Vayigash: Who Really Sold Yosef? Hashgachah, Gezeiras Elyon, and Finding the Hidden Good

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Maboyim. This week's parasha, Parashas Vayigash, Yosef reveals himself to the brothers, Ani Yosef. You look at perek mem-hei, pasuk aleph, beis, gimmel, daled, hei, vav. It's not just that Yosef says simply, Ani Yosef, but he has a long speech, an entire dialogue with the brothers. The pasuk says, Vayomer Yosef el echav, Ani Yosef, ha'od avi chai. But he doesn't stop there. Continues, Vayomer Yosef el echav, gshu na elai, vayigashu. Vayomer, Ani Yosef achichem, asher mechartem osi Mitzrayma. Ve'atah al te'atzvu, v'al yechar b'eineichem ki mechartem osi heinah, ki lemichyah shelachani Elokim lifneichem. And he continues more and more. Ki zeh shnasayim hara'av b'kerev ha'aretz, agance shmuyes. Rabosai, there's an interesting Chasam Sofer. Chasam Sofer on the pasuk, V'hinei eineichem ro'os v'einei achi Binyamin ki pi hamedaber aleichem. He convinces them with an argument. You see, you see that I am Yosef, ki pi hamedaber aleichem. Says Rashi, what is ki pi hamedaber aleichem? Bilshon hakodesh. He's speaking, he's speaking bilshon hakodesh. Ki pi, like the mouth, hamedaber aleichem. Lemaaseh, he was trying to pasht his talmidim in Mitzrayim, we don't speak lashon hakodesh, and if I speaking to you lashon hakodesh, it's a siman that I must be Yosef. The Chasam Sofer says there's a deeper meaning and intention in Yosef's words, Ki pi hamedaber aleichem. All languages is, the word doesn't have too much deeper meaning than just that the word was chosen for this particular thing. For example, a chair is a chair because they decided that a chair is the right word to be used for a chair. Lashon hakodesh, each word has deeper meaning. And then the Chasam Sofer adds that each word has in it gematria, nutrikin, temuras osiyos. There's so much hidden in the language of Lashon Kodesh which has more meaning than the actual words. Says Yosef, Ki pi hamedaber aleichem, like the mouth that speaks to you b'lashon hakodesh, so you'll realize that I'm not just saying simple things. There's a lot deeper meaning. The Chasam Sofer says even the words Ki pi hamedaber aleichem, the Baal HaTurim says, is a gematria for eglah arufah. So you see that he was conveying to them this message, that whatever you hear, there's a deeper meaning and there's deeper intent in every word. There could be gematria, there could be nutrikin. And there's different letters that I'm using to convey different messages. And this is what Yosef is saying: I'm speaking it, and you probably, who also speak Lashon Kodesh, will understand it. And then you realize that we're speaking the same language. U'meileh, I am Yosef, your brother. Yiddish is an expression, mameloshen, and only people who speak mameloshen will understand the nuance. Says Yosef, I'm speaking Lashon Kodesh, and you'll understand the nuance. In light of this, I think we need to go back and focus on every word that Yosef tells his brothers. It wasn't just Ani Yosef, and he stops there. He goes on and on with an entire dialogue and speech, a ganze shmues. What's behind every word is very important to uncover. And as Yosef himself is conveying to the brothers, Ki פי המדבר אליכם, that there's a lot more hidden behind every word. So let us begin with the hakdamah. What exactly is the kavanah?

This entire shmues, this long drasha that Yosef is giving his brothers. So many mefarshim took the derech that this was a mussar shmues, and Yosef, v'oid avi chai, so he was giving them mussar on the mechirah and the breakdown in the achvah. Other mefarshim have taken the mahalach that it was a piyus, that he was consoling them, comforting them, that they shouldn't feel bad about the mechirah. Mistama, both are true. It was a little of this and a little of that, and maybe a little more piyus, a little less tochachah. Al derech ma she'amru Chazal, yemin mekarev, but smolis docheh, but yemin is mekarev. So he was balancing in his words, in his speech to the brothers, tochachah and piyus, tochachah and piyus. Ha'medakdek, rabosai, that if you delve into the words that Yosef is conveying to his brothers, besides for tochachah and piyus, I believe that Yosef was conveying hashkafah. Yosef was conveying to the brothers v'yimadafarshtein, v'yimadaf oplernen, to understand what mechiras Yosef, how did such a thing happen? It goes and speaks to the heart of Klal Yisrael's beginning. Klal Yisrael begins with the story of mechiras Yosef, u'medafes farshtein. Let us learn the pesukim to uncover the intent and kavanah, the deeper meaning of everything that Yosef said. Vayoymer Yosef el echav, ani Yosef. So here it's clear that he is telling them that he is Yosef. Ha'od avi chai? Parshas was a mussar. Vayoymer Yosef el echav, geshu na eilai vayigashu, come close. And again, Vayoymer ani Yosef achichem, asher mechartem osi Mitzrayma. Al korchach he already told them, Vayoymer Yosef el echav, ani Yosef. Why does he repeat, Vayoymer Yosef el echav, geshu na eilai vayigashu, Vayoymer ani Yosef achichem? Why is he repeating, Ani Yosef achichem? So pashut, simply we could say, because nivhalu mipanav. They almost didn't believe him, so he had to repeat, Geshu na eilai vayigashu, come and I'll repeat, Vayoymer ani Yosef achichem, asher mechartem osi Mitzrayma. Rashi doesn't learn nivhalu mipanav, that they didn't believe. The opposite, mashma they did believe, nivhalu mipanav mipnei habusha. So they did accept that he was Yosef, and they got so embarrassed that they started going backwards, moving away from him. So then what is the Vayoymer ani Yosef achichem? So maybe it's not the ani Yosef, it's the achichem. He's trying to comfort them, console them. You don't have to go backwards. You don't have to be miskabeish, forkert, achichem. Chaim speaks like this, that he was adding to the original statement of Vayoymer Yosef el echav, ani Yosef. He was adding the achichem. Maybe there's another pshat that we could say, but we have to be magdim the end of the pasuk, asher mechartem osi Mitzrayma. If he means achichem, so he's trying to console them and comfort them that he's still a brother. So then why does he repeat, Hashem mechartem osi Mitzrayimah? Why bring it up? Why bring up old wounds? Just bema'atim, just keep it quiet, keep it under wraps. You don't have to repeat it and emphasize it if you're mean to repair and bring feelings of ahavah and achvah. So what is the vayomer ani Yosef achichem, and right away, Hashem mechartem osi Mitzrayimah? There's another ha'arah in dikduk, rabosai. Ani Yosef asher mechartem osi Mitzrayimah. Asher mechartem, in all Chumashim, has three dots, or some Chumashim one dot, one slash, between the asher and the mechartem. What is the reason for this? Because sometimes when you have asher and then a word after asher, it's two different words. It's meant to be read separately.

Asher, for example, here, asher mechartem. And then there's a time where it's supposed to be a one word, read as if one word, asher mechartem. Pay attention to the Baal Korei on Shabbos. You'll see what kind of baal dikduk he is. Not that you should make a big issue about it, but if he's a real baal dikduk and he's a medakdek in every os and trop, he will read it not asher mechartem, but asher mechartem. There's no tipcha. There's no mercha tipcha. There's no tipcha after asher, because it's supposed to be read as one word. So the kashya is, say it as one word. Why do you have to make two words out of it? If you mean to say one word, זאג עס, say in one word: אני יוסף אחיכם ש... שמכרתם אותי מצרימה. Why do you have to make two words out of it? If you mean to say one word, זאג עס. Soon we'll see that the Sfas Emes has a marvelous pshat in the asher mechartem. It's deeper meaning. ועתה אל תעצבו ואל יחר בעיניכם. It's two leshonos, etzev and charon, אל תעצבו ואל יחר בעיניכם. Why the double lashon? Malbim and Mikra Dover, the me'orer the she'eilah. If you'll notice, it has to be as with the intent of two things, as it says, אל תעצבו ו... ואל יחר. It doesn't say ואל תעצבו ויחר. So it's clearly emphasizing it as two different things. What is the chiluk between etzev... And Charon. The pasuk continues, Ki mechartem osi heina. You sold me here. And medaver, and it's, why heina? Ki mechartem. It's an issue where he sold him to, maintaining that Yosef is trying to bring out that you sold me. And is it really true that they sold him here to Mitzrayim? They sold him to Midyanim, Yishmaelim to the Midyanim, and then the Midyanim to Mitzrayim. So actually, they never even sold him here. So what does he mean, Ki mechartem osi heina? If you take a look, the pasuk continues, Yosef is continuing, don't feel bad, Ki l'michya sh'lachani Elokim lifneichem. So first of all, Elokim. Elokim is midas hadin. Seems to be bringing out a good thing, a positive thing. Ki l'michya, Hashem sent me here to sustain Klal Yisrael, to sustain the shevatim. So why Elokim? Why the name of Hashem that's moira midas hadin? Maaseh, there's a Ramban in the beginning of Parshas Vaeira, that the Ramban says, Vaeira el Avos, u'shmi Hashem lo noda'ti lahem, that the shem Hashem is not in Bereishis. It comes later during Yetzias Mitzrayim, during galus and Yetzias Mitzrayim. In Bereishis, it's strictly Elokim. That's pshat, Vaeira el Avos b'midas hadin, u'shmi Hashem lo noda'ti lahem. So in Bereishis it's always Elokim, the midas hadin, shem of Hashem. Yet we do see that he emphasizes this a few times. In pasuk hei, Ki l'michyah shelachani Elokim lifneichem. In pasuk zayin, Vayishlacheni Elokim lifneichem. And then again in pasuk ches, V'atah lo atem shelachtem osi heneh ki haElokim. A very interesting emphasis. Not only does he say it once, but he says it three times, and here is even the third time, it's like clearly, ki haElokim. Why the shem of the midas hadin, and why does he have to repeat it in three pesukim, three times? The message is clear: Ki l'michyah shelachani Elokim. Further, Yosef continues with his drasha to the brothers, Maruv alu el avi, v'amartem eilav, koh amar bincha Yosef, samani Elokim l'adon l'chol Mitzrayim. So he tells Yaakov, I'm an adon. But in pasuk ches, he actually elaborates very much about his position in Mitzrayim, V'atah lo atem...

Why does he have to build it up so much? And don't forget, this was an issue. The brothers are very sensitive to the fact that Yosef is this big melech and Moshel, and he's moshel over them. So why, if you mean to comfort, and if you mean to repair, and if you mean to bring them close and to make them feel comfortable and not embarrassed, why the emphasis again on the thing that started the problem in the first place? No, that's not enough. No, that's not enough. This important asks this for a kasha. Why building up? Why is he exaggerating his great positions in Mitzrayim? What was the purpose of it? Another ha'arah, rabosai. Here it seems clearly the message that he's conveying is, L'michyah shelachani. I was here. I am sent here to bring you food, to sustain you. In Parshas Vayechi, after they have the levayah of Yaakov Avinu, and they're afraid that Yosef is going to take nekamah, Bereishis nun, pasuk chaf: V'atem chashavtem alai ra, Elokim chashavah l'tovah. You thought bad. No, it's good. Hashem meant, had a better plan. For this whole story that happened, and this was l'toiva. Why was it l'toiva? L'maaseh kayom hazeh, l'hachyos am rav. L'hachyos means to bring life to a big nation. Is this the same point as l'michya? L'michya seems to mean parnassah, to feed them. Otherwise they would have died from hunger. What's the l'hachyos am rav? L'hachyos michya, is it the same point? Is it the same intent? L'maaseh, many mefarshim learn l'hachyos am rav is to bring out Klal Yisroel to the point of being a great nation. Klal Yisroel had to go through galus Mitzrayim. Klal Yisroel needed to come down to Mitzrayim, so the future is l'hachyos am rav, that a great nation will ascend from what happened here in the mechirah. Arizal says a different pshat. Arizal learns l'hachyos am rav. Chassidish sefarim tell us that we went down to Mitzrayim to be matzil the klipos, to take all the kedushah that is hidden in Mitzrayim. We know that the whole world needs to sustain itself from kedushah, otherwise it would cease to exist. Meloi kol ha'aretz kevodo, the Ribono Shel Olam is everywhere. So Klal Yisroel needs to go in all the places of the world to take out, to deduce, and pull out all the klipos. Of kedusha, all the nekudos of kedusha, and the meila, they have that kedusha of the Ribono Shel Olam's presence. Mitzrayim, says Arizal, was am rav. It had reish beis, 202 inyanim of kedusha that they had to extract from Mitzrayim, k'minyan rav, am rav, a nation of rav, of reish beis. It's actually referring to Klal Yisrael sustaining itself from the kedusha, and that's what the Shem Mishmuel and other Chassidic sefarim write, how when they left Mitzrayim it was k'metzulah she'ein bah dagim. They left it empty, completely empty, because they took out all the nitzotzei kedusha, all the nitzotzei kedusha, and that's l'hachis am rav. So Yosef is telling them there was a bigger plan in why we came down to Mitzrayim. The mechirah that you made was in order to be l'hachis am rav. L'michya, l'michya, unless that's also l'michya, to take the inyanei kedusha, the nitzotzei kedusha, is l'michya. Pashut, it seems to be two different nekudos, two different reasons.

Michiyas, to sustain them physically, and l'hachyos am rav was to create a great nation. And in Arizal Torah is to take the nitzutzei kedusha and bring kedusha of the entire world to Klal Yisroel. So these are, l'choira, the ha'aros, the questions on the loshon, on the words that Yosef chooses to convey to his brothers. What was the message? So as we spoke, there's a lot of mussar. You could find a lot of mussar in his words. You could find a lot of consolation, a lot of comforting words. And as we spoke, possibly there's also tremendous hashkafah in the words of Yosef. Yosef wants, az mazol oplern in mechiras Yosef, bedafashtein mechiras Yosef. It's not just an event that happened. Mechiras Yosef is in the DNA, so to speak, of the birth of Klal Yisroel. Vos iz mechiras Yosef? Vi darf men oplern in the sugya of mechiras Yosef? Yosef is conveying this to the brothers, and this is something that he himself came to through inception and thinking and going through the sugya. Over the years he was in Mitzrayim, he worked on himself to farshtein, vos hot do pasirt, what happened here? And it's also a message. And a limud for Klal Yisroel l'doiros, vi medaf uplearning, fashtein mechiras Yosef. And that is gezeiras Elyon. Der Ribono Shel Olam tazoi gevolt. Pshat mechiras Yosef, azoi hot der Ribono Shel Olam gevolt. In the asarah harugei malchus, when the ten Tannaim, they stand up to find out from Shamayim, pshat in the mechirah, and why they are dying al kiddush, they're going to be killed because of the mechiras Yosef, the Ribono Shel Olam says clearly, gezeirah, it's a gezeirah. But the Ribono Shel Olam is saying it's gantz mechiras Yosef. Tsu farshtein, daf men zogen gezeirah hi milefanai. The Ribono Shel Olam is ratzon, the Ribono Shel Olam is an av harachamon, but He believed and He set up that mechiras Yosef was needed, u'memeila dafn trachtn un gloybn az zi geven kuleh l'tovah, and that from this will come only tovah, nothing bad will come from it. With this, rabosai, we can go back to understand and be meyashev all the she'eilos on the loshon, on the language that Yosef chooses to convey to his brothers. The first she'eilah we asked, Ani Yosef, he says and then he repeats, Ani Yosef achicha. I am Yosef, your brother. Why is he repeating, Ani Yosef achicha? There's an interesting line in the Chasam Sofer. The Chasam Sofer says that Yosef, in an interesting way, found the silver lining in the mechirah, that it was done strictly through his brothers and not through others. Yosef says, Chasam Sofer, knew that he had to get sold. It happened. But it could have happened through strange hands, and then it could have been done bachzarius. The fact that it was achicha, the fact that it was his brother who sold, thus is the gam zu l'tovah in the ma'aseh hamechirah. Yosef, the ma'amin, Yosef the tzaddik, Yosef the loyal son of the Ribono Shel Olam, so the tatten himmel sees everything, including a mechiras Yosef, that there's a tov in it, there's a silver lining in it. What is the silver lining? It was Ani Yosef achicha. It could have been done through hands of achzarim. It was done, l'maaseh, achicha. It's a very interesting Chasam Sofer, rabosai.

People would view it the opposite. People would say, even his brothers sold him. How terrible. How painful. It was done through his brothers. Yet that itself, to Yosef, was the ma'alah and the tovah, that it was davka done through the brothers. David HaMelech, also, tremendous baal emunah, bitachon, as we see throughout Tehillim. Mizmor l'David, bevarcho bnei Avshalom bnoi. David also praises, thanks Hashem when he realizes that who is the person who is rebelling against him? It's his son. Says Chazal, Mizmor? What is he so happy, what is he so praiseworthy for? Say Chazal that David knew that somebody would rebel, Baruch Hashem it was only his son. Could you imagine if it was a stranger, how it would have been done with achzarius. Yosef HaMa'amin also sees in the mechirah, Ani Yosef achichem, that this is the gamzulah tovah. With this we can explain the Hashem mechartem. As the Meiri's Sfas Emes, we pointed out, Hashem mechartem, it should have said shemechartem. Why does it say Hashem mechartem? Says the Sfas Emes, we find by when the luchos were broken and Moshe Rabbeinu is mispallel to HaKadosh Baruch Hu that HaKadosh Baruch Hu should be mochel the chet, the lashon over there in the pasuk is, haluchos asher shibarta, that you broke. Chazal are masbir, what does it mean, Asher shibarta? It should have said also, sheshibarta. Say, Chazal, Ashrei sheshibarta. I thank you that you broke it, yasher koach that you broke it. Says Fas Emes, asher mechartem is also; it's not shemechartem. Yosef is telling the brothers, Ashrei, yasher koach shemechartem osi. What seemed to be the worst tragic thing in my life, I understand, and I now realize even more, was the greatest thing that could have ever happened to me. Ein chibder yasher koach was dus mefakeft. How tief, how yesoidisdik. We go through things in life, and we think it's the greatest tragedy that happened. One day we can look back, and we'll tell the Eibishter, Ashrei, ich dank dir far der matziv; it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Yosef is telling the brothers, Mechirah, I want you, like I and like the doros shefter, they should view mechiras Yosef as an asher, as something to say praise to the Eibishter. Because when you realize the תוצאה, and you realize the טובה that was supposed to come from it, it was only tovah, it was only rachamim v'chesed. With this, we can continue to explain. And fataich, the words of Yosef that he tells them, V'atah al te'atzvu v'al yichar b'eineichem. Double loshon. Emek Davar, Malbim says, the Emek Davar, te'atzvu, etzev on the mechirah, v'al yichar b'eineichem, that now I end up being the king, you could get angry at that. Possibly you'll have two feelings at the same time, two emotions at the same time. On one hand, feel bad, misfakech, but then you could be thinking in the back of your mind, or al kol panim, some of the ten shevatim could be thinking, Ach, had we only killed him, he wouldn't be the melech Mitzrayim. This was the worst thing. We were afraid of this day, that he'll be the melech Mitzrayim. Al yichar b'eineichem. Don't be angry. Why? Because it was going to happen regardless of what you did, because azoi hater Ribono Shel Olam gevolt. Yosef saying, mechiras Yosef, it happened because it had to happen. And why did it have to happen? Gezeiras Elyon, azoi hater Ribono Shel Olam gevolt. Possibly this is the pshat. If you look at that Emek Davar, he seems to be saying this pshat, Ki mechartem osi heina.

Here he sold him. They didn't sell him to Mitzrayim, and why is he madgish heinah? And I think could be the pshat, Rabbei say, is they didn't sell him to Mitzrayim. What Yosef's saying is, but you did sell me to Mitzrayim, because whatever you did, the end result was already set in stone that I should end up over here. And the Midrash explains, could you imagine if they sold him to a different country where it's not so civilized, a country where it's not so advanced, a country where there was no food? He wouldn't have survived it. So maybe they could retract their steps and say, Oh, we made a mistake, and somewhere in the back of their minds they're thinking, Ah, had we only sold him not to Mitzrayim. Zagt Yosef, it wouldn't have made a difference, because I would have ended up here anyway. Anyway I would have ended up here. You sold me to— you didn't sell me to Mitzrayim, but you did sell me to Mitzrayim. You sold me, and the Ribono Shel Olam gevolt Mitzrayim, so it went from the Yishmaelim to the Midyanim, and the Midyanim to Mitzrayim. Haflu a fellow, the mind of a mindment, the mind of a mindment. And Yosef is conveying this message, hashkafah, hashkafah, v'i mita'afarshtein the chirus Yosef. Yosef probably lived with this machshavos. Yosef lived with this hashkafah for years, and now he's conveying it to the brothers, and to us as Yidden who will have to go through galus and many yissurim in galus and many nisyonos in galus. Mita'afarshtein, ani Yosef achichem. That the Ribono Shel Olam chose to bring it through with achichem. The Ribono Shel Olam chooses the outcome in a way that if you look for the chesed, you look for the silver lining, you'll find it. And that one day we could turn around and we'll say, Ashrei. Ashrei shemechartem. Al teotzvu v'al yichar, because no matter what, we would have done it with to change the outcome. A lot of times we kick ourselves in the back, so to speak. We kick ourselves and we say, Had only I would have, should have, could have, missteps, it wouldn't have made a difference. The ma'amin understands no matter what he did or didn't do, the outcome is the Ribono Shel Olam's gezeiras Elyon. And the fact that you are where you are has nothing to do with the steps you took to get there. It's not a direct outcome. You do the hishtadlus, and the outcome is in the hands of the Ribono Shel Olam. It's very tief, rabosai. Every word of Yosef is a mussar, is a hashkafah for itself in how a person goes through his life, how he goes through nisyonos and difficulties, how the ma'amin, how the believer in the Ribono Shel Olam, how he views things. With this, we could fataich and answer and explain why the hadgasha. Why the emphasis on Ki lemichyah sh'lachani Elokim lifneichem? We asked, why Elokim? And the answer could be, Elokim is midas hadin, that Yosef is telling them that even the midas hadin that we saw was actually midas harachamim in the din. But, rabosai, I think we could go deeper a little bit. The Malbim says something very cryptic. Acharonim who quote the Malbim have a hard time to fataytch this Malbim. The Malbim says that the brothers had no bechirah when they sold Yosef. They were shlilei habechirah. They had no choice. And Yosef is conveying this message when he says, Ki lemichyah sh'lachani Elokim lifneichem, that it's the Eibishter and not you. And therefore, don't view—

With that you did something wrong. The Ribono Shel Olam, He did it. The closest mekor that I could find to the pshat of the Malbim, because the Malbim is a very good chiddush, comes out that every person, something he could claim, Havasates mitmich. Ribono Shel Olam, tazaige volt. Ribono Shel Olam wanted it, not me. There's an interesting Rashbam, rabosai. The Rashbam at the end of the parsha Vayechi, on the pasuk, Elokim chashavah letovah, says the Ramban, Hakadosh Baruch Hu garam lachem, v'atem lo peshatem. Ribono Shel Olam caused it. V'atem lo peshatem. You have no responsibility in it. When you ask someone, who made mechiras Yosef? Who did mechiras Yosef? Of course the answer is the brothers, the shevatim, they made mechiras Yosef, according to this Malbim. And maybe it's a little less sharp in the language of the Rashbam, but according to this Malbim, it wasn't the brothers. There's an interesting Rabbeinu Bechaye. Rabbeinu Bechaye says that actually it's taka true that it wasn't the brothers. The brothers threw him into the pit, and the Midyanim, they were the ones who kidnapped him and sold him. And eino chanami, mechiras Yosef was not done through the brothers. Aye, lemaaseh we get punished for mechiras Yosef that the brothers did it? Yeah, because they were gorem it; they threw him into the pit, and me'eila the Midyanim came. So they were the catalyst for Mechiras Yosef. So if someone tells you it wasn't the brothers, mistama he means the Rabbeinu Bechaya. Mistama, he knows this mechudashdike Rabbeinu Bechaya, that the brothers never sold, but actually it was the Midyanim. But the way we were learning, al pi the Malbim, there's a new answer to the question: who sold Yosef? It was not the brothers; it was the Ribono Shel Olam. It was the Ribono Shel Olam who sold Yosef. And Yosef believes this with all his heart. The true ma'amin, Yosef believes, Lo atem shelachtem osi heina, ki im haElokim, ki im haElokim. The Ribono Shel Olam sold me. There's a me'iri like the Maharal. The Maharal on the pasuk, he says the father, he says the father says the pasuk, Ve'atah tzaveisi, zois asu. This is what you should do. K'chu lachem eretz Mitzrayim agalos letafchem, ulenesheichem, unesatem es avichem uvasem. So they should take agalos for traveling. But a little further in the pesukim, we find something interesting: Ule'aviv shalach kezos. U'le'aviv shalach kezos, like this. Rashi already points out, k'cheshbon hazos. What did he send him? Asarah chamorim nos'im miTuv Mitzrayim, eser asonos nosos bar v'lechem, u'mazon l'aviv la'derech. Okay, he sent food, so I have to know how many chamorim, and that they were carrying the Tuv Mitzrayim, they were carrying bar v... Okay, that was the taxi. Why was it important, ten? And Rashi even says, k'cheshbon hazos, there was some emphasis on this cheshbon. Maharal says, a message. It was a message. And as we spoke the entire time in the shiur, everything Yosef said and did was a message. What was the message? Don't blame the brothers. They were just nos'im. They were just carrying out a task that the Eibishter wanted. Asarah. That's why it's ten, ten brothers, mechiras Yosef, through the ten brothers. Don't look at it as they—if you load up a donkey and the donkey goes, the donkey, it's not the donkey. The donkey is just carrying out his orders. The donkey is just carrying a load. It's the one who put it on the donkey. Hados is the hashkafah. Dos is the mussar. Dos is the mahalach that Yosef understands.

He's sending this as a message to his father that he should not get angry at the brothers. But this we can explain the Elokim. What is the Elokim? If you notice, he says it three times, three times, three pesukim: Elokim, shlachani, kim Elokim. There's a Chiddah that says, what is Elokim? There was a malach who sent him to the brothers originally. They were not there. He couldn't find them. He meets a person in the street, unknown. Who's the person? Doesn't say. And the person says, Go there. Your brothers are there. Had that person not sent him, he would never end up by the brothers and then never end up by Mechirah to be sold. Chazal tell us that that was a malach. It was an angel who was sending him. Ish was a—who? Who was the person? Punkt a mensch, a malach. Actually, if you look at the Medrash, the Medrash says it wasn't one malach, but it was three malachim. He kept on wanting to go back, and then another person, malach slash malach, came and told him, Don't, keep on going. Go find your brothers. Says Ber Yosef, three times in the pasuk, Vayishalcheni Elokim l'michya, because Yosef is starting to look back and realize, do means that that guy that sent me, no, it was Elokim. Elokim is always, as the Ramban points out many times, is the Shem that's used for a malach, when hamalach hagoel osi. The eibishter, through a malach, when it's done through a third person, so to speak, it's not done directly from the Ribono Shel Olam. It's called a malach, who is the messenger of the Ribono Shel Olam. So Elokim, as we said, can mean midas hadin. But it could also mean, it could also mean Elokim. There was a person that sent him to the brothers, but who was that person? It wasn't him; he was a messenger from Hashem. How tief, rabosai, how tief. The Reb Moshe's shtarke vort, the Reb Moshe, Reb Shmuel Salant. It's a shtarke vort. Reb Yosef Salant, his vort is shtarke here. The three malachim that the Medrash says were pushing him. Here he's saying, Vayishlacheni Elokim. I was pushed into it. And mimeila, it wasn't the brothers. It wasn't the brothers. It was actually the Ribono Shel Olam that was goram. It was the Ribono Shel Olam that wanted this result. If you look at the pasuk, Vayichar b'eineichem. What do you mean, b'eineichem, in your eyes? The Netziv asks this for a kasha. Charon is in the heart, maybe charon af, the nostrils. Where does it, yichar b'eineichem? Now it's true that when you want to convey anger, you could see anger in the eyes. But here we're not talking about the conveying of the anger to Yosef, but the brothers themselves. He's telling them they themselves shouldn't be angry, so it's not yichar b'eineichem. The daasach, rabosai, according to everything we spoke today, Yosef is giving them vayter hashkafah how to look at it. Al yichar. Don't be angry, b'eineichem. B'eineichem, what you think and see with your eyes, it's in your perception. It's in the eyes of the beholder. Don't be angry. Really, it's l'tovah. What we see is really not necessarily what it is. With this, we could explain the kasha of why does Yosef build up all his positions in Mitzrayim? Okay, why? Why do you have to build it up and put so much emphasis on it? It says a sipurna. The reason why he does this says sipurna. What are the chances that I would end up being not stam an av, lepara, and a moshel, and an... So you see there's something strange that's happening. So then you have to leave it that it's the act of the Ribono Shel Olam, and it has nothing to do with human intervention. Ein safek shehasibos hakodmos hegam ki biratzon Eloki, lesavev zeh tachlis. Moydik. A person sometimes...

Takes a step back and he says, Wow, what's in front of me? It's bigger than what I can imagine. It's more than I can understand. Then leave it alone. David HaMelech was cursed by Shimi ben Geira. Shimi ben Geira comes out of the woods and in front of David and his whole army, he tells him, Klalah nimretzes. He curses him a klalah nimretzes. What is nimretzes? Noyef, mamzer, retzach, toyev. Most horrible things he tells David HaMelech. Yoav ben Tzeruyah says, Let me go kill him. He's a meyred b'malchus. Says David, Hanach, leave it alone. Hanach, leave it alone, ki Hashem amar lo lekalel. Don't revenge my honor. Ki Hashem amar. The Ribono Shel Olam told him lekalel. A mensch macht an aveirah, he could always say, Hashem amar, the Eibishter told me to do it. Greatest excuse: Hashem told me to do it. There have been many murderers in court, in the history of the courts, that claim this insanity, that they did whatever they did, whatever murder they—because Hashem told them to do it, God told them to do it. What does David HaMelech mean, Hanach ki Hashem amar lo lekalel? Pshat, I heard from Rav Scheinberg, zecher tzaddik livrachah, Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Ohr, David HaMelech looks at what just happened in front of him. He's taking a step back, and he says, It doesn't make sense. It's something which is strange. It can't. It doesn't. He's a king with his whole army. Yoav ben Tzeruyah comes out from nowhere. From nowhere, out of nowhere, he comes out, a single lone person with no ammunition, no weaponry, and he curses David. Eino normal. Vos hot er gedacht? What was he thinking? And the Torah says he wasn't thinking. The Ribono Shel Olam, Hanach ki Hashem Elokecha. The Ribono Shel Olam, when it's bigger than you and it's more beyond your understanding and beyond your perception, leave it. Hanach ki Hashem Elokecha. Seforno is saying that this is also what Yosef means by emphasizing, by emphasizing that the Ribono Shel Olam made him. The Ribono Shel Olam made him, as the pasuk says, Lo atem shelachtem osi hena ki haElokim. And the proof is, the proof is, this is the raya. Why do I understand it that way? Because Vayisimeni l'av l'Paro, u'le'adon l'chol beiso, u'moshel. It doesn't make any sense. The bachur from yeshiva in Knaan, in Eretz Yisroel, gevan the president of the greatest country in the world. Hayitachen? And the answer is, ich farshtein nisht. Un es muz zayn az der Ribono Shel Olam hot azoi gevolt un azoi geton. But this, rabosai, we could explain and answer the question that in the beginning he says l'michyah, and at the end of the parshas Vayechi, he says that the reason why the Ribono Shel Olam sent was l'hachayos am rav, which means is to create a big nation. Could be, rabosai, as time goes on. We realize more and more the hatavah, and we realize more and more the plan, the master plan, and the kavanah of the Rabbeinu Shloilam. At this juncture, in Parshas Vayigash, it's l'michya. Later on, he's going to see it bigger. It's l'hachayos am rav. There was a full nation that was supposed to ascend from the mechiras Yosef, and that too is all part of the great cheshbon of mechiras Yosef. It's all in the machshavah, techilah, the techilah b'machshavah and the sof maaseh, and it's still to come more. There's a very famous expression, the last chapter has still not been written. Yosef understands mechiras Yosef. First in Vayigash is l'michya, and then at the end of Parshas Vayechi he starts to understand more, it's l'hachayos am rav. And as time goes on, till the days when Moshiach comes, we'll start to realize more and more the toivah, the toivah and the chesed, and the plan of the Rabbeinu Shloilam. I think we can also say an interesting...

The pasuk says, Ki nechartem, v'atalti otzvu, vayichar beineichem. So we said beineichem, because it's all in the perception. Ki mechartem osi heinah, ki l'michyah sh'lachani Elokim lifneichem, ki zeh sh'nosayim harav. So again, my sh'lachani Elokim lifneichem. So again, lifneichem. But in pasuk zayin, when he says it, he keeps on stressing, Lasum lachem she'eris ba'aretz, ul'hachayos lachem lifleitah gedolah. What's the emphasis, lachem, and why twice? Okay, vayishcheni Elokim lifneichem, lasum lachem she'eris ba'aretz, ul'hachayos lachem lifleitah gedolah. You know, rabosai, in life, we sometimes see situations and we think, for him, it's the best thing that could have ever happened. For us, it's the worst thing that could have happened. And when you view it, avadit, there's a master plan, but it was l'tovas that person, and it's unfortunately l'raas me, it's not something that came out good for me. Yosef is teaching them vaiter shkaf. I became the adon, and I and I, but at the end of the day, vayishcheni Elokim lifneichem, lasum lachem she'eris ba'aretz, ul'hachayos lachem. Never forget that it's lachem for you. As much as you think that I ended up gaining, you gained just as much, and it's l'tovascha just as much. Everything the Ribono Shel Olam does, and everything that happens, the toiv is for everyone. And that becomes the lesson. Could you imagine when they realize Yosef is now the melech? This was their worst nightmare. This was what they were afraid of. Their biggest fear was that Yosef will be the moshel and melech. Zog Yosef, Vecheni Elokim lifneichem, lasum lachem. This is the best, the zach fadir. So nitnar ichzak asher shemachartem, asher shemachartem. Do daf zog oich a zach. Ashrei. Do daf oich danken the Ribono Shel Olam, mit a ale danken the Ribono Shel Olam. This is eyes of a ma'amin. This is the hashkafah of a Yid, to take the most difficult matzav in a person's life, to take the most schwerste nisayon, and to believe that one day I will see ashrei, and I will see the toivah, and I will thank the Eibishter for the toivah, and to realize that it's toiv on all sides, on every angle, and that as much as the day will come I will see, I believe that one day it's even more toivah to come, and more I will see the toivah of the Ribono Shel Olam. And this is the drashah and the mussar shmuess that Yosef gives his brothers. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.