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Parshat
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Parshat
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A Student Publication of the Torah Academy of Bergen County
Parshat Vayigash
9 Tevet 5764
January 3, 2004
Vol.13 No.17
In This Issue:
Rabbi
Ezra Weiner
Avi
Wollman
Rabbi
Daniel Z. Feldman
|
This
week’s issue of Kol Torah has been sponsored by Mr. Morty Rosner |
Od Yosef Chai
by Rabbi Ezra Weiner
Upon returning to Yaakov to tell him the good news
that Yosef is still alive, the Torah relates, “Vayagidu Lo Leimor Od Yosef
Chai … Vayipag LeboKi Lo Heemin Lahem. Vayidabru Eilav Et Kol Divrei Yosef … Vayar et Ha’agalot
… Vatichi Ruach Yaakov Avihem.”
Rashi, quoting Bereshit Rabbah, interprets these Pesukim to mean that
although the brothers informed Yaakov that Yosef was alive, Yaakov did not
believe them until he noticed the wagons that Yosef sent.
The wagons were a sign from Yosef that he had remembered the last Halacha
that he learned with his father Yaakov, the Halacha of Egla Arufa, before they
had separated. It was when Yaakov
noticed the Agalah that he had confirmation that Yosef was indeed alive.
This Midrash is puzzling for many reasons.
One problem is that the Pasuk states, “Vayidabru Elav Kol Divrei
Yosef.” One can assume then, that the brothers told Yaakov that
Yosef, the viceroy, seated them around his table in birth order.
They must have also mentioned that Yosef spoke Hebrew (see Rashi 45:12)
and that he had been circumcised (see Rashi 45:4).
In addition, not one of the brothers even questioned for a moment
Yosef’s claim of “Ani Yosef.”
If they were perfectly convinced that this was indeed Yosef, why was
Yaakov not convinced, and secondly, why did the Agalot remove Yaakov’s doubt?
Rav Nissan Alpert zt”l offers the following interpretation.
The theme that emerges from the Parsha of Eglah Arufah is the notion of
Arvut, accountability for other Jews. Although
we do not fault the Zikainim of the closest city to the corpse for the death of
this individual, nevertheless the blame rests indirectly upon them as they were
unmindful of their responsibility to see that a person be properly escorted out
of the city. Jews are guarantors
for other Jews, and if they are neglectful of this responsibility then Kaparah,
atonement, is necessary.
Yosef was very scrupulous in the area of Arvut.
He protected Bilhah’s children from the degradation they were subjected
to by Leah’s children, and he resolved to carry out the command of his father
to ascertain the well-being of his brothers and the sheep in Shechem thought he
knew that his brothers despised him.
When Yaakov first heard “Od Yosef Chai” he was skeptical because one
thing troubled him. How could
Yosef, the paradigm of Arvut, remain in Egypt for 22 years and not contact his
father? Didn’t Yosef always go
out of his way for family because he felt a sense of responsibility? Yaakov’s skepticism was not really based on a lack of
belief that Yosef was alive, but rather on his doubt of what kind of Simcha
should he really be feeling, if Yosef had not contacted him in all these years.
It
was only when Yaakov saw the Agalot, a sign that Yosef really did care and that
he was going to take responsibility for the entire family by taking them to
Egypt to support them during the years of famine, that Yaakov believed that
Yosef was alive. He understood that Yosef’s position in Egypt was
Bihashgachat Hashem and that Yosef must have had reason not to contact Yaakov
because had Yosef really lost his sense of Arvut, he never would have sent
Agalot to take his family to live with him.
Spiritual Days
by Avi Wollman
One of the numerous events in this week’s Parsha,
Vayigash, is the conversation between Yaakov and Pharaoh. On one end of the
spectrum there is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the most powerful country at the time;
Pharaoh, in a physical sense, is the most powerful man on earth. At the other
end of the spectrum, Yaakov is spiritual leader of his time and thereby, in a
spiritual sense, the most powerful man on earth. So, in Parshat Vayigash, the
two powerful men come to speak with each other and Pharaoh asks Yaakov, “How
many are the days of the years of your life?” What sort of question is this
for Pharaoh to ask?
Rav
Hirsch answers that Pharaoh was really asking how many truly spiritual
days Yaakov had in his lifetime. Yaakov replies, "The days of the years of
my life are 130 years, but the days of the years of my life are few and bad, and
did not surpass those of my fathers." Yaakov is answering Pharaoh that
physically, he has lived for 130 years. However, spiritually, he did not
“surpass the days of his fathers.” Yaakov has not made as many of his days
as spiritually fulfilling as he would have liked because of all the troubles
placed upon him that Avraham and Yitzchak did not have. He means to say that he
does not care about the 130 years he has physically lived, only the truly
meaningful spiritual days of his life. Like Yaakov, we should try to make our
days more spiritual, by setting aside time out of our day for Torah and Mitzvot
and so are days will really be days.
Staff at time of publication:
Editors-in-Chief Emeritus: Shuky Gross, Effie Richmond
Editors-in-Chief: Avi Rosenbaum, Simcha Tropp
Publication Editors: Jerry Karp, Sam Wiseman, Willie Roth
Publishing Managers: Ely Winkler, Andy Feuerstein-Rudin
Publication Manager: Orin Ben-Jacob
Business Manager: Moshe Zharnest
Staff: Etan Bluman, Chanan Strassman, Ben Katz, Jesse
Dunietz
Faculty Advisor: Rabbi Chaim Jachter
Webmaster: Ariel Caplan
This publication contains Torah matter
and should be treated accordingly.