Torah Teasers
Parshas Mekeitz
1. Yosef is pulled out of jail to decipher the message of Paroh’s dream, which he does successfully. In reward for this Paroh makes him vice king and second in command. Isn’t this a bit rash? Could he not have made him Minister of Economy or Chief Advisor? Ans… The Toras Chaim answers this with the following story about the Noda B’Yehuda: There were two wealthy people in town who lived in the same courtyard. One day, a world class harpist came to the courtyard, played beautiful music, and left. Each one claimed that the music was in his honor. They decided to settle their dispute before the wise Noda B’Yehuda, whom they paid handsomely to decide whose honor the music was for. After hearing the entire story, the Noda B’Yehuda proclaimed that the music was not in honor of either one of them. The music was clearly in the honor of the Noda B’Yehuda, in order that he should profit from arbitrating this strange dispute. Paroh was convinced that the dream was in his honor, the great and mighty king. The Mitzrim were sure that it was in honor of the nation, to make them a world power. Yosef interpreted the dream and explained to them that it was purely to get him out of the pit and raise him to a lofty status. Paroh admitted defeat and immediately carried out the dream by making Yosef his second in command.
2. Paroh’s dream about fat cows and skinny ones, healthy stalks and wind beaten ones, seem obviously to be referring to feast and famine. How is it, that the best the chartumim could come up with was something far off, like Paroh’s seven daughters? Ans… The Satmar Rov in Divrei Yoel answers that the dream showed seven years of famine, but in reality, the famine stopped after two years, when Yaakov came to Mitzrayim. It was eventually made up centuries later in the time of Yechezkel. The Ramban (Devarim 18:9) writes that Mazalim and Sheidim can tell the future, but only the immediate future and not the distant future. Therefore, Paroh’s chartumim only saw two years of famine and could not reconcile this with the dream of seven bad years. Only Yosef, who interpreted with Hashem’s help, could see how the whole dream would be played out.
3. The Shevatim needed to return to Mitzrayim for more food, but they knew they could not do so without bringing Binyomin with them. Yaakov refused, and Reuven tells him that he will take personal responsibility and will put up the lives of two of his children as collateral. What exactly was he thinking? Ans… The Shnayim Mikra brings from Rav Shlomo Zalman Zalaznik, the Rosh Yeshiva of Eitz Chaim in Yerushalayim, as follows: When the daughter of Nichunya, the well digger, fell into a well, they went to Rebbi Chanina ben Dosa to daven for her. He said, “Not to worry; she is fine.” An hour later they came crying to him again, and again he told them that she was doing fine. The third time they came back, he said that she is already out of the well. They were amazed. “I am not a Navi,” he told them. “It is obvious that Nichunya the tzadik, who dug wells for Bnei Yisrael, would not lose his child in a well, which is his greatest ally. When the Shevatim wanted to kill Yosef, only Reuven felt his father’s pain and protested. “He knew,” says Rav Zalaznik, “that after his Mesiras Nefesh to save his own father from suffering the loss of his child, nothing bad could ever happen to his own children, and he would be able to bring home Binyomin safely.”
4. “Vayishtu Vayishkiru Imo.” (Mikeitz 43:32) When Yosef invited the Shvatim to dine with him upon their second arrival, they drank wine with him. Rashi says this was the first time since the sale of Yosef twenty two years prior that either Yosef or the Shvatim drank wine. Yosef drank wine because he had his brothers with him, but why did the Shvatim allow themselves to indulge in wine when nothing changed to their knowledge with regard to Yosef? Ans… The Iturei Torah brings from the HaMedrash V’HaMaaseh that the Shvatim were still under the accusation of being spies. A spy cannot allow himself to become intoxicated as he must always be on guard–careful of what he says and how he acts in order not give himself away. Had the Shvatim refused to drink with Yosef, they would be furthering his suspicion. For this reason they went along and agreed to drink wine.
5. Yosef was the favorite son of Yaakov, who had spent 20 years mourning Yosef’s disappearance. Could Yosef HaTzaddik not have figured out a way to get a message to his dear father Yaakov that he was alive and well? Furthermore, when the Shevatim stood before Yosef in Mitzrayim, should he not have jumped on the opportunity to put the misery and mystery behind all of them already? Ans… Some say that Yosef needed to see his dreams played out, as they were nevuah. However, Rav Shamshon Rephael Hirsch dismisses that notion, as that is Hashem’s job and Yosef surely understood that his job was to do the right thing and leave the Nevuah to Hashem. Rav Hirsch answers that Yosef wanted to end the split in the family caused by the Shevatim’s misinterpretation of his ambitions. The Shevatim were afraid of Yosef’s ambitions from the day he told them of his dreams. However, Yosef’s intention was never to rule over them, only to play his decreed role in Am Yisroel according to the Ratzon Hashem with complete modesty, love, and respect for his brothers. Had Yosef revealed himself as the King of Mitzrayim before the Shevatim felt remorse and before he proved his modesty and his intentions not to harm them, he would have set the clock back twenty years with nothing changed, other than he proving he was indeed ambitious and superior just as the brothers feared. This would have given Yaakov no comfort, even with the additional piece of information that Yosef was alive. Only through the slow painful process conducted by Yosef, with incredible wisdom and modesty, was he able to achieve the right atmosphere to bring his brothers close to him and reunite the family that was meant to build Klal Yisroel as one nation united.

Many people have heard about the convention of Degel Hatorah a number of years ago, when Rav Shach, z’tl addressed kibbutznikim with the controversial question, “What makes you Jewish?” Less people, however, have heard about the story behind the question.
A secular woman in Israel happened to be on a left wing kibbutz for the month of Tishrei. This woman was completely ignorant of Yiddishkeit, and had no inkling of the significance of basic mitzvos, such as kashrus and Shabbos. However, there was one thing she was aware of – the mitzvah of Yom Kippur. She knew that Jews fasted on Yom Kippur, and every year she fasted – the only day of the year she experienced any connection to Yiddishkeit. However, the year she was on the kibbutz, she simply forgot to fast because she was not even aware it was Yom Kippur. On the kibbutz, it was a regular day, and there were no external signs that there was anything different about the day.

When this woman eventually realized the she had missing fasting on Yom Kippur, she was deeply pained. She had feelings of guilt that she had lost out on her one yearly opportunity to connect to Yiddishkeit. Her feelings led her to search for more meaning in life, and she grew closer to Yiddishkeit, eventually becoming a full baalas teshuvah. Later, she had the opportunity to relate her story to Rav Shach, who was shocked to the core that an entire community would simply ignore the day of Yom Kippur. Shortly later, as a participant at the large convention of Degel Hatorah, his question “What makes you Jewish?” made waves throughout the country. These were waves of anger, at least in the secular media. However, there were many people who reacted like this woman, who were moved to introspection and searching. One left-wing kibbutz actually began a shul in reaction to Rav Shach’s question, and it is known as Rav Shach’s shul until today.
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Rav Chaim Berlin, who was an Av Beis Din in Moscow, moved to Yerushalayim in his older years. Every Shabbos, he lained the parsha in his shul so beautifully that many people attended solely because of him. On the Shabbos that fell during Pesach, the attendance at shul was especially high, as people came to hear him recite Shir Hashirim. Every year, he would become especially emotional and tearful as he read the passuk, “Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, behold you are beautiful. Your eyes are those of doves.” Reb Aryeh Levine, who was his student, once asked him why he always broke down during that particular passuk.

Rav Berlin responded with a story. When he was still a Rav in Moscow, a Jew approached him and asked him to perform a bris for his newborn son. However, he wanted the bris to be performed in absolute privacy. The father lived in a totally non-Jewish area, and earned a living by selling Christian religious object. None of his friends or acquaintances were aware of his Jewish identity, and if they would find out, he would lose his ample source of income, and may even be in danger of his life. Rav Berlin agreed to perform bris in absolute secrecy.

On the day of the bris, Rav Berlin passed through areas of Moscow he had never seen as they were totally non-Jewish. When he entered the father’s luxurious home, he was greeted by the sight of idols and Christian religious objects. There were no signs of it being a Jewish home. Rav Berlin performed the bris, and asked the father to come see him on the third day to tell him how the baby was doing.

When the father visited him on the third day, Rav Berlin asked him what had compelled him to be moser nefesh to perform a bris on his son when he was so distant from Yiddishkeit. The father’s eyes filled with tears, and he shamefully said, “I know that I have moved far away from the Source, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do a full teshuva.” He began crying uncontrollably, and then continued talking though his tears. “My son will probably be even further away from the Source, since he won’t even grow up as a Jew, like I did. However, when he get older, it’s possible that he’ll become interested in Yiddishkeit. If that happens, I don’t want anything to hold him back, which is why I went out of my way to give him a bris.”

Rav Berlin continued by saying that, this story made him aware of the meaning of this passuk in Shir Hashirim. Chazal explain the repetition of, “You are beautiful” by saying that the first “You are beautiful” refers to before the sin, and the second one refers to after the sin. But what is the beauty after the sin? However, now he understood that the answer is found in the next words, “Your eyes are those of doves.” A dove, unlike other birds, will never fly so far away from her nest that she can’t navigate her way back. A Jew, even when he sins and “flies” far from the Source, always makes sure he can find his way back. (Beloved Children)

DEHASV(1ST thing Yosef did when he left jail) MAFEIN (after the good years) EERREVS (Yosef’s idea was to make this)
NKIG (Yosef could not be this) IGRN (Paroh gave it to Yosef) EIFW (Paroh gave this to Yosef — Mazel Tov)
Who Knows One
Q. Where in davening do you say 24 words in a row that end with the letter “chaf?”
Answer: In Kiddush Levana – we say the verse: “Baruch Yotzraych, Baruch Osaych, Baruch Kohnaych, Baruch Bohraych” three times.
Q. In which Parsha is the number of pesukim equal to the numerical value of the last word of the Parsha?
Answer: Parshas Vayetzei. The number of pesukim in Parshas Vayetzei is 148, which equals the numerical value of its last word, “machanaim.”
Q. How many times did Yehoshua’s troops encircle the city of Yericho?
Answer: Yehoshua was commanded to encircle the city once a day for 6 days, and on the seventh day to encircle it 7 times.

Know Your Gedolim…
Reb Moshe zt”l

Talk the Talk — Walk the Walk
Dov is an actor – or, at least, he would be if he could get his act together and find a job. He is down and out, and ready to settle for anything, any opportunity. Finally he gets a lead. He discovers a job described in the classified ads as follows: “Actor needed to play ape.”
“I could do that,” says Dov.
To his surprise, the employer turns out to be none other than the recruitment director for the local zoo. The director confesses that owing to past mismanagement, the zoo has spent so much money renovating the grounds and improving the habitat that they can no longer afford to import the ape they needed to replace Betsy, their previous ape, who is now in ape-Heaven. He then offers Dov the job of playing a real, live ape. Out of desperation, Dov accepts the offer. At first, Dov is at odds with his new job. His conscience keeps nagging at him, telling him that he is being dishonest by fooling the zoo-goers. And as you might expect, Dov feels rather undignified in the ape-suit, stared at by crowds of observers who watch his every move from the other side of the cage. But after a couple of days on the job, he actually begins to be amused by all the attention. He even starts to put on a bit of a show for the zoo-goers: hanging upside-down from the branches by his legs, swinging about on the looming vines, climbing up the cage walls, and roaring with all his might whilst beating his chest. Indeed, he begins to become quite a popular attraction at the zoo, drawing a sizable crowd.
One day, when showing off to a group of kids on a school trip, Dov starts swinging about on the vines with the greatest agility, when all of a sudden his hand slips, and he goes flying over the fence into the neighboring cage, the lion’s den!
Recovering from the fall, Dov lifts up his head to see the lion approaching. Terrified, Dov backs up as far as he can, covers his eyes with his paws, and screams at the top of his lungs, “Shma Yisroel Ad-nai Elokeinu Ad-nai Echad!
The lion opens its powerful jaws and roars, “Baruch Shem K’vod Malchuso L’olam Va’ed!”
“Hush, you fools!” a panda bear mutters from a third cage. “You’ll get us all fired!”
The Geula — What to Expect
Did The Chashmanoim Disappear?
The gemara in Bava Basra (3b) says that Hurdus (Herod), a slave to the Chashmonaim, massacred the entire Chashmonai family except for one little girl. This little girl then jumped from the roof and declared as she plunged to her death that, as the last remaining member of the clan, whoever in the future claims to be a descendant of the Chashmonaim is really a slave.
Rav Isaac Sher asks, “How could it be that our great heroes who saved the Bais HaMikdash and were Mikadesh Shem Shamayim, met the same fate as the wicked kings such as Yeravam and Achav, who Hashem swore that he will eradicate their families and their remembrance forever?”
He answers that Yeshaya told Chizkiya that his children will be “Sarisim” to the King of Bavel. The gemara in Sanhedrin 93b says that aside from meaning ministers, Sarisim should be taken literally and it means they will be sterile and unable to have children. These Sarisim were Chanaya, Mishael, and Azarya who were Moser Nefesh to jump into the fire rather than bow to an idol, and were saved. They were sterile and had no heirs. However, the end of the pasuk says “Yad VaShem Tov MiBanim U’Banos”, they will have an every lasting remembrance better than children. Their heroism will be a story for the ages. Similarly, the Chashmonaim have the best remembrance possible. Every year on Chanukah we mention their heroic deeds three times a day in Shmoneh Esrei and every time we say Birchas HaMazon. That is far better than children. The end of the family line does not in any way affect their eternal reward, stresses Rav Sher.

With regard to the famous Ramban that says that the Chashmonaim were punished for taking the Kingdom from Yehuda, he explains that this is not the reason why their family was cut off, rather it is an explanation why there kingdom had no success. Although this was a punishment for an aveira they did, Chas V’Shalom to think that these tzaddikim and this heroic family are not sitting in Olam Haba in a special place for all eternity.
The Secret of the Dreidel
The simple story of the Dreidel or Sivivon is that it was a decoy used by the little children learning the Aleph Bais in case the Yivanim caught them. The Bnei Yisaschar brings some deep remazim regarding the dreidel.

The four sides of the dreidel have the letters, Nun, Gimel, Shin, Hey. These stand for the four forces in a person. Nefesh or spirit-Nun, Guf or physicality-Gimel, Sechel or intellect-Shin, and a higher spirit combining the other three, HaKol-Hey. The four nations of Bavel, Yavan, Rome, and Madai each opposed a specific one of these forces. Moshiach, whose gematria is 358 the same as Nun, Gimel, Shin, Hey, will annul these forces, forever. Then Hashem’s reign will be accepted by all. Hashem Melech, Hashem Moloch, Hashem Yimloch L’Olam Va’ed also equals 358, like our dreidel and Moshiach.

The dreidel spins on its point. All these nations on each side of the dreidel all focus on Bnei Yisroel. The four side gradually decrease and disappear into this point, as the four nations will disappear and become batel to Am Yisroel. Im Kol Zeh Achakeh Lo B’Chol Yom SheYavo!

Halacha Trivia ­ Lighting Neiros Chanukah Outside or Inside?
The Halacha is that Neiros Chanuka should be lit outside to publicize the Nes of Chanukah. However says the The Shulchan Aruch (OC 671:5), if it is dangerous to light outside then you can light inside. Some poskim like Rav Binyomin Zilber (Uz Nidberu 10:26) pasken that today, since there is no danger to lighting outside, you are michuyav to do so. However, many people have a minhag to light inside despite the fact the Halacha clearly only makes exception for times of danger. Most poskim accept this minhag and try to justify it through a variety of answers. Regardless of the justification, this is a perfectly acceptable minhag that traces its roots back to the Rishonim (The Ohr Zarua and Ittur both mention it.)
This Week in History….
1 Teves: In 355 BCE, Esther, after having won a kingdom-wide beauty pageant, was taken to King Achashverosh (Esther 2:16).
2 Teves: On this date in 1947, the Arab Legion surrounded Jerusalem and proceeded to destroy all 58 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, and used Jewish gravestones on the Mount of Olives to build roads and latrines.
3 Teves: Yahrtzeit of Rav Chaim Shmulevitz (1902-1979), Rosh Yeshivah of the famous Mir Yeshiva for more than 40 years.
4 Teves: Yahrtzeit of Rav Joshua Isaac Shapira, a leader of 19th century European Jewry known as Reb Eisele Charif.
5 Teves: 1874 – It was reported that the Russian government has ordered to the managers of the nation’s railway companies to fire all of the Jews in their employ and not to hire any Jews in the future.
6 Teves: The Allied Powers agreed that Germans guilty of war crimes would be extradited to the country which had been the scene of their activities. SS men from Auschwitz were also tried by the tribunals of other countries; There were 11 such trials held by British, American, Soviet, French, and Czech courts, culminating in 24 convictions, with sentences ranging from prison terms to death.

This week’s Torah is B’Zchus: The Chanukah Menora — which Moshiach will see burning brightly
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Created By Rov Allen Sherman