(1) -8. וימת יוסף…ובני ישראל פרו, And Joseph died…and the Israelites were fruitful, etc. Why did the Torah have to repeat again that Joseph died? We have heard this at the end of פרשת ויחי. Why do we have to be told that all the other brothers and that whole generation of Israelites who had come to Egypt died? What is the connection between the respective deaths of the brothers and that of the generation and the proliferation of the בני ישראל in the next verse? If this was only a description of the manner in which the Jewish population explosion in Egypt occurred, the Torah should have written: ויפרו וישרצו בני ישראל, instead of ובני ישראל פרו וישרצו. The grammar is wrong here. (2) Actually, the two verses must be read in conjunction as describing the beginning of Jewish servitude and its causes. There were a total of four causes that brought about the enslavement of the Jewish people. The first cause was Joseph's death. Had Joseph lived on for some time the Egyptians would never have ruled over his countrymen. The Torah therefore informs us that as long as Joseph was alive the Israelites lived a serene and comfortable life. (3) The second cause leading to enslavement of the Jewish people was the death of Joseph's brothers. As long as even a single one of these brothers remained alive the Egyptians honoured them as our sages derive in Sotah 13 from Genesis 50,14 which hints that after the Egyptians had become aware of the honour paid by Canaanite kings to Jacob's bier, they began to honour all of Jacob's' sons, something they had not done previously. (4) The third cause leading to enslavement of the Jewish people was the death of the entire generation of Jewish immigrants, the sixty-six persons who had been born in the land of Canaan. All of these people were regarded as invited guests by the Egyptians, and there was no question of discriminating against them legally. This may also have been due to their being perceived as more intelligent than the local population so that they could outwit anyone planning to take advantage of them. ....
There are two elements to this:
- The Egyptians were unable to put into servitude individuals who are respected and important, and
- For the Jewish people themselves: While they felt important within themselves the Egyptians could not enslave them. It was only when they thought of themselves as less improtant did they become people who could be enslaved. (Rabbi Chayim Shmuelevitz).
(יא) וַיּוֹשֵׁ֣ב יוֹסֵף֮ אֶת־אָבִ֣יו וְאֶת־אֶחָיו֒ וַיִּתֵּ֨ן לָהֶ֤ם אֲחֻזָּה֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּמֵיטַ֥ב הָאָ֖רֶץ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ רַעְמְסֵ֑ס כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר צִוָּ֥ה פַרְעֹֽה׃ (יב) וַיְכַלְכֵּ֤ל יוֹסֵף֙ אֶת־אָבִ֣יו וְאֶת־אֶחָ֔יו וְאֵ֖ת כָּל־בֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יו לֶ֖חֶם לְפִ֥י הַטָּֽף׃
(13) Now there was no bread in all the world, for the famine was very severe; both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. (14) Joseph gathered in all the money that was to be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, as payment for the rations that were being procured, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace.
(א) וילקט יוסף את כל הכסף וגו' סיפר הכתוב זה וגמר הענין בכל הפרשה להודיע מעלות יוסף בחכמה בתבונה ובדעת וכי היה איש אמונים שהביא כל הכסף בית פרעה ולא עשה לעצמו אוצרות כסף ומטמוני מסתרים בארץ מצרים או לשלחו לארץ כנען אבל נתן למלך הבוטח בו כל הכסף וקנה לו את האדמה גם הגופות ומצא בזה חן גם כן בעיני העם כי השם הוא המצליח את יראיו:
These verses tell us Joseph's greatness in wisdom and understanding, and that he was a trustworthy man because he brought all the money that he had gained from the famine to the house of Pharaoh. He didn't keep the wealth for himself, or secretly stash away money to the land of Canaan. On the contrary, he gave it to the king who trusted him, all the money and he made him acquire all the land, and the people which were found in the land of Egypt. He therefore found favour in the eyes of the people, because G-d causes success to those who fear Him.
(15) And when the money gave out in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, lest we die before your very eyes; for the money is gone!” (16) And Joseph said, “Bring your livestock, and I will sell to you against your livestock, if the money is gone.” (17) So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, for the stocks of sheep and cattle, and the asses; thus he "directed" them with bread that year in exchange for all their livestock.
(1) וינהלם בלחם, he guided them slowly, as in Isaiah 40,11 עלות ינהל. He handed out food a little at a time. It was to be eaten but one should not stuff oneself on it. This is the proper way to conduct oneself during periods of famine. There is a saying that if one starves oneself a little during periods of famine he avoids dying an unnatural death Physicians confirm the reverse of this when they said that if someone overeats after starving for a period, he contracts a potentially fatal illness.
He would settle people of one city into another, and did this in every city. This was because he had acquired their land, and he didn't want them to return and squat on their own land after a period of time saying that the land belonged to my family for ever, and I inherited it....
They inherited it, because all the land belonged to Pharaoh, and he gave it to them. They (the Bnei Yisrael) did not sell anything because just as the priests who had a dispensation from Pharaoh did not sell their land, so too Joseph sustained his family, with nobody selling anything, and the land became completely theirs.
...In essence, the foreigners become settlers, while the original settlers become foreigners.
(נד) וַתְּחִלֶּ֜ינָה שֶׁ֣בַע שְׁנֵ֤י הָרָעָב֙ לָב֔וֹא כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר אָמַ֣ר יוֹסֵ֑ף וַיְהִ֤י רָעָב֙ בְּכָל־הָ֣אֲרָצ֔וֹת וּבְכָל־אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם הָ֥יָה לָֽחֶם׃ (נה) וַתִּרְעַב֙ כָּל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם וַיִּצְעַ֥ק הָעָ֛ם אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֖ה לַלָּ֑חֶם וַיֹּ֨אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֤ה לְכָל־מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ לְכ֣וּ אֶל־יוֹסֵ֔ף אֲשֶׁר־יֹאמַ֥ר לָכֶ֖ם תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃
(54) and the seven years of famine set in, just as Joseph had foretold. There was famine in all lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread. (55) And when all the land of Egypt felt the hunger, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he tells you, you shall do.”—
In the beginning they went to Pharaoh to listen to what he would command them, and sent them to Joseph.
ויצעק העם אל פרעה ללחם שימכור להם תבואה וגנאי הוא למלך לקבוץ דמים לתבואה שלו אבל בכבוד נפטר מהם, לכו אל יוסף אשר יאמר לכם תעשו הדמים שיקצוץ במדה תנו.
ויצעק העם לפרעה ללחם, “the people cried out to Pharaoh for food.” They wanted him to sell them food which they knew had been stored. It was below the king’s dignity to become a merchant selling food; in order to remain in good standing with his people, he sent them to Joseph who would tell them how to act. He would share out food according to prices determined by him, the proceeds being delivered to Pharaoh’s treasury.