Undercover
“And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Tzafnach Paneach…” (Genesis 41:45) Rashi explains that this name means explainer of hidden things. Of course, if Tzafnach means hidden things and Paneach means explainer – shouldn’t his name have been Paneach Tzafnach? The Sfas Emes explains that his name was in reverse order to show why Joseph was worthy […]
Reflections
“The chief butler did not remember Yosef, but forgot him.” (Genesis 40:23) This seems a bit redundant. The Sefer Peninei Torah suggests an approach to our verse based on Proverbs 27:19, “As water reflects a face back to a face, so one’s heart is reflected back to him by another.” It is possible to read […]
The Mystical Light of Chanukah
by Rabbi Michael Skobac Chanukah coincides each year with the reading of the story of Joseph in the cycle of weekly Torah portions. Our sages have discovered numerous connections between this holiday and the Joseph narrative. I’d like to suggest an additional connection to help us appreciate what might be Chanukah’s underlying spiritual motif. “These […]
Seeing clearly
“Your eyes are composed of white and black components, and you only see through the black.” (Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah 15:7) So often, it is only through the dark, painful moments in life that we really gain clarity, spiritual growth and understanding.
What is really there
“And they seized him and they threw him into the pit; and the pit was empty, no water was in it.” (Genesis 37:24) The Gaon of Vilna notes that the word pit is mentioned twice in this verse, but spelled differently. The first time, the Hebrew word “bor” is spelled defectively without the letter ‘vav’, […]
Obstructed vision
“Just as your hand, held before the eye, can hide the tallest mountain, so this small earthly life can keep us from seeing the vast radiance that fills the core of the universe.” Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
Not even in the same breath
Josef said to the wife of Potiphar who was trying to seduce him: How can I do this great evil and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9) Since she’d be cheating on her husband and committing the sin of adultery, Josef should have said: How could WE do this great evil and sin against God? Rabbi […]
Hacking the Haftorah: VaYishlach
This series explores the connection between the weekly Torah portion read in synagogues (Parashat HaShavuah) and the Haftorah reading that follows from the writings of the prophets. The Five Books of Moses are read publicly in synagogues on Shabbat morning and completed over the course of a year. There is an ancient custom to follow […]
A true memorial
Jacob set up a monument over her grave; it is the monument of Rachel’s grave until today” (Genesis 35:20). The text doesn’t say that this was the monument for Rachel, only the monument of her grave. Rachel herself didn’t need a monument. Righteous men and women don’t need pillars of stone to perpetuate their memory […]
That much
The Talmud teaches that a Torah scholar should possess 1/8th of 1/8th of haughtiness (Sotah 5a). The Gaon of Vilna explained that this is hinting at the 8th verse in the 8th portion of the Torah. This week’s parsha, VaYishlach, it the 8th portion of Genesis. The eight verse is 32:11 which begins, “I am […]