Towards the end of the parsha, Yosef Hatzadik finds himself in a hopeless situation, having been in prison for ten years with no prospect of freedom. At that point occurs the incident of the interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh’s ministers which begins the process of his meteoric
Read more →The Parsha begins with an account of the deterioration of the relationship between Yosef and his brothers. Yosef’s two dreams played a very significant part in the increasing resentment of the brothers towards him. Close analysis of the dreams can provide us with more insight into how they caused
Read more →“And Yosef dreamt a dream, which he told to his brothers, and they hated him even more. And he said to them, ‘please hear the dream that I dreamt: ‘Behold, we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, when, behold, my sheaf arose and also stood; then behold,
Read more →Breishit 32 Going Down to Go Up: Yehuda & the Roots of Meshiach (Ch. 38-9) Ask: Who here would like to be meshiach, if they could? (Everyone should raise their hand; if not, prompt them further by asking: who here would like to be the one to fix up
Read more →Yaakov had twelve sons, and they were all righteous. Because of this, his children could be the foundation of the Jewish nation. But two of his sons were greater than the others. Yehuda was the leader of the brothers. His greatness was shown by his ability to
Read more →Breishit 31 The Selling of Yosef (Ch. 37:1-36) One of the proofs that the Torah is really a book from G-d is called the psychological proof. The basis of it is that certain sections of the Torah would not have been written by human beings trying to promote a
Read more →Yaakov’s Shalva Rashi brings the Chazal that Yaakov wanted to sit b’shalva, kafatz alav rugzo shel Yosef. What was the chisaron of Yaakov’s avoda? Surely, all Yaakov desired was the freedom from problems or distractions that would take away from his Avodas Hashem. Why is Kavayachol so
Read more →Introduction to Torah Study I. Life is for pleasure It’s a principle of Jewish understanding that G-d created us because He wanted to give us pleasure.Illustration: All that one wants for his children is that they should live rich and happy lives, filled with joy. At the same
Read more →37:3 Rashi brings from Onkeles that “the child of his old age” meant that Yaakov taught Yosef the Torah he had learnt at the yeshiva of Shem and Ever. Onkelos explains this to answer the difficulty that really Binyamin was the child of Yaakov’s old age and not Yosef. For this reason the brothers were jealous of Yosef. If he had been the real “ben zkoonim” then it
Read more →Based on Rav Noach Weinberg Yaakov achieved the status of prophecy. He therefore must have realized that openly favoring Yosef would lead to jealousy. Why then did he outwardly favor Yosef? Avraham and Yitzchak both favored one of their sons. Why is Yaakov the only one of
Read more →Based on Rav Noah Weinberg The unity and harmony of the Jewish people are central themes in this week’s Torah portion. From it, we learn the important lesson of when and how we should judge our fellow man. In the beginning, we are introduced to Joseph and
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