Parshas Mikeitz 5779

Why Didn't Joseph Eat with His Brothers?

The Torah writes (Genesis 43:32):

They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; for the Egyptians could not dine with the Hebrews, since that would be abhorrent to the Egyptians.

There are two things happening here:

1. Joseph not sitting with the brothers while eating.
2. The brothers not eating together the Egyptians.

Bechor Shor answers #1:

Because of his greatness for it is not right to eat at the king's table unless you are a great person ... but they were seated close to him

HaEmek Davar explains similarly why regular people don't eat with the king:

... He should be demeaned in their eyes, or they should not be able to pass a knife to him and fight with him; but he did sit the brothers with the Egyptians because they were abhorrent...

 There are also multiple answers for #2 which answers #1 as well. Rashi (ibid) writes:

it is a hateful thing to the Egyptians to eat together with the Hebrews. Onkelos states a reason for this.

Onkelos explains:

They served to him by himself, and to them by themselves, and to the Egyptians eating with them by themselves because Egyptians cannot eat bread with Hebrews for the domesticated animals that the Egyptians worship, the Hebrews eat

The Torah writes similarly later on (Exodus 8:22)

But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do this, for what we sacrifice to the LORD our God is untouchable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is untouchable to the Egyptians before their very eyes, will they not stone us!

Rashi explains there:

The act of sacrifice which we practise is a hateful thing to the Egyptians seing that we sacrifice their god

However, Radak explains differently:

Egyptians did not eat sheep or goats, and the only reason they raised these animals was for their wool and their milk.

Chizkuni explains:

Egyptians detested eating at the same table as aliens, as they felt that they were a superior race and everyone else was way inferior.

Rashbam explains in a similar fashion:

The Egyptians’ attitude to people whose vocation was to tend flocks was one of utter disdain, as we know from 46,34. They had contempt for sheep and goats, hence their contempt transferred itself to the people raising such animals. This attitude to sheep and goats is mirrored when Moses asks Pharaoh how he could expect the Israelites to slaughter such animals while in Egypt without running the risk of the local populace stoning them to death for doing this. (Exodus 8,22) Stoning someone to express one’s disgust with his conduct is nothing new; we encounter it in Samuel II 16,5-6 when Shimi ben Geyrah, not only cursed (king) David publicly, but also threw stones at him.

Shadal explains this was because the Egyptians had their own religious customs for eating like the Greeks, and their religion wouldn't allow them to sit with people from other religions

Shape of the Menorah

Interesting article from Chabad.org addressing the discrepancy between the shape of the Menorah as described by the Rambam and archeological evidence

Parshas Mikeitz 5778

Did Benjamin Know about the Sale of His Brother Joseph?

It is unclear how much he actually knew. Midrash Tehilim earlier indicates that Benjamin knew that his brother was alive when Jacob was mourning for him, but doesn't explain whether he knew that he was sold. Sefer HaYashar in this week's Parsha explains that when Joseph saw Benjamin in Egypt and made a banquet with the brothers, it was during the banquet that he revealed himself and warned Benjamin about the upcoming plan to hide a silver goblet in his bags. However, Joseph doesn't tell him how he ended up in Egypt. Tzror haMor writes that after revealing himself to Benjamin, Joseph made up a story about how he was attacked by an animal, and eventually kidnapped and sold into slavery by some passing traders. However, other midrashim later on (Midrash Rabbah, Tanchuma, Aggadas Bereishis) write that when Benjamin's bags were searched and the goblet found, he rebuked the brothers using the example of Joseph's sale, thus indicating that he knew what happened.

Did Jacob know about the sale of Joseph?

It is also unclear how much he knew. Many learn that he never found out about the sale of Joseph, but there are some that learn that Joseph did tell him shortly before his death. Sefer Shemiras haLoshon writes that Jacob found out via divine inspiration and wasn't told by anyone. In any case, Rashi in Parshas Vayechi indicates that he did know because the blessings to Shimon and Levi, and the blessings to Joseph are interpreted in a way that directly relates to the sale of Joseph.

 

Additional interesting points:

- The Chasam Sofer learns that someone else should hold the candle during Bedikas Chametz because Menashe had a servant hold the candle while he searched the brothers' bags because it was Sabbath

- One of the reasons why it was easy for the Hashmonaim to become kings after their victory was because during the Second Temple era, the position of the High Priest was partly political since the empires that ruled Israel at that time treated the High Priest as a representative of the Jewish People (as seen from the story of Alexander the Great and Shimon haTzadik)

Parshas Mikeitz 5777

The Meaning of Joseph's Egyptian Name

The Torah writes (Genesis 41:45):

Pharaoh then gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him for a wife Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On. Thus Joseph emerged in charge of the land of Egypt.

According to Targum Jonathan:

And Pharoh called the name of Joseph, The man who reveals mysteries

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan explains (in the Living Torah):

Many authorities state that this is a Hebrew translation of the Egyptian name that he was given, and that it means 'revealer of secrets' (Targum; Rashi; Septuagint; Josephus 2:6:1). Others say that it is an Egyptian name (Ibn Ezra; Radak, Sherashim). In Egyptian, Tzaphnath is tza-pa-neth meaning, 'the Neth speaks' or 'the god speaks.' Paaneach is pa-anakh, meaning 'the life,' where anach or ankh is the symbol of life. Hence the name can be translated as, 'Lord of life,' 'Neth speaks life,' or 'The God speaks and [this man] lives.'

Daas Zekeinim has a different opinion:

This name is an acronym, describing a person who is steadfast in the presence of strong urges. Potiphar had had no reason to believe that Joseph could not withstand such temptation. [Pharaoh wanted the world to know that Joseph had been completely innocent of any accusation. Ed.]

Shadal also explains:

It means "the savior of the world"

What is On?

The Torah writes (Genesis 41:45):
Pharaoh then gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him for a wife Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On. Thus Joseph emerged in charge of the land of Egypt.

Targum Onkelos implies this was a city (ibid):

Potiphera, the prince / master of On

So does the Rashbam:

A minister in the city of that name as know from Samuel II 7:18 - "and the sons of David were priests". The meaning of the word must be that they were high positions (but not actual priests)

(the city of On / Aven is also mentioned in Ezekiel 30:17)

Targum Jonathan (ibid) learns this was a different city:

Potiphera, the prince of Tanis

Rav Saadiag Gaon in his Tafsir (ibid) learns it was a different city:

Potiphera, the prince of Alexandria

Shadal explains:

On is Heliopolis, the city of the sun where they worship the sun and every year make a celebration of the sun, and some way the word "On" means the city of the sun in Egyptian

(see also Jeremiah 43:13 where the "city of the sun" in Egypt is mentioned and see also Isaiah 19:18)

Ramban (ibid) explains differently:

It is possible that "On" was the name of his deity [i.e. Potiphera's]

The Man Who Persecuted the Brothers

The Torah writes (Genesis 43:14):

And may El Shaddai dispose the man to mercy toward you, that he may release to you your other brother, as well as Benjamin. As for me, if I am to be bereaved, I shall be bereaved.”

The simple explanation of the verse is that the man referred to by Jacob is Joseph

However, Sefer leMakesi Atik cites a Midrash (see Otzar HaMidrashim Vol 1, pp. 224) that originally Joseph want to greet the brothers in happiness and reveal himself but a person came and accused them of trying to kill him. That was the angel that originally found Joseph in the field and that was the man referred to in this verse.

Parshas Mkeitz 5776

What was Potiphar's Job?

The Torah writes (Genesis 41:10):

Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in the ward of the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker.

Midrash Sechel Tov (Genesis 38:21) writes:

"captain of the guards" - this is Potiphar who was appointed to oversee those to be executed and those to be imprisoned

Rashbam writes (Genesis 39:1):

he would execute the people sentenced as murderers and would generally be in charge of imprisoned criminals. 

Shadal (Genesis 40:3) writes in a similar fashion:

"captain of the guards" - this is the prison which was under the authority of Potiphar, and under Potiphar there was a warden over the prison

Radak (Genesis 37:36) writes similarly:

As per Onkelos, he was Pharaoh's chief executioner

Rashi (ibid) explains otherwise:

"chief of the butchers" - those who kill the king's animals

Ibn Ezra (ibid) explains the disagreement:

This language ["butchers"] can be applied to killing and to cooking

Bereishit Rabbah (86:3) explains that he was also in charge of preparing animals for idol sacrifices:

Potiphar is the same person as Potiphera - Potiphar because he prepared calves for idols, Potiphera - because he made himself free for idol worship

The Torah  (Genesis 41:45) also calls him a priest. However, Targum Onkelos [ibid] identifies Potiphera as an governor of On, not a priest.

The Ramban (Genesis 41:45) explains that he had all of these jobs:

And I say that according to the words of our Sages Potiphar was an officer of Pharaoh. When he became an eunuch and they realized that, they started to call him Potiphera and he was embarrassed and resigned his post. He went and put himself into a house of idol worship, and became a priest to idols for this was the custom among the nobility. And perhaps, "On", is the name of his idol...

(see also Sefer Mayim Rabim for discussion of Potiphar becoming an eunuch)

Who was Asenath, the wife of Joseph?

The Torah writes (Genesis 41:45):

And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer (chapter 38) and Targum Jonathan (ibid) write that Asenath was the daughter of Dinah, from Shechem, exiled by Jacob to Egypt

(see also Bereishis Rabbah [80:11], that Dinah had another child, Zimri, who was a son of Simeon; see our earlier post; see also the Jewish Encyclopedia citing a Midrash, which identifies Zimri as the son of Shechem and Dinah)

Yalkut Shemoni (Nach 9) writes that she was a convert, implying that she was not Dinah's daughter (unless patrilineal descent applied before the Giving of the Torah):

There are some righteous women who converted: Hagar, Asenath, Tzeporah, Shifra, Puah, daughter of Pharoh, Rahab, Ruth, and Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenanite.

Midrash Rabbah (Bamidbar Rabbah 8) also writes that she was a convert:

When the Gibeonites came to ask for help, Joshua said: "And for converts we should trouble the public? G-d told him: Joshua! If you push away the ones that are further away, in the end you will push away the ones close to you as well. From where did you come from, wasn't it from converts? For it is written (Genesis 46): "And they were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt", and it states earlier that Joshua was from Ephraim.

(see Sefer Mayim Rabbim for a further discussion)

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