Torah Teasers
Parshas Vayegash
1. When Yosef revealed himself to his brothers he said, “Ani Yosef, Ha’Od Avi Chai?” Why did Yosef ask if Yaakov was alive? Yehuda just finished giving a speech about Yaakov’s frail health and how he may die if Binyomin doesn’t come back. Ans… Rav Yehonoson Eibushitz answers that the Shevatim were scared that Yosef who was now in a position of great power would have them executed as revenge for selling him. Yosef wanted to allay their fears. He reminded them that although Eisav wanted to kill Yaakov immediately after he got the Brachos, nevertheless, the Torah says that Eisav didn’t plan to carry out the murder of Yaakov until Yitzchok died, in order not to cause Yitzchok pain and grief. Yosef rhetorically asked his brothers, “Is Yaakov still alive?” If so, they had nothing to fear because Yosef is no worse than Eisav and would not kill them in Yaakov’s lifetime.
2. To prove his real identity to his brothers Yosef says, “Ki Pi HaMidaber Aleichem.” (Vayigash 45:12) Rashi explains that he spoke Lashon HaKodesh. What kind of proof was this, if the interpreter had spoken Lashon HaKodesh all along? Ans… The Iturei Torah brings from Rav Chaim of Tzanz that the reason why the brothers did not recognize Yosef was because they never saw him with a beard. “However,” asks the Divrei Chaim, “the Gemara (Chulin 96) says that you can recognize someone by their voice. Why did they not recognize his voice?” He answers that a voice varies depending on the language you are speaking. Each language has its own intonation, articulation, and song. A voice is only recognizable in the same language that you are used to hearing it in. Since at home the Shvatim spoke with him Lashon Kodesh and now he spoke Egyptian, they did not recognize his voice. To prove his identity to the brothers, Yosef spoke to them in Lashon Kodesh and they were amazed to recognize that familiar voice that was certainly their brother Yosef.
3. “Asara Chamorim Nosim MiTuv Mitzrayim; Ten donkeys laden with the best Mitzrayim has to offer.” (Vayigash 45:23) Rashi says this refers to old wine that old people are happy with. Rav Shimon Schwab asks, “Yaakov was a tzaddik and didn’t need anything from Olam HaZeh. Was good wine going to make Yaakov happy? Also was wine the best thing Mitzrayim had? Ans… Rav Schwab answers with another question. “How could Yosef send wine from Mitzrayim that was assur because it was Stam Yeinam (Yayin Nesech), and we know the Avos kept all the mitzvos even DRabanan? We must conclude from here that in Mitzrayim they did not have a practice of pouring wine before their gods. Because their wine was clean from any traces of Avodah Zara, Yosef calls the wine the best Mitzrayim has to offer. This is why the ‘Zakein’ which means, not old, but someone who learns Torah, enjoys it.”
4. Yehuda tells Yosef that after the Shevatim came back from Mitzrayim and told Yaakov that Shimon was arrested, Yaakov told them, “Shuvu Shivru Lanu Mi’at Ochel; Go back and buy a little food.” Yaakov said that they should do this without taking Binyomin, even though Yosef told them not to come without him. Why did Yaakov tell them to bring only a little food? Why did he think he could send them without Binyomin? Ans… Rav Yehonoson Eibushitz says that Yaakov wanted to fool Yosef. Yosef had a dream that there would be seven years of famine. Yaakov saw with Ruach HaKodesh that it would end after two years in his zechus. He wanted the Shevatim to go to Mitzrayim and ask for only a little food so that they can tell Yosef that they will bring Binyomin on their next trip, since they would certainly need more to survive the seven years. He would then free Shimon. Yaakov however planned accordingly and knew that this minimal amount of food would carry them through to the end of the famine according to his calculation, and they would never need return.
5. Yosef gave all his brothers garments and to Binyomin he gave five garments and three hundred coins (Vayigash 45:22). The Gemara in Megila (17b) says that Yosef was not making the same mistake as his father by favoring Binyomin because he was hinting that in the future, Mordechai, from Shevet Binyomin will go before the King with five royal garments. The Vilna Gaon explains that Binyomin’s five garments were of inferior quality, and the five of them combined were the same value as the one garment he gave to each brother. But what about the 300 coins? Ans… The Pninim MiSHulchan Govo’a says that this question was asked by a Chanuka gathering in the house of the Bais HaLevi when he was a young child. He amazed the crowd by offering the following answer. The halacha is that if you sell a slave to a goy, you must redeem him even at ten times his value. An Eved is roughly valued at 30 shekalim in Parshas Mishpatim. Each of the brothers needed to redeem Yosef up to 300 shekalim. By forgiving them, it was as if he gave each one a cash gift of 300 shekel. Binyomin, who was not part of the Mechira, got his gift in actual cash. (As a footnote the Shulchan Govo’a brings that not only was this answered by the Bais HaLevi in his youth, but also the Chizkuni and the Chida, who brings it in the name of the Rokeach.)
6. The Kotzker Rebbe says that the reason Yaakov said Krias Shema upon seeing Yosef was because he wanted to channel the incredible love in his heart at this moment towards Hashem. Why didn’t Yosef take a cue from his father and recite Shema as well? Why did he cry on his father’s shoulder? Ans… The Iturei Torah brings the Sfas Emes who explains that Yosef was doing the mitzva of Kibud Av, and therefore did not say Shema. Not that he was patur from Ahavas Hashem because he was in middle of another mitzva, rather, doing a mitzva is the greatest way to love Hashem and become close to Hashem. Yaakov had no mitzva, only love of his son. Therefore, Yaakov showed his love with Shema. But Yosef had a mitzva with which to attach himself to Hashem, and needed no other outlet.

Several years ago, a soldier in the IDF arrived home for a vacation from the army. During his stay at home, there was a dispute in the household, and the soldier actually shot and killed his own father. For various reasons, the soldier was sentenced to only five years of prison. While he was sitting in jail, he suffered from feelings of regret and eventually became a complete baal teshuvah. Eventually, he was transferred to the prison for religious prisoners. In shul one morning, the baal teshuvah expressed his wish to say Kaddish for his father, and all the prisoners ran from the shul and refused to answer Amen. “Should we answer Amen to the Kaddish of a son who killed his father?” they complained to the Rav of the prison.
The Rav of the prison consulted with Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, who ruled that the prisoners did not act properly. The gates of teshuvah are never locked, and therefore even someone who murdered his father, but did teshuvah, is considered a complete baal teshuvah, and one must answer amen to his Kaddish.
When the baal teshuvah was released from prison, he applied to a yeshivah for baalei teshuvah, and the roshei yeshivah refused to accept him, with the excuse that they didn’t want to accept a murderer. R’ Elyashiv again ruled that their behavior was inappropriate. Every Jew that does sincere teshuvah on an aveirah of bein adam lamakom (since the father was no longer alive), his teshuvah is accepted in shamayim, and there is no reason not to accept him into a yeshivah. (Aleinu Leshabeach)
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R’ Isser Zalman Meltzer, the Rosh Yeshivah of Slutzk and of Etz Chaim in Yerushalayim, and the author of Even Haezal, was once on his way to his yeshivah to give over a shiur, accompanied by his talmid. On the way, he was approached by a beggar, and R’ Meltzer gave him a generous donation. However, the beggar was not satisfied and pleaded for more. R’ Meltzer handed him an additional coin. This beggar was particularly audacious, and he complained once again that R’ Melzer’s donation was not satisfactory. R’ Meltzer gave him another coin and proceeded on his way.
His talmid was aghast at what had occurred and asked R’ Meltzer why he felt obligated to increase his donation to such a brazen person. R’ Meltzer answered, “What’s the problem? Do you think I’m better than him? Why am I better? Because I’ve learned a lot of Torah? Because I’m a Rosh Yeshivah and I give over shiurim? You should know that I’m no better than him. It’s the circumstances of life that has led me to be what I am, and has led him to become a beggar. And since I’m not superior to him in any way, I feel obligated to do as he asks.”
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Irving Bunim was one of the key leaders of Orthodox Jews in the twentieth century. He was famed for his Hatzala work during World War II, his support for Jewish education, his philanthropy, his Torah knowledge, his speaking abilities, and his activism. He was also a successful businessman who was known for his integrity.
On one occasion, a company called A.D. Julliard which manufactured corduroy and velveteen sold Bunim a significant amount of velveteen. Bunim had a long and respectful relationship with the owner of the company, Burnet Valentine. When Bunim received the bill, he looked over it and saw that the first carton was labeled as containing 38 yards, the second carton was labeled as 42 yards, and the rest of the cartons were labeled as containing similar amounts. Bunim was puzzled since he had ordered much larger quantities. He went to the basement and checked the cartons and realized what had happened. The billing clerk had dropped the first digit of each carton. The first carton actually contained 338 yards, and this applied to all the cartons. Bunim had been under billed by $40,000 because of these errors. In the 1950’s, $40,000 was a huge amount of money and Bunim was certain that the company would soon realize their mistake and correct the bill.
Time passed, and Bunim realized that Julliard had not become aware of their mistake. Bunim called Valentine, and asked to meet with him the next day. When the meeting began, Bunim said to Valentine, “I want you to know that today is a Jewish holiday.” Valentine said, “I didn’t know that. What is it?” Bunim answered, “Today is the day that a Jewish businessman shows you what our Torah’s ethics and morality demand of us.” He then proceeded to explain to Valentine about the mistake that he would have never discovered and handed him a check for $40,000. Valentine was shocked, but grateful. He admitted that he would never have discovered the error. He told Bunim, “I don’t know anyone else in the business world who would have returned this money.”
Bunim later related this story to his family. He said, “That moment when Mr. Valentine realized what Hashem’s holy Torah means to us was the greatest Kiddush Hashem a man could ask for.” (Source: A Fire in His Soul)

“Until G-D is welcomed back in the broader society, no new law or gun control measure will stop these shooting events.”
Harav Moshe Wolfson, shlita, on the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre.

“No, your Honor…the law doesn’t require for the intent to be anti-Semitic to deem the regulation a violation of religious rights.” Attorney Shay Dvoretsky, attorney for the plaintiff, when asked by the Judge if the city of New York is acting out of anti-Semitism in the “Milah” law suit.

“We learned so many aspects of Yiddishkeit we’d never have gotten to in the classroom.” Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Klein, Torah Umesora Director of Publications, on releasing the last and final issue of Olomeinu.
Who Knows One
Q. In Hebrew, if you subtract 30 from 30 you get 60. How is this? Answer: The numerical value of the letter lamed is 30. The Hebrew word for “thirty” is “shloshim,” spelled “shin lamed shin yud mem.” So, if you take the letter lamed (which equals 30) out of the word “shloshim” (which means thirty) you get the letters “shin shin yud mem,” which spells “shishim,” 60!
Q. What two Friday nights of the year is there no shalom zachor? Answer: Pesach and Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is a fast day, and therefore all eating and drinking is forbidden. And on the night of Passover, it is forbidden to eat anything after eating the afikomen – the piece of matzah eaten at the end of the Passover seder. Therefore, the shalom zachor, which is usually held after the Friday evening meal, is not held on these two nights.
Q. When is it that if you omit an addition to the shemone esrei for a specific occasion, you have fulfilled your obligation. But if you insert that same addition, you have invalidated your shemona esrei? Answer: The ma’ariv shemone esrei on Saturday night includes an extra paragraph for havdala (the “atah chonantanu” paragraph), but if you omit it, the shemone esrei is still valid and need not be repeated. If you oversleep on Shabbos afternoon and miss the time for mincha, then you say an extra shemone esrei at ma’ariv. But the first one must be the one for ma’ariv, and the second must be the one to make up for mincha. If you don’t say havdala in either the first one or the second one, both are valid. However, if you omit havdala in the first shemone esrei, and remember to say it in the second one, then the second one becomes the one for ma’ariv, and the first one becomes invalid retroactively. You now have to say a third one for mincha.

Know Your Gedolim…

Talk the Talk — Walk the Walk
A Boro Park Jewish couple won twenty-million dollars in the lottery. They immediately set out to begin a life of luxury. They bought a magnificent mansion estate in Flatbush and surrounded themselves with all the material wealth imaginable.
They then decided to have a butler and, wanting the best, they traveled to London to hire one. They found the perfect butler through an agency and brought him back to their estate. The day after his arrival, they instructed him to set up the dining room table for four, that they were inviting the Cohens to brunch. The couple then left the house to do some shopping. When they returned, they found the table set for eight. They asked the butler why eight, when they had specifically instructed him to set the table for four.
The butler replied, “The Cohens telephoned and said they were bringing the Bagels and the Knishes.”

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Mrs. Fried went to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Chanukah cards. “What denomination?” asked the clerk.
“Oh, good heavens! Have we come to this?” replied the woman. “Well, give me 30 Orthodox, 12 Conservative, and 8 Reform”.
The Geula — What to Expect
Timeline of Techiyas Hameisim
“Just as a person goes, so he will return. If he died blind, deaf or mute, he will return blind, deaf or mute. As he goes clothed, he will return clothed. Hashem said, ‘let them rise as they went–and afterwards I will heal them'”–Midrash Rabbah, Bereishes 95.
The very body that died will be resurrected. According to chazal, there is a miniscule bone in the upper spine called the luz bone. It is from this indestructible bone that Hashem will reconstruct the entire body when the time arrives for the Resurrection of the Dead. (Today, with our understanding of how DNA works, this age-old mesora doesn’t seem so far-fetched.) Incidentally, this bone receives its only sustenance from the Melaveh Malka meal, that honors the Shabbos Queen as she goes on her way.
The order of the Messianic redemption is as follows: First Moshiach comes and rebuilds the Beis Hamikdosh in Yerushalayim. The ingathering of all the exiles will then follow. The resurrection of the dead will occur forty years after the exiles return to the Land of Israel. Tzaddikim, the righteous men and women of the generations, are an exception to this rule are; they will be resurrected immediately with the arrival of Moshiach.
First the dead who are buried in Israel will rise from their graves, they will be followed by the dead of the Diaspora, followed by the generation that left Egypt and died in the desert. Last of all will rise the Ovos and Eemos. Their resurrection is postponed so that they should have the nachas of waking to find all their children alive, well, and happy.
The categories mentioned above will also be further subdivided. The more righteous individuals will be resurrected before the general population. Amongst these righteous individuals, those who were primarily preoccupied with Torah study will take precedence over those whose forte was mitzvah observance.
The Midrash also expresses another opinion, whereby all the dead will be summoned to life via an alphabetical roll call. The humble, however, will be moved to the head of the line.
What About Those Who Are Alive?
According to the Zohar, immediately before the resurrection, all those who are alive at that time will momentarily die, and then instantaneously be resurrected. This is in fulfillment of the posuk (Bereishes 3:19), “For you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Also, this short death serves a spiritual purpose–it will cleanse the souls of all traces of the imperfect and tainted world it inhabited. They will then rise in a clean and pure slate.
Some suggest that this process may be unnecessary. In the concluding paragraph of the Shemone Esrei we say, “Let my neshama be as dust [exceedingly humble] to all.” Klal Yisroel has collectively accomplished this goal many times over–our spirituality returning us to dust, rendering it unnecessary to physically return to dust. Im Kol Zeh Achakeh Lo B’Chol Yom SheYavo!

Halacha Trivia ­ Zippering A Hood To A Coat On Shabbos

The Mishna Brura writes (317:15) that if you have new article of clothing, you may not insert on Shabbos its belts and strings that are left there permanently because you are Misaken Mana (fixing the item).
The Piskei Tshuvos brings from the Chelkas Yaakov that attaching a hood to a coat with a zipper, in the beginning of the winter for the entire winter, is assur as well. He also brings from Rav Vosner that it is even the Milacha of Tofeir (sewing) since it will remain permanently for the winter. Moreover, he brings from Rav Binyomin Zilber in Az Nidbiru that even snapping on an Atara on a talis is assur.
However, he says there are those who are matir in all these cases because it is not Tefira and it is like buttoning your clothing, which is permissible even for an extended period of time. The matirim include the Btzel HaChochma, the Debriciner Rav, Rav Yehonoson Shteiff, and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach.
This Week in History….
10 Teves: In 424 BCE, Babylonia King Nevuchadnetzar began his siege of Yerushalayim.
11 Teves: In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln pledged to amend a federal law granting only Christian clergy the right to
serve as military chaplains.
12 Teves: In 1600: Tze’enah U-Re’ena (Come forth and Behold), the most popular Yiddish book for women, was published.
13 Teves: In 1944, Simon Wiesenthal escaped death at the Janwska concentration camp. Wiesenthal had been imprisoned in a total of 12 concentration camps, and at the time of his liberation in May 1945, he weighed just 99 pounds.
14 Teves: Yahrtzeit of Pinchas Rutenberg (1879-1942), a Russian Jewish immigrant, who founded the Israel Electric Corporation and brought electricity to Eretz Yisroel.
16 Teves: In 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant was instructed to invoke Order No. 11, which called for the expulsion of all Jews from Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi. Jewish community leaders immediately arranged a meeting at the White House with President Lincoln, who cancelled the expulsion order.

This week’s Torah is B’Zchus: Brothers — who sometimes misjudge one another, only to find out that
“Ani Yosef”. I am your brother, who you should have treated better.
Distributed by the Chevre Marbitz Torah D’NMB

Created By Rov Allen Sherman