Vayigash 2025/5786

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: These are people who are considered important [yekarim] in this world and unimportant [kefuyim] in the World-to-Come. This is like the incident involving Rav Yosef, son of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who became ill and was about to expire. When he returned to good health, his father said to him: What did you see when you were about to die? He said to him: I saw an inverted world. Those above, i.e., those who are considered important in this world, were below, insignificant, while those below, i.e., those who are insignificant in this world, were above. He said to him: My son, you have seen a clear world. The world you have seen is the true world, as in that world people’s standings befit them. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked: And where are we, the Torah scholars, there? Rav Yosef responded: Just as we are regarded here, so are we regarded there.

[M: the power of not giving up: being confident in salvation. Tekifut = Holy Strength]

“And Yehuda drew close to him.” (Bereshit, 44:18)
This is as the writings say (Shmuel 2, 23:3, the last words of King David), “God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me [thus], the ruler of man is righteous, ruling in the fear of God.” Our sages have explained this in this way (Moed Katan, 16b), “A Tsaddik rules in the fear of God.” “God of Israel said” means the principles of the Torah, and they are the Rama’ch, 248 positive mitzvot, and the Shas’ah, 365 prohibitive mitzvot, that were given to all of Israel in complete equality. “The Rock of Israel spoke to me”—“to me” refers to the ba’al teshuva, the master of return to the law, to whom God speaks specifically, and gives him vigorous strength after he sinned in thinking that there was no hope from Him.

Then he returns to God, and he is given tekifut (holy strength). For this reason does the verse formulate itself the way it does, for first it says “said,” a formulation denoting softness, and with the ba’al teshuva it says “spoke,” denoting strength. Also, first the verse says E-lohei, and later Rock, which is also a term of still greater strength. “The ruler of man is righteous” means if the sin was a result of the decree of the sages (namely desecration of the brit, and the “righteous” refers to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai).

On this it says “the ruler of man is righteous,” meaning that the ba’al teshuva rules over them (these sins), for nothing stands in the way of return. “Rules in the fear of God” means if the sin was against the written Torah. On this it says “rules in the fear of God,” meaning that he will also rule over this, and on all of this it is said (Avoda Zara, 5a), “said the man who was raised up (Shmuel 2, 23:1), means who raised an offering of teshuva [return].”

For even if words of Torah were delivered with great fear, and several known punishments threatened by our sages, still, only before the sin occurred was it said that you have nothing that stands against teshuva. Yet after one has failed he is not to give up,for in the time to come no sin shall remain in any soul of Israel. The principle of this tekifut that we are discussing is in the tribe of Yehuda, so therefore it said, “Yehuda drew close to him.” Even though it seemed now that he had nothing new to say, yet still we can sense the vigor in his words where he has no doubt that salvation will now emerge.

This is the meaning of the verse (Mishlei, 24:21), “Fear God, my son, and rule.” “My son [B’ni]” meaning wisdom (Bina), and this is to say that your fear should be refined and true. “And rule” means that you shall be a king who is vigorous in his great trust in God.

(And the verse continues), “and do not mix with the hateful,” meaning as the Gemara says (Sotah, 22a), “those who teach the law out of their hatefulness,” and it is asked of this, “is it so simple? It is taught as one who understands it like Rav Huna, who said (that “the hateful” means) one who transgressed, and then taught that it was permitted to him,” meaning that there exists a place even for this, as is explained [in the Mei HaShiloach on the verse, “you shall have a shovel” (Parshat Ki Teitsei]. And this was tekufut of Yehuda after what had happened to him, saying, “I will be a surety for him [Binyamin],” (Bereshit, 43:9) transgressing what is said (Yevamot, 109b), “be wary against vouching [leaving a pledge],” for nevertheless he was confident that salvation would emerge from this.

[M: The illusion that we are alone - which we never are. Judah never realised he was in zero danger, because he never realised he was speaking with his brother all along.]

“And Yehuda drew close to him.” (Bereshit, 44:18)
The power that God instilled in the tribe of Yehuda is that he will never give up, even if he fears certain things will overcome him. We find in the previous Parsha that he said, “we are my lord’s servants,” (Bereshit 45:16) and it seems as if he began to give up hope, thinking to himself that it was a mistake to risk losing his share in two worlds over Binyamin.

[M: Drawing close to Joseph's heart and impelling him to reveal himself, even though he didn't necessarily ready to do so. We have the power to draw close to people to help them]

In this Parsha he strengthens himself greatly before God by saying, even though I have done improperly, still, it is in the ability of God to save me. This is, “and Yehuda drew close to him,” “to him” meaning to the innermost depths of Yosef’s heart, to such an extent that he would be forced to reveal himself to them. For all these verses (at the beginning of the Parsha) are a claim against God, with Yehuda supposing all the while that he was standing before and arguing with a Gentile king.

Then when God sent them the salvation, then they saw that even in retrospect they were never in danger, for truly they were arguing with their brother.

T Thus it will be in the future, when God will save us and redeem us, then God will show us that we were never in exile, and that a foreign nation never ruled over us, only God alone.

This is the meaning of the verse (Tehilim, 37:10), “and a little more, and there is no evil one, and you considered his place, and there is nothing there,” meaning that very soon evil will be banished. “And you considered,” meaning the understanding of the heart, for if you want to understand its place, “there is nothing there,” meaning that in it there was no power of governance over you.

(10)ו A little longer and there will be no wicked;you will look at where they were—they will be gone.

“My master asked his servants, do you have a father or a brother … and you said to your servants, bring him down ….” (Bereshit, 44:19–21)
Even though there is no retort in this to Yosef’s claim of theft, still truly, these are Yehuda’s claims. For truly, one is not punished for the deficiency within him in any matter until it is brought out into action. And here, if there was any deficiency concerning theft within Binyamin, God forbid, it would never have come into the realm of action in this way if he had remained at home, only the “accuser of the journey” caused it to happen. If so, this action that he is being punished for is not his fault, for the power of his own will would never have had him make the journey to Egypt. And here Yehuda claims this against God (“and You said to Your servants, bring him down”), for he believed that even what Yosef said to them, to bring Binyamin, was nothing other than God’s will.

“And Israel said, it is enough, Yosef still lives! I will go and see him before I die.” (Bereshit, 45:28)

[M: How to fight your yetzer hara. Birrurim - ways of extracting/refining. Lust in kedushah realm. And contemplating the day of your death]

Step 1. It is written in the Gemara (Berachot, 5a), “Rabi Levi bar Hama said in the name of Rabi Shimon ben Lakish, a man should always have his yetser tov [inclination to good] rage [fight against] his yetser hara [inclination to evil], as it is said, ‘rage and do not sin’ (Tehilim, 4:5). If he is victorious, good.

Step 2. If not, he should study Torah, as the verse continues, ‘say to your hearts.’ If he is victorious, good.

Step 3. If not, he should recite the Shema, as it continues, ‘on your beds.’ If he is victorious, good.

Step 4. If not, he should be reminded of the day of his death, as it continues, ‘and be silent, selah.’” Rabi Levi bar Hama said specifically, “a man should always rage,” for “always” means all matters that overwhelm a person.

[M: Finding truth]

If galdlut, important matters and difficult life decisions, need birrur (clarification), then joy all the more so in order to gauge whether or not the joy is encumbered with dross from a negative influences.

BIRRURIM

TO FIND THE TRUE DEPTH OF THE MATTER

Therefore the Gemara offers four levels of advice as to how to do the birrur and arrive at the true depth of the matter. Afterwards, when he knows for certain that that the matter was truly from God, he may extend himself and rejoice, all the while knowing that it is either a mitzvah or the joy of doing a mitzvah. So when any this-worldly matter befalls man that needs birrur, we have these four levels of advice.

1. [M: Finding lust in holy places]

The first birrur is, “one should always have his yetser tov rage over his yetser hara.” This means that he needs to curb his lust by knowing that he will not have these desires forever, contemplating his mere “seventy years” and asking himself, “What good is my joy if it does not last forever?” “If he is victorious, good, and if not, he should learn Torah.” For when he makes a deep reckoning about the ephemeral nature of this desire, knowing full well that he yearns for desire that lasts forever, but still lusts, he needs then to undergo another birrur. This is to be engaged in the Torah which reinforces his goal and teaches man how to guard himself. However, “at the time of the yetser hara, no one remembers the yetser tov,” (Nedarim, 32b), so in response to this the Holy One, blessed be He, created the Torah Tavleen, the antidote of the Torah to guard a person from sin.

For truly, a man immersed in desire and unable to extricate himself from it has no advice to remind him that he is doing something forbidden, for the halakha on its own does not have the power to separate man from evil when he is overcome by his yetzer.

Then the Torah reminds him that he can find the same desire or satisfaction in words of Torah, the only difference that the desire for Torah is rooted in kedusha (sanctity). This is explained below on the verse, “the sea saw and fled,” from the book of Tehilim, where it says that he saw how God can transform a rock into a pool of water and dry flint into a flowing spring.
One would think that it would be formulated in the opposite way, for at a time God’s might was readily apparent, that He could destroy and dry up the ocean.

However, water hints at desire, and at a time when desire overpowers the only advice against it is to show how the same desire and energy he can use for lust also exists also in a state of kedusha, quelling the desire. This is the advice to study Torah. “If he is victorious, it is well.

If not, he should recite the Shema.” For exalted states are found in words of Torah, and by means of words of Torah one may dare to become arrogant, and then he will not be able to come to true refinement. For this, the advice is to recite the Shema. The matter of reciting the Shema is explained in the Gemara (Ta’anit, 31a). “In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will make a circle dance of the Tsaddikim [righteous].”

This means that all will see that all is in the hands of God, and no one has any superiority over his peers. Specifically a “circle dance,” because the nature of a circle is that it has no end, and this hints at the matter of reading the Shema.

“If he is victorious, it is well. If not, he should be reminded of the day of his death.” This means that he should visualize before him as if right now is the day of his death.

This is the difference between the first advice, “he shall rage,” explained in a similar way, yet remind him of the day of his death, i.e., visualize as if now is the time of his death; and if so, the lusts and the unwarranted rejoicing have no place. And if after all this the lusts and rejoicing still remain in his heart, then it is proof that it comes from God and endures forever.

So it was with Yaakov Avinu at the time when he heard the news that Yosef is still alive, as it is said, “and Yaakov’s spirit was revived.” At this moment he feared that perhaps his rejoicing was only the rejoicing of this world, therefore he tested and refined himself with these birrurim.

FIRST BIRRUR [CLARIFICATION]

1. The first birrur was when he said, “I will go and see him before I die,” and this corresponds to “a man should always rage,” as was explained.

SECOND BIRRUR [CLARIFICATION]

2. The second was, “and he offered sacrifices to God of his father Yitzchak,” which corresponds to “engage in Torah,” as we bless each day “who has sanctified us with His mitzvot and commanded us to engage in words of Torah.” For when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah He was called, “Gevurah,” power, for there it is said that Moshe heard from the mouth of Gevurah (Megillah, 31b). And there God said to Yaakov, “and I [Anochi] will surely bring you up again,” which corresponds to the fist saying in the Decalogue, “I [Anochi] am Hashem your God, who brought you out.”

Only here it is phrased in the past, and in our Parsha it is phrased in the future. Furthermore, what is said, “and he sent Yehuda before him” (Bereshit, 46:28), is explained by our sages (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayigash 11) that it was “to establish a house of study for him,” which is also related to this matter.

THIRD BIRRUR [CLARIFICATION]

3. Afterwards he clarified the third birrur with “and he wept on his shoulder,” and our sages interpreted this to mean that he recited the Shema.

FOURTH BIRRUR [CLARIFICATION]

4. Then after, he said to Yosef, “now let me die,” which corresponds to the fourth advice, to remind him of the day of his death. When Yaakov saw that after all of this his joy was still with him, then he understood that it was from God, and that his rejoicing was true and would last forever.

“… and he offered sacrifices to God of his father Yitzchak.” (Bereshit, 46:1)
Why was God called here “God of his father Yitzchak”? Because Yaakov prayed in the direction of the words that were said to Yitzchak (from God) (Bereshit, 26:3), “live in this land [and do not leave the boundaries of Israel], and I will be with you.” So Yaakov then feared that perhaps it was also forbidden for him to leave.

Therefore he prayed to God until He illuminated his eyes to show him that for him it was permitted to leave.

[M: We are Israel. Israel himself was able to move - he was never able to leave Israel because he had taken on that name, and for us, Israel is portable in the sense that we take it with us.]

“And he sent Yehuda before him.” (Bereshit, 46:28)
It is written in the Midrash (Tanchuma, Vayigash, 6), “[God said,] be careful of the mitzvot, for they are my messenger, and one’s messenger is like he who sends him.” Yosef was on the level of fulfillment of the mitzvot, and Yehuda was on the level of the blessings of the mitzvot. With all mitzvot, we bless God before we do them, and this is why “he sent Yehuda before him.”

“And Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen.” (Bereshit, 47:27)
Yaakov Avinu was afraid to leave Israel, as it is said (Ketubot, 110b), “all who live inside of Israel, he is as one who has God, and all who live outside of Israel, he is as one who does not have God.” Therefore, God said to him, “everywhere you are is sanctified with the Kedusha of the land of Israel.” This is the meaning of “and Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen,” for even in the land of Egypt you will be close to God, and it will be a holy place, for “Goshen” is a term signifying closeness.

[M: Even the places we think are empty, still have God in them. That is Goshen]