Today's Learning Bava Kamma 7:6-7 Sponsored by O.C. 299:3-5 the Vogel family Avodah Zarah 74 in memory of mother and grandmother Yerushalmi-- Miriam bat Yehuda Leib A"H Nedarim 39 Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Miketz / Six day of Chanukah Vol. X, No. 10 (447), 30 Kislev 5756, December 23, 1995 Siddur Avodat Yisrael writes that there is a chapter of Tehilim which corresponds to each parashah--this week Psalm 40. Chazal interpret this chapter as referring to Yosef, especially verse 5: "Blessed is the man who made Hashem his trust, and turned not to the arrogant, and to strayers after falsehood." (The inside pages of this issue are devoted to this verse and its connection to this parashah.) The psalm associated with Chanukah is chapter 30, "Mizmor shir chanukat habayit"-"A song with musical accompaniment for the inauguration of the Temple"-since Chanukah is a time when the Temple was rededicated. But what does the remainder of this chapter, which discusses Hashem's healing man from sickness, have to do with the construction or dedication of the Temple? Rav Reuven Margaliot zatz'l explains: The Bet Hamikdash, and particularly the altar, must stand in a precisely chosen location. We read in Divrei Hayamim I (ch. 21) that a plague resulted when King David counted the Jewish people. After 70,000 people had died, David looked up and saw an angel holding a sword standing on the future- Temple Mount. David understood that that was where the altar should go, and when he brought a sacrifice at that place, the plague ceased. Thus, it was precisely the plague and its cure which made the construction and dedication of the Temple possible. (Hamikra Ve'hamesorah) ************************************ The verses and commentaries on this page relate to the chapter of Tehilim associated with our parashah/holiday (see page 1). The midrash (Bereishit Rabbah) teaches: Parashat Miketz opens, "It came to pass at the end of two years, and Pharaoh dreamt." This is alluded to by the verse (Tehilim 40:5), "Blessed is the man who made Hashem his trust"--this is Yosef--"and turned not to the arrogant"--because Yosef said to the sar hamashkim (butler) at the end of last week's parashah, "Remember me" and, "Mention me," he had to remain in jail for an additional two years. Numerous commentaries ask: Isn't this midrash inherently contradictory? First it says that Yosef is the man who made Hashem his trust, then it says that Yosef was punished for turning to the arrogant Egyptians for assistance! Moreover, doesn't G-d help those who help themselves? What's wrong if Yosef asked the butler to remember him? On this page and the next we offer several explanations: Rav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik zatz'l and Rav Elya Lopian zatz'l (among others) explain that the degree to which a person must help himself depends upon his spiritual level. The greater a person, the more he is expected to trust in Hashem, and the less he is allowed to engage in "independent" effort. Because of Yosef's lofty spiritual level--he was "the man who made Hashem his trust"--he was expected to maintain that trust and not to rely on human agents. Because this one time he failed, he was punished for it. Moreover, says Rav Lopian, Yosef did very little to get himself out of prison; indeed he uttered only two short Hebrew phrases ("Remember me" and "Mention me"), yet he was punished terribly with two additional years of imprisonment. In light of the fact that Hashem is strict with tzaddikim in proportion to their righteousness, the severity of this punishment indicates how great Yosef's trust ordinarily was. (Bet Halevi; Lev Eliyahu) ************************************ Another indication of how strictly G-d judged Yosef is the fact that--according to Malbim--the butler was destined to die just like the baker, if not for the fact that the butler had a part to play in Yosef's release from prison. Thus, says Rav Yitzchak Arieli zatz'l (mashgiach of Yeshivat Merkaz Harav and author of Enayim La'mishpat), when Yosef asked the butler for help, he really was telling the butler, "This is your mission in life." However, even this was unbecoming a man such as Yosef. (Midrash Ariel) ************************************ On the previous page we asked: Doesn't G-d help those who help themselves? What's wrong if Yosef asked the butler to remember him? Rav Eliyahu Meir Bloch zatz'l explains that Yosef was too eager. When Yosef interpreted the butler's dream, he knew that the butler would remain in jail an additional three days, and he should have waited before asking the butler to help him. However, Yosef did not do that; instead he immediately asked. (Peninei Da'at) Rav Avraham Yishayahu Karelitz (the "Chazon Ish") zatz'l explains Yosef's sin as follows: Yes, one must help himself and not rely on miracles. However, Yosef was asking for help from a person whose nature was not to help. Therefore, Yosef's act was a sign of desperation--which is a sin--not the act of a person who simply is acting because such is the way of the world. (Emunah U'vitachon II:6) The midrash says that the butler used to tie strings around his fingers and take other steps to remember Yosef, but angels would come and undo the knots. Doesn't this contradict the explanation of the Chazon Ish (see previous paragraph)? No, says Rav Moshe Schwab zatz'l. The fact that he had to design strategms to remember is proof that he did not care to remember. If something is important to you, you remember it. (Ma'archei Lev IV:147) Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin zatz'l gives the midrash (see page 2) a completely different interpretation, in light of which the questions presented here do not even arise: Yosef took a very casual approach to getting out of jail. He told the butler, "Remember me" and "Mention me"--but that's all he said. Because Yosef placed his trust in G-d, he made a token effort to get out, but he didn't plead and he didn't beg. Had Yosef pleaded with the butler, he might have been released right away. Then he probably would have returned to his father's house. That would have been the end of the story; certainly Yosef never would have become viceroy of Egypt. However, Yosef was "the man who made Hashem his trust and turned not to the arrogant." Because Yosef said to the butler only, "Remember me" and "Mention me," he was able to remain in jail an additional two years until a time when Pharaoh needed him. (Maharil Diskin Al Hatorah) ************************************ Rav Gershon Henach Leiner zatz'l born 5599 (1839) - died 4 Tevet 5651 (1890) Rav Gershon Chanoch Henach Leiner was one of the more controversial chassidic rebbe's of the second half of the 19th century, as will be explained below. His father, Rav Yaakov, and his grandfather, Rav Mordechai Yosef, had been the rebbes of Izbica, an offshot of Kotzk. When Rav Gershon Henach was only 13 years old, he already was producing Torah works, and eventually his works would include: commentaries on Talmud, halachic responsa, a work on Hebrew script in halachah and kabbalah, responsa regarding agunot (women unable to remarry), a commentary on the Talmud Yerushalmi, an encyclopedia on kabbalah, a commentary on Rambam's Sefer Hamitzvot, and more. Two works by Rav Gershon Henach made him controversial. The first was entitled Sidrei Taharah, and was a commentary on the mishnayot of the sixth order of the Mishnah. Although there is no gemara on most of this Order, there are interpretations of it scattered throughout the Talmud. Rav Gershon Henach gathered these and published a work that looked like a gemara, with the teachings of the sages of the Talmud in the middle, and a Rashi-like commentary on one side and a Tosfot-like commentary on the other. While everyone recognized the genius of the work, there were objections to its gemara-like format. Better known, and even more controversial, was Rav Gershon Henach's work to restore the techelet-dye which the Torah says should be used on tzitzit. Rav Gershon Henach studied dyes in Italy (possibly in the Vatican), and concluded that the correct dye was that produced by the Sepia officinalis, a member of the octopus family. On the first day of Chanukah in 1889, Rav Gershon Henach began to wear techelet, and soon 12,000 chassidim followed suit. Today, Radzhiner and Breslover chassidim still wear techelet. The gemara says that Yosef was released from prison on Rosh Hashanah. In Sod Yesharim (Rosh Hashanah p. 75), Rav Gershon Henach explains that that holiday itself represents a kind of release from prison. The great potential for spirituality which exists in the world is constrained by the world's physical limitations. Indeed, the kabbalistic concept of "tzimtzum" teaches that G-d so-to-speak constrained Himself in order to give the world room to exist. On Rosh Hashanah, the day of creation, we briefly experience the world in its "free," unconstrained state. ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible.