A Thought on Parshas Miketz

"...v'hem lo hiki'ruhu..." "...and they did not recognize him..." (42:8) "...ben immo v'yomer ha'zeh achi'chem..." "...the son of his mother and he said, "is this your brother?..." (43:29) When the brothers appear before Yosef in his Egyptian court, he recognizes them despite the passage of time since they last met. The above verse alerts us, however, that they did not recognize him. Rashi cites the most well known interpretation, namely, that Yosef had been quite young at their final encounter, whereas he now had a beard. This was the reason that he looked different. The Panae'ach Raza offers a different interpretation. I will preface with a thought of my own: we all remember the midrash, so often quoted at the Pesach seder, about the merits with which our people deserved to be redeemed from exile in Egypt. They were careful to retain their original Hebrew names, they were careful to retain their Hebrew language, and they kept their form of attire. These decisions kept them distinctive and blocked them from blending in and assimilating. The Egyptians would look at them and be reminded that those slaves were an independent race unto themselves, and this probably led to further taunting and persecution. The Jews did not blend in. That is what gave them solidarity. Now, the Panae'ach Raza suggests that the reason that the brothers were not able to recognize Yosef is along the same lines. Yosef now went by the name Tzafnas Panae'ach. This means that he had changed his name. He wore the attire of Egyptian royalty. This means that he no longer retained his native clothing. He spoke to the brothers in Egyptian. This means that he changed his language. (He adds that Yosef also had a beard, meaning that his body had changed as well). The selfsame elements which our people held on to in Egypt as a means of maintaining ethnic identity were the elements which Yosef had altered in adopting his identity as a ruler of Egypt. This is why his brothers could not recognize him. He no longer displayed the signs of being one of them. *********************** The second verse cited above is actually five words taken from a larger statement there. The broader verse says that Yosef recognized his brother Binyamin, who was the only other son of Yosef's mother Rachel, and he then asked the others, "Is this your little brother?" HaShem should guide you, my son." In the spirit of Chanukah which is now upon us, I will share with you the comment of the Panae'ach Raza. He notes that the last letters of these five words in Hebrew (ben immo v'yomer ha'zeh achi'chem) are the Hebrew letters nun, vov, raish, hae, mem. If you put them together they spell out the word menorah. This is of course an allusion to Chanukah which almost always falls out during the week of our parsha MiKetz. Probing deeper, though, the Panae'ach Raza ponders the placing of this sofei teivos allusion in this verse. He notes that the menorah was a key implement in the Bais HaMikdash. The region where the Bais HaMikdash was built was shared by the tribe of Binyamin! Thus, within the words chosen by Yosef, we catch a glimpse of his ruach haKodesh - his inspired vision. As he looked at his younger brother Binyanim, he knew that his descendants would merit the gift of housing the Holy Temple, symbolized by the menorah. He hinted at this, as does the Torah itself, through the alliteration which spells it out. Good Shabbos and Chanukah Sameach. D Fox