Category: Food for Thought

זכרון ציפה תרצה – The Food for Thought Archives in blessed memory of Celia Rosenberg a”h

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Yisro – How to Appreciate Every Jew


This week’s Torah portion of Yisro has the most important event of the Jewish People, Matan Torah – Hashem giving us the Torah on Mount Sinai. Before the Torah was given to the Jewish People, Hashem made a proposal to them, “You have seen what I did to Egypt, and that I have borne you on eagle’s wings and brought you to Me. And now, if you hearken well to My voice and observe my covenant, you shall be to Me the most beloved treasure of all people, for Mine is the entire world. You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Shemos 19:4-6).

The Maalos Hamiddos, by Rav Yechiel ben Yekusiel ben Binyamin the doctor, who lived over 700 years ago, uses this as a basis of showing how Hashem loves the Jews and therefore each Jew should love his fellow Jew. The question is why this is so and how does this help one love his fellow Jew?

The Maalos Hamiddos says, “And just as one is obligated to love His Creator, so to each man has an obligation to love his friend. This is because the Jews are beloved by Hashem more than all the other nations. And because of this love He calls them His children, as it says ‘You are children to Hashem your G-D’ (Devarim 14:1)… And because of this love they are called kings and holy as it says ‘And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation etc.’ (Shemos 19:6). The Rabbis (Vayikra Rabba 24:8) made a parable about this of the citizens of a country who made 3 crowns for the king. What did the king do? He put one crown on his head and two on his sons’ head. So to every single day the angels serenade the king with 3 expressions of holiness as they say, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the G-D of Legions, His honor fills the entire land’ (Yeshaya 6:3). What does Hashem do? He crowns Himself with one and gives the other two to the Jews, as it says, ‘And they will declare Me holy and you will be holy (in plural) because I am holy’ (Vayikra 11:44). The Jews get two “holies” and Hashem one. And because of this love Hashem gave them the Torah which is a potion for life and as long as they are all involved in it no nation can control them. This is a parable, told by the Sages, likened to a king who had an only son from his queen. He also had children from concubines. The king sensed that the children of the concubines were jealous of his son and sought to harm him. The king said to himself, if G-D forbid it will happen what they wish to do to my son, what will be with my kingdom? What did the king do? He got up and brought his son close to him and put an amulet around his neck, so even if he is captured by them, they can’t hurt him. He also put together a kit of food, drink, clothes, medical equipment and even a wagon, so that no poison could cause damage. So to as long as all the Jews are involved in Torah learning, no nation is able to control them.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The Maalos Hamiddos goes on for another page and a half proving in even more detail how much Hashem loves the Jews. Why is this a reason for each Jew to love his fellow Jew? It can’t be because the Torah says each Jew has an obligation to love his fellow Jew like himself, for he mentions that later, “Since Hashem loved the Jews so much, each Jew must then love each and every Jew like himself, as Moshe warns the Jews, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Vayikra 19:18)”…” Rather, it must be that Hashem is telling us there is a separate obligation for a Jew to love his fellow Jew because Hashem loves us. This seems to be because we have an obligation to emulate Hashem, so just as Hashem is merciful we should be merciful, just as He is gracious we should be gracious, so too just as Hashem loves the Jews we should love our fellow Jew. If that is the case, then why didn’t the Maalos Hamiddos just say that? Why did he go into so much detail about how much Hashem loves us?

The point was for us to analyze how much Hashem loves the Jews and to appreciate how to understand to love our fellow Jew. Let’s analyze the two examples from the Torah portion. Hashem could have only considered us servants of Him, and being servants of the king is pretty important; but how does one servant relate to a fellow servant? However, now that Hashem views us as his children and like kings, that means each one of us are royalty, princes and princesses to the King Of All Kings. Indeed, He is very valiant and treats us with even more respect than Himself by crowning us with two crowns of holiness and Himself with just one. Most people prefer to associate with important people because they are of higher stature and status, so now it’s easier and more realistic to be able to love such special people as ourselves. We aren’t just servants of Hashem we are princes and princesses, people who we would want to associate with and love.

Furthermore, Hashem out of His ultimate love and care created a forcefield around us that we can use at will to protect ourselves from bad influences and control by the outside world. The fact that Hashem went out of His way to make such a thing for His children is quite amazing and unique. It shows how much He cares for His children and again, the realization that each one of us was given this medical kit, or forcefield to protect ourselves makes us very special. People want to appreciate positively special people, especially if we all have the same objectives and goals, all together, which makes us unique. Therefore we see how Hashem has made it easier for us to love our fellow Jew.

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Beshalach – A Deeper Level of Kindness


The manifestation of Hashem’s abundance of kindness and benevolence is clearly shown by the splitting of the sea in this week’s Torah portion of Beshalach.The whole world knew there was a miraculous event taking place, as Rashi (Shemos 14:21) says, “and the waters split: All the water in the world. — [from Mechilta & Shemos Rabbah 21:6].” The Yalkut Meam Loez (See Rav Baruch Chait’s Haggadah pages 113-115) enumerates the many miracles and kindnesses that took place for the Jewish people. “The water froze then split. The frozen water formed into twelve tunnels, one for each tribe. The paths in the sea formed a semi-circle. The Jews exited the sea the same side that they entered. The walls of the tunnel were hundreds of meters high. The waters of the sea on both sides of the tunnel rose up very high like the highest mountains and were visible from a great distance. As the Jews advanced, the sea split. In places where the seabed was deep the waters froze so that the solid floor that was formed was at the same height as the shoreline, thus the Jews did not have to climb down when entering or climb up when going out of the sea. The seabed then became solid like marble floor with a palatial, mosaic design. The tunnel walls were transparent like pure diamonds, so each tribe was able to see the other. The Pillar of Fire lit the tunnels like a room filled with many candles. The sides of the tunnel were lined with fruit trees for the people to eat. The air smelled of incense. The many flocks of animals ate the vegetation that grew from the floor. The frozen salty sea was drinkable like fresh, sweet, spring water. When people wanted to drink, the frozen water melted, then refroze like an icicle when they had finished.” Also, the Medrish Tehillim (136) says, ‘There were opening in the walls so they could communicate with one another and sing the praises of Hashem together.’

The Medrish Tanchuma (parshas Beshalach, paragraph 10, see Etz Yosef there) spells out and proves ten miracles that took place at the sea.

  1. The waters split.
  2. After they split, they formed a tunnel.
  3. The land was not muddy but rather it hardened, and they walked on dry land.
  4. The path for the Egyptians was muddy and their feet stuck in the muddy ground.
  5. The waters didn’t freeze like one big slab of a wall but formed into layers like bricks.
  6. The waters when frozen hardened like stone, so when they collapsed on the Egyptians’ heads they broke on top of them.
  7. The sea split into the exact number of paths needed for each tribe, so that each tribe had their own path.
  8. The waters were made into piles and stood vertically, like a wall.
  9. Sweet water came out of salty water.
  10. When the water froze it was transparent like glass so that the tribes were able to see each other from their own paths.

These are all wonderous miracles that made running to safety easy and comfortable for the Jews, without worries of any kind. However, the Anaf Yosef quotes the Alshich, one of the first Achronim who lived in the 1500s, who asked why the sea had to be split into 12 paths, one for each tribe? Why wouldn’t just one path for the all the Jews to pass through and the Egyptians drown in be enough? The Alshich answered, “Hashem did this as a kindness to the world, so that they will recognize the Divine Providence, and the world wouldn’t be lost (destroyed). If you look intently, Chaza”l says 12 paths were created and not 13, even though the tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Menashe should have been separate. But He combined them in order so that Jews would not make a mistake and cause the world to be lost and go to waste. The problem was that the statue of micha (this was the statue later to be used when sculpting the golden calf, see Rashi on Shemos 32:4[DM1] ) crossed the sea with the tribe of Ephraim. If they all would have crossed through one path there would be room for the evil inclination (Satan) to cause a foolish and vulnerable person to think that G-D forbid the statue infused with (the idol) micha split the sea for them. Therefore, Hashem orchestrated that each tribe would have their own path and that the tribe of Ephraim would share a path with the tribe of Menashe to hint to the fact that The One Who split the path for each of the other tribes whom did not have a statue their, split the path for Menashe, and Ephraim just happens to be going along with them. Whereas if Ephraim would have had their own path [it could have been mistakenly attributed to the statue micha making it.] This means the reason for splitting the sea into so many paths were also a kindness to the world and the world would not be destroyed in their potential mistake if it would have split into one path for the entire Jewish people.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
As we saw above, there was so much detail put into the splitting of the sea to make it comfortable and as anxiety-free as possible for the Jews to cross safely. The whole world knew what was happening, either because every water in the world miraculously split at the same time or because they saw mountains of water streaming up from that area at the Sea of Reeds. Was this added kindness needed to impress upon the Jewish people the love and care of their Beloved Father In Heaven who cared so much for them? The answer must be yes, so that no foolish person will make a mistake and propagandize that this was not Hashem’s doing but rather the statue micha, who has the powers to perform such miracles. We all know how propaganda can be spread even by the most irrational of people!

However, one can ask that if people can be convinced that the statue micha had such powers as to perform the miracle of splitting the sea into one path, why couldn’t he do it into 12 paths? Hashem is All-Powerful and able to do anything; why wouldn’t a statue with superpowers be able to do the same thing?
We must say that this is another facet into the element of Hashem’s kindness, to ensure the continued existence of the world. That by definition no person, no matter how crazy and foolish a person is he or she would never give real Divine powers of infinity and perfection to any statue or god. No matter what they make up it will be finite to an extent and will not be able to function the same way as the Real and Only Creator functions. That is part of the point and make-up of an idol or multiple gods. And that is part of the frailty of the human mind, for if he would attribute perfection, infinity, and oneness to the idol he would just arrive at G-D’s existence and would not needs idols! Therefore there was no mistaken thought that the statue micha could have made 12 paths, one for each tribe.

Hashem’s kindness to His world is very profound and perfect.

Good Shabbos Shira,
Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder

Anchor[DM1]a molten calf -: As soon as they had cast it into the fire of the crucible, the sorcerers of the mixed multitude who had gone up with them from Egypt came and made it with sorcery. [See commentary on Exod. 12:38.] Others say that Micah was there, who had emerged from the layer of the building where he had been crushed in Egypt. (Sanh. 101b). In his hand was a plate upon which Moses had inscribed “Ascend, O ox; ascend, O ox,” to [miraculously] bring up Joseph’s coffin from the Nile. They cast it [the plate] into the crucible, and the calf emerged. -[from Midrash Tanchuma 19]

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Bo – Helping Each Other All Together

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On the of the 15th of Nissan the Jews sacrificed the Korban Pesach. By Hashem’s command they took its blood and smeared it on the door posts and lintels of their houses, this being the sign that would protect them from the coming plague of the firstborn. That night they ate the Korban Pesach with matzah and maror, rejoicing in their Impending redemption. The Egyptian firstborns were killed by Hashem himself, not through an angel or any other heavenly force, as the Haggada relates (adapted from Rav Baruch Chait’s Haggadah, page 112).

However, the Torah in this week’s portion of Bo proclaims, “Hashem will pass to smite the Egyptians, and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Hashem will pass over the entrance, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to smite [you]” (Shemos 12:23). About this the Ramban explains, “AND HE WILL NOT PERMIT THE DESTROYER TO ENTER YOUR HOUSES. This means the angel that brings destruction in the world at the time of a plague, similar to that which it says, And He said to the angel that destroyed the people: It is enough; now stay your hand (Shmuel Beis 24:16). It is not, however, a reference to the One Who brought the destruction in Egypt, since it was the Holy One, Blessed Be He, Who smote them.” Similarly, Rashi on the previous verse points out, “that once the destroyer is given permission to destroy, he does not discriminate between righteous and wicked. And night is the time that destroyers are given permission, as it is said: “in which every beast of the forest moves about” (Tehillim 104:20). — [from Mechilta].” Therefore, no Jew was permitted to leave their house that night.

In preparation for the first seder night in Egypt, the Torah relates that Hashem told Moshe, “Speak to the entire community of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month, let each one take a lamb for each parental home, a lamb for each household. But if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor who is nearest to his house shall take [one] according to the number of people, each one according to one’s ability to eat, shall you be counted for the lamb’” (Shemos 12:3, 4).

The Ralbag learns a lesson from these two pesukim, that: “among the family they should be as close as possible in order so that one can attain from the other any help that is needed. For this reason, the Torah commanded that each family should take a sheep for themselves to show that the people of each household were sitting with each other. For the Pesach [Lamb] in Egypt were in the house of the people who made it and not one person left from the entrance of their house the entire night. And for this also they were strict about the Pesach [lamb] in Egypt, that if the family was too small to eat the entire sheep, then they would combine with their neighbors closest to them to take the sheep and eat it to ensure the quota of people will all finish up [the Pascal lamb offering].” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

What exactly is the lesson the Ralbag is teaching us from these pesukim? It cannot be that family comes first and each family has to have an inseparable bond in order to help each other because, as the pasuk and Ralbag continues, a family has to be ready to combine with their closest neighbor to share in the korban pesach if they are too small to eat it themselves. Furthermore, what was the concern that night, that the Torah had to make sure that each person felt as close as possible to each other to ensure they stayed in their houses and performed the first Pesach seder properly. As we saw above, they were probably too afraid to wander anywhere that night anyways, because of the destructive forces wrought on the Land of Egypt that night.

The Ralbag in his verse-by-verse commentary also points out on these pesukim that the Torah is teaching us proper manners; that it is proper for people, when getting together for a meal or other event,  to get together with the people from their family. The Torah is teaching us this by showing how many people who needed to eat the Paschal lamb got together with their entire family to partake in eating it. However if the family was too small it was not befitting for the Paschal lamb to be slaughtered if not everyone in the family would be able to finish it, lest the uneaten leftovers would become invalidated and would have to be burned. As the subsequent pesukim say, only those that were originally counted in the group were allowed to partake in that Paschal lamb. Therefore, if the family was too small they would have to partner up with their next-door neighbors to ensure that the entire offering was eaten, and did not have to be wasted and burned. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

There was a clear and present danger outside, and inside they just needed to make sure to finish all they were required to eat, and granted family comes first, but if family wasn’t enough then neighbors must get involved. So what exactly is the Ralbag coming to learn from here about making sure that we as a family, and if need be extending it to neighbors have to be as close together as possible in order to help each other? They were probably too scared to walk out of the house anyways, and were overly excited for their impending redemption; of course they were rejoicing and feasting indoors! All they had to do was eat meat with matzah and maror, and be sure all of it was finished; how hard could that be? Why was help needed to ensure that everything gets done properly, if all that was needed was to be sure there were enough people beforehand to make sure everything got eaten up?

However it would seem that if the family, and neighbors if need be, were not as close as they should be, even with all the fear and excitement of what was happening around them and what was about to transpire, even such a simple task as they had that night could have gone wrong. Therefore the Ralbag sees a lesson for all generations from this moment in the Torah; that the only reason everything went smoothly was because everyone bonded together, as close as possible, and for that reason were willing to do whatever it took to help one another. And that is the only reason why everything went smoothly for the Jews on the first Pesach night.

Bonding together to be as close as possible, even for a family, isn’t natural; it requires effort, but in the end is the only way to ensure the proper help is given.

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Vaera – What was Pharaoh thinking?!


Any logically thinking individual without biases must logically conclude that there is a G-D, because everything must start from something. Anything that exists has to come from someone or something and somewhere; it is impossible for something to appear from nothing. What caused this whole universe to appear out of nowhere and unfold, if not for the fact that there is a G-D? And since G-D created this magnificent existence, He must be Omnipotent, i.e. all powerful, all knowing, and perfect in every way. By definition this perfection means that there is only one G-D, that has every single positive characteristic, what’s needed and more, to be able to create such a complex system with all its details as the earth and the universe surrounding it. Indeed, to keep the existence of the universe going as it is He must be constantly involved in its upkeep at every moment.
Since this is true then it is astonishing to think that the Medrish Rabba (Vaera 8:2) and Medrish Tanchuma (Vaera 9) in this week’s Torah portion of Vaera lists Pharaoh as one of 4 people who declared themselves a god. The other 3 being Chiram, Nevuchadnetzar, and Yoash.

The Torah states, “Hashem said to Moshe, ‘See! I have made you a lord over Pharaoh, and Aharon, your brother, will be your speaker’” (Shemos 7:1). The Medrish Tanchuma says that “Hashem said to Moshe, ‘The evil Pharaoh made himself into a deity, inform him that he is a nothing. I will make you a master over him.’ How do we know that [Pharaoh] made himself into a deity? As it says, ‘My river is my own, and I made myself.’ (Yechezkel 29:3). Therefore, show yourself off to him and he will proclaim this is the lord.”

The Etz Yosef explains the goal of Hashem bringing the ten plagues upon Pharaoh and Egypt, “that Hashem, chas vishalom, did not leave room for Pharaoh to think that he should worship Moshe as a god but rather His intent was to rule over him to the point that [Pharaoh] would say about [Moshe] that he is a lord, after he made himself into a deity, and he will realize that [Moshe] now rules over him… For when he sees the miracles, the opposite of nature, he will recognize that you [Moshe] can be above nature and he will praise you with lordship greater than his [self-proclaimed] godliness.”

However, the Anaf Yosef “wonders about ‘Pharaoh being one of four people declaring himself a deity,’ that these people, granted were negligent and sinners but they were not fools, and how can they deny G-D On High and think such stupidity? But rather one can say that these people thought that this entire lowly world is in the hand of the campaign, and therefore when they saw a person successful because of his wisdom, acclivity, or wealth, which stemmed from the zodiac, they thought that they must show him godly respect, meaning that one should not withhold his greatness since his zodiac is helping him. One shouldn’t oppose his zodiac. This was Pharaoh’s mistake, for because he was successful due to his river and made it an idol to worship because he thought that the star that influenced it was the ruler, ‘and it’s not for me to oppose it.’ Since that was the case, he that was given the permission and control to rule in this area was [obviously] influenced by this zodiac and therefore he made himself into a deity. This was similarly the mistake of the 3 other people.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
Pharoah and these others thought they were all playing a part in a show, which had winners and losers. One level influences the next level, and if the higher level influences the lower level the lower level feels honored and demands respect from those below it. Essentially, there is an expectation of showing gratitude towards those that help others. In this case, the heavenly bodies of the Zodiac influence earthly figures like the Nile River which then, in Pharoah’s eyes, deserved to be worshiped out of respect, and since Pharaoh was the king and in control of the Nile, he proclaimed himself a god of sorts. That was his logical thought process, based on the concept of showing gratitude.

But why didn’t he realize that there was an All-Powerful Being who runs the entire world and universe, and gives the ability for one thing to influence the other? The chain of influence should not transfer respect down to the earth, but rather the honor and respect should only be directed towards the source! (Granted, one should feel gratitude towards the means that helps support and nourish a person, but they are only messengers of Hashem, On High, and should be viewed only as messengers, not as the source). What went wrong with Pharoah’s logic?

However, Rabbeinu Ephraim, a Rishon that lived over 800 years ago said by the pasuk of “And I will separate on that day the land of Goshen, upon which My people stand, that there will be no mixture of noxious creatures there, in order that you know that I am Hashem in the midst of the earth” (Shemos 8:18),  “Pharaoh thought that Hashem only ruled over the upper heavens.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
This pasuk is by the plague of wild beasts. Rashi (Shemos 8:17) says that all types of animals, birds, reptiles, and insects came together to attack the Egyptians. The Yalkut Meam Loez (Vaera 12:13) points out that animals who were natural enemies joined together to attack the Egyptian. The Medrish Hagadol (Vaera 8:17-20) says that even domesticated animals attacked them, but none of the animals attacked the Jews. The Yalkut Meam Loez (Vaera 12:5) also points out that each animal came with its climate and natural environment so that it would feel secure and attack the Egyptians more ferociously. According to what Rabbeinu Ephraim is saying, this all fits in beautifully with what was mentioned above, in the Medrish Tanchuma. Hashem wanted to make sure that the message was clearly presented that Pharoah wasn’t a deity, and the source of his mistaken thinking was that he thought Hashem had no control over the earth, only the upper heavens, “His realm.” Using this logic, everything on a level below Hashem’s realm demands its own respect, and he, Pharoah, being the ruler of the Nile and the last link in the chain of command, also deserved to be worshipped as a god. Therefore, Hashem proved his power and control over the earth as well, with all of the plagues but especially with the plague of wild beasts, as described above.

If only Pharoah would have realized that Hashem is the All-Powerful, King Of All Kings, Master of the Universe and everything within it, who is constantly recreating existence every moment of the day and if He would pause for one moment, everything would cease to exist, and therefore everything in creation is simply a puppet or messenger of His command and will, Pharaoh would then have properly directed his gratitude towards Hashem and never have made such an outrageous error of declaring himself a deity.

A misdirected sense of gratitude could go a long way to mess everything up!

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Shemos –

Curiosity
In modern society, curiosity is viewed as a negative trait, as the saying goes, “curiosity kills the cat;” It evokes the image of Curious George, the troublemaking monkey. However the trait of curiosity has the potential to bring a person close to Hashem, as we see in this week’s Torah portion of Shemos, as the Ralbag relates by the incident of Moshe and the Burning Bush.

The Torah states, “An angel of Hashem appeared to him in a flame of fire from within the thorn bush, and behold, the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the thorn bush was not being consumed. So, Moshe said, ‘Let me turn now and see this great spectacle why does the thorn bush not burn up?’ Hashem saw that he had turned to see, and G-D called to him from within the thorn bush, and He said, ‘Moshe, Moshe!’ And he said, ‘Here I am’” (Shemos 3:2-4)!

The Toaliyos HaRalbag learns from this– “that it is befitting for a person to put in effort into investigating as much as possible the reason behind things that one comes across, and don’t  shorten [the investigation]. In this way one will figure out the wisdom of Hashem by as much as possible focusing on what one comes across and the manner of how it works, and this will be a cause to reach towards Hashem as much as one can. This is because we achieve from Hashem according to what is possible for us to achieve courtesy of the means that are the results of what we attain from Him, and then put them into order, and direct them. We see this from Moshe Rabbeinu, immediately when he saw this strange concept of a bush set a flame, but the bush was not burning. This actually showed that this was how he always acted, meaning that he already had a drive to know as much as possible the reasoning behind things. In this way [Moshe] was able to reach such a height as he reached.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The Ralbag is teaching us that it is very healthy to be inquisitive and always investigating the world around us. This is the means to be able to know Hashem, understand how He works, and figure out how to grow close to Him. That is exactly what Moshe did when he eyed the “Burning Bush;” he didn’t simply take note of something interesting and continue walking. He stopped to observe what was really going on, tried to make sense of it, and then Hashem started talking to Him. This is a clear proof to the lesson that the Ralbag says the Torah is trying to teach us.

But why did the Ralbag say that this was how Moshe always was, as if to say that if Moshe wasn’t always curious and investigative then he would not have stopped to look at the amazing sight in front of his eyes? Wasn’t it quite unimaginable? Wouldn’t anyone have done a doubletake and stared in total amazement at such a miracle, a bush on fire but clearly not being consumed? Why did it require Moshe to have been so ‘inquisitive’ in order to have noticed and investigate such an occurrence?

It would seem that there are people who would possibly make a point of seeing something amazing and simply walking past, go about their business without putting too much thought into what they had seen. These people don’t probe, they don’t think with too much depth or imagination, and it’s hard for them to really expand their mind. Even something so amazing, unearthly, and supernatural as this would not phase them. However, because Moshe Rabbeinu already had a knack for being curious and investigative, he therefore had his eyes open to try to find something new and unique, to probe and get to the bottom of it, to try to figure out how and why it was working that way. This searching and thinking, and obviously appreciating the profundity of what was in front of him, is what made Moshe come to be so close to Hashem, and to reach heights that no other human being has ever attained in their physical lifetime.

(I have to assume this type of curiosity and inquisitiveness only works to get close to Hashem if one’s attitude is to want to have a relationship with Hashem. A typical atheist scientist, for example, no matter how curious and investigative he or she is, will never find Hashem with their anti-G-D attitude. Unless they are open to change that attitude).

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Vayechi -The Threat of Potential Hatred



After Yaakov was buried towards the end of this week’s Torah portion of Vayechi, the conclusion of the Book of Breishis, the Torah relates, “Yosef’s brothers realized their father was dead and they said, ‘Perhaps Yosef will nurse hatred against us and then he will surely repay us for all the evil that we did to him.’ So they instructed that Yosef be told, ‘Your father gave orders before his death, saying: Thus shall you say to Yosef: “O please kindly forgive the flagrant offense of the servants of your father’s G-D.”‘ And Yosef wept when they spoke to him” (Breishis 50:15-17).
  The last Medrish Tanchuma in the Book of Breishis concludes by explaining what exactly the brothers saw that informed them that their father had passed away. Didn’t they just bury him? “What did they see now to make them afraid? Rather they saw that when they were coming back from burying their father, they saw that Yosef went to make a blessing at the pit his brothers threw him in, just as any person is obligated in making a blessing at the place a miracle was performed for him by saying, ‘Blessed is Hashem who did a miracle for me at this place’. When [the brothers] saw this, they said that now that our father is dead Yosef will nurse hatred against us and then he will surely repay us for all the evil that we did him.’ So they instructed that Yosef be told, ‘Your father gave orders etc.’ We searched and could find that Yaakov actually made this command. Rather, come and see how great the power of peace is, for Hashem wrote in His Torah these words for the sake of peace.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
 It would seem that the brothers suspected that Yosef might be harboring hatred in his heart for what they did to him many years before, and was waiting until their father died to take revenge on them.So they rightfully lied for the sake of peace, to prevent any harm.
 The Full Commentary of the Tur on the Torah, after quoting a part of this medrish, explains what the brothers meant about Yosef nursing hatred in his heart, “meaning, if only Yosef will nurse the hatred in his heart and not take any action; and if he wants to take any action against us and punish us for what we did he should look at the results, that we caused him to become king (viceroy) over Egypt through selling him.” The Tur then explains why Yosef cried, which was because “it sounded like Yaakov was suspicious of him [that he would take revenge]. From here we see that Yosef never told Yaakov about his sale, for if Yaakov  had known then  he himself would have commanded Yosef to appease and forgive his brothers. The Medrish (Pesiksa Rabasi 3:2) in fact says that Yosef made sure never to be alone with his father once he came down to Egypt, so that his brothers won’t think that he told Yaakov that they sold him.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
 Yaakov and his family had been living in Egypt with Yosef taking care of them for 17 years., Yosef was overjoyed after he saw that his brothers completely regretted what they had done and he revealed himself to them. Now, after their father’s death it has been about 39 years since he had been sold by his brothers. Besides the fact that Yosef is known to be uniquely righteous, i.e. he is called Yosef HaTzadik, if that is the case, it has been so long and it seems he had no hatred in his heart, certainly none that would potentially come to fruition through exacting punishment on his brothers,  then why did the brothers suspect him after their father’s burial, to the point that they lied for the sake of peace and the Torah even agrees that it was the right thing they did?

 It would seem that the potential threat of hatred lurking in anyone’s heart is so complex and dangerous that even for the greatest of the righteous there is a rightful concern that it might be lurking there and taken into action. So proper precautions are allowed to be taken to protect oneself from potential revenge based on hatred, to the extent that one is allowed to lie for the sake of peace, and to quell hatred.

 Because in the brothers eyes this threat was potentially there, then Hashem attests that they took proper precautions to protect themselves even though the reality was Yosef had already completely forgiven them and was not harboring one ounce of hatred in his heart.

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Vayigash –  Segregation


The Shulchan Aruch in the beginning of the laws about Pas Yisrael (Yoreh Deah 112:1) says that the rabbis forbade Jews from eating home-baked bread made by a non-Jew, even if all of the ingredients are kosher and made in clean pans, because of intermarriage. Even if a priest dedicates himself to celibacy, and therefore does not have children, a Jew may not eat his bread because the Rabbis are concerned that if we get too friendly with them (i.e. sharing food or even buying and selling home bake goods) then we might come to marry their daughters or their acquaintances’ daughters. There is even an argument in the Shulchan Aruch on this topic as to whether we can eat from commercial bakeries owned by non-Jews, assuming everything is kosher. Most people are lenient and do in fact eat from non-Jewish-owned commercial entities because there is a disconnect between the seller and buyer, so there are no concerns about intermarriage. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

 The source of this rabbinic decree might have come from this week’s Torah portion of Vayigash according to the Sforno. After Yoseph reveals himself to the brothers and sends for his father and the rest of the family to move to Egypt, “G-D spoke to Israel in night visions and He said, ‘Yaakov, Yaakov.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘I am the G-D, G-D of your father. Have no fear of descending to Egypt, for I shall establish you as a great nation there…’” (Breishis 46:2, 3). The Sforno on pasuk 3 explains Hashem message to Yaakov, “I, Who told your father to not go down to Egypt (Breishis 26:2), tell you… If you remain here your children will intermarry and become absorbed by the Canaanites, but in Egypt they will not be able to do so, because the Egyptians may not eat bread with the Hebrews (Breishis 43:32); therefore they will be a separate, distinct people, as our sages state, The pasuk ‘And he became there a nation’ (Devarim 26:5), teaches us that they were distinguished there.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The Sforno gives a very fascinating explanation of why Hashem told Yaakov not to be afraid about going down to Egypt. His family would be better off there, because there would be no need to worry about the issue of intermarriage and assimilation since the Egyptians would not want to mingle with them as it says in last week’s Torah portion of Miketz, “They served him separately and them separately and the Egyptians who ate with him separately, for the Egyptians could not bear to eat food with the Hebrews, it being loathsome to the Egyptians.” The Sforno explains there that Yosef “sat in his own room so that his brothers should not sense that he was also a Hebrew and because the Egyptians may not eat bread with the Hebrews therefore, he did not eat with his brothers, nor did he or his brothers eat with the Egyptians.” As a result, when Yaakov and his family came down to Egypt there was no concern of intermarriage because the Egyptians stayed away from them, and the Jews became a distinguished nation, to that effect as the Sforno concluded, quoting what we read in the Pesach Haggada. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

However, in the Pesach Haggada there is a different interpretation by various commentaries as to what it means that ‘they were distinctive there.’ The Kol Bo says all the Jews lived in one place, Goshen (which Pharaoh had in fact given to their great great grandmother, Sarah Immeinu many years back). They also wore their own style of clothing so that they wouldn’t mingle with the Egyptians. The Ritva in fact says that they wore tzitzis, and the Abarbanel adds that they kept their Hebraic names, spoke Hebrew, and dressed in their usual garb. If that is what kept them apart from the Egyptians and stopped assimilation, why couldn’t they do the same just living in Canaan? Why did they have to move to Egypt (barring the decree of exile, which the Sforno ignores anyways)? They could have lived in a ghetto in Canaan, spoken only Hebrew, have only Jewish names, distinctive clothing and even wear tzitzis to remind them of Hashem’s mitzvos. Their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents instilled this in them the emphasis of no intermarriage, which Avraham and Yitzchak went out of their way to emphasize is a big no-no; so why did they have to go to Egypt to escape the threat of intermarriage? (Click here for Hebrew text.)

We see from here how grave of a threat and temptation intermarriage is, even for the grandchildren of our forefathers. So much so that Hashem had to reassure Yaakov that the best thing for him and his family would be to move to Egypt. What then is the solution?

We see from this Sforno that the best solution is not to just dress, speak, act, and live differently from the non-Jews, because they still might be attractive to us and find a way into our society. The best thing is segregation. When they feel they can’t be close to us, that keeps them away, and makes us distinguished and distinctive. From the fact that Hashem assured Yaakov that segregation was the best thing for him and his family, it must mean that that was not a reason for anything bad to happen to them in Egypt, i.e. that was not the cause for the Egyptian bondage. On the contrary, we saw with Yoseph that the Egyptians and Hebrews were able to get along quite fine, even if they could not eat together. The slavery was a Heavenly punishment that was discussed already previously in parashios; therefore we see that segregation, the attitude that Jews and non-Jews can’t mingle with each other, not that it is negative but the acknowledgement that we are different, might very well be the best way to stop the threat of intermarriage.

Good Shabbos and easy fast of Asara b’Teves,
Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder

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Miketz – Hats and Jackets

For Food for Thought in Spanish: Haga clic aquí para leer en español. Please share this with your Jewish Spanish speaking family, friends, and associates.

 In the beginning of this week’s Torah portion of Miketz, Pharaoh had two dreams which he insisted needed interpretation. Eventually the Chamberlain of Butlers remembered that Yosef was in jail, and how he had rightfully interpreted his dream and the dream of the Chamberlain of the Butchers. The Torah then details, “So Pharaoh sent and summoned Yosef, and they rushed him from the dungeon. He shaved and changed his clothes, and he came to Pharaoh” (Breishis 41:14).
The Moshav Zekeinim, rightfully assuming that Yosef, like his forefathers, kept the entire Torah, asks a penetrating question. The gemara in Rosh Hashanah 11b says that Yosef got out of jail on Rosh Hashanah; if so, how could he have shaven on Yom Tov? The Moshav Zekeinim has two answers; either he shaved the next day or because of the life-threatening danger of the kingship, the circumstances were different, and he was allowed to shave that day [in order not to risk his life by coming in front of the king in a disrespectful manner]. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

The Ralbag learns from this episode “that it is proper for when one comes before a great person, that he should adorn himself with nice clothing and doing other things, as much as possible, to glorify the great people. In this fashion as well, one’s words will be more listened to. For this reason, Yosef shaved and changed his clothing when he came before the king. And for this reason, the great chasidim (righteous people) would adorn themselves [in their best clothing] when they davened before Hashem, in His honor. Just as Chaza”l interpret the pasuk, “This is my G-D and I will beautify him” (Shemos 15:2 in “az yashir”). (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The great righteous people of yesteryear, who lived a thousand plus years ago, must have worn what is the equivalent today of a tuxedo when praying before Hashem. Because of their level and relationship with Hashem, the King Of All Kings, they realized that if Yosef was allowed to break Yom Tov to not risk his life in order to show respect to a worldly king, Pharaoh, then all the more so they should dress their very best whenever davening before The King Of All Kings, Master Of The Universe. Now a days people wear jackets and hats when davening for that very reason, but at the very least one should be put together, shirt tucked in, etc.

It would seem, according to the Ralbag, that Hashem would not listen to our prayers as closely if we weren’t put together and well dressed in front of Him. Why not? If a person prays very slowly, thinking of each word and has deep kavana,[proper intent], then why isn’t that enough? Hashem knows what’s in everyone’s heart and why should outward appearance be a deciding factor as to whether to acknowledge and listen to a person, like  human kings do? However, it would seem that not dressing appropriately in front of Hashem while praying shows a lack of dedication, respect, and honor towards Hashem. Wanting to dress in a way that feels comfortable to yourself, instead of in a formal respectful manner, is caring more for yourself than the honor and reverence of a leader and certainly of the ultimate leader, G-D, and Hashem of course calculates that in one’s intent.

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Vayeishev – The Negative Drive for the Easy Life


Many people get a thrill out of taking risks, finding in it enjoyment or pleasure of some sort, even if it means risking one’s life. It can be as seemingly innocent as riding a roller coaster or hiking up a mountain, water skiing, snowboarding, or even more thrilling activities like bungy jumping, sky diving or even worse drinking or taking drugs. Where does this urge to take a risk come from, and why do people feel it is worth it?

In this week’s Torah portion of Vayeishev we find the scene that leads up to the selling of Yosef to Egypt: “And his brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks in Shechem. And Yisrael said to Yosef, ‘Are your brothers not pasturing in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.’ And he said to him, ‘Here I am.’ So he said to him, ‘Go now and see to your brothers’ welfare and the welfare of the flocks, and bring me back word.’ So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. Then a man found him, and behold, he was straying in the field, and the man asked him, saying, ‘What are you looking for?’ And he said, ‘I am looking for my brothers. Tell me now, where are they pasturing?’ And the man said, ‘They have traveled away from here, for I overheard them say, Let us go to Dosan.’  So Yosef went after his brothers, and he found them in Dosan” (Breishis 37:12-17).

The lesson the Ralbag learns from these pesukim is that, “It is not befitting of a person to seek out pleasure (enjoyment) because that will lead to placing oneself in danger. For we see that the children of Yaakov, when searching for a place of pasture for their father’s flock, and it appeared to them at first glance that in Shechem they will find good pasture, as well as having an easy time to find food for themselves, so they were inspired to go there and overlooked that that was a place of grave danger, for what they had done to the people of that city. They were there for a bit and then decided to leave from there. Because of this Yosef was sent after them and this was a reason for why our forefathers went down to Egypt and the Egyptians enslaved them with harsh labor for an extremely long time.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The brothers, Yaakov’s sons, grew up in a household of simplicity and mesiras nefesh [self-sacrifice], to do what was right, as we saw by the way Yaakov lived in Lavan’s house. They themselves were righteous, and there is zero indication anywhere that they were bad people. If you examine their intent, it was for the sake of taking care of their father’s flock, not even their own, and just to be able to eat. The Ralbag says nothing about indulging in delicacies or stuffing themselves, just of being able find an easy bite to eat. They also had to have known the dangers of the area. (I have a dvar Torah many years ago which depicts the battles from surrounding neighbors from the aftermath of the episode in Shechem, based on a Yalkut Shimone. Click here for the dvar Torah and here for the text of the Yalkut Shimone in Hebrew). If this is the case, how could they have gone wrong, and why was what they did so bad that it was treated as one of the catalysts for the Egyptian exile and servitude?

We must say that they erred on a very miniscule level, and due to their stature Hashem punished them the way that He did. The issue obviously was not that they had a problem with overindulgence and a drive to just enjoy themselves at any cost. But rather, on some minute level, they had this attitude of having a drive to “seek out pleasure,” which clouded their decision making and made them decide to first go to Shechem because it was more enjoyable and easier to find food there for themselves and their flock. When Yaakov heard where they were he got concerned and sent Yosef out to see if they were okay, and that is what spiraled into the Egyptian exile. If they would not have been clouded by this drive to seek out pleasure on this tiny level then they would have been able to think clearly and not worry their father and history would have somehow been different.

Good Shabbos and Happy Chanukah,
Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder

  • (Interesting tidbit: This is one of the rare Shabbosim that Chanukah falls out on the Torah portion of Vayeishev. Usually it is on Miket. If both Cheshvan and Kislev have 29 days, then Hanukkah will begin on Friday. Only the Sabbath of Vayeshev will fall during Hanukkah, and the Sabbath of Miketz will not be during Hanukkah; this is the only case in which this will occur and where Miketz‘s proper haftarah will thus be read).
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Vayishlach – Torah Scales

The Orchos Tzadikim at the end of the Gate of Miserliness brings two episodes from this week’s Torah portion of Vayishlach to demonstrate how a person must live by the traits of magnanimity and miserliness throughout their lives, switching from one trait to the other when appropriate. “The good in this quality is that the miser does not throw away his money on foolishness and at times is restrained from committing grave sins. Then, too, because he deprives himself of good things, he does not affect the arrogance often found in the generous person who, because of the good that he does and the pleasure that he gets from it, sometimes rebels against his Creator. Therefore, a man should be careful with his wealth; he should be generous where generosity is called for, but where it is not proper for him to give, let him be miserly and withholding. Let him weigh all this in the scales of the Torah. Let him learn from Yaakov, our father, who was miserly without parallel as it is said, ‘And Yaakov was left alone’ (Breishis 32:25), and our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said that he had forgotten some small jugs and returned to get them. This teaches us that the righteous value their money more than their bodies because they do not get their money easily through plunder (Chullin 91a). Behold this great miserliness — that a man as rich as Yaakov felt compelled to return for some little jugs. Yet we find in another place that he was generous without parallel, as our Rabbis taught, ‘In my grave which I have dug for me’ (Breishis 50:5). This teaches us that Yaakov took all the silver and gold that he had brought from Lavan’s house, and he made a pile and said to Esav, ‘Take this for your share in the cave of Machpelah’ (Shemos Rabbah 31:17). Was there ever anyone else as liberal as this? From this a man can learn that he should not squander his money on useless things and to no purpose. However, when it comes to fulfilling a mitzva, for example, dispensing charity and other mitzvos which involve expense, such as acquiring a teacher, a companion or books, he should be very liberal in order to attain lofty qualities. He thereby restores the soul to its place of purity so that it will be bound up in the bond of life, as it is written, ‘Yet the soul of my master shall be bound up in the bond of life’ (Shmuel Alef 25:29).”

Towards the beginning of this week’s Torah portion Yaakov goes back for some small jugs he had left behind, endangering himself and ultimately getting into a fight with Eisav’s ministering angel. Yaakov felt it was worth going back because “the righteous value their money more than their bodies,” as the Orchos Tzadikim quoted from Chullin 91a. The Aley Orach, commentary on the Orchos Tzadikim explains, “that because he earned everything through toil and hard work, as Yaakov mentioned to Lavan in last week’s Torah portion, ‘This is how I was: By day scorching heat consumed me, and frost by night; my sleep drifted from my eyes’ (Breishis 31:40). All this in order so that there would not be any concern that their (the righteous’) money was acquired through stealing. Their money is mehadrin min hamihadrin kosher, and therefore it is so beloved to them.” Yaakov’s money was more precious to him than his body, because he recognized the effort and hard work he put in to acquiring it honestly. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

Towards the end of the Torah portion the Torah briefly discusses the passing of Yitzchak: “And Yitzchak expired and died, and he was gathered to his people, old and fulfilled of days; his sons Eisav and Yaakov buried, him” (Breishis 35:29). The Medrish Rabba (Mishpatim 31:18) elaborates on an episode that happened right after the burial, between Yaakov and Eisav. “When Yitzchak died Yaakov and Eisav came together to split all his property. Yaakov said (to himself), ‘This wicked person will, in the future enter Maaras HaMachpela with his children, and will have a share in the burial plot with the rest of the righteous buried there.’ [Yaakov] immediately got up and took all his money on hand, made a pile, and said to Eisav, ‘My brother, do you want the share in this cave that you have, or do you want this gold and silver?’ At that moment Eisav said, ‘A burial place can be found anywhere, and for one burial plot I have in this cave I should lose all this money?’ [Eisav] immediately got up and took all the money and gave [Yaakov] his portion.” The Anaf Yosef points out that Yaakov did this so that Eisav wouldn’t have a portion and living space for his body amongst the righteous, for its not comfortable for a righteous person to have a wicked person buried next to him. (Click here for Hebrew text.)
Yaakov was known as an “ish tam yoshev b’ohalim,” “A wholesome (innocent) man, abiding in tents” (Breishis 25:27). Rashi there says he learned in the tent of Shem and in the tent of Ever. In fact, after Yaakov received the blessing before he went to Lavan’s house, Yitzchak had instructed him to learn in Yeshiva of Shem and Ever for 14 years. We see that Yaakov was very learned and must have known how to weigh every situation in his life very carefully.  We also see that Yaakov in one instance was very scrupulous with his money, to the extent that one might say he was acting frugally by going back for such insignificant items; but as we saw in the Orchos Tzadikim, there was a valid reason for what he did. On the other hand, we also see that he was magnanimous with his money, willing to give away piles of it just to ensure the right thing was done in the burial spot of the forefathers, and not for the intent of getting that spot for himself, even though he deserved it.

What Yaakov did, the Orchos Tzadikim says, is an example of how we should live our lives. But why does the Orchos Tzadikim emphasize here, more than any other place in his book, that a person should, “weigh all this in the scales of the Torah.” Shouldn’t that always be true for any decision made in life?

However, the Orchos Tzadikim at the end of the Gate of Haughtiness says that while one might have to go to the opposite extreme in order to get rid of a bad character trait, one should end up at a healthy median for pretty much all character traits. Granted, finding that healthy median isn’t so simple, and the Orchos Tzadikim in his introduction emphasized that one always has to use his seichel, mind, and constantly learning and figuring out how to ensure one is doing the right thing. However, when it comes to one’s money, and when to be frugal or when to be giving, which are constant decisions that could very well result in opposite extremes, depending on the circumstances, the Orchos Tzadikim emphasizes that one should weigh all this in the scales of the Torah. Since there is no proper median to these traits, and fluctuating circumstances constantly come up, a reminder and emphasis must therefore be made, to always weigh the options as exact as possible based on proper Daas Torah.