Questions tagged [miketz]
The weekly Torah portion of Miketz (Genesis 41:1-44:17)
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if Yosef collected a 20 percent tax on the grain before the famine, what did Yosef later change about Egyptian taxation?
In Genesis 41:34 Yosef advises Pharoah to collect 20% of the grain of the Egypt and store it while the famine has not yet arrived.
יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה פַרְעֹ֔ה וְיַפְקֵ֥ד פְּקִדִ֖ים עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְחִמֵּשׁ֙ ...
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Discrepancy of word count in parashat mikets
EraserX pointed out in this answer, that there is a discrepancy between the word count listed (2 025) and the actual number (2 022) of words in parashat mikets.
Are we missing words ?
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Who were Binyamin's sons named after?
In parashat Miketz who were the sons of Binyamin named after?
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Why mention the number of words in parshat mieketz
Why does Parshat Miketz conclude by specifying the total number of words in the parsha, whereas other parshas typically only indicate the number of pesukim?
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How did Judah commit to Jacob?
In Parashat Miketz (Genesis 43:9) it is written: I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever....
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Ber. 43 (33). Yosef seats the brothers in birth order. This could have revealed his identity prematurely?
In Beraishis 43 (33), Rashi quotes the Medrash to say, Yosef
“struck the goblet and called aloud: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar and Zebulon, sons of one mother, take your seats at the table
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Connection between chanukah and parshat mikeitz [duplicate]
Anyone know of any sefarim to look at that elaborates on connection between parshat mikeitz and chanukah?
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Parshat Miketz in one bloc
I am looking for any significance about why parshat Miketz is written in one solid bloc, with no break at all, except the fact that the Parsha begins at the beginning of a line.
Unlike parshat ...
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Why did Yehudah say "we will all be slaves" when Yosef's guy said that only the person who has the Goblet will be a slave?
Why did Yehudah say in resignation "we will all be slaves" [Berashis 44:16], when Yosef's guy clearly said a few verses prior that only the person who has the Goblet will be a slave?
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Is there significance in the Torah calling Yaakov "Yaakov" at the start of Miketz, then switching to "Yisrael" in the middle
In parsha Miketz, in chapter 42 Jacob is referred to by the name יעקב several times. then in chapter 43, starting in sentence 6, it switches to ישראל and uses that a couple of times. Is there any ...
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Why did the brothers get the money in their bags, and who were they speaking to when they explain the situation?
What was the purpose of the brothers having the money in their bags? It did not get them back to Egypt, they went back for food. So what was the point of this whole ordeal? Further, when they explain ...
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Rashi quoting Targum more in Mikeitz
Although Rashi ordinarily quotes old French every now and then throughout his commentary on the Torah, it seems like the beginning of Mikeitz is particularly filled with those translations. For ...
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Joseph and Gabriel
What is the relationship between them?
The rabbis say that Gabriel was the man that saw him being sent into slavery. He was also the one that taught him 70 languages. Further, Gabriel told him to ...
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Meaning of a verse in Miketz
In Miketz, we read:
וַיַּ֣רְא יַעֲקֹ֔ב כִּ֥י יֶשׁ־שֶׁ֖בֶר בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יַעֲקֹב֙ לְבָנָ֔יו לָ֖מָּה תִּתְרָאֽוּ׃
When Jacob saw that there was grain being sold in Egypt, he said to his sons,...
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Question on Targum Yonatan
While looking up info for a different question, I saw that on the pasuk in Bereshit 43:32, Targum Yonatan translates the word "Ha'Ivrim" as "Yehudaee" - יְהוּדָאֵי, while Onkelos ...
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In what merit did Yosef become viceroy of Egypt?
What did Yosef Hatzadik do in his youth to merit becoming mishneh lamelech?
This is from a fourth grader's extra credit question, and the adults don't know the answer.
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Is there a connection between the two times 7 cows, ears and years that Yaakov worked for his wives?
Is there any connection or relationship between the seven fat & seven lean cows, the seven beautiful and seven parched ears of grain that Pharaoh dreamt and Yosef interpreted, and the seven years ...
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Significance of Yosef's Goblet
Is there any significance to Yosef's goblet aside from being a prop used to show Yosef's powers and frame the brothers? It seems to be mentioned a lot in the Torah throughout the parsha (especially in ...
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"Practicalities" of the Egyptian famine
B"H, most of us have not witnessed a famine. So, I hope you will excuse my lack of understanding what actually occurred during the famine mentioned in parshat Miketz. I understand a famine to mean ...
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Why did one brother find the money en route, and not the others?
Miketz 42:26–35, in Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's translation:
[The brothers] then loaded the food they bought on their donkeys, and they departed. When they came to the place where they spent the ...
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Yossef's brothers - not learning from previous experience?
My boy asked me a tricky question I was unable to answer - please help. He just returned from a trip to Rome and went through the airport security checking the bags reading the Parashat Shavua (Miketz ...
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Why would Yosef interpret the baker's dream for bad?
The Gemara in Brachos 56 brings various accounts about dreams and makes mention that a dream is based on the interpretation.
Why would Yosef interpret the baker's dream for bad? Was his ...
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Why didn't Binyamin die?
In Genesis 31:32 we have Yaakov's response to Lavan's charge that someone in Yaakov's party had stolen something from Lavan.
עִם אֲשֶׁר תִּמְצָא אֶת אֱלֹהֶיךָ לֹא יִחְיֶה נֶגֶד אַחֵינוּ הַכֶּר
...
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When Yosef interprets Pharoah's dream, is he also trying to fulfill his own dream?
Yosef's 2nd dream was that his brothers father and mother would eventually bow to him.
Yosef interprets Pharaoh's dream to mean that there would be 7 years of famine. What I find interesting is that ...
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Did Jacob ever figure out what the Brothers did to Joseph?
It's a simple question that I thought about this past week (since the parashah was Mekeitz). Is there any evidence that Jacob could have figured out what happened to Joseph before they reunited in ...
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Why assume Yosef would become viceroy
There's a strange Rashi that's bothered me for a while.
The sar hamashkim described Yosef to Pharaoh.
Genesis 41:12
וְשָׁ֨ם אִתָּ֜נוּ נַ֣עַר עִבְרִ֗י עֶ֚בֶד לְשַׂ֣ר הַטַּבָּחִ֔ים וַנְּ֨סַפֶּר־...
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How does bringing Binyamin to Egypt prove that the brothers are not spies?
In Bereishit 42:19-20 Yosef says that by allowing one of them to be imprisoned and the rest returning and bringing back their other brother, this would prove that they are not spies.
I've read ...
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Is Asenath, the wife of Joseph, the illegitimate daughter of Dinah?
In Bresheit 34:1-2 "Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had born to Yakov, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country saw her, ...
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Was a double dream necessary to convince people that the interpretation was true?
I'm working "backwards" in my assumption.
Pharaoh had a double dream. When Yosef interprets it, he says, in Breishit 41:32
As for Pharaoh having had the same dream twice, it means that the
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נַ֣חְנוּ נַעֲבֹ֧ר Is the Torah using slang
In Bamidbar 32:32, The Torah tells us in reference to Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven that נַ֣חְנוּ נַעֲבֹ֧ר, we will cross over.
Also, the only other times that the Tanach uses the word נַ֣חְנוּ is in:
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What made Jacob think that Joseph was alive and that he may be in Egypt?
I'm reading Rash"i's explanation n Breishit 43:14 explaining the part of the verse:
"May he send you your other brother..."
Rash"i says that a holy spirit caused him to include Joseph in this ...
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Why didn't Yaakov rebuke his sons when he found out what they really did to Yosef?
Yaakov had previously reacted by rebuking the actions of Shimon and Levi when they destroyed Schem (Bereishit 34:30):
וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אֶל-שִׁמְעוֹן וְאֶל-לֵוִי, עֲכַרְתֶּם אֹתִי, לְהַבְאִישֵׁנִי ...
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Why is "bor" the jail?
Yosef was taken by his brothers and thrown into habor [הַבּוֹר] (Bereishit 37:22), the pit:
22And Reuben said to them, "Do not shed blood! Cast him into this pit, which is in the desert, but do not ...
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Dream interpreting - Why did Paroh need Yosef?
At the beginning of Parshas Mikeitz, Paroh asks his advisors to help interperet his dreams, but nobody could, until the Sar HaMashkim says he should call on Yosef for help.
The Gemara in Brachos 55b ...
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Why not send a substitute for Benyamin (sources)?
Why did the brothers, or Yaakov, not send a substitute for Benyamin when Pharaoh demanded that the family produce him? Surely there were young men about his age who were quite familiar with the ...
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Why is food in Parashat Miketz called shever
In Miketz 42,2 it is written:
וַיֹּאמֶר--הִנֵּה שָׁמַעְתִּי, כִּי יֶשׁ-שֶׁבֶר בְּמִצְרָיִם;
רְדוּ-שָׁמָּה וְשִׁבְרוּ-לָנוּ מִשָּׁם, וְנִחְיֶה וְלֹא נָמוּת
The translation according to Machon Mamre ...
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Who was Joseph's steward?
When Joseph uses an interpreter in Genesis 42:23, some say the interpreter was his son Manasseh (Gen. Rabbah 91:8, Targum Jonathan, Targum Yerushalmi), but Torah doesn't say so.
The Torah doesn't ...
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Was Re'uven confessing along with the rest of his brothers regarding what happend to Joseph?
In Breishit 42:21, the verse begins:
"Each person said to his brother, we are all guilty..."
In verse 22, Re'uven chastises his brothers by telling them, "Didn't I tell you do not do sin with the ...
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Joseph and imprisoning his brothers - Is he changing his mind?
There appears to be a confusing / contradictory sequence of events occurring when Joseph's brothers first appear before him in Egypt.
Refer to Breishit 42:16 - 19
In v. 16, Joseph tells to his ...
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Why did Yosef think the Sar HaMashkim could help?
There is criticism of Yosef for asking the Sar Hamashkim to mention him to Paroh, instead of trusting in Hashem, but what was Yosef even expecting from the Sar Hamashkim?
The poor man was just ...
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Why did Yaakov Avinu not ask G-d about where Yosef was?
Why did Yaakov Avinu not ask G-d about the whereabouts of Yosef during the 22 years that he was away? We know that G-d regularly spoke to Yaakov, so why wouldn't he use one of those opportunities to ...
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Why did Pharaoh believe Joseph's dream interpretation?
It would take years before Pharaoh could know if any of Joseph's fat-thin cow dream interpretation was accurate. Why then did Pharaoh make Joseph 2nd in command in the country immediately? Were ...
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How does Rashi know Yosef tells the Egyptians to circumcise themselves?
Genesis 41,55:
וַתִּרְעַב֙ כָּל-אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם וַיִּצְעַ֥ק הָעָ֛ם אֶל-פַּרְעֹ֖ה לַלָּ֑חֶם וַיֹּ֨אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֤ה לְכָל-מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ לְכ֣וּ אֶל-יוֹסֵ֔ף אֲשֶׁר-יֹאמַ֥ר לָכֶ֖ם תַּֽעֲשֽׂוּ:
And when ...
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What is the dot in this vav?
What is this dot in the word יִוָּדַ֤ע in Mikeitz 41 31.
וְלֹֽא־יִוָּדַ֤ע הַשָּׂבָע֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ מִפְּנֵ֛י הָרָעָ֥ב הַה֖וּא אַחֲרֵי־כֵ֑ן כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד ה֖וּא מְאֹֽד׃
How does it effect the reading of ...
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Joseph's interpretation of 7 years of famine - was his prediction false?
There appear to be a few conflicting verses and commentaries on this topic.
When Joseph intreprest Pharaoh's dreams he says, Genesis 41:28:
ה֣וּא הַדָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה ...
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Didn't Joseph's brothers volunteer information about their family?
When Judah tells Jacob that Benjamin must be brought to Egypt if the family is to purchase more grain, Jacob asks his sons why they had to mention the existence of a younger brother. Their response is ...
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What did the brothers do in Gen. 42:20?
In Genesis 42, Yosef's brothers, except Binyamin, come to him in Egypt. They don't recognize him, but he recognizes them — and accuses them of spying, and jails them. Then, in verses 18–20:...
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Rashi says word is redundant
In Genesis 43:11 Rashi's commentary on אֵפוֹא is
then: Heb. אֵפוֹא. This is a redundant word, used for stylistic
purposes in the Hebrew
I was under the impression that the Torah is concise to the ...
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If Yosef didn't recognize each individual brother, how did he know who Shim'on was?
Sforno on Genesis 42:7:
ויכירם שהם אחיו לא שהכיר אחד לאחד:
He recognized (collectively) that they were his brothers. But he couldn't distinguish one from the other (he didn't know who was whom.)
If ...
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One Navi revealing themselves to another Navi
Rav Moshe Feinstein is quoted in Kol Ram asking why didn't Yosef reveal to his father that he is alive in Egypt. He answers that maybe one navi cannot reveal themselves to another navi without HaShem ...
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