(א) וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּאֶ֖רֶץ מְגוּרֵ֣י אָבִ֑יו בְּאֶ֖רֶץ כְּנָֽעַן׃ (ב) אֵ֣לֶּה ׀ תֹּלְד֣וֹת יַעֲקֹ֗ב יוֹסֵ֞ף בֶּן־שְׁבַֽע־עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה שָׁנָה֙ הָיָ֨ה רֹעֶ֤ה אֶת־אֶחָיו֙ בַּצֹּ֔אן וְה֣וּא נַ֗עַר אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י בִלְהָ֛ה וְאֶת־בְּנֵ֥י זִלְפָּ֖ה נְשֵׁ֣י אָבִ֑יו וַיָּבֵ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת־דִּבָּתָ֥ם רָעָ֖ה אֶל־אֲבִיהֶֽם׃ (ג) וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אָהַ֤ב אֶת־יוֹסֵף֙ מִכׇּל־בָּנָ֔יו כִּֽי־בֶן־זְקֻנִ֥ים ה֖וּא ל֑וֹ וְעָ֥שָׂה ל֖וֹ כְּתֹ֥נֶת פַּסִּֽים׃
(1) Now Jacob was settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan. (2) This, then, is the line of Jacob: At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father. (3) Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons—he was his “child of old age” and he had made him an ornamented tunic.
~ What would you expect after "these are the generations of Yaakov"?
(1) אלה תלדות יעקב THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF JACOB — And these are an account of the generations of Jacob: these are their settlements and the events that happened to them until they formed a permanent settlement. The first cause is found in the narrative, “Joseph being seventeen years old, etc. etc.” — it was through this incident that it came about that they went down to Egypt. This is the simple reading of the text and in it each statement finds its proper setting. The Midrash explains that Scripture hooked all the generations of Yaakov on Yosef for several reasons. First, the whole purpose of Jacob in working for Laban was only for Rachel; then, Joseph’s facial features bore a striking resemblance to those of Jacob. Further, whatever happened to Jacob happened to Joseph: the one was hated, the other was hated; in the case of the one his brother wished to kill him so, too, in the case of the other, his brethren wished to kill him. Many such similarities are pointed out in (Genesis Rabbah 84:5-6; Genesis Rabbah 84:8). Another comment on this verse is: וישב AND HE ABODE — Jacob wished to live at ease, but this trouble in connection with Joseph suddenly came upon him. When the righteous wish to live at ease, the Holy One of Blessing says: “Are not the righteous satisfied with what is stored up for them in the world to come that they wish to live at ease in this world too?! (Genesis Rabbah 84:3)
~ How does Rashi explain the verse? What are the two explanations? Which one do you like best, and why?
~ Why are the righteous afflicted?
~ How does Rashi explain "Yosef was a na'ar"? Is this surprising, given that na'ar usually just means "unmarried young man"?
~ Why is the tunic important?
(18) She was wearing an ornamented tunic, for maiden princesses were customarily dressed in such garments. — His attendant took her outside and barred the door after her. (19) Tamar put dust on her head and rent the ornamented tunic she was wearing; she put her hands on her head, and walked away, screaming loudly as she went.
~ This is the only other occurrence of 'ornamented tunic'. Who wears it, and why, according to the text?
~ How is Yosef punished, according to the midrash brought to Rashi?
~ Bat Ayin is an 18th-century Torah commentary by Rabbi Avraham Dov Baer of Ovruch (1765 – 1840), a disciple of Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl, Rabbi Zussia of Annipoli and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. Abraham Dov went to Ereẓ Israel in 1831, settling in Safed, where he became leader of the Ḥasidim.
In a letter dated 13 Tammuz 5598/1838, Dr. A. Loewy, Sir Moses Montefiore's secretary, wrote the following about Rabbi Avraham Dov. "This man is one of the most learned and esteemed people I have ever seen. It is a simple matter for him to serve the community without receiving any recompense from the communal funds. He distributes everything that he has to the poor of his people. There are always between 10 and 15 people eating regularly at his table" (Devir, Vilna 5622/1862).
During the calamities which struck Safed at that time, caused by Druze attacks and an earthquake, Abraham organized relief and encouraged the people to remain.
Just before Rabbi Avraham Dov passed away in the epidemic of 1840, on the 12th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, he announced that his would be the last life claimed by the terrible plague. And so it was.
His teachings are recorded in his book Bat Ayin (Jerusalem, 1847).
וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען וגו' (לז א). הנה עיקר שלימות העבודה הוא להיות בבחינת חרות על הלוחות (שמות לב טז) אל תקרי חרות אלא חירות (עירובין נד.), להיות בבחינת עבדי הם (ויקרא כה נה) ולא עבדים לעבדים (ב"מ י.), היינו שלא להיות משועבד לבחינת גשמיות, לאהוב או להתירא מבחינת גשמיות, כגון לירא ולפחד מאיזה אדם שמא ירע לו, או לצפות לתשועת בן אדם ח"ו. וגם שלא להיות משועבד לתאוות גשמיות שלו, אלא יהיה בבחינת חירות, ויהיה שליט על טבעו לשבר תאוותיו הגשמיות, ואח"כ יוכל להכניס אור קדושה גם במדריגות התחתונות, ותמיד יסתכל בבחינת חסד וקדושה שבכל דבר, שהכל לא ברא אלא לכבודו (אבות פ"ו מי"ב) ובשביל החסד (זח"א י:), כמאמר חז"ל (ברכות פ"ט מ"ה) בכל לבבך (דברים ו ה) בשני לבבות ביצר הטוב וביצר הרע, היינו שמאמין בה' שגם בריאת יצר הרע היתה במדת החסד, בכדי לזכות בו בני אדם.
And Yaakov settled in the lands of his father's sojournings, in the land of Cnaan (Genesis 37:1) - Behold, the essence of a complete service is to be in the aspect "carved on the tablets" (Ex. 32:16) and "do not read carved, but freedom" (Eruvin 54a); it is to be in the aspect of "they are My servants" (Lev. 25:55), 'not servant of servants' (Bava Metzia 10a) meaning, not to be enslaved to the aspect of physicality, to either love or fear the aspect of the physical, such as to be in awe or in fear that a person can do you harm, or to expect salvation from a human being, God forbid. And also not to be enslaved to your physical appetites, rather, to be in the aspect of freedom, and be in control of your nature, in order to break away from the physical appetites, and after that one can insert the light of holiness in the lower rungs. And one should always look to the aspect of lovingkindness and holiness that is present in every single thing, because everything was created for the glory of the Holy Blessed One (Avot 6:11) and due to lovingkindness (Zohar I, 10a) as our sages said "'with all your hearts' (Deut. 6:5) with your two hearts, with the yetzer hatov and the yetzer hara" - meaning, the sages also saw the creation of the yetzer hara came from lovingkindness, to enable humans to receive merit.
~ How does Rabbi Avraham Dov Avritch explain the idea of enslavement of the physical?
~ What kind of spiritual exercise is it to look at everything and see lovingkindness and holiness?
~ What is the function of the yetzer hara, in his explanation?
And this was the service of Matitiyahu Kohen Gadol in Chanukah: when the Greeks wanted to make Israel transgress our Torah, Matitiyahu Kohen Gadol rode and said 'Who is like You Ad-nai among the powerful!' [Mi Kamocha Baelim Y-Adnai - initial letters of Maccabee] - and the first letters are the sum of Chesed (72), this is a hint that in the aspect of Maccabee there is the aspect of lovingkindness, and through that he continued and illuminated in the lower rungs of existence the aspect of the Higher Lovingkindness. These rungs are below the Ten, meaning, below the aspect of holiness, since the Shechinah has never descended lower than ten levels (see Sukkah 5a). And Matitiyahu brought light through his character trait, the aspect of lovingkindness also to those [aspects] that are below the Ten. And this is why the mitzvah of the candles of Chanukah is to be done from ten [tefachim, 32 inches] (see Shabbat 21a), that is, to shine the aspect of lovingkindness to those aspects that are below ten, as explained.
~ How does he explain the name Macabi?
~ What kind of lovingkindness Matatiyahu brought, in the story of Chanukah?
~ Why can't the Shechina lower itself more than ten levels?
~ How does our lightening Chanukah candles become a betterment to the universe entire?
And, this,too was the service of Yosef HaTzadik, who was always looking towards lovingkindness in every thing, and the aspect of Chanukah was in him, and the hint for this is in the verse וַיִּתֵּן חִנּוֹ vayten chino (Gen. 39:21) "and set his grace in the eyes of the dungeon warden", which is a hint that he had the aspect of chanu is from Chanukah.
~ What surprising connection does the Bat Ayin make between Chanukah and Yosef?
וזהו מרומז בתיבת חנו"כה גימטריא טף, כמאמר המגיד זללה"ה על טף למה באים וגו' (ע' לע' פ' חיי שרה ד"ה ואברהם זקן) פירוש, להביא בחינת קטנות למעלה. וזהו וימאן וגו' וינס ויצא החוצה (לט ח - יב), פירוש, שהיה בבחינת וימ"אן, בחינת אמ"ן, בחינת אהבה ויראה לה'.
And this is hinted also in the word Chanukah, since it has the gematria of 89, taf, toddler, and the Magid said: why did the toddlers [of Korach] got punished? In truth, this is a symbolic text: it was to bring the aspect of toddlerhood [that is in every person] higher. And this is also [how to read] "and he refused (vayma'en), etc, and ran, and went outside (Gen. 39:8-12) meaning, he was [acting] in the aspect of vayma'en, which is the aspect of amen, the aspect of love and awe towards Hashem.
~ How does the Magid (of Metzerich) explain one of the more upsetting details of the story of Korach?
~ How does the Bat Ayin apply that type of reading to the story of Yosef and Potifar's wife?
~ Beyond being a beautiful boy, what is Yosef?
And this is the aspect of Shabbat, the aspect of lovingkindness, because Shabbat hints to the aspect of lovingkindness, that is, the shin-tav of Shabbat is the gematria of 700, that is 70 (ayin) times 10, which is the aspect of ayin (eye), and the letter bet adds to 72, and that is the gematria of chesed (lovingkindness). And whoever says "vayechulu" over a glass is like a partner to the Holy One of Blessing in the act of creation (see Shabbat 119b, and Orach HaChayim Bereshit 2:3) - meaning: cup (kos) has the same gematria as "E-lohim" (86), and that is a hint to the aspect of Gevurah, and "vayechulu" has the gematria of Chesed (72), and everyone who connects the aspect of vayechulu with the aspect of kos, that is, the aspect of compassion with E-lohim, which is the aspect of judgment (din, see Zohar III 30a) - such a person is seen as if they were a partner to the Holy One of Blessing in the acts of Bereshit, as the sages say: "saw that the world could not exist, and joined the middah of compassion/rachamim to the middah of judgment/din" (Bereshit Rabbah 13). And this is, deeply, the issue of service to God: be a partner and connect the middah of chesed to the aspect of judgment.
~ How does saying the "vayechulu" makes us a partner with God in creation, according to Avraham Dov Avritsch?
~ Have you ever felt like a partner in creation?
וזהו וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, פירוש שאביו יצחק גימטריא ח"ר, היה בבחינת חירות כנ"ל, שלא היה משועבד לבחינת גשמיות ח"ו כנ"ל, וכל פחדו ויראתו היתה רק מפני ה' והדר גאונו. וכן יעקב היה בבחינה זו, אחר שכבר ספר הכתוב בהתגברות אלופי עשו שהיו מתגברים והיו בבחי' שרים, אח"כ נתגבר בחינת יעקב ויצא מהם לגמרי לבחינת חירות בחינת יצחק. וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו, בבחינת יצחק הנ"ל. בארץ כנ"ען, שהכניס בחינת דעת לשבע מדות התחתונות, ומרומז בתיבת א"רץ כנ"ען גימטריא דע"ת ז', שהכניס בחינת דע"ת לבחינת ז' המדות כנ"ל:
And this is "and Yaakov settled in the land of his father's sojournings" (Gen. 37:1) meaning, that his father Yitzchak, whose name has the gematria 208 (chet-resh), was in the aspect of freedom (cherut) as mentioned above, and was not enslaved to the aspect of physicality, God forbid, as mentioned, and all his fear and awe were only directed to Hashem and the incredible extent of God's genius. And so Yaakov was in this aspect, after the Text told us of his overpowering the tribes of Esav, which were in the aspect of princes, and after that the aspect of Yaakov overpowered them, and they all came out in the aspect of freedom (cherut), which is the aspect of Yitzchak. "And Yaakov settled in the land of his father's sojournings, which really is the aspect of Yitzchak, as we explained above. This means that he inserted the aspect of awareness (da'at) into the lower middot. And the hint to that is in the the words "Eretz Cnaan" which has the gematria of da'at (474 + 7 = 481) - meaning, he inserted the aspect of awareness into the seven middot.
~ He closes making a full circle. What becomes the land of Yitzchak sojournings?
~ Sha'ar HaKavanot is one of the parts of the Etz Chaim, a compendium of eight volumes on Kabbalistic concepts and intentions, written by Chaim Vital. Rabbi Chaim Vital, a prominent Safed kabbalist in the 16th–17th centuries, is best known for recording and editing the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, better known as the Arizal, a founder of modern Kabbalah. The Etz Chaim is that collection.
... נקר' נ"ר כמ"ש בזוהר רמ"ח איברים ותרין דרועין דיליה המחבקים אותה הם נ"ר. וזהו נר שבת ונר חנוכה אלא שיש הפרש ביניהם כי נר שבת עולה היא למעלה עד הכתר שלו ממש ונר חנוכה הוא אשר יורדים כל הבחי' אלו אליה למטה במקומה ולכן קניית שמן של שבת קודם ובענין ההדלקה נר חנוכה קודם כי אם ידלוק של שבת קודם כבר עלתה ומה התועלת באחרת אבל יעשו לה הכנה בהדלקת נר חנוכה וירדו בה האורות ואחר כך תעלה בנר שבת:
... and this is called light (ner), as it is written in the Zohar - the 248 parts of the human body, plus the two candles, that is ner, 250. And this is the difference between the light of Shabbat and the light of Chanukah: the light of Shabbat rises up to Keter, and the light of Chanukah is the coming down of all the aspects to Malchut, to her place, and this is why the purchasing of Shabbat oil for lights precedes the purchasing of Chanukah oil, but in lightening Chanukah precedes Shabbat: if you light the Shabbat candles, the light has already gone up, and what will add the Chanukah candles? However, with the preparation of the Chanukah candles, all lights can come down, and then there is an ascent with the lights of Shabbat.
~ Midrash Pinchas is a collection of chasidic stories and other teachings from Rabbi Pinchas Shapiro, the Koretzer Rebbe, that were collected and printed based on notes of his students. Though the author was a close disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Chasidut, he was also known as an independent thinker with a more intellectual approach.
איתא במנהגים שיש להדליק בשבת קודש ל"ו נרות כנגד ל"ו שעות ששימש אור הראשון דהיינו שאדם הראשון נברא בע"ש נמצא י"ב שעות של ע"ש וכ"ד שעות של שבת ואח"כ נגנזו ואמר מורי שהוא האור של ל"ו מסכתות שבש"ס והוא ל"ו נרות דחנוכה (ופעם א' אמר שהאור נגנז בל"ו מסכתות) וע"כ נעשה נס בחנוכה כי אז נתגלה אור הגנוז (ופ"א שמעתי ממנו שבכל חנוכה בשעת הדלקת נרות נתגלה האור הגנוז והוא אור של משיח) והדברים הנ"ל שמעתי מפיו בליל שבת והוא הי' ליל שבת הראשון שהתפלל בביהכ"נ שלו בק"ק אוסטרהא ואח"כ כשבא בשחרית לביהכ"נ מנה את הנרות שדלקו בביהכ"נ ומצא מצומצם ל"ו נרות לא פחות ולא יותר והנאהו מאוד (גם היה מנהגו בחנוכה בשעת הדלקת הנרות שלא לסגור את החלונות ברחוב משום פרסומא ניסא) ובשאר לילות הקפיד מאוד לסגור החלונות בתחילת הלילה ואמר כי איתא בזוהר שבלילה תרעין דג"ע סתימין ותרעין דליבא אינון עיינין מסתתמין (והוא בר"מ פ' פנחס דרכ"ב) בגין דלא יסתכלו באינון מזיקין ע"כ. ולכך צריך לסגור גם את החלונות והבן. ...
In the customs we find that on the holy Shabbat there are those who light 36 candles for the 36 hours that the first light was used, meaning, the first human was created on Erev Shabbat, that is 12 hours of Erev Shabbat, and 24 hours of Shabbat, and after that the light was hidden [ohr ganuz]. And yet my teacher [the Ba'al Shem Tov] said that this was the light of the 36 tractates of the Shas (Talmud), and these are the 36 lights of Chanukah. And therefore the miracle happened in Chanukah, since then the hidden light was revealed. (And once I heard from my teacher that in the hours of the lightening of the lights the hidden light is revealed, and it is also the light of the mashiach). And I hear this things from his mouth on erev Shabbat, which was the first Shabbat that he prayed in his synagogue in the holy community of Ostraha [Ostroh, Ukraine], and after that when he came for Shacharit he counted how many lights were lit in the synagogue and they were exactly 36, not more and not less. And this delighted him. And it was also his custom not to close the street windows at the time of lightening the lights of Chanukah, because of publicizing the miracle. And on other nights he was very insistent to close the windows at the very beginning of night, and said that in the Zohar it is written "at night the gates of Gan Eden are closed, and the gates of the heart are the eyes that are closed" (Rayah Mehemna Parashat Pinchas 30:168) so that the mazikin wouldn't look. And so one needs to close the windows (on days that it is not Chanukah), think about this. ...
The faithful shepherd said: "oy to those human beings whose hearts are hardened and whose eyes are closed, that do not know that, when night comes, the gates of Gehinom open, which is Mara (bitterness). And its smoke rises up to the brain, and the soldiers of the Yetzer Hara spread out in all the organs of the body. And the gates of Gan Eden, which are the eyes of the heart, get stopped up and do not open, since all the lights of the eyes come from the heart.
(א) וְתַרְעִין דְּלִבָּא, אִינּוּן עַיְינִין מִסְתַּתְמִין, בְּגִין דְּלָא מִסְתַּכְּלִין בְּאִלֵּין מַזִּיקִין, דְּאִינּוּן לִילִית. וְלָא שַׁלְטִין בִּנְהוֹרִין דְּלִבָּא, דְּאִינּוּן מַלְאָכִים דְּמִתְפַּשְּׁטִין בְּכָל אֵבָרִים, כְּעַנְפִין דְּאִילָנָא לְכָל סִטְרָא. בְּהַהוּא זִמְנָא אִינּוּן כֻּלְּהוּ נְהוֹרִין סְתִימִין בְּלִבָּא, וּמִתְכַּנְשִׁין לְגַבֵּיהּ, (ישעיה סא) כְּיוֹנִים אֶל אֲרֻבּוֹתֵיהֶם. כְּנֹחַ וְאִתְּתֵיהּ, וְכָל מִין וּמִין, דְּעָאלוּ עִמֵּיהּ בַּתֵּיבָה.
And the gates of the heart are the closed eyes, because they do not see those mazikin, which are Lilith. And they [the mazikin] do not govern the light of the heart, which are the angels that spread over all the parts of the body, like branches in a tree, on all sides. On that same moment when all the lights are hidden in the heart, and the lights enter the body like "doves to their cotes" (Isaiah 60:8), like Noach and his wife, and every type and type, that came into the ark.