Category Archives: Parshat מקץ

Parsha מקץ – Genesis – 42:28 – Whose fault is it? Our’s or God’s?

Genesis – 49:33 – And he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and indeed, here it is in my sack! ” Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

Gemora: Taanit 9(a): “What is this that God has done to us?” On one occasion Rabbi Yochanan encountered the son of Reish Lakish as he was sitting and reciting the verse (Proverbs 19:3) “The foolish wrong-doing (אולת) of a man perverts his way, but his heart frets against HaShem” (ie. A person blames God for the misfortune brought about by his own wrong-doing.) Rabbi Yochanan asked: “is there anything written in the Writings that is not alluded to in the Pentateuch?” The boy said to Rabbi Yochanan: Is this verse not alluded to in the Pentateuch? See it is written: (Genesis 49:33) they turned to one another, saying “What is this that God has done to us?” 

Torah Temimah Colloquial Translation on Note #6:

Look in the Chidushei Aggadot where he explains that foolish wrong-doing (אולת) referred to in the verse is the sale of Joseph; that they are now being punished for. The Chidushei Aggadot’s understanding of the Gemora doesn’t make sense because in the Pentateuch itself it says (in verse 49:21) “but surely we have sinned against our brothers”. Thus we see that the brothers are blaming themselves for their misfortune. This is also shown by their statement to Joseph (44:16) “God has discovered the sin of your servants.” See the Chidushei Aggadot there where he tries to reconcile these issues, but the explanations seem forced, as any reader can see.

See also that even Rashi explains the above Gemora as indicating that the phrase foolish wrong-doing (אולת) mentioned there refers to the selling of Joseph. That is actually the explanation of all the commentaries. But such an explanation doesn’t make sense for the reasons I’ve given above showing that the brothers realized their sin in the selling of Joseph. Also the use of the word “foolish wrong-doing (אולת)” does not apply well to the sin of the selling of Joseph. Rather the phrase, “the sin of man” seems more appropriate.

Therefore, in my opinion, it seems more appropriate and true to follow the words of the Medrash Lekach Tov where it explains that when the brothers cry “What has God done to us?” they were actually referring to the fact that they should have searched their saddle bags even before they left Egypt. They should have checked to see if they had been given wheat or barley (a lower type of grain). That is to say, if they had checked their saddlebags before leaving Egypt, they would have discovered the silver coins that were hidden there and been saved from the troubles that later developed.

This understanding also clarifies another textual difficulty. In verse 34 it states that they discovered the silver when they looked in their saddlebags upon arriving at their father, Jacob’s, house. Yet, when they recount the story after returning to Egypt they say that the discovery occurred when they stopped at an inn on the way out of Egypt. (43:21) No where is this change explained. However, it all makes extreme sense based on our explanation above. The brothers did not say that they had waited until arriving at their father’s home because they were embarrassed to say that they had not checked their saddlebags earlier as they should have done. Nor could they say that they had discovered the silver while they were still in Egypt, because in that case there would be not explanation as to why they had not returned the silver. That is why they explained that they had discovered the silver in an inn on the way to their father’s house.

Translator’s Note: I am hoping that someone can explain this note to me. Clearly the Torah Temimah is not in favor of ascribing the verse in Proverbs to the brothers blaming God for their misfortunes that came to them as being due to their sale of Joseph. They clearly do blame themselves for the sale of Joseph and regret having sold him and hold themselves liable for any misfortune that befalls them because of it. Perhaps the Torah Temimah is saying that the brothers did not feel the same way regarding their oversight in not having checked their saddlebags prior to leaving Egypt. I don’t understand why they should have checked their saddlebags prior to leaving Egypt.  

Parshat מקץ Genesis 42:1 – Don’t Show Off

Genesis 42:1 Jacob saw that they were selling [grain] in Egypt, so Jacob said to his sons: Why do you make yourselves [appear] conspicuous?

Gemora Taanit: 10(a) – Jacob said to his sons, don’t make yourselves appear as though you are satiated – don’t do it in front of Esav nor in front of Ishmael – in order that they not be jealous.

Torah Temimah Colloquial Translation on Note #1:

In other words, even though you still have grain in your store houses, nevertheless you should go to Egypt to buy more grain in order that you not appear as satiated [satisfied]. It is possible to say that this homiletic explanation of the word: תתראו   takes it as though it were written:  תתרוו which has the root meaning of “satiated”. This meaning of “satiated” is shown by the verse in Deuteronomy 29:18 (למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה ); also the verse in Psalms 36:9; also the verse in Psalms 91:16: “ואראהו בישועת’” – With length of days I shall satiate (אשביעהו) him, and I shall show (ואראהו) him My salvation. Reading the word “show” as rather meaning “satiate” also fits with the beginning of the verse. [Additionally, the double, parallel sentence structure is a common biblical construction.]

We find [often] that an “aleph” is converted to a “vav”; this is also the case with the letters “aleph”, “heh”, “vav” and “yud” are often switched, as is well known. The Radak makes the same point in his book MIchlol. See also Rashi in his commentary on Parshat Matos (32:24). [Please, dear reader, do check out this Rashi!]

Similarly, we also find that the aleph is often placed instead of a double letter. Examples of this are in Isaiah 18 with the word: בזאו instead of the word בזזו. Also, in Psalms 48 with the word ימאסו instead of the word ימססו – so too here in our verse with the word תתראו instead of the word תתרוו. See also what we have written in our commentary on Parshat Chukas (Numbers 21:14) on the verse “ את והב”.

Regarding the reason why the Rabbis explained the word תתראו beyond its simple meaning is possibly because in most instances the verb “to see” is followed by a noun or the direct object of what is being seen. This occurs in the phrase “seeing the face” and other similar instances. Here [in our verse], however, the verb occurs without an object, which is unusual. That is why they explain the verb תתראו with the meaning of תתרוו – satiated; satiation being a verb that occurs on its own and is reflexive.

Also, one should keep in mind that based on this explanation we derive the law that one who is not fasting on a public fast day for some reason is prohibited to show in front of those who are fasting as though he is satiated. This would cause the people who are fasting to be distressed. Similarly in the Gemora Bava Kama (92b) we find it mentioned that people are often not inclined to show themselves as satiated in order not to arouse jealousy or the evil eye. All this is learned from this advice of Jacob, our father.  

Editor’s Note: In this note, the Torah Temimah is, I think, teaching a moral lesson that he wants to convey. He does, at the same time, display some points of view regarding Hebrew grammar that are not frequently found.