A Deeper Reason Why Ya'akov Adopted Yosef's Two Sons: If we're not careful, the Torah can appear to us as a collection of unrelated events with no connectivity between them – this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened, and so on. Further compounding the problem is that the Torah rarely explains what...
The Day the Viceroy Became Yosef – Insights from the Midrash: For twenty-two long years, Ya'akov Avinu sat on the ground, covered in sackcloth and ashes, inconsolably grieving the death of Yosef. And throughout all those years, no one said a word. Why not? The brothers had bound themselves by an oath not to reveal...
The Job of a Shoemaker: It is written (Amos 2:6): כֹּה אָמַר יְיָ עַל־שְׁלֹשָׁה פִּשְׁעֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַל־אַרְבָּעָה לֹא אֲשִׁיבֶנּוּ עַל־מִכְרָם בַּכֶּסֶף צַדִּיק וְאֶבְיוֹן בַּעֲבוּר נַעֲלָיִם׃ (So said Hashem, For three crimes of Yisrael, and for four, I will not turn away, for their sale of a tzaddik and a pauper for a pair of shoes)....
A Point of Contention Between Yosef and His Brothers: The sale of Yosef. If we had a truly sensitive soul, those words would send shivers down our spine. Not only did that one action set into motion a chain of events that led to the brutal enslavement of the whole Jewish nation, but perhaps more...
The Brothers Ate Eiver Min ha-Chai? When beginning the story of Yosef, the Torah tells us (Bereshit 37:2): וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת־דִּבָּתָם רָעָה אֶל־אֲבִיהֶם (And Yosef brought their defamation to their father). Much has been written about how the brothers defamed Yosef, but what was at the root of their disagreement with him? Rashi lists three...
How to Acquire the Attribute of Yosef ha-Tzaddik: In last week's article Ya'akov's Fear in Going Down to Egypt, we learned that through the strength of his character, specifically his shemirat einayim, Yosef was able to break the tumah of immorality that filled the land of Egypt. As a result of his unprecedented strength of...
The Power of One Man's Personal Kedushah: After Ya'akov learned that Yosef was alive and well in Egypt, he knew that he needed to go and see him. He set out from his home with his family and all of his possessions and came to Be'er Sheva where he offered sacrifices to the G-d of...