Eyes Of Yosef

The Mishna Zevachim (112b) says that in Mishchan Shiloh the maaser sheni and kadshim kalim could be eaten in any place that was within eyesight of the Mishkan.  In the Mikdash it was eaten within the walls of Jerusalem.  The Gemarah (118b) says רבי אבהו אמר אמר קרא בן פרת יוסף בן פרת עלי עין עין שלא רצתה לזון וליהנות מדבר שאינו שלו תזכה ותאכל כמלא עיניה.  What is the connection between Yosef not taking the wife of Potifar and koshim kalim eaten within eyesight?  The Gemarah says that the descendants of Yosef are not affected by yetzer harah בן פורת עולי עין, why are they above ayin harah?  

Yosef says ועתה אל תעצבו ואל יחר בעיניכם כי מכרתם אתי הנה כי למחיה שלחני אלקים לפניכם.  Yosef's perspective of life is to see the good in things. Even the heinous act of being sold into slavery is seen by Yosef as just a means of setting up Klal Yisrael in Egypt.  Even more than this, when he repeats this to the brothers after Yaakov's passing, he says וְאַתֶּ֕ם חֲשַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עָלַ֖י רָעָ֑ה אלקים חֲשָׁבָ֣הּ לְטֹבָ֔ה לְמַ֗עַן עֲשֹׂ֛ה כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה לְהַחֲיֹ֥ת עַם־רָֽב׃ וְעַתָּה֙ אַל־תִּירָ֔אוּ אָנֹכִ֛י אֲכַלְכֵּ֥ל אֶתְכֶ֖ם וְאֶֽת־טַפְּכֶ֑ם, not only does he tell them not to worry, but he would take care of them because his descent to Egypt turned positive.  This is despite the fact that the brothers did not have any intension of doing anything for the success of Yosef, nonetheless the fact that it turned positive was reason to be positive toward his brother as well (see Tanya end of Ch. 12, Likutay Sichos volume 5 Vayigash sicha 2 footnote 48.)  It is the ability of Yosef to see the good even in what appears to be bad that made him the perfect man to be able to reverse the bad fortunes of the famine. 

It is this eye of goodness that Yosef has which allows him to see kedusha even beyond the walls of kedusha.  The positive eye of Yosef allows him to perceive kedusha even into areas which are beyond the walls of kedusha.  Therefore, his Mishkan allows maaser and kodshim kalim to be eaten in anything within eyesight.  Even that which is beyond the boundary can be elevated (Rav Kook in hesped on Hertzel and Shmuot Reyah.)  This is what allows Yosef to not be affected by ayin harah.  Those affected by ayin harah it means they are affected by external surroundings and events.  Someone who needs external validation and acceptance is affected by how others view him.  Someone who is able to rise above external negative events is not bothered by the view of others and therefore the evil eye is counterbalanced by his good eye (see Ein Ayah Berachot 55b translated on marehkohen.com) 

Malchus Yosef vs. Yehuda

The Tosefta Berachot (4:16) asks אמרו לו [למדנו] רבינו אמר להם מפני מה זכה יהודה למלכות?  

The Midrash (90:3) says א"ר שמעון בן גמליאל יוסף משלו נתנו פִּיו שֶׁלֹא נָשַׁק בַּעֲבֵרָה, וְעַל פִּיךָ יִשַּׁק כָּל עַמִּי, גּוּפוֹ שֶׁלֹא נָגַע בַּעֲבֵרָה וַיַּלְבֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ בִּגְדֵי שֵׁשׁ, וכו

The Shiurei Daas (shmuz on Malchus) notes the difference in the terminology of the Midrashim that for Yosef it says he malchus was given משלו, it was something internal of Yosef that made him deserving but for Yehuda it says he merited malchus indicating it was thrust upon him do to his actions.  Why do Yehuda's actions allow malchus to be thrust upon him but Yosef is deserving and what is the nature of this difference if the malchus is innate or thrust upon the recipient?  

ויכלכל יוסף.  Yosef is associated with כל which is the middah of yesod, כי כל בשמים וארץ.  The middah of yesod is that one plays an active role to the degree of giving to others.  Yosef provided for the entire country.  His malchus emanates from his own self perfection.  From his own active self perfection.  That is משלו, his malchus is merely a reflection of his internal malchus, of his self control to abstain from averah.  His rulership over his own emotions, his own limbs, is what demands that he be given malchus over others.    

Yehuda is associated with the sefirah of malchus דלית ליה מגרמיה כלום, his essence is not about receiving from above.  He does stumble in sin, he is not perfect.  He doesn't receive malchut due to self perfection.  Instead, it is his acceptance of his mistake, in his acknowledgement that there is something outside of him, that allows malchut to be bestowed upon him.  

The Sfas Emes cites from the Rim that הלל corresponds to Yosef and הודאה to Yehuda.  What does this mean?  הלל is related to בהלו נרו, the tzidkus of Yosef shines forth (Sfas Emes Chanukah 5631, 5647.)  He has the middah of גואה דקדושה, to be confident in his avodah because he is successful.  Yehuda is the middah of הודאה, of acknowledging his errors.  He realizes everything he receives is a זכות to receive it from Hashem.  He on his own is underserving and is thankful for all that he obtains.      

The Darkness Of Monotony

The Midrash says חֹשֶׁךְ זה גלות יון שהחשיכה עיניהם של ישראל בגזירותיהן שהיתה אומרת להם כתבו על קרן השור שאין לכם חלק באלהי ישראל.  Why is the golus of יון called חושך and how does that connect with writing on the horn of the ox?  

The Bach (siman 670) says שעיקר גזירת היוונים היה ביטול העבודה, ומשום שכלל ישראל נתרשלו בעבודה,ועי"ז היה הגזירה על ביטול העבודה.  What is the nature of this attitude of התרשלות?  This happens when one's activities become a routine.  When one merely goes through the actions as rote without fire and passion.  Since the avodah was done on a daily basis for such a long period of time, the passion necessary for proper avodah was lost.  This led to יון.  Why does this lead to יון?  Because Yavan is the personification of monotony.  Aristo believed that the world was always around.  The laws of nature always existed and are unchangeable.  They are of the opinion that אין כל חדש תחת השמש, everything has a set system of laws preprogrammed that it must fit into and can not be changed.  This is noted by the Bnei Yissaschar in the very name of יון itself which shares the numerable value of the word גלגל for they believe everything fits under the rules of the galgalim,  יון, זה שמם לדראון ולחרפות, יו"ן בגימטריא גלג"ל, זה היה כל מגמתם להשכיח מישראל התורה רק להאמין שאין שום הנהגה למעלה מן הגלגלים והכל הוא בטבע הגלגלים ושפיטת הכוכבים.  (This gematria is already noted in Megalah Amukot Vaeschanan 66.) Or in other words, a גלגל is a circle that goes around, there is no way out, there is nothing beyond it.  When things are preprogramed to rules there is no excitement.  Excitement comes through chiddush.  Yavan is the anti-chiddush, anti- excitement.

Why did Yavan have a philosophy of קדמות העולם?  Why could they not accept something to be greater than the laws of nature?  Yavan's core belief is that for wisdom must be quantifiable.  Something can only be true if it can be proven and demonstrated to be the truth.  They were limited by the extent of their own ability to absorb and relate to information.  Only that which can be assessed and assessed by a human's senses and understanding was the accepted truth.  Since the world currently functions within the laws and boundaries of nature, they could not accept anything beyond that.  They were stuck in the own box that they had created.   

Daniel (Ch. 7) compares Yavan to a נמר.  As the Maharal notes, the נמר is associated with עזות as the Mishna Avos says הוי עז כנמר.  The Maharal says this is connected to chachma for לא הביישן למד, it requires an element of chutzpah to be able to question and come to the truth.  However, when one's wisom is totally derived from עזות and not tempered with the middah of ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיה, when there is a lack of מודים, a lack of acknowledgement that there may be wisdom beyond one's reach, then it can lead to one's downfall. 

Rav Nissim Gaon in his hakdamah to Shas says that nevuah stopped at the beginning of the reign of Alexander.  The navi had the capability to "see" that which is beyond the boundaries of the world.  The rise of Yavan comes about to stifle this power.  The malchus of Yavan is the antitheses to nevuah.  The ability to see the truth beyond the world's limitations was removed by Yavan.  This is the darkness that Yavan brings into the world.  When one is shrouded in utter darkness one can only feel themselves, they are not aware of anything beyond themselves.  This is the darkness which Yavan brings into the world, a lack of awareness of anything beyond the self. 

The ox represents the strength of this world.  רב תבואות בכח שור, the ox is used to plow and plant, the basis for human life in this world.  Yavan says true strength is by cultivating the powers that exist within this world.  There is nothing beyond that.   

להשכיחם תורתך.  The words חושך and שכוח share the same letters.  One forgets things that are not important to a person.  Things done as a routine are not what one remembers.  People remember that which is important, cherished and unique.  The influence of the the natural systems and order adhered to by Yavan leads to שכחה (see Shem MiShmuel Mekatz (5676).)   

The Sfas Emes interprets הרגיל בנר as one who brings light into the רגילות.  One who injects fire, passion into the actions of rote.  That is what Chanukah teaches us.  That is a lesson of the burning Chanukah candles.  The Shem MiShmuel adds that these days are auspicious to be able to inject  feelings of freshness, excitement and passion already from days yonder,  זמן כ"ה בכסלו הוא מסוגל להתחדשות והתחלת עבודה עוד מימות עולם כי במדרש שלמ"ד בתשרי נברא העולם הי' קרבן קין והבל בחנוכה, ובכ"ה בכסלו נגמר המשכן אלא שהמתין עם הקמתו עד חודש שנולד בו יצחק אבינו, ונראה כי עד נס חנוכה אף שהי' הזמן מסוגל להתחלת עבודה מטעמא דבעינן למימר קמן, מ"מ הי' כאלו אבן הי' מונח על פי הבאר, ובנס חנוכה מחמת גודל מסירת הנפש שהי' שם זכו שנגלל האבן מעל פי הבאר, והפתח פתוח וכל מי שנדבו לבו לכנוס יכנוס.

The Feminine Future

This post is an idea I suggested for my wife to say at her Neshai Chanukah event. 

In many seforim (see hakdamah to Chazon Ovadyah Chanukah) it is cited in the name of the Midrash that all the holidays will be בטל in the future except for Chanukah and Purim (in texts of Midrash we have, only Purim is mentioned, but this is a girsa many cite.)  What does it mean the holidays will be בטל if the laws of the Torah are not subject to change?  It means that the moadim will exist but their significance will fade in the great light of the Messianic era (see Teshuvot Rasha #13.)  Why is it that the holidays of Chanukah and Purim won't dim in the future as well?  

The holidays of Chanukah and Purim are unique in that they are the only holidays in which we find that woman are obligated in the mitzvot of the holiday due to the principle of אף הן היו באותו הנס and according to some opinions that means not only were they including in the same miracle but they were the catalyst for the miracle, Ester in the Purim story, and Yehudit in the Chanukah story.  

The possuk says about the days of the future (Yermiyahu 31:21) נקבה תסובב גבר, "a woman shall go after a man."  The Alter Rebbe explains that in the current state of affairs the man is the one to chase after the woman (Kiddushin 2b,) which reflects the heavenly flow from the זעיר אנפין (the masculine presence) into מלכות (the feminine presence.)  However, in the days of the future the state of מלכות will be elevated higher into the משפיע.  Hence, the woman will not play a passive role but an active role.  נקבה תסובב גבר, the woman will run after the man, she will seek to be משפיע to him, תסובב also as in סיבה ומסובב, she be be the cause for her husband's success.  There two modes are reflected in the last two of the sheva berachot.  The sixth beracha ends בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', מְשַׂמֵּחַ חָתָן וְכַלָּה, the chatan is first, he is the giver and the כלה is the recipient.  The final beracha which describes the Messianic era, מְהֵרָה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ יִשָּׁמַע בְּעָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְחוּצוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָיִם וכו, ends בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', מְשַׂמֵּחַ חָתָן עִם הַכַּלָּה, the word עם meaning through as in the chatan's strength will come through the woman.  

Hence, it is specifically the holidays that come about through the actions of woman that are a harbinger of the days of the future when the feminine presence will be dominant and therefore their light will only grow stronger in the days of the future. 

36

The Eliya Rabbah (672:2) says  כתב הרוקח מדליקין בחנוכה ל"ו נרות, לפי שבחנוכת עולם ויתן אותם אלהים ברקיע השמים להאיר על הארץ ואותה האור נשתמש בה אדם הראשון ל"ו שעות יום ו' י"ב שעות ולילה י"ב שעות ויום ז' י"ב שעות:  The 36 neros of Chanukah correspond to the original light which shined for 36 hours and then was hidden.  This hidden light is evoked through the lighting of the neros Chanukah.  See more about this on "שטייגן."

The Bnei Yissachar מאמרי חודש כסלו טבת מאמר א (#6) says:

 לדעתי על כן שם החודש (שהאיר בו הארה מן האור הגנוז ומכוסה בתורה) נקרא כסל"ו, כ"ס ל"ו, כיסוי ל"ו אור ונר ומאורות נתגלה ההארה בחדש הזה.  

The 36 candles and 36 hours of the original hidden light correspond as well to the 36 hours of the expansion of Shabbos (see more about it in otzar forum,) as the Bnei Yissachar delineates in Shabbas maamer 2, 

עוד אבוא לבאר לך עניין אחר בטעם תוספת שבת. הנה כתבתי לך אשר מרן האריז"ל כתב, אשר תוספת שבת יכולין להוסיף עד ל"א שעות, היינו מן חצות יום הששי עד שעה אחת בליל א', והיינו ל"א שעות. ועוד אמר, שלא יאמרו תחינה עד חצות ליל א', כי עד חצות לילה עדיין הוא הארת שבת. ואם כן, לפי זה הוה הארת שבת ל"ו שעות. יש לומר שהתוספת הזה כעניין כל המצוות בהידורם, כעניין שאמרו (בבא קמא ט ב), הידור מצוה עד שליש במצוה.  On Shabbas one is also able to get a slight experience of the hidden light of creation, as the Bnei Yissachar notes in Shabbas maamer 3 #7.

This may correspond to the 36 tzaddikim that are דמקבלי אפי שכינה בכל יום as the Gemarah Sukkah (45b) says. The tzaddikim are able to have a glimpse of the hidden light in their lives and hence they are מקבלי אפי שכינה בכל יום.  

The Rebbe's father, Rav Levi Yizchak also notes that כסלו can be split into כס לו and he relates לו to the gematria of the word אלה as in שאו מרום עיניכם וראו מי ברא אלה.  The word אלה represents the mask of the world, the façade that there is no G-d behind the scenes.  The name אלקים as noted by the Zohar is made up of the words אלה ים.  The name אלקים has the gematria of טבע.  It is up to a person to see the מי behind the mask of טבע, of the אלה.  The hidden light is what illuminates our vision to see that even in the טבע, in the dark days of כסלו, Hashem is really behind it all hidden from our view. 

Is Bechirah A Good Thing

The Gemarah Sotah (36b) says באתה דיוקנו של אביו ונראת לו בחלון.  Yosef had a glimpse of Yaakov's face and that is what stopped him from sinning.  If Yosef had an external experience which stopped him from sinning why is he given credit for withstanding the test of Potiphar's wife?  

One approach of some seforim is to say this was not an external revelation of the face of Yaakov being conjured up before him but was a reflection of an internal resolve on the part of Yosef not to sin.  Yosef looked within himself and saw that he bears a resemblance to the holy face of Yaakov, etched on the כסא הכבוד and he realized it is not worth throwing it all away to do a sin.  That is the חלון that Chazal mention, a window can reflect that face of the one who looks into it.  Yosef saw a reflection of his potential face, of the face of kedusha that he will obtain if he refrains from sin.  When Yosef had this thought process, he received the fortitude to abstain from sin (from sefer הגיון לבי.)   

The Sfas Emes (5636) has a chiddush which he uses to explain this problem.  As an introduction, one school of thought (I think the common understand,) is that bechirah is a positive quality of man (as some understand לם אלוקים means,) a reflection of the Godliness within mankind.  Choice is what elevates mankind over animals who act purely based upon instinct.  Mankind is endowed with the girt of choice, one is given the ability to control their natural tendencies and choose a path of action.  The Sfas Emes here says the total opposite is the truth.  In the thought of the Sfas Emes, bechirah is an outgrowth of golus.  "עיקר הגלות הוא תוס' הבחירה כי אם לא הי' הבחירה כלל לאדם הי' ממש בן חורין"  In other words, naturally man should be like a malach, automatically programmed to do the desire of Hashem.  It is the sin of Adam that brings bechirah into the world and man is thrust into a life of choice, a life of distinguishing good from bad, of peeling away layers of falsehood to try to reach the truth.  The Sfas Emes says the test of Yosef was such that it was not humanly possible to overcome.  The only way Yosef was stopped from sinning was "רק ע"י רצון ולב אמת וצדק שיש להצדיק. זוכה שיקחו ממנו הבחירה שיצא מהנסיון. ופי' שיסייענו משמים." a removal of bechirah.  The removal of bechirah from Yosef is a harbinger of the geulah from the golus of Mitzraim and the geulah from all of the goliout which occurs when bitachon is removed.  The Sfas Emes (Bo 5638) says that was the message of bechirah being removed from Pharoah.  The message is that bechirah, the darkness of golus, is also under control of Hashem and can only go so far as Hashem allows it.  The Sfas Emes does not quote this Chazal in this piece but it fits in light of his approach.  Yosef did not have it within himself to withstand sin and indeed it was only through an external removal of his bechirah that he was able to avoid sin (see Sefer שערים אל הפנימיות Chapter 4.)  

See another approach in Likutay Moharan (#72 and volume 2 #150,) I'm not sure what he means. 

Internal Beauty

Zechariah (9:13)  כִּֽי־דָרַ֨כְתִּי לִ֜י יְהוּדָ֗ה קֶשֶׁת מִלֵּ֣אתִי אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְעֽוֹרַרְתִּ֚י בָנַ֙יִךְ֙ צִיּ֔וֹן עַל־בָּנַ֖יִךְ יָוָ֑ן וְשַׂמְתִּ֖יךְ כְּחֶ֥רֶב גִּבּֽוֹר.  Why are the conquerors of יון referred to as the people of ציון specifically?  The Alshich says since the battle of Chanukah was waged by the Chasmoniam who were the bearers of the Torah which is associated with ציון as in כי מציון תצא תורה.  And it is the Torah which the possuk concludes is the great sword which will be used to smite Javan.  

However, even though the Alshich notes the beginning of the possuk notes Yehuda and Efraim and then continues to the בני ציון indicating a third group, there are seforim that point out a connection between ציון and יוסף.  The word ציון itself can be broken into צ יון in which the צ stands for צדיק, Yosef is called tzaddik.  Closer to the point, the gematria of יוסף and ציון is exactly the same, 156, see much ado about this in Kol Hator.  Why is the power of Yosef used to defeat יון and what is its connection to ציון?  

Yosef is the only man in Chumash described as יפה תואר ויפה מראה.  Rashi tells us in Vayetzeh when the same expression appears in the Torah's description of Rachel, that תאר is צורת הפרצוף and מראה is זיו קלסתר.  In other words, תאר refers to the actually form of the face, how everything comes together to create a beautiful image and מראה refers to the internal shine that radiates of the face.  חכמת אדם תאיר פניו, the face expresses the internal wisdom that exists within the individual.  The תאר is an external beauty but it is even deeper when accompanied by מראה, a reflection of an internal purity. Why is it significant to know that Yosef was handsome and why is he the only man in Chumash given this description?  צִיּוֹן כְּלִילַת יֳפִי or as the possuk (Tehillim 50:2) says מציון מכלל יפי.  Zion is also called יופי, why? 

In its purest form יופי is an expression of the heavenly dimension meeting earth.  Zion is the meeting place of heaven and earth.  Yosef is the midah of yesod, כל כל בשמים ובארץ, the midah which combines heaven and earth.  The beauty is a reflection of the gashmi being used for the proper designated, ruchni purpose.  When the gashmi is inline with the ruchni purpose it was created for the internal purity shines though.  The יופי is not a maaleh on its own accord but is a mirror of the internal beauty of something being used for its designated purpose.     

The Greeks were known for their appreciation of aesthetics.  The beauty of Yefes is meant to adorn the אהלי שם.  It is a means to accentuate the spiritual usage of Shem.  However, they appreciated beauty but not as a means to an end but rather as an end in of itself.  The root of such a mistake shares the same roots as the origins of the sin of idolatry.  They also started with noble intensions to serve Hashem through His messengers but in the end they worshipped the means, they viewed that as an end in its own right an missed the bridge to the connect back to Hashem.  They got stuck in יפה תואר but it was not יפה מראה, there was no reflection of an inner, genuine truth shining through.  (This part is based upon shiurim from Rav Moshe Shhapira.)     

Rav Kook writes (see as an example his letters volume 4) that Zion refers to Yerushalayim as the capital of the nation of Klal Yisrael.  It is the term used to describe the seat of the malchus of Yisrael, of the mundane power of government.  Yerushalayim refers to the place of kedusha, the place of the Mikdash, the place that parallels the spiritual realm above.  That is why, as Rav Kook explains in the letter, he wished to move away from Mizrachi, and Zionism to form דגל ירושלים, a movement devoted to bring kedusha to the settling of Zion.  

This is why Zion is called יופי.  Its יופי is a mirror of the usage of the mundane force of the government body to facilitate the kedusha of Yerushalayim to to shine.  This midah is embodied by Yosef.  It is precisely because Yosef had the capability to live in the depths of Egypt, the טומאת הארץ, that he did not get lost in the externalities of beauty, that he is described as being handsome.