Hamaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Miketz Volume VIII/Number 10 (345) 27 Kislev 5754/December 11, 1993 We read in this parasha that Yosef remained in jail for two years after he asked the "sar hamashkim" to remember him to Pharaoh. Chazal explain that Yosef was punished for exhibiting a lack of "bitachon" (trust in G-d). Even though the typical person is obligated to try to improve his life by natural means, tzaddikim are held to a higher standard. (Bet haLevi) Having bitachon does not mean saying "Everything will turn out okay." R' Moshe Schwab writes that bitachon means knowing that, no matter what happens, Hashem's will will be done. The Chashmonaim found the strength to fight the more numerous Syrian/Greeks because the Chashmonaim knew that it could not be Hashem's will that the Bet haMikdash remain defiled. (Ma'archei Lev) Observing shemittah is also an exercise in bitachon. It cannot be Hashem's will that Jews should go hungry as the result of performing a mitzvah. We therefore know that Hashem will provide. ************************************ "Yosef jailed [his brothers] for three days. On the third day Yosef said, 'Do this and live; I fear G-d. If you are true, leave one of your brothers in prison, and you go bring food to your families. And your youngest brother bring to me, and that will prove your words.' and they did so. "And one said his brother, 'But we are guilty, for we saw our brother's suffering, when he begged us and we didn't listen -- therefore this has come upon us'." (42:17-21) The verse states enigmatically, "And they did so." What did they do? This cannot refer to bringing Binyamin to Egypt, for that story will be told in depth later. What, then, does it mean? R' Shimon Schwab, shlita, notes that this brief story begins with Yosef's changing his mind. He had originally planned to imprison nine brothers and send one home. Later he decided to imprison one, and send nine home. Why? He explained to them that it was because he feared G-d. What did the brothers do? They also changed their minds. After believing for 22 years that they had dealt properly with Yosef, they said to themselves, "If fear of G-d can lead this Egyptian to reconsider his position, certainly we should examine the correctness of our views." Upon doing so, they realized that they were wrong about Yosef, and they thus attributed their present troubles to their treatment of him. In the Birkat haChodesh which is recited on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Chodesh (including today), we ask for "A life filled with fear of Heaven and fear of sin." Why the double request? Because fear of Heaven can become automatic. We must use our fear of sin (which must be constant, as we are constantly tempted) to reinvigorate our fear of Heaven. (Selected Speeches) ************************************ Chanukah The Mishnah (Avot, ch.5) lists ten miracles that occurred in the Bet haMikdash on a regular basis. Why, then, asks R' Avraham Yaakov haKohen Pam, shlita, were Chazal so moved by the miracle of the oil that they ordained its permanent commemoration as the holiday of Chanukah? One answer is based on another question. The Pnei Yehoshua asks: Since the halacha states that when the majority of Jews or the majority of the Temple vessels are ritually defiled ("tamei") the Temple service may be performed in a state of defilement, why was the miracle necessary at all? The Jews could just as well have used oil that was tamei! The answer is that Hashem performed the miracle to show his love for the Jews. R' Pam elaborates and notes that when two people have a bitter fight, even if they make up, they rarely return not their former friendship. Not so, is Hashem's love for us. After we sin and repent, His love is as great as before. The midrash relates that Eliyahu haNavi was once sitting in the study hall and a student asked him, "Why, of all the prophets, did Yishayahu merit to be the prophet of consolation?" Eliyahu answered him, "Because he undertook his mission joyfully." The student continued, "Of what historical period was Yishayahu speaking?" Eliyahu answered, "If the Jews would repent now, Hashem would rebuild the Bet haMikdash immediately, and He would hug the Jews and kiss them and seat them next to Him forever and ever." This is how great Hashem's love is, despite our thousands of years of sin. Lighting the Chanuka candles should remind us of that love. (Atarah laMelech) ************************************ R' Chaim of Czernowitz born 5520 (1760) - died 27 (or 7) Kislev 5578 (1818) R' Chaim Tirer was one of the seminal figures and authors of chassidut. His teacher in halacha was R' Zvi Hirsh Kara; his first chassidic rebbe was R' Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov, a student of the Ba'al Shem Tov. R' Chaim served as Rabbi of at least six communities, the largest of which were Czernowitz and Kishinev. He served the former from 1789 to 1807. In 1814, he settled in Zefat, where he died. R' Chaim's influence on the Jews of Bukovina (eastern Romania) was immense. Due to his influence, the only public school serving Jews was closed, and he vigorously fought anti-Semitic laws. He was once fined for saying Kaddish in a mourner's house, in violation of a law against "clandestine" synagogues. Due to his influence, chassidim swept across Bukovina and Bessarabia without the opposition that it encountered in Poland and Lithuania. It is said that R' Chaim stood out among chassidic masters for his love of Shabbat and his love of Eretz Yisrael. The only one of his many works which was published in his lifetime was Sidduro Shel Shabbat, in which he deals with many deep aspects of Shabbat. He writes, "A person's countenance is not the same on Shabbat as it is on a weekday." His love for Eretz Yisrael was also put into practice, as he lived the last four years of his life there. The best known of his other works are Be'er Mayim Chaim on Torah and Sha'ar haTefilah on prayer. In Sidduro Shel Shabbat (Part II, Drush 4), R' Chaim writes that there are two kinds of miracles. Since Hashem is above time, He may perform a miracle for a person based on the meritorious deeds which that person will do in the future. Other times, a person may actually deserve the miracle which is done for him. The Exodus was the former type of miracle - the Jews, like their Egyptian masters, were idolators, but the Jews were destined to receive the Torah, and could thus be saved. The war of Chanukah, however, was a war of "The pure against the impure, the righteous against the wicked, and the deliberate sinners against those who kept the Torah." There was thus no question that the Jews deserved a miracle. On Pesach, R' Chaim continues, the full Hallel is recited only on the first day, because the Jews were lifted with great force out of the depths of their impurity to a level on which they remained just long enough to leave Egypt. On the following days, they returned to their former level. However, the Jews began on Chanukah on a high level and remained there, and thus the full Hallel is recited on all of the days of the holiday. If anything, the Jews continued to grow during Chanukah, and this is why we light an additional candle each night. ************************************ The learning schedule for this Shabbat is: Ma'asrot 5:1-2 Kitzur 66:7-11 Kiddushin 7 Yerushalmi -- Orlah 12 ************************************ The hard copy distribution of this weeks Hamaayan is sponsored by: the Vogel family in memory of mother and grandmother, Miriam bat Yehuda Leib, A"H ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax deductible