A Thought On Parshas VaYeshev
A Thought On Parshas VaYeshev
"...va'yar adonav ki HaShem ito..."
"...and his master saw that HaShem was with him..." (39:3)
Yosef was sold into slavery and purchased by a wealthy Egyptian. The Torah (verse 2) tells us how he succeeded in his work because HaShem "was with him." Moreover, our verse adds that his master or owner also "saw that HaShem was with him."
The commentaries, from Rashi onward, have argued about the meaning of our verse. What does it mean that his pagan master could "see" that HaShem was with Yosef? We ourselves cannot "see" HaShem and we believe in Him. How could a non-believer see Him? Furthermore, HaShem as manifest in the name "HaShem" was unknown to the world, as we see in the book of Shmos. HaShem Himself, ka'va'yachol, tells Moshe that He did not make His Presence known to our patriarchs in the name of HaShem. Pharaoh told Moshe that he did not know of "HaShem." If our verse had said "Elokim" or some other more generic reference to "the Lord", we might have less of a concern regarding our second question, although our first question would remain: what does it mean that the master saw that HaShem was with Yosef?
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel goes beyond the interpretations of Rashi, Ramban and others by citing a midrash (some later authorities have suggested that Rashi and some other commentators may not have had access to this ancient source or edition.)
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel writes that whenever Yosef was near his master, he spoke to HaShem. He would say, audibly, "Master of the Universe, You are my source of security". He would utter, "You are my only Guardian." He would pray aloud, "Give me favor, mercy and kindness in Your eyes and in the eyes of people and in my master's eyes."
His master would hear these words and ask, "Are you reciting incantations to cast some type of spell or magic over me?" (He probably assumed that "master", "source of security", "guardian" were references to himself.) Yosef would respond, "I am praying that I should find favor in your eyes." Yosef prayed that his Higher Source would influence the man's perception of him. And it worked!
Although the words uttered by Yosef were heard, and not seen, the vividness of HaShem's Presence as a reality in his life was visible to the Egyptian. The fact that Yosef conducted himself at each turn and each challenge with an overt connection to his sense of the Divine, and the fact that those encounters were not hidden but were shared, lead to the man seeing and believing that a Jew does more than submit to a terrifying and awesome deity. A Jew relates to a compassionate and personal One G-d. This was a foreign idea to the pagan Egyptian. He was able to infer from those prayerful monologues that Yosef had a G-d concept which was very different. He was moved by this, and influenced. This is why our verse says, "he saw that HaShem was with Yosef."
Many times, in my years together with my great rebbe HaGaon HaRav Simcha Wasserman ztvk'l I would notice that when he was around people who were unfamiliar with Torah that he would appear to utter words quietly before doing things. I sometimes saw him say a bracha before drinking some hot coffee, then noticed that before virtually every sip he would seem to say some other words of prayer. Eventually, the person he was talking with would ask him what he was saying. He would look at them with surprise and say, "Oh! You must not have learned of the ways in which we speak to HaShem!" He would then use this as a teaching moment. People could see that HaShem was with him, and he would teach others how to take Him into their own lives. And it worked!
HaShem imachem! May HaShem be with us. Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...va'yar adonav ki HaShem ito..."
"...and his master saw that HaShem was with him..." (39:3)
Yosef was sold into slavery and purchased by a wealthy Egyptian. The Torah (verse 2) tells us how he succeeded in his work because HaShem "was with him." Moreover, our verse adds that his master or owner also "saw that HaShem was with him."
The commentaries, from Rashi onward, have argued about the meaning of our verse. What does it mean that his pagan master could "see" that HaShem was with Yosef? We ourselves cannot "see" HaShem and we believe in Him. How could a non-believer see Him? Furthermore, HaShem as manifest in the name "HaShem" was unknown to the world, as we see in the book of Shmos. HaShem Himself, ka'va'yachol, tells Moshe that He did not make His Presence known to our patriarchs in the name of HaShem. Pharaoh told Moshe that he did not know of "HaShem." If our verse had said "Elokim" or some other more generic reference to "the Lord", we might have less of a concern regarding our second question, although our first question would remain: what does it mean that the master saw that HaShem was with Yosef?
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel goes beyond the interpretations of Rashi, Ramban and others by citing a midrash (some later authorities have suggested that Rashi and some other commentators may not have had access to this ancient source or edition.)
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel writes that whenever Yosef was near his master, he spoke to HaShem. He would say, audibly, "Master of the Universe, You are my source of security". He would utter, "You are my only Guardian." He would pray aloud, "Give me favor, mercy and kindness in Your eyes and in the eyes of people and in my master's eyes."
His master would hear these words and ask, "Are you reciting incantations to cast some type of spell or magic over me?" (He probably assumed that "master", "source of security", "guardian" were references to himself.) Yosef would respond, "I am praying that I should find favor in your eyes." Yosef prayed that his Higher Source would influence the man's perception of him. And it worked!
Although the words uttered by Yosef were heard, and not seen, the vividness of HaShem's Presence as a reality in his life was visible to the Egyptian. The fact that Yosef conducted himself at each turn and each challenge with an overt connection to his sense of the Divine, and the fact that those encounters were not hidden but were shared, lead to the man seeing and believing that a Jew does more than submit to a terrifying and awesome deity. A Jew relates to a compassionate and personal One G-d. This was a foreign idea to the pagan Egyptian. He was able to infer from those prayerful monologues that Yosef had a G-d concept which was very different. He was moved by this, and influenced. This is why our verse says, "he saw that HaShem was with Yosef."
Many times, in my years together with my great rebbe HaGaon HaRav Simcha Wasserman ztvk'l I would notice that when he was around people who were unfamiliar with Torah that he would appear to utter words quietly before doing things. I sometimes saw him say a bracha before drinking some hot coffee, then noticed that before virtually every sip he would seem to say some other words of prayer. Eventually, the person he was talking with would ask him what he was saying. He would look at them with surprise and say, "Oh! You must not have learned of the ways in which we speak to HaShem!" He would then use this as a teaching moment. People could see that HaShem was with him, and he would teach others how to take Him into their own lives. And it worked!
HaShem imachem! May HaShem be with us. Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 9:18 PM
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