Silver Goblets – Mikeitz
וְאֶת גְּבִיעִי גְּבִיעַ הַכֶּסֶף תָּשִׂים בְּפִי אַמְתַּחַת הַקָּטֹן וְאֵת כֶּסֶף שִׁבְרוֹ וַיַּעַשׂ כִּדְבַר יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר. (בראשית מד, ב)
In this week's parsha we read about Yosef's reunion with his brothers. From beginning to end, this saga is accompanied by an unexpected addendum – a silver goblet, גְּבִיעַ.
When the brothers enter Egypt for the first time, they were brought before Yosef. The Midrash (בראשית רבה צו, א) says that Yosef pretended to gaze at his silver גְּבִיעַ and said "I see with the גְּבִיעַ that you are spies". The brothers responded "We are not spies, this is simply the way our father told us to enter Egypt, each from a different entrance". Yosef continued "If so, what were you doing in the 'red light district'? (the brothers, upon entering Egypt went in search of Yosef and thought they might find him in a brothel - see last week's shiur Vayeishev). "This is not what your father told you to do!" said Yosef. The brothers replied "we lost something and were searching for it there". Yosef said "What did you lose? I see with the גְּבִיעַ that two of you destroyed a large town in Schem and after that you sold your brother to Arab merchants". Upon hearing this the brothers were in shock "How can this Egyptian know so much about us?"
The brothers said that they were twelve in all, one "went missing" and the youngest was at home with his father. Yosef said "If what you say is true then return with your youngest brother, or never return here again!" and Yosef summarily imprisoned Shimon.
The second time the brothers returned with Binyamin and Yosef invited them to dine with him. The Midrash (תנחומא, מקץ, ד) says that Yosef again pretended to gaze at his גְּבִיעַ and said "I see that you are all sons of one father but your father has many wives". Yosef then pointed at Dan and Naftali and told them to sit at the table and then proceeded to seat the brothers according to the order of their mothers. Finally only Binyamin was left. Yosef said "I see that this this one had a brother who disappeared and he has no mother! I too had a brother from whom I was separated and I too have no mother" and he invited Binyamin to come sit next to him. Another Midrash (בראשית רבה צב, ה) tells the story with a slight variation. Yosef made gestures as if he was smelling the גְּבִיעַ and said "Yehuda who is king will sit first, at the head of the table, Reuven who is firstborn will be second" and so on.
After they had feasted, Yosef ordered his son Menashe to return their wallets of money, inserting them into the sacks of wheat they had purchased. In addition, Yosef ordered to plant his silver גְּבִיעַ in Binyamin's sack.
After the brothers departed to return home, Yosef sent Menashe and a group of soldiers to pursue them. Menashe accused them of stealing the גְּבִיעַ. The brothers denied this vehemently, however, after rifling through each of their sacks, Menashe "discovered" the גְּבִיעַ in Binyamin's sack. The brothers were arrested and returned to Yosef who said that Binyamin, who had "stolen" the גְּבִיעַ would have to remain behind in Egypt and be his slave. This is how the parsha ends.
The question is, why did Yosef choose to make use davka of a גְּבִיעַ in all his interactions with his brothers, pretending that it had "magic" powers. Yosef could have used any other artifact, a scepter, a crystal ball, etc. What is the significance of the גְּבִיעַ?
First a Channukah reference, (since we are on the tail end of Channukah), גְּבִיעַ הַכֶּסֶף in gematriya is נֵר.
What is a גְּבִיעַ? HaRav Kook zt"l (שמועות ראי"ה מקץ תר"ץ, ויגש תרצ"ב) explains the difference between a goblet, גְּבִיעַ and a cup, כּוֹס. A גְּבִיעַ is made up of a cup, under which there is a "leg" connected to a base. When drinking from a גְּבִיעַ one holds the leg/base and not the cup itself. This reflects gentility and is a sign of royalty. A cup, כּוֹס has no leg/base and reflects something more common.
The son-in-law of HaRav Kook zt"l, HaRav Shalom Raanan zt"l in his sefer בְּשֶׁמֶן רַעֲנָן (ח"א עמ' קנו), says that these two types of vessels embody a deeper meaning. Both the גְּבִיעַ and the כּוֹס reflect a desire to receive things and contain them. However, with the גְּבִיעַ the content is beyond (above) our grasp, while with a כּוֹס we are able to grasp the content. The aristocratic nature of drinking from a גְּבִיעַ symbolizes the desire to achieve balance between absorbing the elevated content, while at the same time maintaining the elevated status of the content. The ability to apply spirituality in reality, in our "human vessel", while at the same time keeping the spirituality "on a pedestal".
This concept has direct bearing on the nature of the relationship between the Twelve Tribes and their father Yaakov as we will soon see.
First, however, we need to explore a Kabbalistic concept called אגביעס. The sefer שַׁעַר הַגִּלְגּוּלִים (הקדמה יא), written by the אַרִ"י הַקָּדוֹשׁ explains the origin of the neshamot in Am Yisrael. It all began with one, primary neshama that embodies all the neshamot of Am Yisrael and that was the neshama of Adam Harishon (א). Following that the neshamot were split into three branches, the three Avot - Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov (ג). Following that, these three branches split further into twelve branches - the Twelve Tribes (יב or בי). Following that, they split further into seventy branches, the 70 neshamot that went down to Egypt (ע). Finally, they split into 600,000 branches, the 600,000 neshamot that left Egypt and were present at Matan Torah (ס' רִבּוֹא). All the subsequent neshamot in Am Yisrael, each of us with our own neshama today, is a derivation of those 600,000 neshamot from Har Sinai.
The period in the timeline that is directly relevant to and related to the parshiyot of Yosef and his brothers, concerns the גביע section of א-גביע-ס, in other words גְּבִיעַ. Yosef, in employing this "medium" throughout the whole saga, was intensely focused on preserving and ensuring this planned progression of gilgulei neshamot.
Getting back to the analogy in sefer בְּשֶׁמֶן רַעֲנָן above, the brothers were each focused solely on developing their own personal "cup", כּוֹס. Levi with Kehuna, Yehuda with monarchy, Yissachar with Torah study, Zevulun with trade, etc. By doing so, however, there was a risk that they may forget the connection and succession from their father, i.e the link between the ג and the י"ב. Yosef, by making use of a גְּבִיעַ was trying to hint to the brothers, to refrain from breaking the chain.
We find a hint to this when Yaakov initially sent Yosef to visit his brothers in Schem. Yosef could not find them and asked someone he met (the angel Gavriel) if he had seen them. The reply was וַיֹּאמֶר הָאִישׁ נָסְעוּ מִזֶּה (בראשית לז, יז) – the brothers have abandoned the vision of זֶּה, in gematriya י"ב, i.e the link between the ג and the י"ב (Rashi ibid.).
From this we see that Yosef's גְּבִיעַ was not simply a "ruse" to fool the brothers - pretending that he was doing some kind of "magic" with the goblet in order that they would not recognize him – it was something much deeper.
The fact that it was made from silver was to atone for the brothers selling him for 20 pieces of silver (בראשית לז, כח). According to many of the Mefarshim the ruse of the גְּבִיעַ was to achieve tikkun for every component of the sin of the brothers.
Why did Yosef decide to plant the גְּבִיעַ davka in Binyamin's sack and not, say, in Yehuda's or Levi's? The אַבַּרְבָּנֶל says that this was to test the brothers' relationship with Binyamin. This test was intricately planned and structured to achieve the required result. It seems they initially didn't pass the test. The Midrash (תנחומא, מקץ, יג) says that when the גְּבִיעַ was discovered in Binyamin's sack, the brothers began hitting Binyamin on his shoulders, saying "Thief, son of a thief - you have shamed us. You are the son of your mother". This is a reference to when Rachel stole the תְּרָפִים from her father Lavan. The brothers were implying that this "kleptomaniac" tendency was hereditary.
If the brothers had serious remorse for what they had done to Yosef and done tshuva, this would not have been the response. It is quite clear from their reaction that they still bore animosity to the sons of Rachel. It was this realization that finally caused them to do tshuva. Upon returning to Yosef, Yehuda said –
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוּדָה מַה נֹּאמַר לַאדֹנִי מַה נְּדַבֵּר וּמַה נִּצְטַדָּק הָאֱ-לֹקִים מָצָא אֶת עֲוֹן עֲבָדֶיךָ הִנֶּנּוּ עֲבָדִים לַאדֹנִי גַּם אֲנַחְנוּ גַּם אֲשֶׁר נִמְצָא הַגָּבִיעַ בְּיָדוֹ (בראשית מד, טז).
Yehuda could have said "It is all Binyamin's fault – he is the son of a "thief", let him suffer the consequences". Alternatively, Yehuda could have accused Yosef of planting the cup in Binyamin's sack. Yehuda was no walkover, he and his brothers could have flattened half of Egypt. Instead, Yehuda confesses, in the name of all the brothers that it is a collective sin – Binyamin for "stealing" the גְּבִיעַ and the rest of us for not learning from our previous mistake with Yosef. HKB"H has exposed our sin (all of us גַּם אֲנַחְנוּ).
Sefer Torat Yaakov, written by רבי יעקב חי זריהן זצ"ל, brings an unspecified Midrash that adds an amazing chiddush to this episode. When the brothers left Egypt the second time, they were not as innocent as the first time. On their first foray down south, Yosef returned the brothers' money in their sacks, which they only discovered upon arriving back home. This second time, after they left Yosef's palace, they rummaged through their sacks and again discovered their money had been returned and they also discovered the גְּבִיעַ in Binyamin's sack! Yehuda took the גְּבִיעַ and disposed of it to the far ends of the earth. Later when Menashe confronted them with the accusation, Yehudah was certain that nothing would be found because he had already taken care of it. While they were talking, HKB"H sent an angel to return the גְּבִיעַ. When Yehuda saw this, he understood that this was Divine intervention.
Yehuda is teaching us an important life lesson. When challenging things happen, we tend to look for circumstantial causes, instead of admitting that the real reason it is happening is because HKB"H wants it to happen. A Tzaddik asks the question "Why did HKB"H cause this to happen?" Only through such introspection can one truly uncover the truth that lies below the surface.
Binyamin, for having to endure suspicion and physical abuse, being hit on the shoulders, by his brothers – was rewarded to have the Beit HaMikdash in his territory. In parshat VeZot HaBracha, Moshe blesses Binyamin - חֹפֵף עָלָיו כָּל הַיּוֹם וּבֵין כְּתֵפָיו שָׁכֵן (דברים לג, יב).
After Yosef reveals himself to the brothers, Yosef weeps on Binyamin's necks and Binyamin weeps on Yosef's neck (בראשית מה, יד). Rashi there says that Yosef foresaw the destruction of the two Batei Mikdash in Binyamin's territory and Binyamin saw the destruction of Mishkan Shilo in Yosef's territory. The neck is a synonym for Mikdash because it contains two pipes, the air pipe and the food pipe, bidirectional flow – just as the Beit Hamikdash is a bidirectional pipeline between Am Yisrael and HKB"H.
The neck is a kind of a "leg" connecting the shoulders to the head, very much like a גְּבִיעַ contains a "leg" that connects the base to the cup.
When Yosef sends the brothers back to Yaakov with gifts, these included wagons עֲגָלוֹת, laden with כָּל טוּב. Rashi (בראשית מה, כז) explains that this was a reminder to Yaakov who, before Yosef was sold into slavery, was teaching Yosef the sugya of עֶגְלָה עֲרוּפָה. If a dead body is found in open territory outside the municipal boundaries of the nearest cities, a whole procedure has to be followed involving decapitating a calf to atone for the sin – removing its head from its body at the neck. This is the prequel – Yaakov's fear that the ג in גְּבִיעַ would be severed from the יב. By sending the brothers back with proof that Yosef was still alive and that there had been a reconciliation between them, the sequel was that the head had been reconnected to the neck – the principle of גְּבִיעַ. When Yaakov saw this, the passuk says וַתְּחִי רוּחַ יַעֲקֹב אֲבִיהֶם.
I would like to explore another connection from sefer Meir Panim.
Much of the story of Yosef centers around wheat and bread – Yosef's dream of the sheaves of wheat bowing down to him; The brothers eating bread after they sold him into slavery; Yaakov trying to determine if Yosef was still alive using sheaves of wheat; the Royal Baker in prison and his dream; Pharaoh's dream of stalks of wheat; Yosef stockpiling and distributing wheat in Egypt; Yosef's meal of bread with his brothers, etc.
In last week's shiur I brought the principle that Yosef was in fact a living Shulchan Lechem Hapanim. There is a direct connection between the גְּבִיעַ and the Shulchan Lechem Hapanim. גְּבִיעַ הַכֶּסֶף in gematriya is סְנִיפִּים, the upright supports on the sides of the Lechem Hapanim and also גָּרְמוּ, the family of Levi'im who baked the Lechem Hapanim. A major theme of Meir Panim is that the Shulchan Lechem Hapanim is atonement for the sin of Adam Harishon and Chava. Similarly, Yosef was a key figure in atoning for this sin.
Meir Panim follows the שִׁיטָה of R' Yehuda that the עֵץ הַדַּעַת was wheat and takes it one step further saying that Chava took the wheat from the tree and made it into a chametz bread. The נָּחָשׁ tempted Chava with the beautiful appearance of the tree and its fruit. Following this sin, Chazal say - בָּא הַנָּחָשׁ עַל חַוָּה וְהֵטִיל בָּהּ זֻהֲמָה, the sin of גִּלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת.
If we read the psukkim about Yosef and the wife of Potiphar from last week's parsha Vayeishev, we see an uncanny resemblance –
וַיַּעֲזֹב כָּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ בְּיַד יוֹסֵף וְלֹא יָדַע אִתּוֹ מְאוּמָה כִּי אִם הַלֶּחֶם אֲשֶׁר הוּא אוֹכֵל וַיְהִי יוֹסֵף יְפֵה תֹאַר וִיפֵה מַרְאֶה. וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַתִּשָּׂא אֵשֶׁת אֲדֹנָיו אֶת עֵינֶיהָ אֶל יוֹסֵף וכו' (בראשית לט, ו-ז).
Here too, the incident is preceded by a bread and a beauty reference. Unlike the original where Chava sinned, here Yosef refrained from sinning with the wife of Potiphar and thus atoned for Chava's sin.
It will come as no surprise therefore that the gematriya of גְּבִיעַ הַכֶּסֶף is וְנִפְקְחוּ and also חָמֵץ בְּלֶחֶם חִטָּה. Yosef's part in the אגביעס chain was the גְּבִיעַ part, the glue connecting Adam Harishon (א) with Am Yisrael (ס' רִבּוֹא).
The whole story of Yosef began with the mistaken suspicion by the brothers that Yosef was trying to steal the מַלְכוּת from Yehuda and the כְּהֻנָּה from Levi.
Just before leaving Egypt, Moshe went in search of Yosef's coffin but could not find it. Serach, the daughter of Asher, told him that the coffin was at the bottom of the Nile. The Egyptians did not want Am Yisrael to ever find it and remove it from Egypt as it provided blessing, so they sank it at the deepest part of the river.
According to the Midrash (מדרש הגדול, בראשית, תתפז), Moshe took Yosef's silver גְּבִיעַ and cut it up into four pieces. On one piece he drew a picture of an אַרְיֵה. On the second a picture of a שׁוֹר. On the third a picture of a נֶשֶׁר and on the fourth, a picture of an אָדָם. Moshe then stood on the banks of the Nile, threw the four pieces into the water and declared "Yosef, the time has come!" Immediately Yosef's heavy coffin floated to the surface. Other Midrashim (מדרש החפץ, בראשית, רלט) say that the original גְּבִיעַ had symbols of מַעֲשֵׂה מֶרְכָּבָה engraved on it.
Chazal say that these four images refer to the kings of the different kingdoms of Creation. The eagle is the king of the bird kingdom, the ox is the king of the domesticated animal kingdom, the lion is king of the wild animal kingdom, man is king of all living creatures and above them all, HKB"H sitting on His כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד is מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים.
The sefer חֻפַּת אֵלִיָּהוּ רַבָּה, also known simply as אֵלִיָּהוּ רַבָּה, written by R' Yaakov Skili, says (סימן קכד) that the lion represents Mashiach ben David who is from the tribe of Yehuda, as it says גּוּר אַרְיֵה יְהוּדָה. The ox represents Mashiach ben Yosef, as it says בְּכוֹר שׁוֹרוֹ הָדָר לוֹ. The eagle represents Eliyahu HaNavi, (also known as Pinchas), a Kohen from the tribe of Levi. The face of the man is the face of Yaakov Avinu (Chulin 91a) whose appearance resembles that of Adam Harishon.
The combination of images in the גְּבִיעַ was a hint to the brothers that their suspicions were unfounded and that all the legs of the כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד are as they should be.
This last chapter regarding the גְּבִיעַ was the final link in the אגביעס chain, the connection between גְּבִיעַ and the 600,000 neshamot of Am Yisrael (ס' רִבּוֹא) who left Egypt. The gematriya of אגביעס is הַצֹּאן, פָּנָיו and יָבוֹא מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד.
Yosef's silver goblet is again referred to in the Korbanot of the Nesi'im brought when the Mizbeach was inaugurated (from the Torah reading on Channukah) מִזְרָק אֶחָד כֶּסֶף. It was referred to by David Hamelech in Tehilim כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה (in gematriya צַוָּארֵךְ – necks, Batei Mikdash). It is also a reference to the Geulah – גְּבִיעַ הַכֶּסֶף in gematriya is יוֹם פָּקְדִי (ירמיהו כז, כב). בבי"א.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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