Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

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Yosef's Family Meets Pharaoh

Yaakov sends Yehudah to go ahead to instruct Yosef to prepare Goshen for them and clear away anything associated with idolotry.

Yosef harnesses his own chariot out of respect for his father and because he doesn't want to delay going to him. Yosef approaches his father and falls on his neck crying excessively. Yaakov feels a great sense of love but rather than crying or falling on Yosef's neck he channels his love towards G-d and recites the Shema.

Before Yosef was reunited with Yaakov, Yaakov felt that he would die "two deaths" since the Divine Presence had departed from him, which meant that not only would he die a physical death but a spiritual one as well.

Now that he had been reunited with Yosef, he felt that the Divine Presence had returned to him and so he would only die one (regular physical) death.

Yosef tells his family that he will announce their arrival to Pharaoh and tell him that they are shepherds who brought their flock, cattle and all of their possessions.

Yosef instructs his brothers that if Pharaoh asks them what their occupation is, they should say that they are cattlemen and their family has been so for many generations.

This was in order for Pharaoh to have them settle in the land of Goshen. This is because sheep were worshiped by the Egyptians and thus shepherds were looked down upon. So in addition to Goshen being a good area for pasture, it was also apart from the Egyptians who wouldn't want to live with them.

So Yosef announces to Pharaoh that his family has arrived with their cattle, flock and all of their possession.

Yosef brings five of his brothers (Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yisaschar and Binyamin) to stand before Pharaoh. He chose these five because they were the least mighty looking so that Pharaoh would not think them to be warriors and thus feel threatened by them.

Side note, we can tell that these were the ones who weren't mighty, for the mighty ones names were repeated when they received blessings from Yaakov. And then later on, Moshe repeated the names of those brothers who were weakest, which were the ones that Yosef brings forth here. (Except for Yehuda, who's name Moshe repeats not for being weak but rather, the first mention of his name was a prayer that the banishment that Yehudah took upon himself to ensure the well being of Binyamin be rescinded and the second mention of his name was to show that the prayer was accepted).

So as was expected, Pharaoh asked the family what their occupation is and they reply as they were told to that they were cattlemen for generations.

They continue and say that they came to dwell in Goshen since the famine in Canaan has become too severe.

Pharaoh says to Yosef, "Your father and your brothers have come to you."

Pharaoh says that the land of Egypt is open to them and that they are welcome to settle in Goshen and that if there are capable men amongst them they should be appointed as managers to Pharaoh's livestock.

Then Yosef brought Yaakov towards Pharaoh and Yaakov greets Pharaoh.

Pharaoh asks Yaakov how old he is.

Yaakov replies that he is 130 years old and has been a wanderer for that whole time and has not yet achieved the level of goodness that his forefathers had.

Yaakov blesses Pharaoh and leaves him.

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice!For comments and inquiries, email [email protected]

Yaakov and His Family Travel to Egypt

Realizing that his son Yosef is still alive, Yaakov exclaims, "There is much joy for me yet! I will go visit him before I die."

So Yaakov sets out with all of his belongings. He stops in Be'er Sheva and makes a sacrifice to the G-d of Isaac (side note, G-d is called here the G-d of Isaac (as opposed to the G-d of Avraham) since a person has more of an obligation to honor their father than they grandfather.

At night, G-d speaks to Yaakov and calls out to him endearingly "Yaakov, Yaakov" (repeating someone's name is a method of endearment). Yaakov replies "Here I am."

Although Yaakov was excited to see Yosef, he also felt fear over leaving the land of Israel. G-d tells him here, "Don't fear going to Egypt for I will establish a great nation through you there."

G-d also promises Yaakov that he will be buried in the land of Israel and that Yosef will "place his hands on Yaakov's eyes". He then leaves Be'er Sheva and continues on his journey. Yosef's brothers transport Yaakov and their children and wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had given to them.

Yaakov brings with him all of the possessions he had acquired in Canaan. Everything that he had acquired from Padam Aram he gave to Esav as his inheritance as he didn't feel anything from outside of the land of Israel was worthwhile to him. He also brings his extended family, i.e his grandchildren. His two granddaughters are Serach, the daughter of Asher and Yocheved the daughter of Levi (who is born as the family is entering Egypt).

Now the text gives a more detailed list of who traveled into Egypt:

The text first begins with Leah's sons and Dina (who is listed as Yaakov's daughter, instead of the sons which are listed as "Leah's sons". This is to show that a mother and her sons have a special connection and a father and his daughters have a special connection related to their conception.

The text says that there were 33 people in total in Reuven's clan that traveled into Egypt. Truthfully, there were 32, since Yocheved was born right as they entered Egypt, however she was conceived outside.

The count was as follows:

Reuven the eldest and his sons: Chanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

Shimon and his sons: Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yachin, Zohar and Shaul*

*Shaul was actually Dina's son, as a result of her relations with a Cananite man while she was held captive in Shchem. Dina did not want to leave Schem unless Shimon, her brother, promised that he would marry her. Although the marriage of siblings is forbidden according to Torah law, before the giving of the Torah, there were some exceptions made when needed, and in this case, Shimon and Dina prophetically knew that they should marry one another.

Levi and his sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari

Yehuda and his sons: Shelah, Peretz and Zerach and Peretz's 2 sons: Chezron and Chamul. Yehuda's other two sons Er and Onan had died in Canaan.

Isasschar and his sons: Tolah, Puvah, Iob and Shimron

Zvulun and his sons: Sered, Elon and Yachliel

The text now lists the family from Zilpha, Leah's maidservant, 16 people in total.

Gad and his sons: Ziphion, Chagai, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, Areli

Asher and his sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriyah and his daughter Serach. Beriyah had two sons: Cheber and Malkiel.

The text now lists Rachel, the main wife of Yaakov and "woman of house" and her children, 14 people in total:

Her children were: Yosef and Binyamin

Yosef had two sons through Osnat, the daughter of Potiphera: Menashe and Ephraim.

Binyamin's sons were: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.

The text now lists the family from Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, seven people in total:

Dan and his son Chushim

Naftali and his sons: Yazee'el, Guni, Yezer and Shilem

The full count of Yaakov's family that traveled to Egypt, aside from his sons wives was sixty six.*

*The wording of the text here says "every soul, there were sixty six", using the singular form of the word soul (נפש). This is in contrast to Esav's family about which it is written "six souls (נפשות) did he have", ie in the plural, indicating that they worshipped many deities, vs Yaakov's family that only worshipped one.

Side note: earlier on we learned that with each son of Yaakov was born a female twin. Since they aren't listed here, Rashi concludes that they had died before the family traveled to Egypt.

Including Yosef and his two sons and Yocheved (all three who were born in Egypt) made for 70 people in total from Yaakov's family who came to Egypt.

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice!For comments and inquiries, email [email protected]

The Brothers Journey Back to Yaakov

Yosef continues issuing directives to his brothers, saying that Pharaoh ordered them to take wagons from Egypt to transport their children and wives and then their father on the way back.

He then says that they should not feel that their vessels are pitiful since Pharaoh is giving them the best of the land of Egypt.

So Yosef gives them the wagons that Pharaoh ordered as well as provisions for their journey.

He gives them all a change of clothing and to Binyamin he gives three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.

He sends the "best of Egypt" (Side note: according to the Talmud, this is vintage wine, however according to an Aggadic Midrash, it was split beans, which are thought to have a calming effect) in an amount measuring the equivalent of ten he-donkeys, and grain measuring in the equivalent of ten she-donkeys and bread and condiments to be eaten with the bread.

Yosef tells his brothers not to become agitated along their journey. There are three explanations that Rashi brings down as to why they might have become agitated and what he was warning them against:

1)He was warning them against studying halacha which could cause them to argue and get delayed (Taanis 10b).

2)He was warning them against becoming over eager and doing dangerous things in order to get back to their father as quickly as possible such as taking long steps and/or traveling at night (Breishis Rabah, 94:2).

3)He was worried that due to their present shameful feelings over what they had done to Yosef, they would argue with one another along the way about who was the one who instigated the selling of Yosef and caused the others to follow.

The brothers arrive at their father in Canaan.

They tell Yaakov that Yosef is still alive and is the ruler of Egypt. At first Yaakov doesn't believe them, however after hearing everything that Yosef related via the brothers as well as seeing the wagons, Yaakov believes and his spirit is revived.

The reason why seeing the wagons caused Yaakov to believe is because he realized that it was a secret message that Yosef was sending. The last thing that Yosef and his father learned together before Yosef left was a section in Torah about a calf with a broken neck (i.e. the עגלה ערופה). The hebrew word for wagon (עגלה) is etymologically related to the word calf (עגל).

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice!For comments and inquiries, email [email protected]

Yosef and His Brothers Continue to Reunite and Prepare to Return to Yaakov

Yosef continues addressing his brothers:

"It was not you who brought me down to Egypt but rather G-d, to be a friend and patron to Pharaoh, to become master of his home and ruler over all of Egypt.

"Ascend to my father and tell him that I said that G-d sent me down to Egypt and that he should come here at once."

Side note, the reason Yosef told the brothers to "ascend" to their father in Canaan (ie the Land of Israel Israel) is because the Land of Israel is described in the Gemara (Kiddush 69a, Sanhedrin 87a and Zevachim 54b, all based on the verse "you should arise and go up" in Deuteronomy 17:8) to be the "highest point" in the world. There are a few different explanations for what this means:

1) The Maharsha says that since the Earth is a sphere and Israel is at the center of the sphere, it is also at the top and thus one must ascend in order to travel there from anywhere.

2) By contrast, the Maharal says that since the Earth is a sphere, any center point would be arbitrary. So he says the elevation of Israel is not topographic but rather spiritual.

3) The Chasam Sofer says that tradition holds that all of creation originated at the temple, it is not arbitrary to view that part of the globe as the center.

4) Others say that it is topographical but only on relation to the lands around it, all of which are lower than Israel (though modern day Lebanon has some mountains which are higher, those are actually part of biblical Israel).

Yosef continues instructing the brothers on what they should tell their father:

"Settle in the land of Goshen and be close to me. You, your family, all your animals and possessions.

"And I will provide for you there, so that you are able to survive the next five years of famine which are to come.

"You see me in my glory yet you also see that I am your brother who is circumcised and that I love you all just as much as I love Binyamin who had no part in my sale.

"So hurry now and tell my father of my glory and everything that you saw and bring him here."

Yosef and Binyamin fall upon each other's necks and weep. Yosef weeps over the two temples which will be in the portion of Binyamin and eventually destroyed. Binyamin weeps over the Mishkan in Shiloh which would be in the portion of Yosef and would be destroyed.

Yosef kisses his brothers and after seeing Yosef cry to them like that, they saw that he didn't have any ill feelings towards them and were no longer embarrassed to speak to him.

The word got out in Pharaoh's house that Yosef's brothers had arrived, and Pharaoh and his servants were pleased.

Pharaoh tells Yosef to tell his brothers to load up their camels with grain and return to Canaan. And then they should return back to Egypt with their father and households and he will give them "the best and choicest" of the land to settle in (ie. Goshen).

Side note, Pharaoh saying that he will give them "the best and choicest" of the land was an inadvertent prophecy about how at the end of the future exile of the Jews in Egypt, the Jews would take all of Egypt's possessions to the point that it would be as bereft of possessions as the deep sea is of fish (fish are not usually found in the deepest parts of the sea).

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice!For comments and inquiries, email [email protected]

Yoseph Reveals Himself

Yehudah continues his speech directed towards Yoseph:

"And when our father sees that we do not have our younger brother with us, our father will die from anguish.

"And this matter is especially pressing to me, for I took responsibility for this boy and put my life and my afterlife on the line in assuring my father of his safe return.

"Take me as a slave instead! I am better than he in all ways. I am stronger than he, better at military strategy and tact, and more capable of serving a king as is befitting you.

"How can I return to my father without the boy and witness the bad that is to befall him?!"

Yosephdoes not want the Egyptians to witness the brothers finding out who he is and the shame they will then feel, so he banishes the Egyptians from his quarters and makes himself known to the brothers.

Tears pour out of Yoseph as he begins to speak and Pharaoh's servants and the members of his household hear him cry.

"I am Yoseph. Is my father still alive?" Yosef exclaims.

Yoseph's brothers are tongue tied, feeling ashamed at what they had done to Yoseph and realizing by Yoseph's statement that he still loves them.

The brothers back away out of shame and Yoseph calls them back gently, telling them to come closer and shows them that he is circumcised.

Yoseph tells them that they should not be distressed over what they had done, since G-d had planned it all out for him to arrive in Egypt before them to save their lives.

He continues, saying that so far there have been two years of famine and there are five years yet to come where there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

He says that G-d sent him ahead of them in Egypt to ensure their survival there and make sure they are sustained for a great deliverance.

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice!For comments and inquiries, email [email protected]

Yehudah approaches Yoseph

Yehudah approaches Yoseph and requests to have a word with him. He speaks harshly to Yosephyet beseeches him not to get upset about what he's about to say by telling Yosef that he sees him as Pharaoh (i.e a king).

While the simple explanation of likening Yoseph to a Pharaoh is that it is a form of praise, there are a few alternative explanations that are not as kind:

1)Just as Pharaoh was stricken with tzaraas for detaining Sarah in the past, Yoseph will be stricken with tzaraas for detaining Binyamin (Sara's great grandson)

2) Just as a Pharaoh makes promises which he does not fulfill, Yoseph had said about Binyamin that he wished to "set his eye upon him". Is this how he does that?

3) Yehudah is saying that if Yoseph antagonizes him, he will kill Yoseph along with Pharaoh.

So Yehudah proceeds to recap what had happened to them so far: "You interrogated us as to whether we had a father or brother. What, were we looking to marry your daughter or were you looking to marry our sister that these questions should be of relevance to you?

And we told you that we have an elderly father who has a young son who's maternal brother is dead and that our father loves this living son."

Side note, Yehudah proclaimed Yoseph (ie Binyamin's maternal brother) as dead so that Yoseph wouldn't demand that they bring him as well. Although they had previously told Yoseph that they had arrived in Egypt to search for their lost brother, he made it sound like their search was in vain.

Yehuda continues, "And then you demanded that we bring our younger brother Binyamin to you, but we refused, fearing that he would die along the way as his mother died in travel. Yet you persisted and said that if we don't bring him back with us we will not be able to face you. So we returned to our father and told him all that had passed. And our father told us to return to buy more food. And we reiterated to him that we cannot return to you unless we bring Binyamin with us.

And our father said to us, "My wife bore me two sons. And one was torn to pieces by wild beasts and I haven't seen him as of yet. If you take this other son, a disaster may befall him as it is more common for the accusing angel to approach during situations of danger (and travel is included in this category). And if he were to die, it would be as if Binyamin, Yoseph and his wife Rachel all died on the same day since until now, Binyamin's presence had be serving as a consolation to Yaakov for the loss if Rachel and Yoseph.

And now, if I return to my father without Binyamin, with who's soul his so bound up with...."

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice!For comments and inquiries, email [email protected]

Yoseph Invites His Brothers for a Meal

Yosephsees that the brothers brought Binyamin with them and he tells the people in charge of his house to slaughter and prepare meat to eat his noontime meal with them.

The brothers misunderstood the invite for the meal and thought that they were being invited to lodge in Yoseph's home. They are worried that this indicates that Yoseph is really inviting them over so that he can imprison them for the money that they had found in their sacks. If they would have known that they were only being invited for a meal they would not have been so frightened.

They approach the man who is in charge of Yoseph's home and tell him that while they had originally come to Egypt to buy food as a result of being affected by the famine (even though in the past they had been accustomed to having plenty of food and enough even to feed others), they were now returning due to finding the money in their bags when they stopped at the inn. They say that they have no idea how the money got back into their bags and that they wished to return it to Yosef and that they have brought with them additional money to buy more food.

The man in charge of Yoseph's home tells them to calm down and that they have nothing to fear and that in the merit of them or if not their own merit than the merit of their father, G-d gave them that money as a gift and not to worry but the payment for their food was received.

And the man in charge of Yoseph's home brings out Shimon to them.

At first the brothers try to avoid this man but after he pacified them with his words, they followed him in the home.

The man gives them water, they wash their feet and the man gives them food for their donkeys.

The brothers decorate the tribute they had brought for Yoseph in preparation for giving it to him.

When Yosepharrives, the brothers bring him the tribute from the vestibule to the main chamber and prostate themselves in front of Yoseph.

Yosephasks them if their aged father is still alive and well. They bow and prostrate themselves in response and say that he is.

Yoseph then notices Binyamin and says, "Is this the younger brother you had spoken of?" and then he blesses Binyamin and says, "May G-d be gracious to you, my son."

Side note, all of the other brothers were blessed with "graciousness" when Esav met Yaakov in his travels and said about Yaakov's family that "G-d had graciously given them to his servant."(Breishis 33:5) however Binyamin had not yet been born at that time, which is why is now given the blessing of graciousness from Yoseph since he didn't get it before.

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice!For comments and inquiries, email [email protected]

Yoseph and Binyamin

Yoseph asks Binyamin if he has a brother from his mother and he says that he had one but he doesn't know where he is.

Yosephthen asks Binyamin if he has any sons and he says yes, he has 10 sons. Yosephasks for their names and Binyamin lists them all and explains how each one was named after his missing brother:

1)Bela - related to the word "swallowed", because his brother was swallowed up amongst the nations

2) Bechar - related to the word "firstborn" because he was the firstborn of his mother.

3) Ashbel - a variation on the contraction "Shavu E-l", meaning that G-d made him a captive

4) Gera - related to the word "sojourns", alluding to the fact the he sojourns at the "inn", i.e in a foreign land

5) Naaman - related to the world "pleasant" for he was exceedingly pleasant.

6)Echi - related to the word "brother" since he was his brother

7)Roth - related to the word "head" or "leader" since he was his leader

8)Mupim - related to the word "from the mouth of" since he studied from the mouth of Binyamin's father

9)Chuppim - related to the word "chuppah" since Yoseph did not see Binyamin's wedding and Binyamin did not see Yoseph's.

10)Ard, related to the word "to go down" since he descended amongst the nations.

When Yosephhears all of this he becomes very emotional and feels like he's going to cry so he goes into another room so no one can see his tears.

He washes off his face and pulls himself together and tells his servants to set up the meal.

He sets up a separate table for the brothers apart from the Egyptians. The Egyptians worshiped sheep and thus it was abhorrent for the Egyptians to eat together with the Hebrews who were eating sheep.

Yoseph seats all of the brothers in order not only of seniority in terms of birth age but also seniority in regards to their age rank by each mother. The brothers were astonished by this as they had no idea how he could possibly know this order.

He seats Binyamin next to him, saying this is because they both don't have mothers.

The food is passed around and Binyamin is given five times more food than everyone else. (The remainder of the food is divided into into five portions between 1)the other brothers 2)Yoseph 3)Osnat (Yoseph's wife) 4)Menashe and 5)Ephraim.

Both Yoseph and the brothers drink wine for the first time since Yoseph had been sold.

Yoseph tells the man in charge of his house to put the brothers money back in their bags and to put Yoseph's goblet in Binyamin's bag.

The brothers leave at dawn and a short while later, Yoseph instructs the man in charge of his house to go after them and say "Is this how you repay my goodness? By taking my special goblet by which I regularly divine?"

The servant does as Yoseph says and the brothers deny it all, saying "why would we do such a thing? We didn't even keep the money that we found in our bags last time - we came all the way back to return it. Do you really think we would take something that didn't belong to us?"

Side note: This is one of ten examples of what is called a Kal VaChomer in Tanach. A Kal Va'Chomer in an "all the more so" type of thing. So here the brothers are saying, we didn't even keep what was given to us by mistake, "all the more so" we wouldn't take something that isn't ours.

They say that upon whomever the goblet is found shall die and the rest shall become Yoseph's slaves.

Yoseph says that while it is true that they would all be culpable for the sin of one, however he would be merciful with them and only upon whomever the goblet is found shall become his slave but the rest will be set free.

So all of their bags are searched, beginning with the eldest, Reuven and ending with the youngest, Binyamin. Yoseph didn't want to make it obvious that he knew that the goblet was in Binyamin's bag which is why he didn't start with him.

They find the goblet in Binyamin's bag and they return to the city.

Yoseph is waiting for them when Yehuda and the rest of the brothers arrive.

Side note, Yoseph made sure to be ready and waiting for them so that they wouldn't have to linger amongst the Egyptians and thus be embarrassed by people looking upon them as thieves.

Yosephsays to them, "What have you done? Do you not know that a man like me can foretell events?"

Yehuda replies saying, "What can we say? How can we justify ourselves? It seems that G-d indeed sees us as having sinned so we are here ready to be your slaves."

Side note, Yehuda was not here confessing to having taken the goblet but rather acknowledging that G-d had set up the circumstances as such that they should be found guilty and Yehuda says that they accept this. He says that all the brothers, not just Binyamin, will be Yoseph's slaves.

Yosephprotests and says that that would be improper and he will only enslave Binyamin and the tells the rest of the brothers to return in peace to their father.

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice!For comments and inquiries, email [email protected]

The Brothers' Troubles

Yosef continues addressing his brothers, "If you are really honest, leave one of your brothers behind here in prison and the rest of you go and bring provisions back to your father and bring back your youngest brother to me. Thus you will prove your innocence and you will not die." The brothers do this.

The brothers say to one another "this is our payback for not responding to our brother (Yosef) when he pleaded with us."

Reuven speaks, "I told you not to sin against Yosef but you didn't listen to me, and see now his blood as well as the blood of our father (if he shall die in grief over our having to take Binyamin from him) is being avenged through us.

Yosef is nearby and overhears their whole conversation. The brothers did not realize that he understood since before when they had been talking to him, Yosef's son Menashe acted as an interpreter between them talking Hebrew, and Yosef. Now while they are talking Menashe is not present.

Yosef moves away from his brothers so that they don't see that he has started to cry, as he sees now that his brothers regretted what they had done. He then returns to them and takes Shimon from them and imprisons him while they are watching.

Side note: There are two explanations as to why he specifically takes Shimon: 1) Shimon was the one who cast Yosef into the pit and said to Levi, "Look, the dreamer is coming!" and 2)He wanted to separate Shimon from Levi lest they conspire against him the way they did in attacking Shchem.

While he made sure that the brothers saw him imprison Shimon, as soon as they leave, he takes Shimon out of the prison and feeds him.

Yosef tells the brothers to fill their bags with grain and return their money to their sacks and he gives them provisions for their journey.

They pack their donkeys and set out. In stopping at an inn to sleep along the way, Levi discovers that his money has been returned to his saddlebag and he and his brothers panic. "What has G-d done to us!" They exclaim.

They arrive at their father's home in Canaan and relate their adventures to him. They tell him how the ruler had spoken harshly to them and accused them of being spies. They tell him how they insisted upon their innocence and denied being spies and how they told the leader that they were twelve brothers in total and that one was gone and the other was with their father in Canaan. They tell him how Yosef had said that to prove their innocence they must leave behind one of their brothers and return to their father with food and then return back to Yosef with their younger brother. If they do all of this, Yosef will attest that they are innocent and give them back their brother as well as the freedom to travel about the land.

They unpack their bags and are petrified to see that all of their money sacks are still in their bags.

Yaakov tells his sons that he is bereaved because of them. He had suspected that Yehuda had killed Yosef and that the brothers were accomplices and now he had suspected that they also may have killed Shimon. He says, "Yosef is gone, Shimon is gone, now you want to take Binyamin as well??"

Reuven responds by saying that he will take full responsibility for Binyamin's safety to the point that if anything were to happen to Binyamin, Yaakov can slay Reuven's sons. Rather than appease Yaakov, this disturbs him even more. "What kind of crazy person is Reuven that he's willing to bet on his two sons like that?" He thinks to himself.

Yaakov refuses to let them take Binyamin.

The famine becomes severe in the land and the family runs out of food. Yaakov tells them to return to Egypt to buy more food.

Yehuda replies that the leader had warned them not to return without bringing along their brother Binyamin.

Yehuda says that they will not return to Egypt without Binyamin.

Yaakov exclaims, "Why did you have to go and tell that man that you have another brother?!"

The brothers answer by saying that they didn't realize that it would lead to this. Yosef had asked them detailed questions about their life and family and knew them so well that he would even be able to tell them "what type of wood their cribs were made from" so they knew that they could not deceive him and all they did was answer his questions.

Yehuda interjects and says that if they bring Binyamin with them, it is opening up the possibility of death to him, however if they stay in Egypt they will all die of starvation so he pleads with Yaakov to let Binyamin come with them and put him in Yehuda's hands. "Through this you shall live." He says, prophetically alluding to the fact that Yaakov's spirit became revived.

Yehuda guarantees that he will bring Binyamin back alive and that if he doesn't he will have sinned before his father "for all times" (i.e. regarding the World to Come).

He continues and says that they could have gone and returned twice by now had Yaakov not delayed them.

Yaakov capitulates and says, "If this is what must be then fine. Go, but take with you some of this land's glory as a tribute to the leader: Some balsam, some honey, wax, lotus, pistachios (or Rashi understands this to be peaches) and almonds."

He tells them to take double the amount of money as before in case the price of grain has risen. He also tells them to take the money that they found in their sacks as perhaps it was an oversight by the leader.

Yaakov says that now there is nothing left to do but pray and prays on their behalf that their "other"* brother will be released to them as well as Binyamin. He uses the name of G-d "K-el Shakkai" which is related to the word "sufficient". This is for two reasons: 1)To proclaim that G-d is "sufficiently" capable of taking care of them and 2)To declare that he has had "sufficient" sufferings, from Lavan, Esav, Rachel, Dina, Yosef, Shimon and now Binyamin.

*Side note: While the simple reading suggests that he is referring to Shimon being released, in using the word "other", this was a prophetic allusion to their "other"brother Yosef being released.

Yaakov goes on to say that until they return he will be bereaved due to the uncertainty regarding it all.

So they take the tribute, the money as well as Binyamin and they descend to Egypt and stand before Yosef.

Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

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Yoseph's Brother Go to Egypt

The seven years of plenty in Egypt come to an end and just as Yoseph predicted, the famine begun.

Yoseph had told the Egyptians to store grains in anticipation of the famine, which they did, however all of Egypt's grain aside from Yoseph's rotted.

The Egyptian people come to Pharaoh to complain and Pharaoh tells them that they should listen to whatever Yoseph tells them to do. In addition to telling them to store their grain, Yoseph had told them to circumcise themselves. The Egyptians were a licentious people and Yoseph thought that becoming circumcised might help curb their lustful tendencies. (Side note, according to the gemara (Sotah 4b), having their grain rot was a punishment for their sexual immorality).

The Egyptians respond bitterly to Pharaoh, "Yoseph told us to store our grain and it rotted. Should we also obey him with our bodies - what if that causes our death?"

The famine gets worse and Yosephbegins selling his grain supply to the wealthy Egyptians.

The famine becomes severe in Egypt and then extends to the whole Earth and people come from all over the globe to buy provisions from Yoseph.

Yaakov hears that there is grain in Egypt and has a premonition that there is something hopeful for him in that land (however the premonition wasn't clear enough so as for him to see that this "hope" involved Yoseph).

He tells his sons to stop acting as if they are not in need of food (they still had some produce but they would at some point run out).

So Yoseph's brothers (all except for Binyamin, making 10 in total), set out with unified heart, regretting what they had done to Yoseph and pledging to buy Yoseph back at any cost from his captors.

Yaakov does not send Binyamin with the rest of the brothers for fear of any danger that he might encounter along the way. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov explains that the Satan (i.e. "Accuser") comes to prosecute during dangerous times, and the Breishis Rabbah (91:9) and Tanchuma, VaYigash, 1 include travel in such a "dangerous" type of situation.

As per Yaakov's instructions, the brothers separate from one another and enter the city from different areas. This is in order for them not be conspicuous as they were all handsome and strong and Yaakov worried about people giving them "the evil eye".

Yoseph's brothers approach him and prostrate themselves in front of him, extending their arms and legs.

Even though Yosephrecognizes them, he speaks to them harshly and as if they were strangers. "Where are you coming from?" He demands. They reply that they came from the Land of Canaan to buy food.

Yosephhad grown a beard since he last saw his brothers, which is why they didn't recognize him. His brothers all had beards when Yosephlast saw them and still did which is how he was able to recognize them.

Realizing they are his brothers, he has mercy on them.

Yosephrealizes that the brothers prostrating themselves in front of him was a fulfillment of his dream and he accuses them of being spies who had come to scout out the weakness of the land in order to conquer it.

The brothers protest and say "please don't say this - we have come to buy food!"

They continue "We are all the sons of one man" (Side note, the inclusion of "we are all" was a Divinely inspired way by which they included Yoseph in their count), we are honest and have never been spies."

Here Yoseph brings up the fact that they all entered the land through different gates, saying that this is evidence that they are indeed spies.

The brothers explain that they are twelve brothers in total and that one of the brothers (Binyamin) remained behind with their father, and the last brother is stuck in Egypt and they entered through different gates because they wanted to search for him.

Yoseph replies "Aha! So you are spies." To explain:

In response to their saying that they went to search for their missing brother, Yoseph asks them if they would be willing to pay a large sum to get him back from his captors. They say yes. He then asks what they would do if their brother's captors refused to give him back even for a large sum of money and they reply that they have come to "kill or be killed". So Yosef uses this against them saying that he foresaw with his goblet that they came to "kill men" and that two of them had destroyed the great city of Schem.

Yoseph tests them as such - he says that he swears on the life of Pharaoh that he will not release them unless they bring back their younger brother.

Side note: whenever Yoseph wanted to bear false witness, he would "swear on the life of Pharaoh." This shows us that Pharaoh did not declare himself to be a deity until after Yosef passed away, otherwise it would have been forbidden for Yosef to swear in his name.

Yoseph commands that one of them leave to bring back the younger brother while the rest are imprisoned. He says this is a test to see if they are being honest and if they aren't then he reiterates that by Pharaoh's life they are spies!

Yoseph imprisons the brothers for a period of three days.

On the third day, Yoseph says to them "Do this and live. I fear G-d."