Video Study for Parsha Vayeishev : The Jewish Dreamer

[muman613]

Shalom JTF reader,

This week we are reading the portion of Vayeishev, a portion laden with a lot of mystical interpretations and a lot of pshat.

Starting from Josephs dreams of 'ruling' over his brothers to the brothers selling Joseph into slavery (after throwing him into a pit of snakes and vipers) to his rise to power in Potiphars house to his interpretation of the Butler and Wine stewards dreams, this portion is pregnant with meaning. Add in the hard to understand encounter between Tamar and Judah and we have a portion which cannot be ignored.





From Chabad's 'Parsha in a Nutshell' @ http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/3202/jewish/Vayeishev-in-a-Nutshell.htm

Jacob settles in Hebron with his twelve sons. His favorite is seventeen-year-old Joseph, whose brothers are jealous of the preferential treatment he receives from his father, such as a precious many-colored coat that Jacob makes for Joseph. Joseph relates to his brothers two of his dreams which foretell that he is destined to rule over them, increasing their envy and hatred towards him.

Simeon and Levi plot to kill him, but Reuben suggests that they throw him into a pit instead, intending to come back later and save him. While Joseph is in the pit, Judah has him sold to a band of passing Ishmaelites. The brothers dip Joseph’s special coat in the blood of a goat and show it to their father, leading him to believe that his most beloved son was devoured by a wild beast.

Judah marries and has three children. The eldest, Er, dies young and childless, and his wife, Tamar, is given in levirate marriage to the second son, Onan. Onan sins by spilling his seed, and he too meets an early death. Judah is reluctant to have his third son marry her. Determined to have a child from Judah’s family, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute and seduces Judah himself. Judah hears that his daughter-in-law has become pregnant and orders her executed for harlotry, but when Tamar produces some personal effects he left with her as a pledge for payment, he publicly admits that he is the father. Tamar gives birth to twin sons, Peretz (an ancestor of King David) and Zerach.

Joseph is taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, the minister in charge of Pharaoh’s slaughterhouses. G‑d blesses everything he does, and soon he is made overseer of all his master’s property. Potiphar’s wife desires the handsome and charismatic lad; when Joseph rejects her advances, she tells her husband that the Hebrew slave tried to force himself on her, and has him thrown into prison. Joseph gains the trust and admiration of his jailers, who appoint him to a position of authority in the prison administration.

In prison, Joseph meets Pharaoh’s chief butler and chief baker, both incarcerated for offending their royal master. Both have disturbing dreams, which Joseph interprets; in three days, he tells them, the butler will be released and the baker hanged. Joseph asks the butler to intercede on his behalf with Pharaoh. Joseph’s predictions are fulfilled, but the butler forgets all about Joseph and does nothing for him.

It seems Rabbi Richman has not posted his latest video on the portion so I will start by posting his video from 3 years ago:

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Rabbi Levi Chazan, the cool rabbi from somewhere in Judea, talks about our portion.

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For a 'dose' of Breslever Torah watch rabbi Maimon's talk on the portion.

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Now for a long one from Rabbi Trugman of OhrChadash with more Chassidic thoughts.

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Let us see what Rabbi Mizrachi says on this weeks portion:

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http://www.torah.org/learning/hamaayan/5775/vayeishev.html

Parshas Vayeishev
Judging Favorably

Volume 29, No. 1
21 Kislev 5775
December 13, 2014

R’ Elimelech Bar-Shaul z”l (1913-1964; Chief Rabbi of Rechovot, Israel) observes that our parashah opens and closes with the same lesson. He writes:

Rambam z”l describes the extent of the obligation to judge others favorably as follows: “If you see a person who is unknown to you as either a tzaddik or a rasha behaving in a way that is equally susceptible to a favorable or unfavorable interpretation, assume that the former interpretation is correct, and judge him favorably. If the person is known to you as a tzaddik, it is fitting to judge him favorably no matter how far-fetched the favorable interpretation of his actions seems to be. Since it is possible to judge him favorably, what right do you have to suspect him?”

R’ Bar-Shaul continues: At the beginning of our parashah, Yosef dreams about ruling over his brothers. Our Sages teach that many dreams are merely expressions of the subconscious thoughts that a person has during the day, and it seems from the early commentaries that that’s how Yosef’s brothers interpreted his dreams. After all, who could have imagined the far-fetched chain of events that led to Yosef’s becoming viceroy of Egypt and his brothers bowing down to him? In fact, Yosef had no subconscious thoughts of ruling over his brothers, and his dreams actually were prophetic. Had Yosef’s brother judged him favorably, they would have been correct, as far-fetched as it would have seemed.

Similarly, the charges that Potiphar’s wife leveled against Yosef sounded very plausible, while Yosef’s defense (if he was even allowed to offer a defense) surely sounded far-fetched. Yet, we know which one was the truth. (Min Ha’be’er)

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“Now Yisrael loved Yosef more than all his sons since he was a child of his old age, and he made him a ketonet pasim / fine woolen tunic.” (37:3)


Rabbeinu Machir z”l Hy”d (14th century) writes: “Pasim” is an acronym for the four individuals or groups that persecuted Yosef: Potiphar, the socharim / merchants, the Yishmaelim, and the Midyanim. (Avkat Rocheil)

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“Reuven heard, and he saved him [Yosef] from their hand; he said, ‘Let us not strike him mortally . . . Throw him into the pit in the wilderness . . .’.” (37:21-22)


The Gemara (Shabbat 24a) states that this pit was home to snakes and scorpions. The halachah is that if a man falls into a pit full of snakes and scorpions, he is deemed dead and his widow may remarry. Yet, the Torah refers to Reuven’s act as saving Yosef!

In contrast, Yehuda convinced his brothers to remove Yosef from the pit and to sell him into slavery. Yet, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 6a) says that whoever praises Yehuda for this angers Hashem. Why?

R’ Chaim of Volozhin z”l (1749-1821) explains: Reuven caused Yosef to be lowered into a pit full of snakes and scorpions, but the pit was in Eretz Yisrael. Yehuda saved Yosef’s physical life, but he caused Yosef to be taken out of Eretz Yisrael. It is far better, said R’ Chaim, to remain in Eretz Yisrael surrounded by snakes and scorpions than to live outside of Eretz Yisrael. (Quoted in the journal Yeshurun Vol. VI, p. 200)

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“Returning to his brothers, he [Reuven] said, ‘The boy [Yosef] is gone! And I -- where can I go?’” (37:30)


R’ Avraham ben Ha’Rambam z”l (Egypt; 1186-1237) asks: Since Reuven did not participate in his brothers’ sale of Yosef and did not approve of it, why did he never tell their father Yaakov the truth that Yosef was alive? R’ Avraham offers three answers:

(1) Reuven had pity on his brothers (who had sold Yosef).

(2) Reuven reasoned that it was better that Yaakov write Yosef off for dead since there was no hope of ever seeing him again in any event.

(3) Reuven kept the secret from Yaakov for the same reason that Yosef himself never wrote a letter home to his father Yaakov even after he (Yosef) rose to prominence and could have contacted Yaakov: to see how Divine Providence would cause matters to play out. (Lekket Mi’Peirush Rabbeinu Avraham Al Ha’Torah)


R’ Yosef Bechor Shor z”l (Orleans, France; 12th century) offers a different explanation for why Yosef never wrote home. It seems likely, he writes, that Yosef’s brothers made him swear when they sold him that he would never come home or reveal himself to their father, would never inform their father that he was alive, and would never reveal his true identity to the Egyptians. (Bechor Shor Al Ha’Torah)

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“They [the butler and the baker] said to him, ‘We dreamt a dream, but there is no interpreter for it.’ So Yosef said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to G-d? Relate it to me, if you please’.” (40:8)


Why did Yosef get involved? R’ Hanoch Henach of Alesk z”l (chassidic rebbe; died 1884) explains:

We read in Tehilim (105:2), “Speak His wonders.” Yosef wanted to bring honor to Hashem’s Name by creating opportunities for the Egyptians to become aware of His wonders. And his plan succeeded, for Pharaoh said (in next week’s parashah--41:39), “Since G-d has informed you of all this, there can be no one so discerning and wise as you.” (Lev Sameach)

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Chanukah


R’ Alexander Ziskind z”l (Grodno, Poland; died 1794) writes: The sages of the Gemara spoke very emphatically of the care that one should take when performing the mitzvah of Chanukah lights and of the reward for doing so. They said (Shabbat 23b), “One who regularly lights [Chanukah] candles will have sons who are Torah scholars.” Rambam writes in the fourth chapter of his “Laws of Megillah and Chanukah”: “The mitzvah of Chanukah lights is a very beloved mitzvah and a person must take great care with it in order to publicize the miracle and add to the praise of G-d and the acknowledgment to Him for the miracles that He did for us.”

R’ Alexander Ziskind continues: Truth be told, there is no doubt that a person who has been given wisdom by Hashem to comprehend the deep secrets of the Arizal’s meditations should take upon himself to meditate on those concepts. However, my intention in this work is to direct ordinary people like myself down the path that they should take so that they will not perform the mitzvot of Hashem Elokenu, may His name be praised, by rote. Therefore, I have come to counsel that one should not perform this beloved mitzvah without putting one’s heart into it. Rather, it should be done with great joy and with simple intentions in mind, as appropriate for each of the blessings [that are recited]. . . When one says the words, “L’hadlik ner” / “To kindle the Chanukah light,” one should feel immense happiness in his heart over the great miracle that took place at this time of year in the Bet Hamikdash involving the flask of oil as related in the Gemara.

When one recites the blessing, “She’asah nissim” / “That He did miracles for our fathers in those days at this time [of the year],” he should give great thanks in his thoughts and great praise to our Creator for all the miracles and the salvations that He did for our forefathers at this time of year. One also should try to imagine that the miracles and salvations were done for him personally. (Yesod Ve’shoresh Ha’avodah: Sha’ar Ha’meffaked ch. 1)

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[muman613]

Shalom,

Let me make a personal statement. Hashem is testing the hell out of me. I don't know if I can withstand these tests of faith and tests of action. Between the loss of my cat two weeks ago, then my car started having electrical problems last week. I took it to the shop and they found nothing wrong with it (even though for two days it would not hold a charge, and the electrical system seemed to be crazy {ie lights came on when the car was off})...

Tonight while driving on the freeway in already dangerous conditions (its been raining heavily here for a day) the electrical system cut out while I was 10 minutes from home. The stereo flicked on and off at first, cabin lights came on and went off, dash lights cut out, then the headlights were out, then the windshield wiper stopped, and the defroster. I drove without lights and without good visibility for five minutes till the engine computer died and the engine stopped. Luckily I was able to pull over by that time and call AAA. Now I have to wake up early to get it into the shop again and in doing so will miss a doctors appointment. I am miserable about this because my boss told me I need to get in on time because last week things got kind of late.

Anyway, I hope that I will make it through these trying times. Baruch Hashem it should be his will.

Rabbi Pinchas Winstons latest Dvar Torah is very interesting:


http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5775/vayeishev.html

Parshas Vayeishev   
Promises

Promises, promises. There are so many places in Torah where it talks about the time that the Jewish people will finally overcome all of their enemies. This week’s parshah is an example of this:

Ya’akov dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. (Bereishis 37:1)

The camels of a flax dealer [once] entered [a town], laden with flax. The blacksmith wondered, “Where will all this flax go?” One clever fellow answered him, “One spark will come out of your bellows, which will burn it all.” So did Ya’akov see all the chieftains [of Eisav] mentioned above [in the previous parshah]. He wondered and said, “Who can conquer them all?” What is written after? “These are the generations of Ya’akov: Yosef,” only, and it is written: “And the house of Ya’akov shall be fire, and the house of Yosef a flame, and the house of Eisav shall become stubble” (Ovadiah 1:18). One spark will emerge from Yosef, which will destroy and consume them all. (Rashi)


Wouldn’t it be nice if it were so. No question it would be nicer if Eisav, and the rest of the enemies of the Jewish people for that matter, would simply come to like and respect the Jewish people and make peace. It would be ideal and wonderful if all of us greeted Moshiach together with tremendous joy. Nice, but not likely.

In the meantime, thousands of years later, the best we seem to be able to get is ambivalence from the nations of the world, and UN resolutions against the State of Israel. The worst we get is what happened in Har Nof a few weeks ago, and sometimes that is multiplied by a couple of million victims.

It’s been a long haul. We have certainly come a long way in the last couple of decades, b”H, setting up our own homeland and giving Jews a place move to when they want to live amongst their own. No one says it’s perfect but compared to what we’ve had to work with over the last couple thousand years, it’s a big leap forward.

The problem is that many Jews over the years have lost their patience and have jumped ship. They see that the Jewish people have survived, but at great cost. They also see the world moving on and becoming more advanced, while the Torah world insists on not being a part of its advancement other than using whatever it can or must to function in the “modern” world.

So many Jews along the way just never received an adequate education to even be able to make a proper choice. It’s as if some people get to know the tough side of Torah Judaism but not the part that makes it all worthwhile. They certainly never really got much of a chance to develop a personal relationship with God and to feel His Presence in their lives. No wonder they left the fold.

What will happen in the end? That is a good question.

To begin with, some Jews may not actually be Jews, even after generations, and may be removed from the Jewish people one way or another. Others may be Jewish but belong to the “Erev Rav,” those Jews who would rather fight than join, and may get a chance to do exactly that. Some Erev Rav may actually do teshuvah, but the more adamant ones, according to Kabbalah, will have to go.

Others may simply be innocently secular, meaning that they haven’t had much of an exposure to the real Judaism. Everything they know about Torah is either wrong or distorted, and have no idea that it is what they would want to do if they knew better. So many ba’alei teshuvah once-upon-a-time completely rejected Torah as being written by man and totally archaic.

For this category of Jew the events they may merit to witness will bring them up to speed. The Final Redemption is supposed to be far more spectacular than the first one from Egypt. When I say spectacular I don’t just mean in terms of the technology that will be used, though that may also be the case. I mean in terms of the technology that won’t be necessary because of the amazing miracles that will occur to redeem the Jewish people once and for all.

Movies have certainly upped the standard over the years in terms of what people find credible and yet awesome. That will be the whole point. If we’re still around, we’re going to see things happen that will overwhelm us because we will know that they are really happening, and not being faked using technology and computer software. Until now God has held back. When history requires it, He won’t any longer.

Hard to imagine? It is. But imagine the following situation. Today, human flight is no big deal. There are airplanes or personal jetpacks that can lift a person into the air and allow him to fly from one location to another, even thousands of miles away. We even have rocket ships that can take man into outer space. We also have it better than birds because they do not have inflight service like we do.

Nevertheless, as second nature as flight is today, how would we react if we watched a flock of humans fly overhead by merely flapping their arms? In a movie it would be comical because we would assume that it is not really happening, just the product of trick photography. In real life, we’d stand there with our mouths open and rubbing our eyes in disbelief.

Likewise, military technology is amazing today. It really stretches the imagination and goes outside the box. Nevertheless, it is still only technology, ingeniously accomplishing amazing things but based upon known principles. We may not yet know how the technology works but we are confident that if someone explained it to us we’d understand.

However, once God decides that the charade is over and that it is time to go into the final mode of Yemos HaMoshiach, amazing things will happen in ways that we won’t understand. The “magicians” will be forced to admit that it is the “finger of God” making it all happen. This will strengthen the belief of the followers of God, and convince those who doubted either His existence and/or involvement in the affairs of man.

One of the reasons why Yosef brothers will be unable to respond once Yosef reveals himself to be alive in a few parshios from now is because they will be in shock and awe. They will find themselves having a very hard time imagining what it must have taken to manipulate history so that Yosef could go from slavery to second-in-command over Egypt. It was like watching humans fly like birds without an technological support.

Currently, the Jewish people are not very respected in the eyes of the nations of the world. They’re not even respected in the eyes of their own people, the vast majority of which want little or no connection to their traditional past. We have a homeland but it is constantly threatened by enemies, and our citizens are constantly in danger from hostile neighbors. This is Point A.

We have to become the most respected nation in the world, and be free of any threat to our existence whatsoever. All of our people have to realize that Torah is true and return to its prescribed lifestyle, while all those who live in the Diaspora return to Eretz Yisroel. Hostile neighbors have to become a thing of the past. This is Point B.

The question is, how do we get from Point A to Point B? What will have to happen to make Point B a reality, which it must become? All the “natural” answers come up short. There is no logical plan of action to get from Point A to Point B without relying upon great miracles, certainly in the short run. Something dramatic, something outside the box will have to occur to change history and simply bring it up to speed.

The question is, how dramatic? The events that led to the reunion of Yosef and his family by which time everything had flip-flopped had been dramatic, and therefore, shocking enough. However, that had only been about getting 10 brothers to admit their mistake and properly respect the brother they had previously rejected.

Today we’re talking about bringing seven billion people, who are either atheistic, agnostic, or religiously misguided, up to spiritual speed. That seems to be a much taller order than what had to be accomplished in Yosef’s time, during which only a few miracles were necessary to accomplish the intended purpose.

The truth is, some of the miracles have already happened, and continue to happen. Logistically, the State of Israel should not be here today given the circumstances in which it came into existence, and those that continue as it struggles to maintain its survival. From where I sit, there are hostile Arab communities just over the ridge that would not think twice about wiping out my community, God forbid.

What keeps them back? The IDF? Not really. The UN? For sure not! Then what? One thing and one thing only. The same “Force” that keeps their brothers at bay outside the borders of Israel in spite of their best efforts to push the Jewish state into the sea: the will of God. The “wall” that separates us from terrible tragedy, God forbid, is the will of God.

Unfortunately, we don’t appreciate how incredible a miracle it is. That is to our disadvantage in two ways. Firstly, a lack of appreciation can mean a loss of some of the miracle, God forbid. Secondly, once the more obvious miracles begin, we won’t be as prepared for them as we ought to be. Yosef’s brothers only had to stand there speechless once they recognized the miracles that led to Yosef’s his survival and rise to power. What will it be like for the rest of us when we witness the awesome miracles of the Final Redemption?

[~Hanna~]

Thankyou for sharing your insight, wisdom and thoughts here. Yes, our lives are full of tests, some even turn away from G-d, in the midst....let us never be that cynical or dissilussioned.....i didn't spell that correctly.

I was just discussing this week with my Rabbi, about Joseph...a group of us were discussing about the different stages of forgiveness.....he was saying that Joseph may have been arrogant and really made his brothers jealous/angry and thus, got sold into slavery, but, during his next years, especially while in prison, HaShem really changed his heart and for instance, when his brothers came to him later..he could have really given them much revenge, but instead, he forgave them and their relationships were RESTORED....Halleluyah!!!!  Unfortunately, not all of our relationships down here can be totally restored...sometimes someone can sin so much against us (abuse, for instance) we should forgive them, YES, but from a distance, we can no longer allow them to be so close to us as to cause us harm and distress and damage, ever again (this can be difficult, to say the least).....

I learned alot this week about this subject.....

Thankyou for sharing so much here and I hope this year you will rise above your testings (my year has been similar in some respects)..I was so distraught about everything but I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!!