a role to play because he was the only brother who did not bow down to Eisav. He was charged with destroying Amalek, a descendant of Eisav by way of King Shaul and Mordechai, both descendants of Binyamin. The Temple was also built in the territory of Binyamin.

There is also a hint to the concepts of משיח בן יוסף and משיח בן דוד that will take place in the future. Yosef will lay the physical groundwork for the spiritual Mashiach who will come from Yehuda.

This is why Yosef's job was to physically sustain the Jews in Egypt. This was the preliminary to Yehuda emerging as the ultimate leader of Am Yisrael. It is fascinating how we learn new ideas each year when we review the weekly Parsha. Shabbat Shalom

The Maze

The Ramchal gives a famous analogy of the "maze" to describe how people can be without direction. He says that there are two ways to describe one who walks in darkness.

One, is the person who pays no attention to his actions nor to the potential harm that he is doing to himself. He only realizes his folly when he suddenly has to pay for his thoughtless actions. He does whatever he feels like until someone gets hurt.

The second is even worse because he is so much in darkness, that he convinces himself that the darkness is light and light is darkness. This sounds like the liberals who make fun of people who follow the Torah. They ridicule them by telling them they are weak because they don't know how to think for themselves. They convince themselves that their "do what feels good" philosophy is superior.

Both types are similar to one in a maze where they continue to hit dead ends as they are lacking direction. Once a person sees the light, he gets to his destination and is able to help those who are stuck in the maze.

Interaction with Gentiles

Another aspect of דרכי שלום has to do with our interaction with non-Jews. The Mishna in גיטין mentions the importance of allowing Gentile poor to come into our fields in order to partake of the same crops left over for Jewish poor. This is to keep peaceful relations with them.

The Gemara expands on this idea and says that it is also our duty to visit the sick of the non-Jews as well as burying their dead. The Torah obligation is to leave over parts of our field (לקט פיאה שכחה), as well as visiting the sick, and caring for the dead, applies specifically to Jews. However, the Rabbis instituted under the heading of דרכי שלום, to apply this to non-Jews.

A friend of mine worked as a street sweeper in Jerusalem and once found 140,000 shekels cash that belonged to an Arab. He returned the money and did not even get a thank you. I told him that he did a big Kiddush Hashem. He was rewarded in other ways for fulfilling the rabbinical decree of דרכי שלום.

דרכי שלום

The Talmud in מסכת גיטין discusses the concept of דרכי שלום, the need to establish rules that will increase peaceful relations in the Jewish community.

The Gemara's first example of דרכי שלום is that in the Beit Knesset, we must call to the Torah a Kohein first, followed by a Levi, followed by a Yisrael. The purpose of this rule is to avoid fights in the Synagogue.

The Talmud relates that Rav Ami and Rav Assi were both prominent Kohanim and they insisted that the great Rav Huna be given the first Aliya because he was clearly the greatest rabbi of the generation.

The Tosfot Rid points out that even when one is the spiritual leader of an entire city, he should not take the place of a Kohein. This is because of the jealousy factor and that there will inevitably be individuals that feel they are more learned and more qualified.

This is why the rabbis instituted a specific order of distributing honors in Shule, to maintain דרכי שלום.

Anti-Semitism in Egypt

There is a Pasuk from yesterday's Parsha that needs explanation. When the Torah describes the meal served at Yosef's house for his brothers, it's written that Yosef ate separately, and the brother separately, and the Egyptians separately. The reason given was that it was considered an abomination for the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews.

The Rashbam says that the Egyptians were גסי רוח, highly conceited. They believed that the Hebrews were inferior to them so that they must not be seen eating with them.

The Radak says that they were repulsed by the Jews for eating meat. They raised cattle for the milk and shearings only.

Rashi simply says that it was something שנאוי, or hated, to eat together whatever the case may be. What is clear is that anti-semitism already began in Egypt where the Jewish people only numbered seventy souls. Jew hatred has no logical explanation, nor does hating someone for being different. This is a painful reality that we would do well to accept.

See Consequences of Actions

Shavua Tov and Chanukah Sameach. The Mishna in Pirkei Avot says, איזהו חכם הרואה את הנולד, Who is wise? The one who sees the consequences of his actions. It struck me from today's Parsha how true this statement is. How could Yosef's brothers have acted so impetuously without realizing the consequences of their actions. Did they really believe they would get away with such a heinous crime? Later, they sincerely regretted their actions but it came with a heavy price.

So often we see people making foolish decisions without thinking, and for one moment of indiscretion, they pay the price during their entire lifetime.

We certainly need to think carefully before we speak but we need to be even more careful to think before we act.

The messages of the Torah are both deep and practical. It would do us well to carefully put these teachings into practice.

Lessons from פרשת מקץ

Some lessons to be learned from Parshat מקץ from the של״ה הקודש: We learn the importance of confessing one's sins from the butler. He was a pagan and he reminded Pharoah of his transgressions. How much more should we confess our sins.

Hashem's name is constantly on Yosef's lips. He sets a good example of attributing our success to Hashem.

Yakov still had food but did not want to arouse the envy of the people around him. It's always a good idea not to show off and arouse jealousy.

It's impossible to confront those who admonish us. The brothers could not answer Yosef. Even Bilam could not answer the rebuke of his donkey.

Gratitude is a virtue that should be practiced by all. The Egyptian clergy saved Yosef's life when he was accused of sinning with Potiphar's wife. Yosef was only jailed because the clergy verified that the tear on his clothing was in front. This meant it was questionable if he did anything wrong. Later, Yosef was kind to the clergy.

Shabbat Shalom and Chanukah Sameach

The Apocrypha

There is a word that describes books that are not part of the twenty -four holy writings that make up the Tanach. This is called the "Apocrypha", which means, outside.

A perfect example of a book of the Apocrypha, would be ספר החשמונאים, also known as, "The Book of the Maccabees." I actually took a course on this book during my Yeshiva days at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois.

The book primarily discusses the war strategy of the Maccabees and how they were able to defeat the powerful Greek armies. They utilized the caves near Modiin and relied on swift surprise attacks mostly at night. Obviously, the miraculous victory was thanks to Hashem. But the way they went about it, with precision planning and intelligence, was very impressive.

The sages of Israel evaluated this book and did not feel that it contained רוח הקודש, so it did not become a book of Tanach. We are not really sure who the author was but we assume it was a devout Jew writing about the revolt and wars.

Books that made it as part of the Tanach with difficulty, were שיר השירים and קהלת, and even יחזקאל that seemed to have some discrepancies with the Torah. The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes made it because of the specialness of King Solomon and his wisdom.

Why is Chanukah Eight Days

There is a classic question of the Beit Yosef that we mention every year. Chanukah really should be seven days and not eight. The cruse of oil was supposed to burn for one day. Therefore, the first day was not a miracle. The extra seven days that it lasted was the real miracle. So why eight days and not seven?

There are numerous answers to this question. Some say the first day is a celebration of the military victory and the other seven days was the miracle of the oil. Others say the oil was divided into eight equal parts so that the miracle was seen on the first day.

There is an opinion that the pitcher of oil remained full immediately after pouring it out on the first day.

My favorite answer was given by Rabbi Meir Kahane זצ״ל. He said that the reason for the celebration of the first day was the miracle that Jews "got involved" altogether. And the other seven was the miracle of the oil. Chanukah Sameach

הדלקה עושה מצוה

There is a concept related to Chanukah where we say הדלקה עושה מצווה, that the lighting of the candles is what makes the Mitzva. This means that we have completed the obligation to light Chanukah candles as long as they had adequate oil or wax to last for thirty minutes after צאת הכוכבים under normal conditions.

If there is every expectation that the candles should burn their appropriate time and they are accidentally extinguished, one does not need to re-light the candles, as the Mitzva is considered complete.

If, on the other hand, there wasn't enough oil or the candles were placed in the path of a רוח שאינה מצויה, an unusually strong wind, that will almost certainly blow out the candles, he has not fulfilled the Mitzva, and must re-light the candles so that they burn the required thirty minutes. This is what is meant by הדלקה עושה מצוה.

Chanukah Candle Lighting Times

There is a concept regarding Chanukah called עד שתכלה רגל מן השוק, until there are no longer feet in the market place. This was the rule of thumb to indicate the latest one is allowed to light Chanukah candles.

This means that as long as there are people walking the streets, we are able to fulfill the Mitzva of פרסומי ניסא, advertising the miracle.

The earliest time to light would be from פלג המנחה, which is roughly an hour and a quarter before sunset. This is provided that the candles burn for thirty minutes after צאת הכוכבים, when the stars come out.

The ideal time to light candles is right at צאת הכוכבים, which is at 5:03 today

in Jerusalem. My calendar says, מצוה מן המובחר 5:03, the choicest time is right at צאת. This shows an eagerness to perform the Mitzva at the earliest opportunity. Chag Chanukah Sameach

על הניסים

Shavua Tov and Chanukah Sameach. Well, we entered Chanukah knowing who our modern day Antiochus is in the person of Barak Obama. He ends his eight year reign showing his true colors of anti-semitism and disdain for the State of Israel.

I intended to write about the על הניסים prayer which now has even greater meaning with this shameful news. First of all, if one forgot to insert על הניסים in שמונה עשרה or ברכת המזון, he does not need to repeat the Shmone Esrei or the Benching.

The prayer celebrates the victory of the few over the many. In a book written by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach about Chanukah, Reb Shlomo claims that there were only 70 Maccabees against 500,000 Greeks. When they saw Yehuda Maccabee riding on a lion, they fled in fear!

We are to recite this prayer with a great deal of gratitude and awe for the physical victory of the war, and the spiritual victory of overcoming the impurity of the Greeks and Greek culture. עם ישראל חי

טוב האמיתי

The Ramchal emphasizes the importance of self examination and awareness of how we are acting in the world. We are to monitor our service of Hashem as well as looking at improving on our interaction with the world.

He says that one who sincerely wishes to work on himself must start with having a very clear definition of הטוב האמיתי that he chooses to cleave to, and הרע האמיתי that he knows to distance himself from.

The טוב האמיתי, true goodness, must be defined as the principles outlined by the Torah and our sages. Anyone who believes there is any other system that is more just and compassionate than the Torah, possesses arrogance beyond belief.

The רע האמיתי, true evil, therefore, has to be what is contrary to Torah principles. This is the starting point that must be clearly defined as a prerequisite towards self awareness and self improvement.