Miketz Source Sheets

(1) When Jacob saw that there were food rations to be had in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at one another? (2) Now I hear,” he went on, “that there are rations to be had in Egypt. Go down and procure rations for us there, that we may live and not die.”

(1) וירא יעקב כי יש שבר כמצרים AND JACOB SAW THAT THERE WAS A SALE OF CORN IN EGYPT — How did he see it? Surely he did not see but he heard it, as it is said (v. 2) “Behold, I have heard ... What, then, is meant by “And Jacob saw”? He saw in a holy dim vision that there was שֶׂבֶר hope for him in Egypt, but it was not a true prophetic vision telling him plainly that it was Joseph in whom his hope lay (Genesis Rabbah 91:6).

(1) למה תתראו WHY DO YE LOOK UPON ONE ANOTHER? — Why do you show yourselves (pretend) before the children of Ishmael and the children of Esau as though you have plenty to eat (Taanit 10b). For at that time they still had some grain. I am of opinion that the real meaning of למה תתראו is: Why should every one gaze at you and wonder at you because you do not search for food before what you have in your possession comes to an end. From others I have heard that it has the meaning of leanness: why should you become lean through hunger? A similar use of the verb as that in the first explanation is (Proverbs 11:25) “And he that satisfieth abundantly shall be satisfied (יורא) also himself”.

(1) וירא...למה תתראו?. Why are you looking at one another as if each one of you hopes that another one would go to buy food? Our sages (Eyruvin 3) have said קדרא דבי ששותפי לא חמימה ולא קררא, an ancient way of saying that “too many cooks spoil the broth.” The conjugation hitpael, i.e. the reflexive conjugation, occurs with the root ראה also in Kings II 14,8 נתראה פנים, “let us confront each other.”

(1) וירא יעקב כי יש שר ב מצרים, “Yaakov ‘saw’ that there was grain-trading in Egypt;” this is what Solomon had in mind when he said in Proverbs 20,12: אוזן שומעת ועין רואה ה' עשה גם שניהם, “the ear that hears, and the eye that sees, the Lord has made them both.” What prompted Solomon to make such a banal sounding statement? Did G’d not make the whole body? Why did he single out the ear and the eye? The answer is that all parts of the body, in due course, will have to give an accounting for their activities while they were alive on earth, except the ear and the eye. What is the reason for this? The eye sees things which are not good for it to see, and so does the ear hear things which are not good for it to hear. [involuntary perceptions. Ed.] This is not true of the other organs or limbs. You choose what the mouth eats, etc., you choose where your legs are to take you, etc. Rabbi said that the words: וירא יעקב, “Yaakov saw,” although he was an old man sitting hundreds of miles away, what his ten sons who were going in and out and meeting all kinds of people, did not see. All this was although both Yaakov and Joseph had been blessed with the spirit of prophecy. Joseph was only a distance of 4 or 5 days travel away from them, and when they searched for him they did not find him. Furthermore, why did Joseph not communicate with his father during all these years which would have spared his father a great deal of grief? The answer is that they all had sworn a sacred oath not to reveal to their father that he was in Egypt. They had made G’d a partner to their oath, so that He too could not reveal their secret to him. All this can be proved from Scripture, when before revealing himself to his brothers (Genesis 45,1) he commanded that all the people around him remove themselves before he would have that conversation with his brothers. He did not want that anyone would ever hear about that oath which had now expired. Other commentators offer a different reason for why Joseph had not communicated with his father for 22 years. As long as he had been a slave (13 years) he did not want to increase his father’s grief by informing him of his sorry condition. If he were to end a message that in the meantime he had become a king, his father would not believe him; he was right as his father did not even believe this when all his sons told that they had seen it with their own eyes. (Genesis 45,26) In addition, he was afraid that if his father were to leak his new found knowledge to someone, the brothers would each flee in all directions out of fear of his vengeance. As a result, his father would experience additional grief. This is why he waited until the time would be ripe for him to reveal himself, so that he would first reveal himself to his brothers before informing his father of his survival and the good fortune which had befallen him.

(1) למה תתראו?, the use of the conjugation hitpael, the reflexive conjugation here, is similar to its use in Kings II 14,8 לכה ונתראה, “come let us confront one another!” At that time King Amatziah wanted to show off his power to Yoash, King of Israel (10 tribes). Here too, Yaakov’s question למה תתראו, meant: “why are you (my sons) conducting yourselves in front of the other people in this land as if you had all the food in the world, whereas only they have to travel to Egypt to buy rations from there?

(1) ?למה תתראו, “Why do you give the impression that you have adequate supplies of grain? Everybody else is going on a buying trip and you sit at home!”

(1) וירא יעקב, he saw local inhabitants arriving with grain and fodder. He asked these people where they had bought it, and they told him that they had brought it all the way from Egypt. As a result, he told his sons what he had heard and wanted to know why they acted as if they did not need additional supplies.

(1) וירא יעקב, he saw local inhabitants arriving with grain and fodder. He asked these people where they had bought it, and they told him that they had brought it all the way from Egypt. As a result, he told his sons what he had heard and wanted to know why they acted as if they did not need additional supplies.

(43) (Ib. b.) (Gen. 42, 1) And Jacob said to his sons. Why do ye look at one another. Thus said Jacob to his children : "Do not make it appear unto Esau or Ishmael that you are sated, lest they envy you." Ib. 45, 24) See that ye fall not out by the way. R. Elazar said: "Thus said Joseph unto his brothers, 'Do not engage yourselves in Halachik discussions [while on the road], because you may fall out.'" Is this so? Did not R. Ilai, the son of R. Berachia, say that when two scholars travel together on the road and no word of Torah is discussed between them, they deserve to be burnt; as it is said (II Kings 2, 11) And it came to pass, as they went on, speaking as they were going, that, behold, there came a chariot of fire, and parted them both asunder. This is so only because they did speak, but if they had not spoken they would have been burned, [Hence on the road one should study the Torah!] This is not difficult to explain; the latter case refers to the narration of traditions and the former refers to deliberation. In a Baraitha it was explained that Joseph's instructions had the following meaning: You should not march hastily, and bring the sun into town (enter before sunset); i.e., you should not march hastily, for the master said: "Hasty steps take away one-five-hundredth part of a man's seeing; "and bring the sun into town" refers to R. Juda's saying; for R. Juda said: "A man should always leave and enter a town while it is still light; as it is said (Gen. 44, 3) As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away."

(2) רדו שמה GO DOWN THITHER — He did not say to them לכו “Go ye” but רדו an allusion to the 210 years during which Israel was to be enslaved in Egypt corresponding to the numerical value of (רד״ו (210 (Genesis Rabbah 91:2).