Mikeitz - 3rd Portion

Join me as we learn for Tuesday the third Torah reading in Paras Mikates chapter 41 verse 39. Yesterday we learned where Yseph came and interpreted the dreams for Pharaoh. Not only did he interpret the dreams, but he also gave advice to Pharaoh that they should store food for the seven years of plent from the seven years of plenty for the seven years of hunger and appoint somebody that will be in charge of the storage that will be controlled by Pharaoh. Pharaoh and his servants appreciate and like the advice and the interpretation of Yoseph's dreams. Today we continue as Pharaoh appoints Yoseph to be the one in charge. Verse 39 and Pharaoh tells Y being that God made you aware of all this to you as all this there is no one as discerning and as wise as you. Verse 39 to find this individual like you said that should be just as smart and just as wise to be able to do the job. There's nobody else as worthy for the job as you. Verse 40, you will be in charge of my court. And by your orders will all my people be provided for. Only the throne will I outrank you by? You're going to be the viceroy and I will then be in charge. What does the word mean? They're going to be fed through you. All the needs of my nation will be done through you. Basar we have other places that the word means to feed to take care of like what's called the one in charge of his household only the throne I will be called king and you will be the viceroy second in command what does it mean the throne mean the the title king and his throne was higher than the others meaning the idea that King Solomon at that point was even greater in his kingship than King David. The Torah now continues on pay verse 42 verse 41. Behold, I hereby confer you with power over in the entire of Egypt. What does it mean? I I I give you I appoint you and still it's called giving my God says they will put us greater. You give a person whether it's making them greater or whether demoting them you all still it is appropriate to use a terminology to give we find that God uses the terminology I've given you to be humiliated as well it's always giving whether I'm giving a person a promotion or demotion the terminology is still giving verse 42 Pharaoh removed his signate ring me al from his hand and he put it on Yoseph's hand and he had dressed him in robes of linen and he put a gold chain. He placed a gold chain around his neck. giving a ring of a king as a sign. Whoever the king gives it to, he appoints him to be second in command, second in greatness. The vice king big linen. Why was considered important in Egypt? A chain a big chain that was then means on chain. It was a chain that was then put on his on his neck as beauty and as an adorement. The reason why it's called is because it's considered with a bunch of rings that are one after the other. It's called a chain. We also find different terminologies whether it's in Mish or in other places where we use the same terminology of something which is in a circle and a chain linked one with the other. And in the Mishna also find the terminology if in a circle that is chained with stone. on this fourth circle which is in the that was a floor that was there at the time one by one verse 43 then he had him ride in his second royal chariot that was his and they called before him they proclaimed before him the king's counselor and he was and how wise or bend the knee before him. You have to bow to him. And he was given the authority over all of Egypt. What does it mean? The second in command, the second royal chariot that was there, not the one that the king did, but the second one that goes next to the kings. What is this word? And if you notice, we said bend the means there's different interpretations to what the word means. Rashi over here first tells us the tarum the Aramaic translation and he says abala he is like a father he's part of the home of the king he's in charge of the home of the king the word in Aramaic or Roman language is melik king in we see this as well the says he's not a king and I'm the son of a king so he s comes from a a king the medish brings a interesting controversy about said, why was he called? This is because he was called true of he was a father in knowledge and wisdom but he was young bashanim in years. So if you look at the word a it's made out of two words then father in wisdom young in years when are you how long is it going to be that you're going to continue to corrupt meaning you're explaining the verses in such far-fetched type of ways if you take the word the word a doesn't explain the way you say It comes from the word knees. Why? That everybody had to bend their knees when they come to him and bow to him as it says that he was in charge of Egypt. Being that look in the continuing of the verse that he was he was and he was in charge when because he was in charge. Therefore, everybody had to bend their knees when they would approach him. Verse 44. says to Yoseph, I am peril and without your say no man will lift his hand his hand or his foot in all of Egypt his hand to bear weapons or his foot to mount a horse as we see in I am why does he have to say first I am par he's telling I have the ability to make decrees on my nation and with that power I now make a decree that nobody shall lift their hand without your permission without your permission. Another explanation is I am meaning I'm going to be the king. I'm always going to be the king. I'm going to be one up you. And when your permission this is similar to what he said before that only the throne he wanted to make sure he makes it clear even while he's giving him the ring. Yagle his foot in hand doesn't mean literally his foot in hand like the Tarum explains meaning one to hold a weapon or one to mount a source amount a horse an interesting medish over here which tells us about what Pharaoh was actually alluding to is because it was the coming c it was the custom in Egypt that in order to be a king you had to be fluent in 70 languages. This was expected of royalty like this. Pharaoh was able to um rule over his nation by force but therefore he was also able to control their minds as well because he was able to speak in multiple languages that they did not know. Over here Yoseph in order for him to be king as he spoke to Pharaoh the medish tells us that he spoke in different languages and as he came up to the throne he greeted Pharaoh by saying shalom saying Hebrew. Pharaoh did not know Hebrew and therefore Pharaoh lets him know I know Hebrew. I am king even though I know one language more than you. I make you swear that you don't tell anybody. As we're going to see later on in par that his father tells him, swear to me that you'll bury me in the land of Israel. Why specifically swear? Because I know that you swore to Pharaoh that you would not say that you know one more language. And if he tells you to break that oath, he'll tell him I'll break the oath that I made with you and I'll tell people that I know one more language and therefore I'll be able to be king. The interesting thing is that the Talmud also tells us that Pharaoh that Yseph was taught all 70 languages by Gabriel the night before. So you should be able to converse with Pharaoh in all the different languages. What was the need that Yseph should know all the languages that was also worked later on because all the nations of the world would come to Pharaoh to Egypt because Egypt was a superpower and thereby Yseph was able to converse with all the nations of the world to when we find Yoseph's name he has added hey as it says and the added hey just like Abra added hey and with this he became the father of all nations so to Yoseph with that added hay and the knowledge the hu that comes from Bina and that's why he's constantly called no that he had the Bina, the extra wisdom and the 70 languages that he was able to converse with the nations of the world which gave him the control of the nations of the world. Like his grandfather Abraham, the Jews were continuing to lead the nations of the world. Verse 45. And called the name of Yseph gave him the name toughness. One who deciphers the cryptic and he gave him also the daughter of Potifer who was a lord in Egypt to him for his wife. the lord of a wife and was then went out to oversee Egypt. What does the word mean? He's able to interpret to decrypt to decipher the hidden the we don't find any other time that this word pane should be explained in the verse of what it means. What does the word pifer mean? Who is this piferah? Who pifer? This is the same guy. And he was called over here because why was he called? Because he became castrated on his own. He became infertile because because he desired Joseph for sodomy and because of that he would became infertile and he was and he became [clears throat] and he was sodomized he was castrated sorry verse 46 was 30 years old at the time just an interesting note as well who was girlas according to many commentaries happened to be the daughter of Dina over here she's called the daughter of and that we see later on as we're going to see when we come to uh parse y is at this time 30 years old when he stood before pharaoh the king of Egypt and Yseph left uh pharaoh's presence and he traveled throughout the entire land of Egypt. Verse 47. And thou the seven years of plenty began. So during these seven years of plenty, the land gathered grain in handfuls. Verse 48. I'm sorry. Rashi in handfuls. They were having they gathered from all over and they would make these big warehouses of gatherings of food. and collected all the surplus of food during these seven years that was in the land of Egypt and he then placed food in storage complexes in the cities the food that would be placed with food in the fields in the surrounding city of where they had grown. So if there were food was growing in the fields he put them in the surrounding cities. So they should be for those fields that they were as Rashi explains every single what does it mean all the different fields that had cities that every land had a certain type of soil that would grow the grain that was particular to that place. So they would put the wheat and a little bit of that earth of that place together with the wheat would keep the wheat from spoiling from getting rotten. So besides the actual wheat and grain that he put in the warehouses he put the earth the soil from that grain so it would stop it from spoiling. Y and Yseph collected uh quantities as abundant as the sand of the sea very much until you were they were no longer able to counter because there was no count to it. There was too much to count. 49er the one that was counting how much he had to stop counting. It's a shortened verse because there was no number. The word key in this case is giving an explanation for the previous statement that he said. Why did he stop counting? Because there wasn't a number to count it anymore. Verse 50. Yseph gave birth to two sons. When were these two sons born? This was before the years of hunger of famine arrived. These were the children that his wife gave birth. Whoas was the daughter of Potifer, the lord of before the word before the years of famine came. Why does the Torah have to tell that to us? when the children were born specifically that they were born before the years of famine telling us from here we learn a person is not allowed to be intimate in the year of hunger as people are suffering and one is not allowed to have extra pleasure at that time the Torah now continues on verse 51 and Yseph named his first son Minasha his older son Minasha because God has made me forget all my hardships and all of my father's household. verse 52 and the name of his second son he named because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering. As the Reb explains the two names of a nashim that Yseph named them are a sign of how we have to live in exile. Number one, manet to long for what he was missing, but at the same time to recognize the blessings that God has given us that even in a place of suffering, he was able to prosper. But always never forget where we came from and what we long for for the coming of Moshiach. This concludes the third Torah reading.