weekly Torah reading from Genesis 41:1-44:17
10
votes
6answers
218 views
Why Didn't Yosef tell Yaakov He was Still Alive?
What do the meforshim say on why Yosef didn't tell Yaakov he was still alive? Do any critique him?
7
votes
2answers
105 views
Why didn't Yosef's brothers recognize him?
The Posuk says (Genesis 42:8):
וַיַּכֵּר יוֹסֵף אֶת אֶחָיו וְהֵם לֹא הִכִּרֻהוּ
Translated as:
Now Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him
The question is: How did ...
7
votes
1answer
58 views
Why did Binyamin think Yosef was still alive?
Rashi (Bereshit 43:30), quoting the Talmud (Sotah 36B), tells us that Binyamin named each of his 10 sons in honor of Yosef.
Many of the names indicate that Binyamin knew that Yosef was alive, in ...
6
votes
1answer
46 views
How did Yaakov and his family survive “when they finished eating the grain that they had brought from Egypt”.
It says in Beraishis 43(2), “…when they finished eating the grain that they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go back [and] buy us a little food."”
What were they to eat until ...
6
votes
1answer
75 views
What is it with the donkeys all over Parashat Mikeitz?
So, we got Bereshit 42, psukim 26, 27
כו וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת-שִׁבְרָם, עַל-חֲמֹרֵיהֶם; וַיֵּלְכוּ, מִשָּׁם. כז
וַיִּפְתַּח הָאֶחָד אֶת-שַׂקּוֹ, לָתֵת מִסְפּוֹא
לַחֲמֹרוֹ--בַּמָּלוֹן; וַיַּרְא, ...
5
votes
6answers
179 views
Chanukah and Miketz
What is the connection between Chanukah and Miketz — as, in most years, Chanukah falls out in this Parsha?
5
votes
2answers
88 views
Why did Yosef's brothers speak freely in the presence of the interpreter?
In Parashat Miketz, Yosef's brothers encounter him disguised as the viceroy of Egypt, and he accuses them of espionage, jails them for three days, and makes a demand that they know their father would ...
5
votes
1answer
87 views
Shmita and Joseph's Dreams
Shmita is every 7 years and we leave the land unused.
In Egypt there were 7 years of feast, then 7 years of famine.
As leaving the land unused could be considered famine like conditions, are there any ...
4
votes
1answer
60 views
Was Binyamin aware of Tzofnas Paaneach (aka Yosef)'s true identity?
While Yosef recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
I heard a Rosh Yeshiva suggest that Binyamin, who wasn't so absorbed in the soap opera, was able to recognize Yosef, but played ...
4
votes
2answers
128 views
Understanding Rashi's resolution of an ambiguity in Parashat Vayigash
The following is based on a question I wrote in the margin of my chumash about ten years ago.
In Yehuda's speech to the Egyptian viceroy (Yosef in disguise) at the beginning of Parashat Vayigash, he ...
3
votes
1answer
109 views
3
votes
1answer
64 views
Why did Yosef wash his face after crying the second time but not the first?
In Miketz, Yosef is seen to cry twice.
42:24:
וַיִּסֹּב מֵעֲלֵיהֶם וַיֵּבְךְּ וַיָּשָׁב אֲלֵהֶם
He turned from them, cried, and returned to them.
43:30–31:
וַיְבַקֵּשׁ לִבְכּוֹת ...
3
votes
0answers
66 views
Famine in Egypt
Question: How can there be a famine in egypt?
Parshas Miketz and Vayigash discuss a famine in Egypt and the world. Rashi's comments to Eikev 11:10 that the Nile's annual flooding was critical for ...
2
votes
5answers
146 views
Magicians' Inability to Interpet Pharaoh's Dreams
The Posuk says (Genesis 41:3):
וְהִנֵּה שֶׁבַע פָּרוֹת אֲחֵרוֹת עֹלוֹת אַחֲרֵיהֶן מִן הַיְאֹר רָעוֹת מַרְאֶה וְדַקּוֹת בָּשָׂר וַתַּעֲמֹדְנָה אֵצֶל הַפָּרוֹת עַל שְׂפַת הַיְאֹר
Translated as:
...
