Finally, the great reunion of Yaakov with his dearest son, Yosef is about to take place. The Torah tells us, that Yosef, at the time of meeting his father after 22 long years away from him cries. Rashi (46:29) points out that the Pasuk only tells us that only Yosef was crying, and it tells us nothing about Yaakov’s emotions. Rashi explains, that at the time of this great reunion Yaakov was reciting Kriyat Shema and therefore could not cry on his son’s shoulder. The question is, Yaakov knew he would be meeting his son, could he not have recited the Shema earlier?
The Shema is a way for us to declare Hashem as our King. In Shema we say, “and you should love Hashem your G-D with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your money (possessions).”
In truth, Yaakov could have recited the Shema at any other time but when a person does a Mitzvah they should do it with their fullest ability. Part of doing Mitzvot fully is doing them happily with all our heart. For the last 22 years of Yaakov’s life, his joy was cut down since he had not seen his beloved son. At this great moment of reuniting with Yosef, his heart became filled with the greatest joy he had ever felt. He then grasped that happiness to fulfill the Mitzvah of, “and you should love Hashem your G-D with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your money (possessions)” to an even greater level than imaginable.
From here we can learn, how important it is for us to give it our all when doing a Mitzvah.
Shabbat Shalom!
Classroom Check-in!
Questions about what we are learning in class
1) Who wrote Sefer Shoftim? Why?
2) How can we learn Middah K'neged Middah (a measure for a measure) from Adoni Bezek?
3) Who was Atniel Ben Knaz?
4) What did Kalev give his daughter Achsa along with her wedding gift?
1) What manner was יהודה going to be speaking to יוסף in? (רש"י מד:יח)
2) What was יהודה‘s speech to יוסף about? (מד:יח-לד)
3) What did יוסף hear that made him unable to hold back anymore? (רש"י מד:לב)
4) Why did יוסף ask all the מצרים to leave before he revealed himself? (רש"י מה:א)
5) What was יוסף’s first question after he made himself known? (מה:ג)
6) How did his brothers react? Why? (מה:ג ועוד עיין רש"י)
7) How did יוסף prove to his brothers that he was really יוסף? (רש"י מה:ד)
8) Why did יוסף and בנימין cry on each other’s shoulders? (רש"י מה:יד)
9) What was the proof that finally convinced יעקב that יוסף was alive? (רש"י מה:כז)
10) Who was sent ahead of the family to “settle into” ארץ מצרים? (בראשית מו:כח)
11) Explain להורת לפניו. (רש"י בראשית מו:כח)
12) When יעקב and יוסף finally met, who was unable to speak? Why? (רש"י בראשית מו:כט)
*13) Explain who was unable to speak and why according to the רמב"ן (בראשית מו:כט). How does he prove his point?
14) How did יוסף instruct his brothers to answer פרעה when asked “מה מעשיכם”? Why?
( בראשית מו:לא-לד)
15) How old was יעקב when he came to מצרים? (מז:ח-ט)
16) What did יעקב do when he met פרעה? (מז:י)
17) What was this blessing? (רש"י מז:י)
Extra Credit: Why did יוסף make his family (יעקב, בנימין, and his ten brothers) go through all of this aggravation? (עין מלב"ם בראשית )
Torah Math
When יהודה is telling צפנת פענח that if בנימין does not return home יעקב would die, he uses the words ונפשו קשורה בנפשו (his soul is attached to his soul). What was it that made this father and son attached? The word קשורה equals 611, the same as the word תורה. They were connected by the תורה that they had studied together!
So AWESOME how these secrets are all over the Torah!
TORAH TRIVIA!
Super Stumper Question:
This a question to ask others and discuss the answers.
Answer to last week’s Question:
Last week’s question: What was Mrs. Poteefar’s name???
Answer to last week’s question: Mrs. Poteefar’s name (besides Mrs.) was Zulaicha.
Question of the week: What is the ONLY Mitzvah that can ONLY be done when sitting down?
Answer….
What does this food have to do with the Parsha?
Healthy Trail Mix
1 cup combination diced dried fruit, such as prunes, apricots, pears, and apples
1/2 cup raisins and/or dried cherries or cranberries
1 1/2 cups unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts (or honey-roasted peanuts, chopped walnuts or unsalted almonds)
The Torah, when discussing the seven years of hunger, tells us that “Yaakov saw that there was (still) food in Egypt”, and sent his sons down to Egypt to buy food. Rashi (42:1) asks; how could Yaakov “see” that there was food in Egypt, rather it should say that Yaakov “heard” that there was food in Egypt?
Rashi answers that Yaakov saw this in a “vision of Holiness.” Rashi then goes on to tell us that Yaakov could not have seen this through Ru’ach HaKodesh. The reason is that since Yosef had left home, Yaakov was sad, and Ru’ach Hakodesh does not rest on people who are not happy.
The Rambam (Maimonides) tells us the Mitzvah that is performed with a smile and joy is worth one thousand times as much as one done in a state of unhappiness.
Rashi is teaching us a very important lesson about how we should be. We should always try to be happy when doing anything, especially Mitzvot.
This is true in the story of Chanukah as well. In truth, the Maccabees did not need to light the Menorah in the Bet Hamikdash with pure oil since most of the nation was impure. They wanted to do any and every Mitzvah that they could to the best of their ability and with happiness.
With these lessons in mind, how should we act when we need to do something that we might not want to do?
Shabbat Shalom, Happy Chanukah, and Chodesh Tov!!!
1) The פרשה begins by telling us ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים. What were the two years after?
2) What were פרעה’s dreams? (בראשית מא:א-ז)
3) How did פרעה’s recollection of his dream differ from נבוכדנצר’s recollection of his dream? (רש"י בראשית מא:א-ז) [We learned this in our ספר דניאל class]
4) Who couldn’t tell פרעה a satisfactory meaning of the dreams? (בראשית מא:ח)
5) What was their interpretation of the dream of פרעה? (רש"י בראשית מא:ח)
6) What did the שר המשקים mean when he told the king את חטאי אני מזכיר היום? (בראשית מא:ט)
7) Which three words tell us that the chief butler did not want יוסף to get a high position? Explain. (רש"י בראשית מא:יב)
8) Who did יוסף credit for being able to interpret the dreams of פרעה? (בראשית מא:טז)
9) What were יוסף’s interpretations of פרעה’s dreams? Explain all points. (בראשית מא:כה-לב)
10) What extra advice did יוסף dispense to פרעה? (בראשית מא:לג-לו)
11) What did פרעה remove from his hand and give to יוסף? (בראשית מא:מב)
12) What was this symbolic of? (רש"י בראשית מא:מב)
13) What name did פרעה give to יוסף? Why this name? (רש"י בראשית מא:מב)
14) Whom did יוסף marry? (בראשית מא:מב)
15) Who was she? (מדרש)
16) What were their children names? Why? (בראשית מא:נ-נב)
17) Once the hunger began, why did פרעה need to tell the Egyptians that if they wanted food they would need to do whatever יוסף said? (רש"י בראשית מא:נה)
18) How did יעקב know that there was grain in מצרים? (רש"י בראשית מב:א)
19) Did יעקב not save grain too? Why did they need to go to Egypt for food? (רש"י בראשית מב:א)
20) Why does the פסוק say יוסף’s brothers” went down to מצרים (and notיעקב ’s sons)?
(רש"י בראשית מב:ג)
21) Who was not sent to get grain? Explain why? (רש"י בראשית מב:ד)
22) If יוסף could recognize his brothers, why could they not recognize him? (רש"י בראשית מב:ח)
23) What was יוסף reminded of when he saw his brothers before him? (רש"י בראשית מב:ט)
24) What did יוסף accuse his brothers of? (בראשית מב:ט)
25) Who was the interpreter? (רש"י בראשית מב:כג)
26) Why did יוסף specifically choose שמעון to put in prison? (רש"י בראשית מב:כד)
27) Who ultimately took responsibility to return בנימין to יעקב? (רש"י בראשית מג:ח-י)
28) What did the brothers bring back with them to Egypt? List all. (רש"י בראשית מג:יא-טו)
29) After meeting בנימין, what made יוסף become full of mercy? (רש"י בראשית מג:ל)
30) Was to happen to the one that the cup was found in their saddle bag? Both parts.
(בראשית מד:ט-י)
31) In who’s saddle bag was the “magic” cup found? (בראשית מד:יב)
32) Why do you think everyone returned to Egypt? (Think)
Classroom Check-in!
Questions about what we are learning in class
1) What is נבואה שנצרכה לדורות?
2) Who wrote ספר שופטים?
3) Why did he write it? What message does it teach?
Torah Math
In this week’s Parsha we learn of the dreams of King Pharoh, and how Yosef interpreted each of them exactly correctly. The Gemara (Brachos 55 b) teaches us that the outcome of a dream is based on the way that is it interpreted. We can see this here in the words of the Pasuk:
Check this out... the words כאשר פתר (which mean: the way it was interpreted) are the same numeric value as the words of the Gemara שחלומות הולכים אחר הפה, meaning: Dreams go after the interpretation of the dream.
So AWESOME how these secrets are all over the Torah!
TORAH TRIVIA!
Super Stumper Question:
This a question to ask others and discuss the answers.
Answer to last week’s Question:
Last week’s question: What was Mrs. Poteefar’s name???
Answer to last week’s question: Mrs. Poteefar’s name (besides Mrs.) was Zulaicha.
Question of the week: If enough oil was found for one day, the miracle was then only for seven days, so why do we celebrate Chanukah for eight days????? (There are many answers)
Answer….
FOOD Section!
Can you guess what this recipe connects to this week’s Parsha?
Leftover Chicken Pot Pie
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons unsalted margarine (1/4 stick), plus more for coating the dish
2 cups pearl onions, peeled
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped
1 cup potato, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup celery (leaves too), coarsely chopped
2/3 cup carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3/4 cup frozen peas (optional)
3 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
Leftover Chicken
1 large egg
14 ounces store-bought puff pastry dough, defrosted if frozen
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with margarine and set aside.
2) Melt 2 tablespoons margarine over medium heat in a large frying pan until foaming. Add onions and sage and cook until sage aroma is released, about 2 minutes.
3) Add potato, celery, and carrots and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until carrots and onions are just beginning to soften, about 6 minutes.
4) Remove mixture from heat, stir in peas, parsley, and creamed chicken, and season with salt and pepper.
5) Turn filling into the prepared baking dish. Whisk egg together with 1 tablespoon water and a pinch of salt until evenly mixed. Set aside.
6) With kitchen shears, cut dough to fit over the baking dish. Place dough over filling and tuck into the edges of the dish.
7) Brush dough with reserved egg wash and cut 10 evenly distributed slits in the top to vent. Cook until crust is golden brown and the mixture is bubbling about 30 to 35 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
