zyxt zay igie f"qyz zah f"h January 5 6, '07

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1 On the Threhold of Nationhood A we cloe the book of B'reihit thi Shabbat, and read a preview of Shmot at Mincha, we realize that we are cloing the book (temporarily, of coure) on the era of the Avot and Imahot, and opening up the book of the children including the Tribe, the generation of the Midbar, the generation that will enter Eretz Yirael... i.e. Bnei Yirael, the Children of Irael... including u. A much a we mut learn from the Avot both poitive and negative leon, a much a what they did becoming pattern for the future conduct and experience of the Jewih people throughout it hitory, a much a we a a people and a individual are (or can be) defined by the peronalitie of the Patriarch and Matriarch, we are directly challenged to examine the experience of the People of Irael during the formative year of the Jewih Nation and beyond, through the Tanach and ubequent period of Jewih Hitory and to act in our own live a Jew, having learned the leon of our predeceor. In other word, to ak yourelf, what would I do if I were Avraham Avinu or Rachel Imeinu, etc. i a difficult que tion, becaue we are not either of them or the other. And we are not Yoef or the Brother either. But we are their decendant. And even though you cannot judge a peron until you are in hi hoe, we can ak ourelve how we would react, behave, feel and think in the ituation coming up in the Chumah and beyond. Variou commentarie attribute the decent of the Family into Egypt a a reult either of Avraham' having fled there becaue of the famine, or more pointedly becaue of the ale of Yoef, or both. Whatever, at thi point in the Torah reading, we have been ent to live in Eretz Yirael and we have been exiled from there. We have been introduced to a life of faithfulne in G d and the lack thereof. Torah Tidbit Audio Correct for TT 747 Rabbeinu Tam (J'm) 6:07pm 4:14pm Jerualem 5:30pm 4:29pm Raanana 5:30pm 4:29pm Beit Shemeh 5:31pm 4:28pm Netanya 5:30pm 4:30pm Rehovot 5:31pm 4:09pm Petach Tikva 5:30pm 4:29pm Modi'in 5:30pm 4:31pm Be'er Sheva 5:32pm 4:29pm Guh Etzion 5:30pm 4:28pm Ginot Shomron 5:29pm 4:14pm Maale Adumim 5:29pm 4:29pm K4 & Hevron 5:31pm 4:20pm Tzfat 5:26pm b:a '` mikln Range are FRI FRI Tevet (Jan 5 12) Earliet Talit & T'filin 5:46 5:46am Sunrie 6:41 6:41am Sof Z'man K' Sh'ma 9:12 9:13am (8:24 8:26am) Sof Z'man T'fila 10:02 10:05am (9:31 9:33am) Chatzot (halachic noon) 11:44½ 11:47am Mincha Gedola (earliet Mincha) 12:15 12:18pm Plag Mincha 3:45½ 3:50½pm Sunet 4:54 4:59 (4:48 4:54pm) In the Wolinetz Family Shul OHEL SHMUEL (entrance floor) Shabbat Shiur 3:00pm Mincha 4:00 Rabbi Emanuel Quint Motza'ei Shabbat 8:30pm Howie Kahn Sing Along zyxt zay igie f"qyz zah f"h January 5 6, '07 Thi Shabbat i the 106th day (of 355) and the 16th Shabbat (of 51) of 5767 A weekly feature of Torah Tidbit to help clarify practical and conceptual apect of the Jewih Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodeh HaZeh Lachem... Full moon occur each month at the moment the Sun and Moon are in oppoition, i.e. when the Sun and Moon are oppoite each other, from our perpective on Earth. In other word, when the Earth i directly between the Sun and Moon. In Hebrew, that moment i called the NIGUD. Halachically, we ue the average NIGUD (midpoint between the average Molad of the current month and the next month) a the deadline for Kidduh L'vana. Atronomical Full Moon can be up to everal hour before or after the average NIGUD. The NIGUD for Tevet i THU Jan.4 3:51am. [L] Native American (e.g. Algonquin tribe) gave/give name to Full Moon each month, and the month in which they occur i often called by that ame name. Thi month: The Full Wolf Moon becaue of hungry howling wolve. Jut a the choice were part of the live of the pre nation generation in Egypt, and the early neo national generation that we will read about in coming week, and jut a thee choice have been part of the live of Jew throughout the generation o too mut we know that we are more than individual human being we are individual Jew and we are part of Klal Yirael, and we have thoe ame choice and whom to learn from. OU ISRAEL CENTER Seymour J. Abram Orthodox Union Jerualem World Center Stephen Savitky, Preident, Orthodox Union Harvey Blitz, Chairman of the Board, Orthodox Union Rabbi Tzvi Herh Weinreb, Exec. Vice Preident, OU Yitzchak Fund, Preident, Irael Center Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Senior Vice Preident Prof. Meni Kolowky, Vice Preident Rabbi Dovid Cohen, Vaad member Stuart Herhkowitz, Vaad member Mohe Kempinki, Vaad member Sandy Ketenbaum, Vaad member Zvi Sand, Vaad member Harvey Wolinetz, Vaad member Rabbi Avi Berman, Director General, OU in Irael Menachem Peroff, Director of Program, Irael Center Phil Chernofky, Educational Director and TT editor 22 Keren HaYeod POB Jerualem phone: (02) fax: (02) tt@ou.org webite: Torah Tidbit and many of the project the Irael Center are aited by grant from The Jewih Agency for Irael Produced and printed in houe at the Irael Center...ei z eßc rße ei h RßW ne ei z eßv n ei z T g x nßw l ei k xßc A z k l l... Yß x n Wße Irael Center TT #747 page 1 VAICHI 5767 iue e"dl OU Irael and Torah Tidbit do not necearily endore the political or halachic poition of it editor, columnit, or advertier, nor do we guarantee the quality of advertied ervice or product

2 Aliya by Aliya Sedra Summary [P> X:Y (Z)] and [S> X:Y (Z)] indicate tart of a parha p tucha or tuma repectively. X:Y i Perek:Pauk of the beginning of the parha; (Z) i the number of p'ukim in the parha. Vaichi STATS 12th of 54 edra; 12 of 12 in B'reihit Written on line in a Torah, rank parhiot, 7 open and 5 cloed In addition, the firt part of the edra i the end of the previou parha from Vayigah. Vaychi i the only edra that doe not begin at a parha break. 85 p'ukim rank 44th (12th in B'reihit) 1158 word rank 44th (12th in B'reihit) 4448 letter rank 43rd (12th in B'reihit) MITZVOT contain none of the TARYAG (613) mitzvot The yllable of the name of thi week' edra are VAI (rhyme with WHY), and CHI (rhyme with BEE). The firt YUD belong to the VAV and doe not have a Y cononant ound, nor doe it begin the econd yllable. The word i not VA and then Y'CHI or YECHI. Kohen Firt Aliya 13 p'ukim 47:28 48:9 [47:28 (4) part of the parha at the end of Vayigah] The edra begin with Yaakov at age 147, having been in Mitzrayim for 17 year. (Remember that Yoef wa 17 when the trouble tarted. Intereting, no?) The Torah tell u that Yaakov i near death and Yoef i called to hi bedide. Yaakov ak Yoef that he (Yaakov) hould not be buriedin Egypt but rather in Me'arat HaMachpeila. Yoef agree; Yaakov ak Yoef to wear to it. Why would Yaakov init that Yoef wear didn't he trut him? Among other reaon, the oath might prove neceary in obtaining permiion from Par'o for the funeral. Even if Par'o would have been inclined to ay "no", he would repect an oath. Thi, according to Midrah, becaue Yoef had worn not to divulge a particular ecret about Par'o (that he, Yoef, knew more language than Par'o). Par'o could not ay to Yoef, "I don't care what promie you made", etc. There are commentarie who ugget another poible reaon for making Yoef wear Yoef might be upet about hi mother' not having being buried in the "proper" place, and he might not be favorable to hi father' requet. Yaakov ak Yoef for Cheed v'emet, True Kindne. It i conidered that tending to the burial of the dead i the puret form of kindne, becaue, among other reaon, it i the one ituation in which the recipient of your kindne cannot repay the favor himelf. It i an act of kindne without recompene. Commentator quetion thi idea in Yoef' cae. We are taught that Yoef merited having hi remain taken out of Egypt a a reward for hi attention to Yaakov' wihe. How can we refer to what he did for hi father a Cheed hel Emet? One anwer i that Yoef received reward in kind only by being taken out of Egypt and buried in the Land of Irael. Hi body pent a long time in Egypt. Hi act of True Kindne to hi father wa that Yaakov' body did not pend even a moment buried in Egypt. For thi, Yoef wa not paid back in kind; hi action on behalf of Yaakov' funeral arrangement wa indeed Cheed & Emet. Another undertanding of the concept of CHESED SHEL EMET i that when one doe a favor for a living peron, one never know if thing will actually turn out all right. It might look like a good thing to do, but thing can turn out "don't do me any favor". An act of kindne to the dead i an unquetioned act of Cheed. [P> 48:1 (22)] Some time later, Yoef i informed (by Efrayim who regularly miniter to and learn Torah with Yaakov) that Yaakov i ick ("at death' door"). Yoef bring hi two on with him to Yaakov (o that they can receive hi bleing). Yaakov i trengthened by the Irael Center TT #747 page 2 VAICHI 5767 iue

3 new of Yoef' impending viit (Thu i the power of Bikur Cholim). A to who told Yoef that hi father wa ick, it i Rahi who bring the opinion that it wa Efrayim, who tended to Yaakov' need in Gohen while Yoef wa in Egypt proper. The Midrah ay that it wa A 'nat, Yoef' wife, who told him. Speaking of A 'nat... The Midrah ay that he wa Dina' daughter, who wa raied by Potifar in Egypt. The Midrah alo ay that when Potifar' wife accued Yoef of improper advance, it wa A 'nat who privately told Potifar the truth, thu aving Yoef' life. Yaakov tell Yoef of G d' promie to him and hi decendant and of Rachel' death and burial. He then aure Yoef that hi two on, Efrayim and Menahe, will be equal to Yaakov' on. (Thi in eence, i the double portion of inheritance that Yaakov i giving to "hi heart' firt born", the elder of hi beloved Rachel' on.) Then Yaakov take notice of the boy and ak Yoef to preent them o that he can ble them. Levi Second Aliya 7 p'ukim 48:10 16 Yaakov' eyeight fail him in hi old age (a did Yitzchak') and Yoef bring hi on and move them toward Yaakov, who kie and hug them. Yoef then take hi on off of Yaakov' lap, o that he can preent them formally to Yaakov, for their brachot. After bowing before Yaakov, Yoef carefully and formally preent hi on to Yaakov with Menahe on the left and Efrayim on the right o that Yaakov' hand will ret on the appropriate head for the bleing. Yaakov witche hi hand, reting hi right on Efrayim' head and hi left on Menahe'. Then Yaakov blee Yoef by bleing hi (Yoef') children with the famou HAMAL'ACH HA'GO'EL OTI... Yaakov' reference to fih in hi bracha for Efrayim and Menahe (and all Jewih children in perpetuity) i explained on at leat two level. Fih are prolific; Yaakov wa bleing hi decendant that they hould become a large nation. It i alo known that the EYIN HARA ha no hold over fih (which ha omething to do with their urvival during the MABUL without being taken into the Ark). And thi too wa part of hi bracha. (The Yiddih name Fichel (fih) i often paired with Efrayim; obviouly, thi bracha i the ource of that name pair.) Shlihi Third Aliya 6 p'ukim 48:17 22 When Yoef realize that Yaakov ha witched hand (and ha thu "favored" Efrayim over the firtborn Menahe) he get (undertandably) very upet and trie to "correct" the poition of Yaakov' hand. Yaakov reit, ex plaining to Yoef that he i fully aware of what he i doing; and that Efrayim will indeed urpa hibrother in greatne. On thi ame day, Yaakov blee them by aying that the traditional bleing for on hall be: "May G d make you like Efrayim and Menahe". Think about thi... Imagine the panic that Yoef mut have felt when he witneed the potential of "hitory repeating itelf". How can Yaakov do what he wa doing when he wa painfully aware of the conequence of favoring one on and of the jealouy that it create (can create). That' the point! It CAN create jealouy, but it need not. It depend upon the character of the people involved. A parent can "tiptoe" around jut o long, making everything equal and even, in the hope that jealouy will not emerge. But that kind of behavior jut potpone the jealouy, it doe not eliminate it. Parent have to help build the character of their children, o that they will develop good MIDOT, peronality trait. Perhap Yaakov Avinu aw that hi two grandon poeed the qualitie that "allowed" him to do what he did. Two major peronality trait that a peron hould trive for (and that parent hall try to help develop in their children) are: not being boatful when in a uperior poition and not being reentful when in an inferior poition. Efrayim wa detined to become greater than hi older brother Menahe. Thee two brother were uch that Efrayim did not lord himelf over Menahe, nor wa Menahe jealou of Efrayim' prominence. What greater bleing can a father give hi on than "May G d make you like Efrayim and Menahe!" Yaakov then tell Yoef that he i about to die; that G d will be with the family nation; that He will retore them to the Land of their ancetor; and that he (Yaakov) ha provided Yoef with an additional portion of the Land. R'vi'i Fourth Aliya 17 p'ukim 49:1 17 [P> 49:1 (4)] Yaakov gather hi on around him with intention of revealing to them "the end of day" (knowing the future will eae the pain of the difficult time ahead) but it i not to be! Rahi ay that Yaakov wanted to reveal the "KEITZ" (end of time), but wa not allowed to do o by G d. The original prophecy concerning the exile in Egypt wa given to Avraham in the "Covenant between the Piece". There he wa told that hi decendant would be oppreed for 400 year. In fact, the people were enlavedfor 210 year. (Actually, they were in Egypt for 210 year; actual enlavement wa ignificantly le.) The additional 190 year i calculated from the birth of Yitzchak once Avraham had hi firt decendant, the "clock of exile", o to peak, began ticking. Egyptian exile would have been more tolerable, had our ancetor known about thi 190 year "grace period". Thi i the KEITZ (KUF (100) + TZADI (90) = 190) that Yaakov wanted to reveal to hi on. But thi he wa not permitted to reveal it. (The bleing, often mixed with fatherly criticim, combine to become the brachot of the Tribe.) Irael Center TT #747 page 3 VAICHI 5767 iue

4 Yaakov' word about Reuven peak of hi unrealized potential to have been the leader and the indicretion that lot him the poition of leader. [P> 49:5 (3)] Yaakov refer to the violence of Shimon and Levi. He cure their anger not them. Important leon for u all from thi point. Don't ay to your on, "BAD BOY!" Say, "you did a bad thing." It might not eem to be o important, but it i. Epecially, becaue we don't ay thee kind of thing once, but rather countle time over many year. [P> 49:8 (5)] Yehuda receive the brightet word he i promied the leaderhip and repect of hi brother. The Baal HaTurim point out that the initial of GUR ARYEI YEHUDA Gimel+Alef+Yud = 14, the numeric value of DAVID. [P> 49:13 (1)] Zevulun i given the bleing of properity... [P> 49:14 (2)] and Yiachar will carry the burden of Torah cholarhip. (The image of a donkey indicate pereverance, trong willed qualitie that are uitable for a cholar.) Together, thee two tribe will form a partnerhip that will be mutually beneficial. [S> 49:16 (3)] Dan will be the judge (and upholder of the honor, the one that will avenge Irael by fighting the P'lihtim) of the people. Rahi ay that thi i a prophecy about Shimhon, who wa from the tribe of Dan. Thi parha and Aliya finih with the famou 3 word pauk: To Your alvation, I hope, HaShem. When a peron neeze, he i uppoed to ay LISHU'ATCHA K'VITI HASHEM. Thi i baed on the fact that prior to Yaakov Avinu, there wa no ickne before one died. Rather, the oul jut left the body a it had been breathed in, through the notril, with a neeze. Yaakov acknowledged the "gift" of being ick before death, o that one can put hi affair in order. A neeze i no longer a ign of death, but jut a reminder of illne (ometime a ymptom and ometime jut a reminder). Thi i why people ay ASUTA or LIVRIYUT, or omething like that, to a peron who neeze. But the neezer himelf quote the word of Yaakov Avinu. And even though people are more familiar with ASUTA (or whatever omeone ele ay when omeone neeze, it i cloer to a requirement for the neezer himelf to ay LISHU'ATCHA K'VITI HASHEM Chamihi Fifth Aliya 8 p'ukim 49:19 26 [S> 49:19 (1)] Gad will be bleed with good fortune (thi i Malbim' interpretation which i by far the mot optimitic of the variou undertand ing of the pauk). [S> 49:20 (1)] Aher' bleing alo eem to be that of properity (and/or eloquence). [S> 49:21 (1)] Naftali i likened to a wift deer (or preading tree, according to other opinion) and i bleed with eloquence (and probably, properity). [S> 49:22 (5)] Yoef' bleing i extenive and how Yaakov' pecial love for him. It i the bracha of Avraham to Yitzchak and of Yitzchak to Yaakov that Yaakov give to Yoef, on of Rachel. A fruitful on i Yoef. BEN PORAT = 732. Baal HaTurim point out that thi i the G'matriya of Efrayim and Menahe: (331) (395) = 732 Shihi Sixth Aliya 27 p'ukim 49:27 50:20 [S> 49:27 (33)] Binyamin i bleed with ucce (ometime qualified). Rahi mention prophecie of Shaul and Mordechai & Ether. Thee are Yaakov' word to hi 12 on and he bleed them. Note that Reuven' bracha i in the ame parha a the "introduction" of Yaakov' parting word to hi children. Binyamin' bracha i part of the parha which conclude the edra, and the Book of B'reihit. Furthermore, ome of the on have their bleing in a parha p'tucha and ome in 'tumot. Thee are jut obervation; no uggetion a to ignificance, if any, i implied. Commentarie point out that Yaakov' word don't alway eem to be bleing but they do contain implied bleing and prophecie. Yaakov tell hi on that he i about to die and want to be buried in Me'arat HaMachpeila. (He doe not make them wear a Yoef did, ince they might not be in a poition to fulfill an oath.) Yaakov die. The wording in the Torah i indirect the word death or dying are not ued indicating the pecial "quality of life" (trange term to ue here, but purpoely choen) even in the death of Yaakov Avinu. The Torah next tell of the preparation for burial. Yoef tell Par'o of hi oath and receive permiion for the funeral proceion to Canaan. The funeral and mourning for Yaakov i elaborate and extenive. When they return to Egypt, the brother are filled with guilt feeling and offer themelve to Yoef a lave. Once again, Yoef aure the brother that all that ha happened i G d' will and for the bet. Yoef crie becaue the brother are falely accuing him of planning to take revenge againt them. Intereting (and ad) that part of their original problem wa baed upon fale accuation by Yoef againt hi brother. Sh'vi'i Seventh Aliya 6 p'ukim 50:21 26 Yoef promie to upport hi brother and familie. Yoef live to 110 (le than hi brother punihment Irael Center TT #747 page 4 VAICHI 5767 iue

5 for hearing hi father humiliated and not objecting). Yoef ha helped raie even hi great grandchildren. He tell hi brother that G d will even tually take them out of Egypt, retore them to Eretz Yirael, and he ak them to remember him and take hi remain with them when they leave. Yoef (and the brother) die; thu B'reihit, the book of the Avot & Imahot, end. According to Seder HaDorot HaKatzar, the brother died over a period of 22 year): Yoef, Shimon, Yehuda, Reuven, Binyamin, Yiachar, Aher, Zevulun, Gad, Dan, Naftali, Levi. CHAZAK, CHAZAK, V'NITCHAZAK after Sh'vi'i (or Acharon). Chatzi Kaddih, then the final 4 p'ukim for the Maftir. Haftara 12 p'ukim Melachim Alef 2:1 12 Short Haftara for a hort edra. Jut a the edra tell u of the father on hi deathbed giving intruction and bleing to hi on, and requeting an act of Cheed, o too do we find King David at death' door, intructing hi on Shlomo concerning matter of Faith and State and Cheed. THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean Leon #362 Exigency Juridiction of the Beit Din (continued) In the lat leon we dicued ome of the Talmudic paage that dealt with and form the ource for emergency (exigency) juridiction of the Beit Din. There i another cae in the Talmud that deal with thi ubject. The Talmud relate (Baba Kama 96b) a cae involving a peron who tole a yoke of oxen from hi neighbor and after having ued the oxen for plowing and owing hi field, returned them to the owner. When the cae came before Rav Nachman, he ordered the court officer to appraie the increment in the value of the field. Rav Nachman wa aked why thi robber hould have to pay part of the increaed value of the field, ince a robber i only required to pay the value of the robbed object at the time of the robbery, and here the repayment to the full value of the tolen property wa made when the robber returned the oxen intact. Rav Nachman replied that the peron who miappropriated the oxen wa a notoriou robber and mut be penalized accordingly a a deterrence. Alfai ( ) quote thi Talmudic paage and add: and it i apparent from here that in uch ituation we may penalize even outide the Land of Irael eeing that Rav Nachman wa in Babylonia and he penalized. Thu the principle of the Beit Din extrajudicial remedie extended beyond the boundarie of the Land of Irael. Since the judge outide of the Land of Irael were non ordained, the principle of emergency juridiction applied a well to non ordained judge. Without the principle extracted from thi robbery cae thi would not have been apparent, ince the incident cited in the lat leon took place in the Land of Irael during the period of ordination. Rambam in hi code cite thee cae of the Talmud and cite another cae from the Jerualem Talmud. In thi cae, eighty women were tried for witchcraft in an extraordinary trial and executed, becaue of an emergency ituation. Rambam continue that the Beit Din ha authority to flog peron on account of an evil reputation. The codifier all include exigency juridiction of the Beit Din in their code. They added along the way that thi emergency juridiction could be invoked only by the outtanding peron of the generation. One of the great codifier add that if the peron to be punihed i trong he may be coerced by non Jew to do the bidding of the Jewih court. Thi principle i apparently baed on a Mihna (T. Gittin 9:8) which tate that a bill of divorce under compulion i valid if it i ordered by a Jewih court, but if by a Gentile court, it i invalid; But if the Gentile beat a man and ay to him, Do what the Jew bid you to do, it i valid. A wa tated, thi type of juridiction given to the Beit Din i of an emergency nature. Thu there mut be a deciion made that there i an emergency in the community that permit uch juridiction to be exercied. There mut alo be a deciion made that the offender deerve thi type of punihment. Once the code peak about emergency juridiction of the community they peak of permitting the outtanding peron of the community to iue decree even if the people have not accepted him a the leader. Thi applie only in cae where the community had not appointed anyone ele a the leader. The outtanding peron may iue decree even when other great people oppoe the decree, provided that thoe who object are not a outtanding a the iuer. Furthermore, the majority of the community mut be made to abide by uch decree. The bai for uch law i that the leader of the city are, in their city, like the Great Sanhedrin, and what they decide i final. They mut, however, act when all the leader are preent. If ome of the leader pa a new decree and other leader are not preent, thoe who are not preent can veto the decree. Spiritual matter are an exception to thi rule, o that thoe who are abent cannot veto thee decree. Jut a few cae where the Rabbi applied emergency juridiction. 1. R. Shevut Yaakov ( ) dicue the cae where in one of the communitie a nefariou practice had emerged. Almot every bridegroom, oon after the marriage wa conummated lodged a complaint againt hi bride charging her with being unchate. The accuation were invetigated and found to be groundle, it being acertained that the accuation wa raied a a method of embarraing and extorting money from the bride father. The elder of the community paed a decree to punih bridegroom with a flogging or a monetary fine for any uch fale accuation. They aked R. Yaakov if thi wa legal and he anwered that there wa ample authority for uch extralegal decree. R. Aher ( ) had to make a deciion in a cae Irael Center TT #747 page 5 VAICHI 5767 iue

6 referred to him by a Rabbi Walker, involving a Jewih widow who became pregnant. It wa generally rumored about that the father of the child wa an Arab. Rabbi Walker wrote to R. Aher that he had invetigated the matter eeking to find witnee who might tetify a to the father identity, but that he wa not able to dicover competent tetimony. He wa, however, informed that the people of the community knew that the widow had given much of her property to the Arab and wa aociating with him. When ome of her neighbor aked her by whom he had become pregnant, he told them it wa by thi Arab. Thereafter he gave birth to twin, a boy who died and a girl who wa taken by the Arab to be raied. R. Walker aked R. Aher how he hould be punihed in order to prevent imilar occurrence. Moreover, the urrounding people were mocking the Jewih communitie on account of thi incident. There wa concern that other Jewih women might engage in imilar conduct. R. Walker aked if the community could difigure her face o that he would no longer be deirable to the Arab, and to pay a monetary punihment and any other punihment that R. Aher would ugget. R. Aher replied that the punihment uggeted by R. Walker i appropriate and hould be carried out immediately to prevent imilar occurrence. A little over a century after R. Aher, a cae came before R. Weil (d. before 1456) A peron wa found guilty of deecrating the Sabbath and the Day of atonement. It wa inquired of R. Weil whether it wa permiible to punih him by blinding. R. Weil anwered that it wa permiible. In concluion, it can be aid that although the exigency juridiction of the Beit Din i limited to commercial cae, in exigency cae they may exercie juridiction over all type of cae. The ubject matter of thi leon i more fully dicued in Vol. 1, Chapter 2 of Jewih Juriprudence by Emanuel Quint and Neil Hecht. Copie of both volume can be purchaed at local Judaica booktore. Quetion to quint@inter.net.il Spiritual and Ethical Iue in the B'reihit Storie BEIT YAAKOV IN GALUT [2] by Dr. Meir Tamari Fittingly, the tory of exile in Egypt open with the piritual and moral tet of Yoef, the firt of the pecial danger of living in trange and unnatural place. Avraham wa teted and o wa Yaakov, yet it eem that Yoef' tet wa more evere. Unlike them and hi brother, he wa a youth, eparated from the moral and piritual upport of family and culture, expoed to the mot licentiou and immoral ociety in the ancient world without the help of the anctity inherent in the Land of Irael. To be able to over come hi deire in uch circumtance earned him the title Hatzadik that he alone of all biblical peronae carrie. "Yoef wa beautifully formed and beautiful in appearance" (B'reihit 39:7). Thi vere decribing Yoef' good look i not the opening vere to the tory of Yoef and Potifar' wife a would have been the cae had hi beauty in the normal ene of the term been the attraction for her. Rather, it come after telling u 3 time that G d wa with him and of hi mater' full confidence in him. " [Thi i becaue], the idea of beauty i deignated in Hebrew not objectively, from the point of view of the actual beauty of the object, but of the impreion it give to the beholder; 'yafeh' i allied to 'yafeh' with an 'ayin', to radiate. So it wa not primarily hi good look, but rather the wonder of hi piritual uperiority which had raied him up from a lowly lave to be almot the equal of hi mater, that attracted her" (Rabbi S. R. Hirch). Neverthele, it wa hi beauty, both phyical and piritual that led to thi tet. "Yoef began to curl hi hair, click hi heel and bat hi eyelid aying, 'I am beautiful, I deerve admiration and I am powerful'. G d aid, 'I will urely raie up againt you an opponent'". (B'reihit Rabba 87:3). The ame ource tell u that thi wa caued by the fale claim that Yoef had made againt hi brother, telling Yaakov that they had their eye on the women of Canaan. "Thi how u that Yoef wa put in jail becaue of hi own hortcoming. They included the error he made in expreing hi thank for hi poition in Egypt. The Midrah tell: "He aid: When I wa in my father' houe my father gave me the bet portion of food and my brother were jealou. Therefore I give thank that now I am here". Surely it wa more appropriate to act like Hagar, the Egyptian prince who preferred ervitude in the home of the righteou Avraham and Sarah to life in the Egyptian palace or like Timna who preferred being the concubine to Elifaz, Yitzchak' grandon, to being a prince at the court of Og?" (Yalkut Yehuda). It i intructive that Yehuda and David, Irael' permanent royalty, are the only biblical peronae other than Yoef, Irael' royalty in galut, that were imilarly expoed to a tet of exuality. Perhap thi flow from the challenge of not abuing poition of power and authority. Falling prey to temptation ha it root in previou thought procee and reiting them alo require deeply rooted piritual and educational leon. Eliha ben Abuya, the Tanna, claimed that he became an 'apikore' when he aw a boy killed by a nake on decending from a tree in accordance with hi father' intruction to drive away the mother bird and bring the goling. The fact that death wa the reward for oberving the two mitzvot for which the Torah promied longevity, according to him howed that there wa neither a Judge nor Heavenly Jutice. The Sage, however, aw hi apotay rooted in the book of apikorut that ued to fall from hi pocket when he roe up in the Bet Midrah. Converely, Yoef' trength lay in the leon he had learnt at home. Her firt approach wa ummarily dimied by Yoef' claic denial of immoral temptation and opportunity to do evil; "How hould I do thi great wickedne and in againt G d". Thi refual wa done conciouly, in the belief that Hahem ee and know all our thought and action (Akeidat Yitzchak). "The wickedne would be an abue of the trut that Potifar placed in him and that would be a in againt G d" (Rabbenu Bachaya). Our Sage aid, "If you deal falely with your fellow men, how can we be ure that you are not fale alo to G d?" We divide Torah into that which concern G d and that which deal with our act toward other people, not realizing that the jutice and morality of the latter flow from the will of G d. "Chata, in, i cloe to chatah, to take burning coal out of a fire. So it eem that chata, to take any of our relation or act out of the matery of the Divine fire, make them lifele, unable to achieve what they are meant for, and o we are ready for in" (Rabbi S. R. Hirch). Irael Center TT #747 page 6 VAICHI 5767 iue

7 Potifar' wife continued in vain to temp Yoef for a whole year through peech, through threat and through change in her eductive clothing. Then, on one of Egypt' fetival, preumably the day of the riing of the Nile, when Yoef knew that he would be alone with her, neverthele, he entered the houe. "Thi would imply a reproach for him for voluntarily placing himelf in a potentially dangerou predicament. No man hould trut o much in hi moral trength and character to reit evil" (S. R. Hirch). "Rav and Shmuel; one hold that he came imply to perform hi uual tak but the other hold that, weakened by the contant temptation, hi intent wa to do her will" (Sota 36b). "Rav Huna taught; only when he aw the image of Yaakov' face did hi deire die down and he fled" (B'reihit Rabba 87:9). Thi i the power of parental education that when our logic i powerle, neverthele, we are able to draw trength from the value inherited from them to withtand great preure. She tore the cloak that wa pecific to the Hebrew knowing that the tziztit, the ign of G d' mitzvot even in our clothe, had reminded him that it wa forbidden, and therefore he fled. The repetitive and mechanical performance of mitzvot train our moral behavior to react even when our intellect and widom deert u. "That you may ee it and remember all the commandment and perform them and not follow after your heart and eye that you lut after" (Bamidbar 15:39). MISC ection content: [1] Vebbe Rebbe [2] Candle by Day [3] From Aloh Naaleh [4] Widom and Wit [5] Portion from the Portion [6] Parha Point to Ponder [7] Torah KidBit [8] Torah from a Talmid (a) [9] MicroUlpan [10] Vaichi SDT [11] Torah from Nature [12] From the dek of the director [1] From the virtual dek of the OU VEBBE REBBE The Orthodox Union via it webite field quetion of all type in area of kahrut, Jewih law and value. Some of them are anwered by Eretz Hemdah, the Intitute for Advanced Jewih Studie, Jerualem, headed by Rav Yoef Carmel and Rav Mohe Ehrenreich, founded by HaRav Shaul Yiraeli zt"l, to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to erve the National Religiou community in Irael and abroad. Ak the Rabbi i a joint venture of the OU, Yeruhalayim Network, Eretz Hemdah... and the Irael Center. The following i a Q&A from Eretz Hemdah... Sometime I ee people encouraging their toddler to do thing on Shabbat becaue a Q need aroe, that would be chilul Shabbat for an adult. I thi permitted? A There are more permutation and approache than we can get into in thi forum, but let u dicu baic opinion and guideline. Every mitzva ha a tage at which a child i higi a l chinuch (ha reached the point at which it i practical to educate him), which hi father i obligated to ee to (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 343:1). Regarding prohibition, at a relatively young age, a father hould try to prevent hi child from inning (Mihna Berura 343:3). However, a toddler lack the pertinent undertanding, and a father can allow him to act a the toddler will (ibid.). Even when one need not top a child from inning, it i forbidden for anyone (according to mot opinion, by the Torah ee Beit Yoef, OC 343) to feed him a forbidden food or encourage him to do a forbidden act (Mihna Berura 343:4). It i, though, permitted to put the child in a ituation where he may, of hi own accord and interet, decide to do omething forbidden. For example, the gemara (Yevamot 114a) tell of one who lot key to a hul in the public domain. R. Pedat told him to take children to play where they were lot, with the hope they would find, play with, and retrieve them. In contrat, the mihna (Shabbat 121a) require one who ee a child extinguihing a fire to tell him to top. The gemara (ad loc.) ay that thi refer to a cae where he wa acting on hi father behalf. The Mihna Berura (334:64) ay that, in uch a cae, even a child who ha not higi ah l chinuch hould be topped. There are a couple of major pertinent machlokot. The Rahba (Yevamot 114a) and the Ran (1a of Rif to Yoma) ay that one can prompt a child to do omething that i forbidden only rabbinically. However, both refer to cae where the child act for hi own purpoe. The Rahba (Shabbat 121a), for example, claim that the mihna about a child who wa topped from extinguihing a fire involved a rabbinic violation, and yet it wa forbidden becaue the child did not act for hi own need. Rambam and Shulchan Aruch are preumed to forbid prompting a child to violate even a rabbinic prohibition even for hi own purpoe. However, many pokim jutify relying on the Ran and Rahba, at leat in a cae of ignificant need (Shut R. Akiva Eiger I, 15; Shulchan Aruch Harav 343:6). R. Akiva Eiger (ibid.; ee Biur Halacha to 343:1), for example, allow a child to take a chumah to hul to read from, and then an adult can alo ue it. However, thi i far from agreed upon, at leat when it i not dealing with the child acute phyical need (compare Shemirat Shabbat K hilchata, ed. I, 32:32 and ibid.:39). Another diputed cae i where adult need the child to violate a rabbinic law to enable the adult to fulfill a mitzva. There i a rule that one can ak a non Jew to do what i rabbinically forbidden for Jew to enable one to fulfill a mitzva (ee Rama, OC 311:2) or for a great need (ee Mihna Berura 313:56). The Taz (OC 343:6, baed on the Mordechai) ay the ame applie to aking a child to do a rabbinical prohibition under thoe circumtance (e.g., carrying hul key in a rabbinic level public domain). Yalkut Yoef ay that one need not protet againt thoe who rely on thi opinion if a non Jew i not available. Rav Ovadya Yoef (Yabia Omer I, 4) rule that in a Irael Center TT #747 page 7 VAICHI 5767 iue

8 matter where there are legitimate opinion to permit an action for an adult and it i at wort a rabbinic prohibition, all would allow to prompt a child to do o for himelf. He may even act o on behalf of an adult if the adult refrain from the matter jut a a tringency (Yalkut Yoef, ibid.). There are certainly group of Jew who cutomarily ue children more freely than other do. A long a they do o in a careful way, including that it doe not include Torah violation, they have legitimate halachic opinion to rely upon. Ak the Rabbi Q&A i part of Hemdat Yamim, the weekly parha heet publihed by Eretz Hemdah. You can read thi ection or the entire Hemdat Yamim at or And/or you can receive Hemdat Yamim by weekly, by ending an to info@eretzhemdah.org with the meage: Subcribe/Englih (for the Englih verion) or Subcribe/Hebrew (for the hebrew verion). Pleae leave the ubject blank. Ak the Vebbe Rebbe i partially funded by the Jewih Agency for Irael TTreader FEEDBACK The following letter wa written a "an additional and complementary perpective" to lat week' Vebbe Rebbe column. If you have not read lat week' column, or don't remember it, we advie (re)reading it before reading thi letter. To the Editor of Torah Tidbit: The deire to raie offpring who will continue the value of their parent burn in the heart of every mother and father. Particularly in our day, when torie abound of children who have left the "derech," thi concern may leave u feeling without anwer or reource. We are not, however, the only religion or ethnic group to look eriouly at thi iue. Other have found themelve confronted by the dilemma of creating the next generation in the moral image of it predeceor. Even ocial cientit have entered thi fray, with ome intereting and potentially helpful guideline. Thee reearcher have found that conitency i the name of the game, meaning that children bet inculcate parental value when they are reinforced by the chool and the child' peer group. Children raied with thee three parallel influence tand a ignificantly greater chance of remaining within the fold. If any one of them deviate ubtantially in any direction, the odd of ucce diminih. In the cae cited in the Torah Tidbit #746, if the parent are committed to keeping their on in hi current chool, than it may be wie to change their life tyle to fulfill the expectation of that educational etting, including, but not limited to, attending a haredi hul. If the exiting family value preclude uch a change, then keeping their on in a haredi chool will likely continue to confront him with iue raie in their letter, potentially weakening hi commitment to either pathway. Raiing children ha perhap never been more difficult than it i today. What we have gained in area of health and nutrition ha been challenged by the endle influence to which our children are ubject. Neverthele, a in previou generation, the primary influence remain home, chool and friend. Maintaining conitent meage among the three continue to give u our bet hot at ucce. Dr. David S. Ribner School of Social Work, Bar Ilan Univerity [2] Candle by Day There i a tranition period in our thinking when we cannot think, when our mind are not putting forth enough energy for directed thinking, nor remaining paive enough for random thinking. From "A Candle by Day" by Rabbi Shraga Silvertein A Candle by Day The Antidote The World Of Chazal by Rabbi Shraga Silvertein Now available at [3] CHIZUK and IDUD for Olim & not yet Olim repectively A few month after we had come on Aliya in 1983, I received a call from the family of one of my former congregant. Their father, an exceptional individual, had paed away and wa to be buried on Har Hazeitim. The plane landed, much later than expected, and the entourage arrived at the grave ite very cloe to duk. The member of the Chevra Kadiha were buy houting, urging each other to work fat o that they could pare the family the need to it another day of Shiva. I found myelf entirely divorced from the going on. I had become memerized by the whole cene. In the ditance, the un ent forth it lat burt of ray over the Mekom Hamikdah, etting aglow the entire Temple Mount. While around u the darkne grew ever more black. A we lowered Jack z"l into hi eternal reting place, I wa overcome by the eerie feeling that we were not interring him in the actual ground but that we were paing him over to the warm embrace of Jewih hitory. In the month thereafter, I realized that of all the reaon that my wife and I had formulated for accompanying our children to a new life in Irael, we had overlooked perhap one of the mot important. By coming to Irael, we were offering them the unique opportunity to participate in the unfolding of Jewih hitory. Here i where the action i. It i only in Irael that a parent can endow hi children with the ability to join the march to the ultimate redemption of Am Yirael. In informing u of Jacob' death, the Torah ue the term "Vayei'aeif el amav". Death did not mark the end of hi exitence. Hi life had taken on the pecial ignificance of becoming an integral part of Jewih hitory. Rabbi Sender Shizgal, Ramot, Jerualem TORAH THOUGHTS a contributed by Aloh Naaleh member for publication in the Orthodox Union' 'Torah Inight', a weekly Torah publication on Parhat HaShavu'a [4] Widom & Wit The Chazon Ih could not tand anything which in any way might be contrued a falehood, a can be een from the following tory: The Chazon Ih would generally have a minyan in hi home each day at a fixed time. Once, for ome reaon, there were only nine people preent at the appointed time, and it took Irael Center TT #747 page 8 VAICHI 5767 iue

9 ome time to find a tenth peron. Jut then, the Chazon Ih brother in law, who wa one of the ten, wa faced with a dilemma. It eemed that he had made an appointment to meet omeone, and the delay in the prayer time would mean that he would be late for hi appointment. On the other hand, if he left, there would not be a minyan. I don t ee any quetion here, aid the Chazon Ih. If you made an appointment, that mean that you gave your word that you will be there. Of coure you mut leave immediately. Hi brother in law left, and the remaining member of the minyan dibured. Shmuel Himeltein ha written a wonderful erie for ArtScroll: Word of Widom, Word of Wit; A Touch of Widom, A Touch of Wit; and "Widom and Wit" available at your local Jewih booktore (or hould be). Excerpted with the permiion of the copyright holder [5] by Rakel Berenbaum FEEDback to berenbau@actcom.net.il May they increae in the land like fih On hearing that hi father wa ill, and knowing that hi father wa cloe to death, Yoef quickly took hi two on to Yaakov for a bleing. At firt Yaakov wa wary about bleing them. Who are thee? he ak Yoef (48:8). The Midrah ay that although uually they came to Yaakov dreed in Jewih clothe, thi time becaue of the immediacy, they left the palace without changing out of their Egyptian palace clothe. Yaakov wa afraid that they had been corrupted by their life in royalty and wouldn't follow in hi way. After Yoef aure him that they are fine Yaakov blee them. "May He ble the lad, and let them carry my name, along with the name of my father, Avraham and Yitzchak. He blee them that they will keep their Jewih name. Thi i a bleing for them for the time they are in the Diapora to inure they remain Jewih. We know that though the Jew in Egypt unk very low while they were lave in Egypt, they never changed their name, their language and their clothe. He alo blee them that they hould increae in the land like fih. Though we do ee that all of the children of Irael multiplied tremendouly while in Egypt (B'reihit 47:27), Irael lived in Egypt... and their population increaed rapidly. The Iraelite were fertile and prolific, and their population increaed (Sh'mot 1:7) we don't ee any mention that it wa pecifically the tribe of Efrayim and Menahe that multiplied more than the other tribe. So what wa thi pecial bleing from Yaakov referring to? The Aderet Eliyahu ay that it wa in the land BEKEREV HAARETEZ in Eretz Yirael that they experienced thi bleing. In both place where the nation wa counted, the tribe of Efrayim and Menahe together (Yoef) were more then the other tribe. And why did Yaakov ue the metaphor to increae like fih? Why not like the tar or like the and a had been ued in the pat? For one reaon, it wa omething the boy would have been familiar with ince Egypt wa bleed with lot of fih a the vere ay we remember the fih that we could eat in Egypt at no cot (Bamidbar 11:5). Rahi ay that fih are pecial, although they are numerou, the Evil Eye doen't ret on them. Thi could be becaue they are under the water and no one can really ee the abundance they have and therefore won't be jealou. For a family that had dealt with jealouy in the pat, thi wa an important bleing. Yaakov wa bleing hi grandon that although they would be numerou, the Evil Eye wouldn't ret on them jut like the fih. Thi i a pecial bleing to them. We mut all be careful not to how off our good fortune too much, o the evil eye won't ret on u. Curry Sardine in Tomato Sauce ½ cup chopped green pepper 1 liced onion 1 bunch chopped callion 1 cup liced muhroom 1 zuchinni, liced 1 can (580 gm) tomato auce 2 3 can ardine (try the one in red hot auce) olive oil for frying Saute the vegetable until lightly brown. Remove from pan and let it in bowl. Heat tomato auce in the ame aucepan. Add 2 3 can of ardine to the pan pread them gently acro pan without breaking the fih. Allow to immer. Carefully add auteed vegetable. Seaon with curry powder to tate. Simmer 6 10 minute. Serve over your favorite rice or with pita. [6] Parha Point to Ponder VAICHI 1) How could Yaakov betow a pecial bleing on the children of Yoef and treat them like on and not grandon? (ee 48:5) Wouldn t thi reawaken all of the jealouy and trouble which ued to exit between Yoef and hi brother over Yaakov pecial treatment of Yoef? 2) When Yaakov rebuke hi on during hi final bleing before hi death, why doe he not chatie them for the ale of Yoef, the greatet wrong they had committed? 3) Why wa Yoef the only brother to fall on hi father, cry and ki him? (ee 50:1) Irael Center TT #747 page 9 VAICHI 5767 iue

10 THESE ARE THE ANSWERS Ponder the quetion firt, then read here 1) Rav Yaakov Kaminetky ugget that the brother certainly undertood that the two grandon who grew up in Egypt, away from the piritual homeland and the family, required a pecial bleing and attention from Yaakov to ucceed piritually. That i why Yaakov pecifie that the two on WHO WERE BORN IN EGYPT would be like Reuven and Shimon to him. 2) Two amazing concept emerge from the anwer to thi quetion. The Ramban teache that Yaakov never found out about the ale of Yoef. The brother never confeed to thi in and Yoef had compaion on hi brother and never revealed thi information. A far a Yaakov knew, Yoef wa wandering while trying to find the brother and wa captured by tranger and brought to Egypt. The Abarbanel ugget that Yaakov undertood that the G D took away the brother free will and compelled them to ell Yoef into lavery thereby leading to the chain of event which brought the family to Egypt. Thu, there wa nothing to rebuke them for ince no ince wa actually committed. 3) Rav Mordechai Gifter anwer that Yoef wa the only on who had already experienced how painful it wa to be eparated from Yaakov. Thoe who had not yet experienced thi lo did not realize how painful it wa going to be. Yoef, could accurately project how trong the longing and the pain would be which led to thi expreion of pain at the moment of Yaakov death. Parha Point to Ponder i prepared by Rabbi Dov Lipman, who teache at Reihit Yeruhalayim, Tiferet, and Machon Maayan in Beit Shemeh and RBS and i the author of "DISCOVER: Anwer for Teenager (and adult) to Quetion about the Jewih Faith", jut re publihed by Feldheim ppp@iraelcenter.co.il [7] A new Torah Tidbit column with a Parhat HaShavua inight geared toward the young reader... or their parent and grandparent to read to them. Yaakov Avinu wa 147 year old. Soon, he would die. But even before he bleed hi own twelve on, Yoef brought hi on Menahe and Efrayim to receive a bleing from their grandfather. When they tood at Yaakov' bedide, a trange thing happened. Yaakov aw the two boy and aked: Mi eleh? Who are thee? For the pat 17 year Yaakov had been living in Egypt and learning Torah with hi grandon. How could he not recognize them? The rabbi give u everal explanation. Yaakov wa blind (the next pauk read: Yirael' eye were heavy with age; he could not ee). Or perhap he aw very clearly. He aw that in the future, three evil king would decend from Menahe and Efrayim. When Yaakov aked "Who are thee?", he meant the three evil king and he wondered if Menahe and Efryaim were worthy of a bleing. But another explanation tell u that Yaakov had never een hi grandon wearing Egyptian clothing. They alway came to him in "Jewih" clothe. Suddenly, they looked like like young Egyptian noble. Yaakov aked himelf: They were raied in Pharo' court; they dre like Egyptian; they peak Egyptian! Perhap they really are Egyptian! Who are thee? Are they Egyptian prince or are they true on of Irael? Are they part of Avraham' covenant and will they grow up to be faithful Jew? Who are they? Yoef reaure Yaakov that hi on are truly faithful Jew. He tell him: They are my on whom G d gave to me here in Egypt. Depite their outide appearance, you need not worry. They are and will continue to be faithful Jew. We can ak ourelve the ame quetion. Who are we? Today, mot Jewih people around the world wear the ame clothing everyone ele wear; they peak the language of whatever country they live in. Perhap we don't alway look or ound Jewih. But if we alway remember who we are, no matter where we live or how we dre or what language we peak then we too will be worthy of Hahem' bleing. Still, the very bet thing that can happen for u i to live here in Eretz Yirael, peak Lahon Hakodeh, and dre, look and act like good Jew hould! Then we will have nothing to worry about! [8] Torah from a Talmid(a) Thi i a new Torah Tidbit column a erie of guet Divrei Torah, ubmitted by young men and women from abroad who are learning in Irael thi year. Submiion for publication hould be ent to abaumol@ouirael.org and be approx word long including a hort blurb about your chool. A Ya'akov Avinu ene hi day coming to an end, he take the opportunity to ble hi children, a hi father did before him. Before he blee each on a an individual, Yoef appear before Ya'akov with hi on, Efrayim and Menahe, that they may be bleed a well. The p'ukim which decribe thi cene (48:8 22) feature phrae and image which take u back a generation to the cene in which Yitzchak paed on berakhot to hi children. The decription of Ya'akov' advanced age and the deterioration of hi eye (48:10) immediately recall Yitzchak in preciely the ame poition (27:1); Ya'akov' eeing hi grandchildren and aking Yoef, "Who are they?" (48:8) remind u of Yitzchak' imilar quetion: "Who are you, my on?" (27:18); Efrayim and Menahe' approaching Ya'akov o that he may hug and ki them (48: 10) evoke Irael Center TT #747 page 10 VAICHI 5767 iue

11 the image of Ya'akov doing the ame to Yitzchak (27:27) at hi requet. What i the meaning of thee alluion? What i the Torah trying to hint by directing our attention back to Parhat Toldot? Perhap the Torah in our parha deliberately et a tage almot identical to the one in Toldot o that we, the reader of the Torah, will anticipate that the ame mitake committed a generation before the unwitting bleing of the wrong on will be repeated here. A the tory i told now, Ya'akov' hand ret on the head of the "wrong" grandchildren. Yoef, recalling the tory of hi father and the painful aftermath of the miappropriated bleing, ee thi and become alarmed. Yet, the tory doe not end a one would expect; in fact, the Torah ue the parallel it ha created a an opportunity to urprie u with the oppoite. Depite the fact that both Yitzchak and Ya'akov are blind at the end of their live, Ya'akov can, neverthele, omehow ee. The mila mancha ("key word") in thi cene i RA'AH, "ee," which appear five time in thi brief ection. Ya'akov ee what neither Yoef' viion nor Yitzchak' foreight could reveal; Ya'akov make it clear to Yoef that he i perfectly conciou whom he i bleing. Ya'akov undertand, jut a hi mother Rivka did, that there wa a Divine plan that had to be achieved. By tranferring Menahe' birthright to Efrayim, he i facilitating that detiny. A hinted by the text, he i eentially reliving the cene of hi youth: Perhap we hear an echo of thi dual implication in Ya'akov' gentle word, "I know, my on, I know" (48:19): I knew it to be right then and I know it to be right now. The leon to take home i apparent: To the naïve eye, thing may appear incongruou and incorrect. But one attuned to the hand of G d realize that thee two torie and, indeed, all torie end the ame way: The way G d mean them to. by Chavi Samet, Midrehet Moriah Midrehet Moriah ha been an outtanding Jerualem center of Torah learning for young women for twenty year, emphaizing Yirat Shamayyim, love for Torah and mitzvot, and reponibility for Klal Yirael and Medinat Yirael. Midrehet i a warm, family tyle community of teacher, mentor, and elect tudent from all acro North America and Europe who come to pend the year growing and challenging themelve piritually and intellectually. Our educational philoophy potlight the uniquene of each tudent, offering her maximum flexibility o that he may pend the year puruing her interet and building her trength in a highly cutomizable program of eriou learning and independent tudy. Midrehet' location on the campu of Shaare Zedek Medical Center allow our tudent to take frequent opportunitie to bring imchah to the ick. [9]MicroUlpan According to HaAcademiya, foreign word that begin with a KAF follow the rule of DAGESH KAL, a do regular Hebrew word. Therefore, urgery i KIRURGIYA, not CHIRURGIYA. Chemitry i KIMIYA, not CHIMIYA. Etc. [10] A little G'matriya VAICHI Yaakov Yaakov really "lived" only the 17 year before Yoef wa lot to him and the lat 17 year after they found each other. That' 34 year. G'matriya of VAICHI = 34. Baal HaTurim [11] Torah from Nature The Scale of Thing Thi i a different kind of MRMH column. It i meant to give u paue to think and ponder part of G d' Creation. And marvel at it. If Earth were the ize of a baeball...(which i 7.2cm in diameter)... then the Moon would be a little maller than a 10 agora coin and would be jut over 2 meter away from our Earth. If the Earth were the ize of the picture of the baeball above, the Moon would be like thi: The Sun would be almot 8 meter in diameter, at a ditance of 845m from our baeball Earth. Pluto, the planet dicovered in 1930 and demoted to dwarf planet tatu not too long ago, would be the ize of a regular hirt button, at a ditance of over 33km from the "Sun". Remember that on thi cale, the Sun would be only about 8 meter from Earth. The next nearet tar, Alpha Centauri (okay, proxima centauri i a bit cloer, but Alpha Centauri can be een by the naked eye a a bright tar) would be almot a quarter of a million kilometer ditance. Let that ink in. Earth to Sun: 8m. Earth to nearet of the nighttime tar viible, 230,000km. That wa the nearet tar (beide the Sun). How about a far away tar. Okay, Deneb (in the Swan), part of the wellknown Summer Triangle, would be 75,000,000km away from our baeball ize Earth. And there are much, much further tar out there. Back to Earth. Or rather, to our baeball. At the cale we are playing with, how tall do you think Mt. Everet would be? That' the Earth' tallet mountain. It would be a tall a half the thickne of the piece of paper you are reading from at thi moment. Half the thickne hardly anything at all. It' good, every o often, to have your mind boggled a bit, at the vatne of the univere that G d created and placed u in. [12] Divrei Menachem Parhat Vaichi ("And he lived") eem to ay more about dying than living. But it doe enable u to focu on the ort of perception we have toward our children and their children. From the ailing Ya'akov we learn of hi thought and dream for hi twelve on a he betow (largely) bleing upon them. We know a little about everal of the on from the unfolding epiode that are recorded in the preceding Irael Center TT #747 page 11 VAICHI 5767 iue

12 chapter. But, eentially, we know very little about them (and their children) and we read into the bleing to dicover more. I that becaue Yoef' brother only kept up a dimal pretence of religiou obervance while their father wa alive? And all we know about Efrayim and Menahe i from their encounter with their dying grandfather. How trange that when they approach him, Ya'akov exclaim, "Who are thee?" I that becaue, a ome commentator ugget, the on arrived in a hurry and forgot to change into their "bet Shabbo clothe" and looked no different from their Egyptian peer? Or wa it blindne or old age? Or wa it Ya'akov' premonition that not much good would eventually come from thee two young boy that caued him to heitate (ee Rahi on B'reihit 48:8). Indeed, what do parent and grandparent really know about their children? And of our offpring, can we really anwer the quetion, "Who are thee?" Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Peroff Toward better Davening and Torah Reading If you think that pat column have been picky, jut read thi week'. There are ome people who know the following already. They can review or kip it. There are ome people who couldn't care le. They probably have already kipped thi. But if you are an intereted, intelligent, individual, who like thee clarification... then read on. Lßn Ußi Actually, thi particular example, hould be of interet to any parent or grandparent who blee (grand)on on Friday night. Y SI M CHA The correct pronunciation of thi opening word in the bracha for boy i: firt yllable Y'SI, econd yllable M'CHA. Not Y'SIM CHA. The SH'VA under the MEM i NA, a i the cae after a T'NU'A G'DOLA (a long vowel). Ah, you object. The CHIRIK CHASEIR under the SIN i a T'NU'A K'TANA (hort vowel), not a G'DOLA. And that mean that the SH'VA under the MEM hould be NACH, cloing the yllable a SIM. Well, that would be the cae, except for the METEG. METEG? What METEG? (or What' a METEG?) The METEG i a hort vertical line to the left of the vowel (CHIRIK, in thi cae,) under the SIN. It erve to make the normally hort vowel CHIRIK CHASEIR, into a long vowel. A if there wa a YUD between the SIN and the MEM, in which cae, the word would be pronounced Y'SI M'CHA. Which it i, even without the YUD. The METEG indicate that the CHIRIK i long even without a YUD. The ame goe for a METEG with a KUBUTZ. Even though a regular KUBUTZ (the three dot in a row arranged diagonally under a letter) i a T'NU'A K'TANA, with a METEG it i a if it were a SHURUK (VAV with a dot in it middle), which i a T'NU'A G'DOLA and it i followed by a SH'VA NA. Example: When Yaakov i reponding to Lavan' accuation, he ay that any loe to the flock Yaakov did not "charge" to Lavan, but paid for them, regardle if they were tolen day or night. :d lßi l i zßa pßbe mf i i zßa pßb... G'NU V'TI YOM UG NU V'TI LAI LA. Not, G'NUV TI. A if there wa a VAV after the NUN, G'NU V'TI. Believe it or not, it get much more complicated from thi point. Sometime, if intead of the METEG, the letter i accented with a TROP mark, then the SH'VA tay NACH. But not alway. Maybe we'll do ome more in coming column. In the meantime, when you ble your male progeny, ay Y'SI M'CHA rather than Y'SIM CHA, and it will be not only correct but elegant. SHEYIBANEH BEIT HAMIKDASH... A erie of article on Beit HaMikdah related topic by Catriel Sugarman intended to increae the knowledge, interet, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hatening the realization of our hope and prayer for the rebuilding of Jerualem and the Beit HaMikdah. The Mot Difficult Quetion of them All! I have had the privilege of giving illutrated lecture on the Beit Hamikdah and Mikdah related topic for quite a few year now. I have traveled from coat to coat in the United State, Canada, and all over Eretz Yirael and have preented before the widet variety of audience, from Chabad Houe, "religion department" in pretigiou univeritie, Batei Kneet, Kollelim, Yehivot, evangelical retreat, and lat but certainly not leat, the Irael Center. (The firt time that I finihed a lecture and omeone got up and aid Kaddih D'rabbanan wa one of the mot moving experience of my life.) After my preentation, I uually am deluged with quetion from the floor. Mot of them are "technical" in nature and therefore are relatively eay to anwer. However, other quetion are much harder to reolve. Thi week, I want to hare with you my thought about the mot difficult quetion of all. "Catriel, what did it feel like to build the Temple?" The firt time I wa aked thi quetion I wa floored. I wa on tour in Iowa and I imply wa not prepared for uch a "peronal quetion". Thi unexpected quetion forced me to conolidate and verbalize a train of thought that had been going through my mind ever ince my taff and I completed (we think) the mot accurate model of the Beit Hamikdah in exitence. True, our model wa only a miniature, but it WAS the Temple. I had fantaized about "building the Temple" for many year but I never dreamed I would be vouchafed to do o. I certainly could not afford uch an invetment of time and money. However, happily, one of my "heavy hitter" made it poible! Terrific! My cutomer would bankroll my fantay! For cloe to two year, I ate, drank, and lept Mikdah! The Mikdah wa contantly in my thought. But it wan't only me. My taff alo became infected with "Mikdah fever"! I loved watching my ultra talented Tzorfot (ilvermith) in no tretch of the imagination could they be defined a "Datiyot" tudying relevant Mihnayot and comparing the Shitot of the variou Meforhim. How would Rahi have built the Mikdah? How would the Rambam have built it? Both age had acce to the ame Mihnaic and Talmudic ource, o why were there uch difference between them? How much can we rely on the famou diagram of Tif'eret Yirael? And where doe Roman Jewih hitorian Joephu fit in? How can we reconcile Irael Center TT #747 page 12 VAICHI 5767 iue

13 our Mekorot with the writing of Joephu? We had the mot facinating practical dicuion and frequently, viitor to our workhop enthuiatically joined in. An example: How could we reconcile the eeming contradiction in the decription of the level of the platform and tair in variou area of the Mikdah a noted in the Mihna and delineated by Joephu. We tried to put ourelve into the mindet of a Mikdah architect. How did he tackle thee logitical problem? In a two dimenional drawing, you can do what you want but in a three dimenional model, everything ha to fit! Another example wa the Kiyor. The Tanach decribe the fabulou Kiyor built by Shlomo Hamelech, an enormou bronze bowl itting on the back of 12 bronze oxen. In Bayit Sheini, thi Kiyor wa not retored. Intead, a Kohein Gadol by the name of Ben Kattin "made" a "Muchni" which lowered a veel containing water below ground in the evening and raied it up again in the morning. By mean of thi ingeniou contrivance, twelve Kohanim could wah their hand and feet imultaneouly. Since we have neither a picture of Ben Kattin' "Kiyor" nor a detailed decription of it, we deigned our own tructure that met thee pecification. However, "building the Temple" wa not only a creative experience, it wa alo a piritual and learning experience. The Beit Hamikdah i the "centerpiece" of Yahadut. A major portion of the Tanach and the Torah She'be'al Peh i intimately connected with the Mikdah. The building of the Mihkan (the prototype of the Mikdah), the prietly garment, the Korbanot, the law of Tum'a and Tahora, the law of Nezirut, etc., contitute roughly 40% of the Torah and the Mihna a well. Two whole Sedarim of the Mihna deal almot excluively with Korbanot and the law of Tum'a and Tahora. Entire Maechtot uch a Yoma, Peachim, Shekalim, and Horayot which are in other Sedarim could jut a eaily been placed in Kodahim, the order of the Mihna that deal with Korbanot and Mikdah procedure. Many of the hitorical narrative of the Tanach and the viion of our Nevi'im are imply incomprehenible without a working knowledge of Mikdah and "Korbanic" procedure. I know that my own undertanding (and appreciation) of innumerable Gemarot, Midrahim, Tefilot, and "Rambam" a well a our other claic, wa greatly enhanced the more I delved into Mikdah related Mekorot. However, there wa a truly wonderful additional bonu. "When G d revealed the detail of the contruction of the (third) Beit Hamikdah to Yechezkel Hanavi, He aid, 'Go tell the People of Irael of the form of the houe ' Yechezkel replied, 'Rebono Shel Olam Mater of the Univere why are you telling me to go and tell Irael the form of the Beit Hamikdah? They are in exile in the land of their enemie. I there anything they can do about it? Let them be until they return from exile and then I will tell them.' G d anwered, 'Should the contruction of My houe be ignored becaue My children are in exile? Go and tell them the form of the Temple! A a reward for their tudy, I will conider it a they actually built the Beit Hamikdah" (Midrah Tanchuma 96:14). When we completed our model, it wa publicized in Sichat HaShavu'a. A a reult, Mikdah afficionado from all over the country wanted to ee it before we ent it out. Viiting our hop were tudent from Bnei Brak, young men and women from Yehivot and Ulpanot in Jerualem, univerity profeor, young Yeha couple, Chabadnik, and tourit. In hort, Amcha! (I remember two Kohanim, brother, howing each other where in the Beit Hamokeid they would leep when it wa time for their Mihmeret to erve in the Mikdah. "Abba Yihan Shama" It wa ooooo real to them!) A Rav of a hul of Mekulbalim aked me if I could give him a picture of our model o hi congregation could ue it in their "Kavanot". Perhap the mot touching wa when an old Sefaradi Rav brought in hi Mihna Yomit cla compried of "Mikdah challenged" vendor from Machane Yehuda. Happily, after an extended guided tour, they realized that the intricacie of M. Midot could be matered after all! Gentle reader, the lack of pace preclude me from decribing my lecture, but over the year, I have taught "the form of the houe" to many thouand of people. What doe the Midrah ay? "A a reward for their tudy, I will conider it a they actually built the Beit Hamikdah" I have been able to help Am Yirael (including TT reader!) "build the Mikdah"! Can there be a greater Zechut than that? Catriel' book in progre: The Temple of Jerualem, A Pilgrim Perpective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service A claic, crowded ParhaPix with load of edra tarting point for you and your family and Shabbat guet. Lock and chain in upper left i for the "uper cloed" nature of the beginning of VAICHI. The bed i mentioned more than once at the beginning of the edra. The croed hand are Yaakov', a he put hi right hand on Efrayim' head and hi left on Menahe'. It hould not ecape our attention that the Book of B'reihit i FILLED with firtborn econd child iue (not jut problem). Kayin and Hevel. Yihmael and Yitzchak, Yaakov and Eiav, Yoef and hi brother. Reuven on the one hand and Levi, Yehuda, and Yoef on the other. Peretz and Zerach. Efrayim and Menahe. The crowned lion i for Yehuda, a i the lion cub. Yehuda' bracha refer to him a a GUR (cub), ARYEI and LAVI (lion at different tage of their live). Yehuda Leib i a common name pair baed on thi bracha. The wolf i Binyamin. Binyamin Ze ev Volf i alo a common combination of name. The faucet i for Reuven (baed on what Yaakov aid to him). The Irael Potal Authority emblem i for Naftali. Naftali Tzvi Hirh, or two of thoe three name often come together. The nake i for Dan. The donkey i for Yiachar The hip i for Zevulun The bread i Aher The math like tatement tand for Efrayim and Menahe are like (approx. equal to) Reuven and Shimon. Numerically, thi i o too. E&M = 732 and R&S = 731. Irael Center TT #747 page 13 VAICHI 5767 iue