Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat VayigashRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Vayigash · ויגש · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:06Parashat Vayigash. This week's parasha has 106 pesukim.0:10This is the final sequel in the story of Yosef and his brothers,0:13where we can see Yosef revealing himself to his brothers,0:15and in this parasha we find how the Jewish people settled in the first galut in our history.0:21We divided the parasha into five parts.0:23The first part of the parasha, Yosef reveals himself to his brothers.0:27The second part of the parasha tells us about Yaakov, how Yaakov is informed about Yosef.0:34The third part of the parasha tells us how the Jewish people traveled from Eretz Canaan to Eretz0:38Mitzrayim. The fourth part of the parasha, Yosef introduces his family to Paro in order to get them to settle in Eretz Goshen.0:45And finally, the Torah concludes by telling us how Yosef governed Mitzrayim, the land of Egypt, in the seven years of hunger.0:53Noam is what in this week's parasha, and we'll get to the parasha right now a little bit more in depth.0:58The first part of the parasha, Yosef reveals himself1:01to them, is a continuation of last week's parasha.1:04Last week's parasha, Binyamin was quote-unquote caught with the silver goblet,1:10and he was supposed to be taken as a slave.1:13Here Yehuda approaches Yosef, and he demands that Yosef give back Binyamin.1:18And after much arguing back and forth, Yehuda offers himself to come as a substitute for Binyamin.1:25He tells Yosef, What in the world do you want with Binyamin?1:28I'm better than him in all fronts.1:30I'm better than him in age. I'm older. I'm stronger than Binyamin. I'm more capable than Binyamin.1:37If you want, you could put me in your army. I'll be able to destroy. I'll be able to battle for the land of Mitzrayim much more than Binyamin could.1:44Why in the world do you want Binyamin?1:46And Yosef refuses.1:48And the Midrash tells us in detail the long conversation back and forth between Yehuda and Yosef,1:54and the arguing and the debating. Finally, it escalates, escalates to the point that Yehuda says,2:00If you don't want to give back Binyamin, fine. We are ready to make a war.2:04And he prepares all his brothers for war.2:06He tells his brothers, We're going to destroy Mitzrayim in order to take back Binyamin.2:10There's no way we're going back to Yaakov without Binyamin.2:12And if all of Mitzrayim is ready to fight us, we're ready to fight them.2:16Then Yosef threatens them, calls upon the Egyptian army,2:20which runs away in fear when they confront2:25Yehuda. And Yosef now sees that the situation is very dangerous,2:28so he gets his son to calm down2:30Yehuda. And once he calms down Yehuda, he tells him, Listen, if you want back Binyamin, I'm ready to give you back Binyamin2:37on the condition that you give me your other brother Yosef.2:42To that, Shimon replies, he says, But we told you already.2:45We came here from last year telling you we're looking for our brother. He's lost. We don't know where he is.2:50To that, Yosef tells them, What if I tell you that I purchased your brother Yosef,2:56and I'll bring him out right now for you?2:58And the brothers are shocked. Yosef is alive.3:01Yosef is here. You purchased him? Where is he?3:04Probably the brothers figured that all the information that Yosef knew about them3:08was probably told by their brother Yosef, which they didn't know that Yosef himself was the one speaking to them.3:13Finally, as the brothers are looking around to see where Yosef is coming from,3:16Yosef looks at his brothers and he tells them, Why are you looking around?3:21Ani Yosef. I'm Yosef. Ha'od avi chai? Is my father still alive?3:25And with those words, according to the Midrash, the brothers lost their3:30neshama, and they had an immediate3:32techiyat hameitim. I guess it would be something similar to what we'd say a person fainted.3:35They were in complete shock. They didn't know what to answer Yosef.3:37They couldn't believe that it was Yosef.3:39Yosef proved to the brothers that he's really Yosef by showing them his3:43brit milah, and he started speaking to them in Hebrew,3:46and they understood and they recognized that this was really Yosef.3:50However, Yosef realized the shock of his brothers, so he wanted to calm them down.3:53He told them immediately, Don't think that it's you who sold me here.3:57It was all from Hashem.3:58Hashem brought me here to Egypt, to Mitzrayim,4:01in order to be able to sustain you now in the years of hunger.4:04You had no part of it.4:07You were just— Messengers of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.4:10And afterwards, after he calms his brothers, he goes to4:14Binyamin. He hugs Binyamin, he cries on the shoulders of4:16Binyamin, Binyamin cries with him,4:17and he goes to each one of his brothers. He hugs them, he kisses them,4:20and they all cry together.4:22And Yosef tries to calm them all down,4:24that they should not feel bad for selling him to Mitzrayim.4:28And then the brothers calm down, and they're able to converse and they talk.4:31And we move on to the second part of the4:34parashah, where Yaakov is informed about Yosef.4:36So Yosef tells his brothers in Mitzrayim,4:38I want you to go back to Eretz4:40Canaan, and I want you to tell my father exactly of my position,4:43of where I am right now,4:45and tell him that I want him to move together with the whole family4:49from Eretz Canaan to Eretz Mitzrayim.4:50He'll live here in the best part of the country, in the land of Goshen.4:54This is what will be given to Yaakov and his family,4:57and he shouldn't feel bad about anything.4:58Don't worry about anything. Don't try to bring anything with you.5:01Just come yourselves. You will have the top and the best of Eretz Mitzrayim.5:06And because there's still five more years of hunger,5:09and I will be able to take care of you over here in Eretz5:12Canaan, there's hunger all over the world. I won't be able to take care of you over there.5:15So the brothers decide to go back,5:19but Yosef sends with them gifts.5:21To each one of his brothers, the shevatim, Yosef gives certain5:25gifts. To Binyamin, he ends up getting five times the amount of gifts in clothing,5:29and an additional 300 silvers that Yosef gave to Binyamin.5:35Yaakov also receives a gift from Yosef,5:38and Yosef sends him three things.5:41Number one is the same gifts as Binyamin,5:43the same thing he gave to Binyamin, he sends to Yaakov.5:45Another package that Yosef sends to Yaakov are ten male donkeys,5:51and they were carrying, I guess you'd call like UPS trucks,5:53they were carrying the best of what Egypt has to offer.5:58And Rashi explains, what is that? Old wine.6:00And the third package was ten female donkeys carrying food for the road.6:05When Yaakov would come from Canaan to the land of Mitzrayim,6:09as the Sefatim are getting closer to Eretz6:11Canaan, they started thinking, how in the world are we going to tell our father Yaakov of what happened?6:18He's 130 years old now. Who knows what could happen?6:20He might be too excited. He might be in shock. So we have to break it down to him.6:25On the way home, they see the daughter of Asher named6:29Serach, and she knew how to play on the harp in a beautiful way.6:31So they tell Serach, We want you to break down the news in a song to our grandfather Yaakov.6:35In such a way, Serach comes to Yaakov. She sings to him.6:38Yosef is alive with her beautiful song,6:41and Yaakov is able to hear the words of the song,6:45and he feels a revival.6:47He feels that her words are true,6:50and he blesses her that she should never die for the rest of her life.6:53In fact, Serach was one of the people who never died.6:57Afterwards, the brothers come in, and they tell Yaakov of Yosef's greatness.7:02And Yaakov, upon hearing that Yosef is the ruler of Mitzrayim,7:06you would think he would be excited. However, the Torah tells us that he was shocked.7:10He hasn't yet—if he didn't absorb it—but he was more in shock that maybe7:15everything that I trained Yosef in,7:19his whole spirituality is down the line.7:21Mitzrayim was known as the land of7:23tumah, so therefore Yaakov didn't want to believe it at first.7:26After he sees the agalot,7:28Yaakov was sent special wagons from his son Yosef,7:33and the agalot came with the remez, with the hint7:35of the last halacha that Yosef learned with his father Yaakov,7:39which was the halacha of eglah arufah, a special din.7:42When Yaakov sees that Yosef still remembers his learning Torah,7:47especially the last halacha that he learned with his father,7:49he realized that Yosef did not forget his Torah.7:53And the pasuk says,7:53Vatechi ruach Yaakov avihem, the spirit of Yaakov was revived,7:59and...8:00Ruach HaKodesh came back to Yaakov.8:02And with that, we move to the third part of the parashah, where the family of Yaakov travels to Mitzrayim.8:07And on the road, Teratzah says Yaakov stops at Be'er Sheva, where he offers korbanot8:14to l'Elohei Yitzchak Aviv, and over there Hashem comes to him in a dream.8:16And Hashem calms Yaakov, and He promises him three things.8:20Number one, He tells him that your children will become a great nation in Egypt.8:24Number two, Hashem promises Yaakov that He will take him out of Egypt,8:28which means he will not be buried in the land of Egypt;8:30he'll be buried in Eretz Canaan, in Eretz Yisrael.8:33And finally, He tells him, He promises him that Yosef will cover the eyes of Yaakov right before he passes away.8:39It has many meanings,8:40and the simple meaning is that Yaakov, upon passing away, will see Yosef in his greatness.8:46So it tells us that there were seventy nefesh, seventy people technically, that left from the land of Canaan to come to Mitzrayim.8:54Now the way we come to this number seventy, Teratzas tells us exactly who the people are,8:59and they're divided by the children of Yaakov's wives.9:04Yaakov had four wives, and therefore the Teratzas each of the wives, how many children they had.9:09For Leah, there were thirty-three children, thirty-three people from her.9:14Zilpah, sixteen, Rachel fourteen, and Bilhah with9:18seven, totaling9:19seventy. However, you should note that the seventy is very complicated, the way the Torah came to that number9:26seventy. Who does the Torah count and who does it omit, and were they exactly seventy or more?9:31For example, Yosef and his two children, Menashe and Ephraim, are counted as part of the9:36seventy, even though they were already in Mitzrayim.9:38The Chachamim also tell us that Yocheved was born right upon the entrance of the city to her father Levi.9:45And none of the wives are counted yet.9:48Dinah is counted, who was the wife of Shimon.9:51So exactly who the Torah chooses to count and not to count is a very interesting way.9:56Obviously, it has many, many, many secrets and depth that are beyond this 15-minute class.10:03That's the part we have to know. But this section of the Torah is that Yaakov sends Yehuda ahead of everybody10:10to go to the land of Goshen and to establish a yeshiva.10:12So this way, when all the Jewish people arrive in the land of10:16Goshen, they already see that there's a Beit HaTalmud, there's a yeshiva where everybody goes to,10:19and everybody will know that this is the primary place in our lives.10:24We move on to the fourth part of Parashah, where Yosef introduces his family to10:28Paro. First, the Torah tells us of the first meeting between Yosef and Yaakov.10:33Finally, after 22 years, Yaakov and Yosef reunite, and Yosef himself prepares the carriage to go meet his father Yaakov.10:41Now, in order to appreciate this, can you imagine the wealthiest man in the world,10:47and he has his car, and he's taking his car to the car wash,10:51but he himself is the one who sits there and washes it with his own hands.10:56He fills up his own gas. He changes his own oil in order to drive his car.11:01The wealthiest man, the most powerful man, could do such a thing, would do such a thing.11:04Here Yosef, who was the second in command of the whole Mitzrayim,11:07the whole country was under his hands,11:10he prepares his own horse and carriage.11:12His horse, he ties it to the carriage in order to fulfill the mitzvah of11:16kibud av, to meet his father Yaakov.11:20When Yaakov was approaching the land of Goshen,11:23Yosef comes, and he gets off his carriage and he runs towards his father.11:27He hugs his father and he cries on his father's shoulders.11:30However, the Chachamim tell us that Yaakov at the time was not crying.11:33He was reciting Kriat Shema.11:34He was saying Kriat Shema,11:36and the mefarshim explain the depth of why Yaakov had to say Kriat Shema at that time.11:41Then Yosef introduces his family to11:43Paro. But before introducing them, Yosef tells his family of a plan.11:47We don't want you to mix with the Egyptians.11:49We want you to sit and live separately from the11:53non-Jews in order to preserve our identity as a people.11:57So therefore, if Paro would ask you, what is your job, what do you do,12:01make sure you tell him that you are shepherds of sheep.12:03They don't like sheep. The sheep is their god.12:06They don't like shepherds.12:08So therefore, I'm sure he'll send you away.12:10And that's exactly what happened.12:11When Paro asks the brothers, the five brothers that Yosef presented to12:16Paro, the brothers reply that we shepherd sheep.12:18And therefore Yosef is told by Paro to take his brothers and his12:23family and to put them in Goshen and to give them the best of Mitzrayim.12:27They should have whatever they need.12:29Then Yosef introduces Yaakov, his father, to12:34Paro. And when Yaakov walks into Paro, he gives him a blessing.12:38And he blesses him that the Nile River should come to greet him12:43every time Paro walks on its edge.12:45Every time Paro would walk by the Nile River,12:47the water would come to greet12:49Paro. That was a blessing from Yaakov12:52Avinu. Paro sees Yaakov, who looks much older, and he asks him,12:54How old are you?12:55And Yaakov replies, I'm 130 years old,12:58but I've gone through a lot in my life,13:01and yet I have not accomplished as much as my parents13:05and as much as my grandparents have accomplished.13:08Yaakov departs from13:10Paro, and Torah tells us although there were still five more years to the hunger,13:15the hunger stops in Mitzrayim in the merit of Yaakov13:18HaTzadik, exactly as we found in13:21Parashat Vayetze. It says that Yaakov left Eretz Canaan and the splendor and the13:25honor and the privilege and the zechut that was in Eretz13:28Canaan when Yaakov was there left with him.13:30Here, Yaakov takes all that righteousness and tzedkut and merit,13:34and he brings it with him to Mitzrayim,13:36that the whole hunger stops in Eretz Mitzrayim.13:39Afterwards, the Torah tells us13:40Yosef takes his family, settles them in Rameses in Eretz Goshen,13:44and we move on to the final part of the13:46parashah. Here, the Torah kind of rewinds a little bit13:48and tells us how Yosef governed the whole country13:51during the seven years of13:52hunger. The seven years of hunger started way13:55before—not way before, but a year13:56before—the brothers came to meet Yosef for the first time.14:02So right when the first years of hunger started,14:05everybody comes to Yosef to buy,14:08and they buy. They use all their money.14:10After all their money is finished,14:12they come to Yosef and they say,14:13We don't have any more money. What should we do?14:14So Yosef says, Okay, sell me all your cattle.14:17And Yosef gives them the food in exchange for their14:20cattle. And after they use all their cattle to pay off for their food,14:24they come to Yosef and they tell him,14:26Listen, we have no more cattle.14:27We have no more money.14:28All we have is our land and ourselves.14:30Let us buy food with our land and ourselves.14:33And that's exactly what Yosef does.14:34He buys all of their property of the real estate in Mitzrayim,14:39and he puts it in Paro's account,14:42and he gives them in exchange food.14:44By that time already his family came and the hunger stopped,14:46and they were able to plant.14:47And Yosef provides for them all the seeds to14:49plant. And being that the whole land belonged to Yosef,14:54Yosef distributes all the Egyptians,14:55and he takes them, he relocates them,14:58each person, each family, and each region he relocates them.15:01Everybody lives in different places for two reasons.15:03Number one is that nobody should be able to rebel against Paro.15:07Number two is that they shouldn't make fun of his family15:11by calling them strangers.15:13You come from a different land.15:14Well, here nobody was a citizen.15:15Everybody was switched over from all parts of the land.15:18After Yosef purchases all the land15:20and he gives them the seeds,15:21Yosef tells them that whatever you plant, whatever you work,15:24you'll have to give 20% to Paro15:26and you're allowed to keep 80%.15:28The only people that Yosef doesn't take their land away15:32and doesn't give them the 20% tax are the clergy, the Kohanim.15:35These are the clergy of Mitzrayim.15:38They were allowed to keep the15:39land, and they were not taxed the 20% like everybody else.15:43And we finish the parasha, and we come to the lesson of the parasha.15:45What can we learn from this week's parasha in short?15:47We learn a very important lesson.15:49We can learn what Yosef has established throughout all of Jewish history.15:55Yosef was the Jew who came to galut before his brothers.16:00And he was successful. Yet even though he was successful, he never forgot his Torah,16:06and he made sure that when his brothers came and they needed his help, he made sure to help them,16:11even though he had every reason not to help them because of what they did to him. Yosef did not do that.16:14He took care of them, and he took care of them with the highest standards.16:20That was what Yosef established, and that's the lesson we have to learn now in our galut:16:24to live like Yosef. Even with all the success Hashem gives us, we have to learn to remain faithful to the Torah16:33and to be there to help our brethren and our brothers and sisters when they need our help.17:08Shabbat shalom.