וַיִּמְצָאֵהוּ אִישׁ וְהִנֵּה תֹעֶה בַּשָּׂדֶה וַיִּשְׁאָלֵהוּ הָאִישׁ לֵאמֹר מַה תְּבַקֵּשׁ (בראשית לז, טו).
In the story of Yosef and his brothers there are three psukkim that seemingly have no purpose and add nothing to the story.
Yaakov sends Yosef to check up on his brothers in Shchem. Yosef arrives in Shchem and his brothers are nowhere to be seen. The next passuk (above) says that a "man" found Yosef wandering around in the field, lost and asked Yosef "What are you looking for? (literally: What do you request?)". Yosef replies "I am looking for my brothers (literally: I request my brothers), please tell me where they are shepherding the flock". The man replies "They have moved on (literally: they travelled from this), because I heard them say 'Let us go to Dotan". And Yosef went after his brothers and he found them in Dotan.
Rashi (quoting the Tanchuma [וישב, פרק לז, סימן א]) says the "man" was in fact the angel Gavriel, based on a passuk in sefer Daniel וְהָאִישׁ גַּבְרִיאֵל (דניאל ט, כא).
The Maharal asks –
וְלָמָּה הֻצְרַךְ הַכָּתוּב לְכָל זֶה לוֹמַר "וְיִמְצָאֵהוּ אִישׁ", אֶלָּא שֶׁהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ שָׁלַח מַלְאָךְ לְהַגִּיעוֹ אֶל אֶחָיו, וְאִם לֹא כֵן לֹא הָלַךְ אֶל אֶחָיו אֶלָּא הָיָה חוֹזֵר מִשְּׁכֶם לְבֵיתוֹ כֵּיוָן שֶׁלֹּא מָצָא אֶת אֶחָיו, כִּי לֹא יָדַע אֵיפֹה הֵם, וּלְכָךְ שָׁלַח אֵלָיו הַמַּלְאָךְ. (גור אריה, בראשית לז,טו)
"Why did the passuk need to tell us all of this? To teach us that Hashem Yitbarach sent an angel to make Yosef reach his brothers. For if not, (Yosef) would not have met up with his brothers, he would have returned from Shchem back to his home because he couldn't find his brothers and for this, He (HKB"H) set an angel to him (Yosef)."
There are a number of questions that arise from these psukkim.
The first question regards the use of the word תֹעֶה, that Yosef was wandering around, lost in the field. When the word תֹעֶה (or written in the full form תּוֹעֶה), is used in the Torah it is in a negative context. For example, when Avraham banishes Hagar and Yishmael the passuk says וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתֵּתַע בְּמִדְבַּר בְּאֵר שָׁבַע (בראשית כא, יד), that Hagar was wandering around lost in the desert of Be'er Sheva. Rashi (quoting פרקי דרבי אליעזר, ל) says that the word וַתֵּתַע means that Hagar went back to serving avodah zara.
A story is told of Reb Mordechai (Mottel) Pogremansky zt"l, a famous Rosh Yeshiva in Lithuania prior to WWII. He was travelling to the next town one erev Shabbat by train and he noticed another Jew (who happened to be a travelling shochet and a mohel) in the carriage. He sat next to him and they started exchanging divrei Torah. So engrossed were they that they missed their stop. The shochet suddenly looked up and said "Oy vey! We have missed our station". "Never mind" said Reb Mottel, "We will get off at the next station and spend Shabbat there". "You don't understand" says the shochet, "In the next town there are no Jews!". "Do not worry", says Reb Mottel "We will figure it out!".
They arrive at the next town a few hundred miles away, an hour before Shabbat, and immediately head for the horse and cart driver (before the advent of taxis). "Do you perhaps know if there are any Jews in this town?"
Reb Mottel asked the driver. The driver thought for a moment and replied "Yes, there is - one!" "Take us there" says Reb Mottel. They arrive at the house and immediately notice a mezuzah on the door. A good start! They knock and a frum Jew opens the door, flabbergasted to see two talmidei chachamim standing on his doorstep.
"One of you wouldn't happen to be a mohel, would you?" asks the breathless host. Reb Mottel points to his companion "He is a mohel!" "Baruch Hashem", says the host, "My wife gave birth last week and I sent a telegram to the next town to ask for a mohel, but received no response".
"You see", said Reb Mottel to the shochet, "A Jew never loses his way!"
The Maggid of Dubno (אהל יעקב, כי תצא) says that the word תֹעֶה is indicative of something that causes a person to sin. The Tanach mentions the word תֹעֶה three times. First with Yosef וְהִנֵּה תֹעֶה בַּשָּׂדֶה, second in parshat Mishpatim אוֹ חֲמֹרוֹ תֹּעֶה (שמות כג, ד) and third in sefer Mishlei אָדָם תּוֹעֶה מִדֶּרֶךְ הַשְׂכֵּל (משלי כא, כז).
The Maggid of Dubno says the first case (with Yosef) that causes sin is related to בְּרִבּוּי עֲסָקָיו וּמְלַאכְתּוֹ בַּשָּׂדֶה, that excess occupation with one's business and work in the "field" causes a person to sin. The second case (with the donkey) that causes sin is בְּהַרְכָּבַת חוֹמְרִיּוּתוֹ, related to materialism. The third case is תּוֹעֶה מִדֶּרֶךְ הַשְׂכֵּל, related to the intellect.
From these examples we see that תֹעֶה is not a positive thing, quite the opposite. How can it be that Yosef came to a situation that was equivalent to avodah zara and something that causes a person to sin?
The second question is why did HKB"H send an angel in the first place? and why davka Gavriel? If HKB"H would not have sent the angel, Yosef would not have found his brothers and would have returned home safe and sound. Yosef would not have been sold to Egypt and Am Yisrael would not have to suffer 210 years of slavery in Egypt! And if HKB"H is sending an angel, why Gavriel, who is known as the angel of fire and brimstone? When HKB"H sent an angel to destroy Sdom, He sent Gavriel!
From this it seems that when Yosef reached Shchem, he was "not in a good place", he was "lost" – he had lost his way, somehow related to avodah zara(?) and sin(?) In addition, it seems that HKB"H sent His angel of retribution Gavriel to "punish(?)" Yosef, by sending him into the lion's den.
According to the popular narrative, Yosef was the "good guy" and the brothers were the "baddies" who ganged up on their defenseless younger brother. These psukkim, however, seem to indicate that the "bad guy" in the story was Yosef! How do we understand all of this?
Earlier on in the parsha, the psukkim describe Yaakov's preference for Yosef which made the brothers hate him, followed by Yosef relating his dreams (prophecies) to his brothers, which made them hate him all the more.
Before all this, however, the second passuk in the parsha says וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת דִּבָּתָם רָעָה אֶל אֲבִיהֶם (בראשית לז, ב).
Yosef was slandering his brothers (sons of Leah) to his father Yaakov, reporting that he observed them eating אֵבֶר מִן הַחַי, that they were demeaning the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, calling them עֲבָדִים, and that they were suspect of engaging in עֲרָיוֹת (Rashi, ibid.)
For this Yosef was punished מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה. When his brothers sold him into slavery, they slaughtered a goat to soak his coat in blood and they didn't eat אֵבֶר מִן הַחַי. For the slander of calling the sons of the שְׁפָחוֹת slaves, Yosef was sold into slavery. For the slander of their alleged adultery, Yosef was tested with the wife of Potiphar.
R' Bachyei (ibid.) distinguishes between two types of slander הֲבָאַת דִּבָּה and הוֹצָאַת דִּבָּה. The former, הֲבָאַת דִּבָּה, is slandering someone by telling something true about them. The latter, הוֹצָאַת דִּבָּה, is slandering someone by telling a lie about them. Yosef was not telling lies, he was reporting things that were true, that he saw with his own eyes.
The Mefarshim attempt to explain what he saw. The Shlah HaKadosh (דרך חיים תוכחת מוסר אות נ"ז) says that the brothers were "experimenting" with Sefer Yetzirah, book of Kabbalah written by Avraham Avinu, that enables one to "create" things using צֵרוּפֵי שֵׁמוֹת. According to the Shlah, the brothers created an animal and a woman using סֵפֶר יְצִירָה.
It was not a real animal and not a real woman, so the halachot do not apply. There are examples of this practice in the Gemara, for example (Sanhedrin 65a), which tells how R' Huna and R' Chisda used to create a premium quality calf every erev Shabbat using סֵפֶר יְצִירָה. Similarly, the Maharal of Prague created the "golem" using סֵפֶר יְצִירָה.
Other Mefarshim (e.g the מהר"ש and the רא"ם) say that the animal was a בֶּן פְּקוּעָא (a fully formed baby animal in the womb of a slaughtered mother, which does not require additional shechita) or a מְפַרְכֶּסֶת (twitching limbs after slaughter, after the animal is already dead, which may be eaten).
Yosef was not telling lies, he was reporting what he "saw", but what he thought he saw was not the true reality.
Chazal (שמות רבה א, ל) say the reason Bnei Yisrael became slaves in Egypt is because of the sin of lashon hara. The chain reaction that resulted in our slavery in Egypt began with the sin of Yosef telling his father lashon hara against his brothers.
When someone sees a fellow Jew committing what they perceive to be a sin, what is the correct procedure? הוֹכֵחַ תּוֹכִיחַ אֶת עֲמִיתֶךָ – you rebuke them and try get them to correct their ways. There is an art to הוֹכָחָה, and someone who is not adept at it, is better off remaining silent. The purpose of הוֹכָחָה is to show the person that you care about them and fear for them, not that you are superior to them and are criticizing them. That has the opposite effect.
What you certainly don't do when you see your brother "seemingly" doing something wrong, is run and "tattle tale" to your father – "Abba, Srulik pulled Rochel's hair again!" Yosef didn't simply "tattle tale" against the sons of Leah, the passuk doesn't say וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת דִּבָּתָם, it says וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת דִּבָּתָם רָעָה, with a harmful intent.
The question is how is this possible? This is Yosef HaTzaddik we are talking about. The Gemara (Shabbat 112b) says " If the Earlier Generations were like angels, then we are regular people compared to them. If they were like people, then compared to them we are donkeys and not the donkeys of R’ Chanina ben Dosa and R’ Pinchas ben Yair". Chas vechalila that we should contemplate criticizing Yosef HaTzaddik. However, Chazal highlighted certain issues, not that we should judge, but rather that we should learn from them.
I would like to bring an alternative perush to this inyan, based on a Targum Yonatan.
The first passuk in our parsha says אֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף בֶּן שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן וכו' (בראשית לז, ב). Most of us translate הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן - that Yosef was "tending the flocks together with his brothers". But that is not the way the Targum Yonatan translates it. Targum Yonatan (ibid.) says - הֲוָה בְּמִיפְקֵיהּ מִן בֵּית מֶדְרָשָׁא, that when Yosef left the Beit Midrash, he would "play" with the sons of Bilhah and Zipah.
According to the Targum Yonatan הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן means that Yosef was not tending the sheep at all, he was sitting in the yeshiva learning. To support this שִׁיטָה, we see that Yaakov sent Yosef to check up on his brothers in Shchem. If Yosef was tending the flocks together with his brothers, he would have been with them in Shchem!
Yosef was a full-time yeshiva bochur! Who does this remind you of? וְיַעֲקֹב אִישׁ תָּם יֹשֵׁב אֹהָלִים (בראשית כה, כז). Like father, like son. It is therefore not surprising that Yaakov had a special affinity for Yosef and saw him as his spiritual successor אֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף - because he was a younger copy of Yaakov.
While the brothers were physically out in the fields tending the flocks and trying to improve the health of the flocks by experimenting with סֵפֶר יְצִירָה, Yosef was cloistered in the walls of the yeshiva studying שִׁשָּׁה סִדְרֵי מִשְׁנָה from Yaakov Avinu himself. Yosef was sitting in the "hoiche fensters", in the ivory towers of "lomdus", while the brothers were occupied with more earthly matters. A chasm separates the two. One is on a purely spiritual plane, while the other requires a mingling of the physical and the spiritual.
When such a yeshiva bochur steps out of the walls of the yeshiva and looks at the world around him, he sees through different glasses to everyone else.
When Yaakov sent Yosef to meet up with his brothers, the passuk says וַיִּמְצָאֵהוּ אִישׁ וְהִנֵּה תֹעֶה בַּשָּׂדֶה, Yosef was wandering around in the שָּׂדֶה. There is a vast difference between תֹעֶה בַּשָּׂדֶה (Yosef) and וַתֵּתַע בְּמִדְבַּר (Hagar). Hagar was lost in the wilderness, in the emptiness, the deprivation and therefore reverted to avoda zara.
Yosef was lost in the שָּׂדֶה, another name for Gan Eden (וַיֵּצֵא יִצְחָק לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה; רְאֵה רֵיחַ בְּנִי כְּרֵיחַ שָׂדֶה). Yosef was in a higher realm, a realm which is entirely spiritual with no physicality. Yaakov told him to go to Shchem, so Yosef went to Shchem. When he arrived there and his brothers were not there, he was lost.
Someone with their head high in the clouds does not stoop to the mundane task of trying to track them, following the tracks of the sheep in the ground. Such physicality cannot even be contemplated. "Dos past nisht" for a yeshiva bochur like Yosef to involve himself in such worldly matters. HKB"H had to send an angel to reprogram his WAZE.
However, when someone is "lost" they can be just as lost in the desert as they can be lost in Gan Eden. When someone cannot see beyond the walls of the yeshiva and refuses to be connected to others in the world, different to themselves, they too are lost. They see things only from their own perspective and this may blind them to reality. When they only accept their perception of reality and do not allow for other perceptions aside from their own, this is a dangerous thing, it can lead to וַיָּבֵא אֶת דִּבָּתָם רָעָה.
Similarly, when someone is out in the field tending the sheep, totally involved in worldly matters, such as leadership (Reuven, Yehuda), engaging in commerce (Zevulun), preserving the family dignity (Shimon and Levi), etc. it is equally dangerous when someone only perceives the reality according to that perception and does not contemplate other possible perceptions.
When you have this disconnect, where the one perception conflicts with the other instead of complementing it, you have implosion - you have to tear things down and begin from scratch. If the chasm between the perceptions is so vast that there is no room for לָדוּן לְכַף זְכוּת, you need an angel of fire and brimstone to restore the balance.
You need to lower Yosef back down to earth (selling him to Egypt), and you need to raise the sons of Leah up to Heaven (Yehuda becoming the king [after the episode with Tamar], Levi becoming the Torah leader in Am Yisrael). You need a Gavriel. You need a "melting pot" to dispel all the misperceptions, like Egypt.
This is how our nation was forged at its inception. It was a "trial by fire", which eventually achieved the required result - Am Yisrael. It began with תֹעֶה (gematria 475) and it ended with בִּגְדֹל זְרוֹעֲךָ יִדְּמוּ כָּאָבֶן and מָן וּבְאֵר וְעָנָן and דֶּרֶךְ הַמִּדְבָּר (all gematria 475).
This is apparently the way our nation will again be forged at its re-inception, prior to the Geulah. The gematria of תֹעֶה is the same as עִתָּהּ and also דוֹר אַחֲרוֹן.
The reality in Am Yisrael right now is uncannily like it was in the camp of Yaakov Avinu and his sons.
You have some living in the "higher spiritual realms" who cannot contemplate any other perception, viewing reality only through the prism of their spiritual world. Other realities just do not feature on their radar.
You have some living in the "lower physical realms" of commerce, military, agriculture, government, etc. who also cannot contemplate any other perception, viewing reality only through the prism of their physical world.
When you have a "disconnect" between these perceptions, compounded by הֲבָאַת דִּבָּה and worse, הוֹצָאַת דִּבָּה – in both directions - the situation is worse than רָעָה.
The only resolution of such an implosion is a "trial by fire", something that Am Yisrael experienced on October 7 and in the two years+ following (the gematria of תֹעֶה is הַמְלַמֵּד יָדַי לַקְרָב). Hopefully that will be sufficient, although right now it does not seem to be, Rachmana litzlan. Either way, HKB"H will see to it that it gets sorted out. We have the option to ensure it will be less painful. To remedy תֹעֶה with לִהְיוֹת בְּיַחַד (both gematria 475).
If we can begin to accept that there are other perceptions than only our own, that Am Yisrael is a combination of different energies which contribute in different ways to building the whole. If we can begin to לָדוּן לְכַף זְכוּת a little more and restrain the urge to לְהָבִיא דִּבָּה וּלְהוֹצִיא דִּבָּה, which only results in רָעָה, then we will be on a better path and every crisis that we encounter can be resolved peacefully (such as the milk crisis – תֹעֶה in gematria is חֶלְבֵי הַשְּׁלָמִים).
B"H it will all be resolved speedily and painlessly in our generation and then we will be zocheh to –
ה' אֱ-לֹקֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם
כִּי רוֹצֶה ה' בְּעַמּוֹ
יָמִים שֶׁל גְּאוּלָּה
רָם עַל כָּל גּוֹיִם ה'
(all gematria תֹעֶה, 475).
We cannot end the shiur without something on Channukah. The Tur and the Shlah HaKadosh teach us that the parshat hashavua before a מוֹעֵד always contains a hint to the approaching מוֹעֵד.
Everyone is familiar with the famous Gemara (Shabbat 22a) regarding the halacha of the maximum height of a Channukiya (20 amot, approx. 10m), which is derived from the depth of the pit that Yosef was thrown into.
Here are a few more hints –
In the passuk וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם שִׁמְעוּ נָא הַחֲלוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר חָלָמְתִּי (בראשית לז, ו), the gematria of the word הַחֲלוֹם is … חֲנוּכָּה.
In the passuk וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ אֶחָיו הֲמָלֹךְ תִּמְלֹךְ עָלֵינוּ (לז, ח) the gematria of the word תִּמְלֹךְ is … פַּךְ שֶׁמֶן.
In the passuk וַיֵּלְכוּ אֶחָיו לִרְעוֹת אֶת צֹאן אֲבִיהֶם בִּשְׁכֶם (לז, יב) the gematria of צֹאן is … כ"ה כִּסְלֵו.
In the passuk וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו הִנֵּה בַּעַל הַחֲלֹמוֹת הַלָּזֶה בָּא (לז, יט) the gematria of בַּעַל is … יְהוּדָה מַכַּבִּי.
In the passuk וַיִּשְׂאוּ עֵינֵיהֶם וַיִּרְאוּ וְהִנֵּה אֹרְחַת יִשְׁמְעֵאלִים בָּאָה מִגִּלְעָד (לז, כה) the gematria of יִשְׁמְעֵאלִים is … שְׁמוֹנָה יָמִים.
In the passuk וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוּדָה אֶל אֶחָיו מַה בֶּצַע כִּי נַהֲרֹג אֶת אָחִינוּ (לז, כו), the gematria of בֶּצַע is … אַנְטִיּוֹכוּס.
Finally, the name of the parsha וַיֵּשֶׁב in gematria is אֱ-לֹקִים יְהִי אוֹר.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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