Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat VayeshevRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Vayeshev · וישב · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:05Parashat Vayeshev, this week's parasha, has 112 pesukim.0:10This is a parasha that begins the exciting tale of Yosef and the shevatim, and these0:16over here in this parasha we see the seeds of what began the galut of Mitzrayim, the0:21first galut of the Jewish people.0:22We broke up this week's parasha into five parts.0:25The first part of the parasha, Torah tells us about Yosef and his brothers, the relationship0:29between Yosef and his brothers.0:31Second part of the parasha, Torah tells us about the selling of Yosef.0:35The third part of the parasha is the story of Yehuda and Tamar.0:39The fourth part of the parasha discusses Yosef in Potiphar's house, and finally we end0:45off the parasha of Yosef in jail.0:48No mitzvot in this week's parasha, and let's get to the parasha in depth, a long0:52parasha in detail.0:54First part of the parasha, Torah tells us about Yosef and his brothers, the relationship0:58between Yosef and his brothers, and Torah tells us that Yaakov favored Yosef over everybody.1:05How come?1:05So a few reasons are given.1:07Number one is that we know that Yosef looked like Yaakov.1:11How do we know that?1:12We find this in next week's parasha,1:15Parashat Miketz. Also the Gemara says in Masechet Bava Metzia that Yosef and Yaakov actually looked very similar to1:20each other, and Yosef was the last thing that Yaakov had from1:26Rachel. After Rachel Imenu passed away, it was Yosef who remained in Yaakov Avinu's mind1:30as the reminder of1:33Rachel Imenu. So therefore Yaakov, for his special love for his son, he taught him the special Torah1:39that he himself, Yaakov, learned in1:42yeshivat Shem v'Ever. He also made him a special garment, which was called the ketonet passim, some sort of1:46striped beautiful garment that singled him out from all the other brothers.1:51Now that's Yaakov and Yosef.1:53However, Yosef and his own brothers, Torah tells us that the relationship was not as1:59smooth and nice as it was with his father.2:02Yosef most of the time did not spend time with the children of Leah. He spent time with2:06the children of Bilhah and Zilpah, the2:10shifchot. And not only that, Yosef always made a point to highlight the mistakes of what2:15he thought were mistakes of his brothers to Yaakov2:20Avinu. Three examples the Chachamim tell us is that he would tell Yaakov Avinu how the2:24shevatim, his brothers, would belittle the children of Zilpah and Bilhah.2:27He also would tell them that they would eat meat without slaughtering it and that they2:32were befriending non-Jewish women.2:35And then all of a sudden Yosef adds more fuel to the fire.2:40With his dreams, Yosef has two dreams are pointed out in the parashah.2:44The first dream is that they were making bundles in the field, and all of a sudden there were2:48eleven bundles that were made by each of the brothers, and they all bowed down to the bundle2:53that Yosef had.2:54And another dream that Yosef had is that he saw himself where the eleven stars, the sun and the3:01moon, were bowing down to him.3:03These were giving the same message to his brothers: I am a king.3:07It's as Yosef was declaring, I'm the king. I will rule over you.3:10And therefore the brothers' reaction was not a good one.3:13They hated him.3:14Clearly,3:15it says that they hated him for his dreams. They hated him for his behavior.3:19Why?3:19Because Yosef didn't understand them.3:21What he saw as an aveirah, really, the Chachamim explain, really was not an3:25aveirah, because it's only in Yosef's mind3:27that's how he viewed it as an aveirah, and that's how he was reporting what he did3:29to Yaakov3:30Avinu. And therefore tension was created between the brothers and Yosef.3:33But the good thing about the shevatim is that the Chachamim tell us. That the3:38shevatim never hid their hatred towards Yosef.3:40They told him straight3:42out. It wasn't pent up inside.3:44They told him, We don't like you.3:46So Yosef knew very well his brothers' feelings towards him.3:49And now we move on to the second part of the parasha of how these feelings were carried3:54out, where we were told about the selling of Yosef.3:57Now, the brothers, it says that they went to shepherd the sheep in Shechem.4:00Keep in mind, Shechem is about midway in the middle of Eretz Yisrael, and where the4:06brothers lived in Hebron was very, very deep down,4:09so very down south.4:11So it says that the brothers went to Shechem to shepherd the sheep.4:16However, the chachamim tell us that really they went there to discuss an important matter.4:19What are we to do with our brother Yosef?4:21They thought Yosef was a rodef.4:23He was another Esav. Abraham had a Yishmael. Yitzchak, grandpa Yitzchak, had an Esav.4:28It seems like Yaakov also had a son who was also yotzei dofen, who was an exception.4:33He was a person who was not fit to be one of the Jewish people.4:36We have to see what to do with Esav.4:38Meanwhile, Yaakov was getting nervous.4:41The brothers went to Shechem.4:42He didn't know what happened.4:43He already, from—we know from parashat Vayishlach—that Yaakov had what you would say a mini world war with the4:50people around Shechem,4:51since Levi and Shimon destroyed the city of Shechem, so he was scared for his children.4:55So he sends Yosef. He tells him, I want you to go check up on your brothers.4:59As Yosef is going to check up on his brothers in Shechem, he gets lost.5:02And along the way, Hashem sends an malach, and the malach shows and directs Yosef exactly5:07where the brothers are.5:10And right when he was coming, the brothers see Yosef coming, and by that time they already5:14have decided that really Yosef is chayav mita.5:17Why?5:18He's a rodef.5:19The halacha says anybody who comes to kill you, you must— Kill him before he kills you.5:25So therefore, they decided we're going to kill him.5:27However, Reuven, who was the eldest there, he said, Why should we kill him?5:30Here is a pit.5:31It has snakes and scorpions,5:33and if he's really chayav mita, let's not do it actively.5:37Let's throw him in the pit,5:38and if he really has sins, God will take care of him on His own.5:41So they agree that's a good plan.5:42Why should we kill him with our hands?5:43They took Yosef right, and immediately when he came, they threw him down the pit.5:46And as the Gemara says in Masechet Shabbat, the Gemara, which in the same subject talking5:51about Chanukah, the Gemara says that the pit was full of snakes and scorpions.5:55However, when Yosef went down the pit, says the Hadran says that the snakes and scorpions5:59were absorbed and swallowed into the walls, and they weren't able to harm Yosef.6:03And Yosef was crying from the pit, Please get me out.6:06The brothers didn't want to hear; they wanted away from him.6:09And as they're sitting away from him, Yosef is picked up from the well by Midyanim,6:16and they pick up Yosef,6:18and there was a whole fight between Yosef and Yosef's brothers and the Midyanim.6:23Eventually, the brothers sell Yosef, who is eventually sold to the Yishmaelim, eventually6:29sold to the Midyanim, and eventually taken down to Mitzrayim.6:32Afterwards, the brothers have to decide now, what are we going to do?6:35What are we going to tell our father?6:37So Yissachar comes up with a great idea. He said, Let's make it look like Yosef died.6:42We'll take his clothes that we took off before he went down the pit, we'll dip it in blood,6:47and we'll say this is what we found.6:49And then Yaakov will figure out that Yosef was killed on his own.6:54The Torah tells us, the Chachamim tell us, that the brothers also made a cherem. They6:59made a deal with each other, and that nobody is allowed to reveal the secret of what we7:04did, and whoever does is going to be placed in cherem. So therefore all the brothers agreed7:09to the vow, and nobody told Yaakov of the true story of what happened to Yosef.7:14However, Yaakov is shown the garment of Yosef, and Yaakov says, Chaya ra'ah achalatu, and he feels that he was7:22killed by a wild animal. He sees the blood, and it says in the pasuk that Yaakov mourns7:27Yosef, as well as Yitzchak, who was still alive.7:29Yitzchak was still alive when the sale of Yosef took place, and he also mourns together7:36with Yaakov. The difference was that Yitzchak knew that Yosef was really still alive, but he7:40felt that since Hashem was not telling Yaakov, it's not his place to tell Yaakov either.7:44And now we move on. The Torah seems to switch scenery, and we move on to a completely different7:49story that seems to be in no connection to the selling of Yosef,7:53the story of Yehuda and Tamar, the third part of this week's parasha.7:55Torah tells us about Yehuda's first marriage.7:58Yehuda marries a woman named Batshua.8:00And he has three children from her, and they are Er, Onan, and Shelah, in that order.8:06Then he decides that his children should get married,8:09so he finds a woman, a girl named Tamar, and he gets Tamar married to his son8:16Er. Tamar came from a great lineage. She came from Shem.8:19Some say she was directly the daughter of Shem, although that's very hard to really calculate.8:23The Maharal explains that she was a descendant of Shem, the son of Noah.8:28Er marries Tamar, however, due to sin, aveirah, Er dies.8:33So therefore, Tamar ends up marrying Onan,8:37and he also dies because of the same8:39aveirah. After two children die, Yehuda was scared to give her over to the son Shelah,8:44so therefore he tells Tamar, Just wait till Shelah gets older.8:48Afterwards, the Torah tells us that as Tamar was waiting, Yehuda had no intention of really getting her to marry Shelah.8:53Yehuda's wife also dies,8:56and Yehuda goes down to Timnat with Chirah ha'Adullami to oversee the shearing of his sheep.9:02And there Tamar gets news that Yehuda was coming around,9:05and she dresses up in a way that she gets Yehuda to be with her9:10because she knew, she saw through ruach hakodesh, that they're going to have children who eventually will be kings and great prophets.9:18After Yehuda was with her, she asks him for collateral until her payment,9:25because Yehuda thought that he was going with a prostitute,9:28so therefore she wanted payment. But since he didn't have any payment,9:31she took from him his staff, his seal, and his coat as collateral until he makes his payment.9:38Meanwhile, three months later, the news comes back to Yehuda that9:42Yudono, who was supposed to be waiting for Shelah, is pregnant.9:45Now, Yehuda had no clue that it was really Tamar who was with him three months ago,9:49so he sits in the beit din with him, his grandfather Yitzchak, and his father Yaakov,9:54and they rule that she's chayav mita by burning,9:57like a kohen who has terumah that gets tamei also is chayav to burn it,10:02so too the kedushah of Tamar, the daughter of Shem, who was a kohen, also is chayav to be burned.10:07That's how the Maharal explains it.10:08And right before she's taken to be burnt,10:12Tamar presents the collateral of the man who was with her.10:15When Yehuda sees that was his staff and his coat and his stick.10:20He realizes that it was him who impregnated her,10:22and in front of everybody he admits,10:25Tzadekah mimeni. She is right, it was me, and therefore she technically did not commit a sin,10:32because technically she could have been married to me as well.10:34That's the halachot of yibum. If you look in the Ramban, how he explains it,10:37that's how yibum used to be before Matan Torah.10:39Eventually Tamar gives birth to twins, Peretz and Zerah. Zerah,10:46in the twin childbirth, Zerah sticks out his hand first.10:48However, right before Zerah comes out, Peretz comes out first,10:52and therefore he's named Peretz.10:53And Zerah, who stuck out his hand first, he had a string on him,10:56and he comes out and he's born,10:57and those are the two children of Yehudah,11:00the new children of Yehudah, as we find in this week's11:03parashah. From there, the Torah comes back to the story of Yosef,11:05and the fourth part of this week's11:07parashah: Yosef in Potiphar's house.11:10Yosef becomes great in Potiphar's house.11:12Pasuk says,11:14Vayeda adonav ki Hashem ito. His master saw that Hashem was with him.11:18Vechol asher hu oseh Hashem matzliach. Whatever Yosef does, Hashem makes it successful.11:22And the Chachamim explain that every word that Yosef said,11:26he would say,11:28b'ezrat Hashem. Hashem ito. Hashem was with him on his lips constantly.11:31Also, kol asher hu oseh matzliach. Whatever Yosef does, he was successful,11:35he prospered. Even things which Potiphar was trying to get him in trouble for,11:40Yosef somehow managed miraculously11:43that he was able to perform it for his master,11:46and because of Yosef's success,11:48he trusted him tremendously.11:50Potiphar trusted Yosef because he saw constant miracles with Yosef.11:53However, Yosef is tested in Potiphar's house.11:56What was his test?11:57His test was that Eshes Potiphar,12:00whose name is12:02Zelichah, she gets a liking to Yosef.12:04Different explanations of the12:06Chachamim of why she specifically liked Yosef.12:08However, the test came to Yosef12:10because of something that the Chachamim criticize on Yosef's part,12:14and that is that he started beautifying himself.12:16He saw his success and his prosperity,12:19and he felt, you know, this is the time when I become a ruler.12:22He started adorning himself,12:24dressing himself a little bit better.12:25And as a result,12:27the wife of12:29Potifar, Zlicha, put her eyes on Yosef,12:31and she set out to be with Yosef,12:32that she should have children from Yosef,12:35because she also saw through her magic12:38that eventually they would have some sort of children, descendants together.12:42Of course, Yosef refuses,12:45and Zlicha doesn't give up.12:47For a whole year,12:48she tries to seduce Yosef.12:50However, Yosef does not give in.12:54Finally, one day when nobody was home,12:56Zlicha comes to Yosef.12:57She approaches Yosef,12:58and she grabs his garments,13:00and Yosef runs away.13:02Even though it was very difficult for Yosef,13:04but he finally couldn't do it,13:05and he ran away from the house13:07while she grabbed his clothing.13:09And although Yosef passed the test,13:11now he was given already a new test,13:13and that's the last part of this week's13:15parasha, when Yosef gets arrested.13:17Yosef in jail, the Torah tells us,13:19the Chachamim tell us that13:22Zlicha starts spreading the news about Yosef,13:24how he tried to be with her,13:25and the proof was, look, he left his garment with me.13:27She tells this to the servants,13:28and eventually when Potifar comes,13:30she tells him, Look, this is the servant,13:32the Jewish servant that you bring into the house.13:34He tried to be with me,13:35and Yosef is arrested,13:36and he's placed in the worst prison in Mitzrayim.13:39While Yosef, however, was in jail,13:41Zlicha comes after him also over there,13:43and she comes and she tries to entice him.13:45But again, Yosef withstands the test13:48to no avail. He does not listen to13:51Zlicha, and therefore Yosef, as a result of not listening to13:53Zlicha, ends up in jail for ten years,13:55still never losing13:57emunah. But still, even though Yosef was in jail,14:00he was also found success over there.14:02The warden of the jail liked him14:05because Hashem gave him a special charm,14:07and the warden puts Yosef in charge14:09of all the inmates in jail.14:11And then finally we come to the last part14:12of this week's14:14parasha, where the Yosef is known.14:16We see Yosef's ability in interpreting dreams.14:20Three days before Rosh Hashanah,14:22after Yosef was in jail for ten years,14:25two great workers of the king Paro were arrested:14:29Sar HaMashkim, the one who took care of all the drinks,14:31and Sar HaOphim, the one who took care14:32of all the baked products.14:33And both of them had dreams on the same night,14:36and each one dreamt his dream14:38plus the other person's interpretation.14:40But they didn't know that each had14:42the interpretation of the other person.14:44And when they tell their dreams to Yosef,14:46Sar HaMashkim begins first,14:48and he interprets the dream that in three days14:50he'll come back14:50and he will be back in his position14:54to serve14:55Paro. Sar HaOphim sees that he interpreted14:57a good interpretation,14:58so he also comes to15:00Yosef and he tells him his dream.15:02However, his dream was, his interpretation was15:04that he will not be able to survive;15:06you will be hung in three days.15:08And that's exactly what happened15:09three days later, which was Rosh Hashanah.15:11Paro puts back15:13Sar HaMashkim to his original position,15:15while he puts Sar HaOphim to death.15:18And Yosef, after interpreting15:20the Sar HaMashkim's dream,15:22tells him right away,15:23I know you're going to come back.15:24Make sure that you remember me15:26and you mention me to15:27Paro. However, the Torah concludes with the last pasuk,15:32V'lo zachar Sar HaMashkim et Yosef vayishkachehu. Sar HaMashkim did not remember Yosef,15:34and he forgot him.15:35He did not mention him to Paro at all15:37for an extra two years,15:38where Yosef was placed in jail.15:40Finally, we come to the lesson15:41of this week's15:42parasha. We find in this week's15:44parasha a gloomy parasha, a dark15:46parasha. It seems like things are difficult.15:49Yosef is going to galut,15:50he's sent into prison,15:53and it seems like everything is going down.15:54Now we know the story.15:55We know that Yosef is going to rise to greatness,15:57but that's going to be next week's15:58parasha. But at the time that Yosef is16:00Experiencing it, Yosef is in darkness. Yehuda is mourning the loss of his family and all everything that befell him. Yaakov is mourning the loss of his son, one of the tribes, and things seem to be going haywire, out of16:15sync. However, we know that next week's parasha, everything comes into place, and everybody realizes in two weeks' parasha that it was all a setup from HaKadosh Baruch Hu.16:25And this is a lesson, that although we may be going through, we may experience some difficult times, we have to know that if it's HaKadosh Baruch Hu who's the one in charge, He has great plans for us.16:37We just have to hold on to our emunah, like the pasuk says, Lehagid baboker chasdecha, to hold on to our faith even when it seems dark, so we could see, be'ezrat Hashem, when the boker comes,17:11boker chasdecha. Shabbat shalom.