תרל”ו Miketz

תרל”ו
ב”ה שבת חנוכה

ויריצוהו מן הבור בזוה”ק בבירא נחית וישליכו אותו הבורה. בבירא סליק לבתר כו’. דכתיב שתה מים מבורך.
The Zohar (1:194b) says that Yosef was lowered into the pit, yet his redemption was also from the pit. Referred to in the pasuk “Drink water from your well ‘bor’’”
(As an introduction, there is a negative force described as ‘he’elem’ hidden, and there is ‘hester’ covering up. These are fundamentally different, where the hidden is not an active negative, rather it is a hiddenness of the light of HaShem. However a ‘hester’ is an actual covering of the holiness. This covering comes from the negative forces and when a person sins by doing a negative action, or by not doing a positive action, this brings upon him a ‘covering’ which blocks the light.)
כי לכל איש ישראל יש הסתר הבא מסט”א ע”י יצה”ר השורה בו ונק’ בור.
Every person has some level of covering that’s rooted in the negative forces that come through one’s negative actions. This is called ‘bor’ – a pit.
(Which comes from an emptiness as it says by Yosef when he was thrown into the pit, it was empty, Rashi explains it was empty of water (Torah is referred to as water) but filled with snakes and scorpions, (hinting to negative forces) which come when there is no water.
אך ע”י התורה שנקראת מים יכולין לעלות מבור הזה.
However through the Torah which is called water, one can get out of this pit.
ויש לו עוד תוספות כח ע”י התגברות נגד היצה”ר. והוא עבודת האדם.
And with the Torah it has an extra strength (the Torah is the antidote for the yetzer Hara, not only that but also an ‘extra’ that one uses the excitement one is normally passionate for doing evil and uses that to serve HaShem) that is able to go against the evil inclination through the work of man.
והוא ענין התורה יורדת למקום נמוך ומתקיימת בכלי חרס כו’
This is the Torah that goes down into the lowest places and is preserved in earthenware vessels.
כן נק’ שמירת המים בורך כנ”ל.
And this protecting the water of Torah is called ‘drink water from your cistern ‘borcha’”.
(שְׁתֵה־מַ֥יִם מִבּוֹרֶ֑ךָ וְ֝נֹזְלִ֗ים מִתּ֥וֹךְ בְּאֵרֶֽךָ׃ Drink water from your own cistern, Running water from your own well.)
ונוזלים מתוך בארך הוא שורש נשמת האדם הבא מלמעלה והוא קדוש וטהור שע”י העבודה זוכין להמשיך כח נשמת חיים.
‘Running water from your well is referring to the source of one’s soul which is rooted above where it is completely holy and pure, and through man’s effort he is able to bring the energy of the life force down. (there are two aspects of the soul, one that is in the body and one that is above and never damaged by one’s actions)
והוא ענין השבת יומא דנשמתין ויש בו נשמה יתירה.
This running water is the idea of Shabbos The day of souls where everything is elevated and receives an extra soul ‘neshama yeseira’
ביאור הענין עפ”י פשוטו שבימי עבודה זוכין לנשמה כפי עבודת הגוף.
The explanation is as follows: During the days of the week one receives the elevated level of the soul, through one’s own effort.
כמ”ש בזוה”ק ע”פ אשר תמצא ידך לעשות בכחך כו’ לתקן הגוף כדי להמשיך בו כח הנשמה וכמ”ש בזוה”ק ע”פ יוצר רוח אדם בקרבו הכל בפרשה זו ע”ש.
As discussed in the zohar (see Zohar 1:197a)
אך בשבת קודש באה כח הנשמה לאדם אף שאינו זוכה בתיקון מעשיו. לכן נקראת נשמה יתירה. אך עכ”פ צריך להיות כלי מוכן לקבל הארת הנשמה והוא ענין הכנה שנאמר בשבת.
However on Shabbos the mechanism is different, for one can receive the holiness disproportionately to his actions even if he is not worthy, this is why it is called an ‘extra soul’ However the prerequisite is that one makes a vessel to at least receive the light, which is the preparation that we are commanded to do before Shabbos. (see Gemara Beitzah 2b, the days of the week are preparation for the days of the week, [also from a spiritual perspective])

והנה זאת היתה בחי’ יוסף עם השבטים שיוסף הוא ענין שבת בארך שאין לו ענין עבודת הגוף כלל כמ”ש נזיר אחיו.
And this was the difference between Yosef and his brothers. Yosef was the idea of Shabbos, running water, where he was so elevated that he didn’t have to apply effort, as he is called the crown of his brothers (he was on a different mission to them)
והם היו ענין ימי עבודה פי’ שזוכין לבחי’ בארך מתוך בורך כנ”ל.
However the brothers were compared to the days of the week, where one meris to ‘drink the water of your cistern’. as explained.
ולכן כאשר השליכו אותו הבורה הי’ קשה לפניו כמ”ש רק אין בו מים כי לא הורגל בעבודה זו.
Therefore when the brothers threw Yosef into the pit, he was very disturbed by this, for there was no water (Torah) in the pit – this was not the type of spiritual work he was used to. Yosef was not used to doing the work of the days of the week of battling the yetzer hara – the pit/cistern, he was used to the extra neshama of Shabbos.
[ויוכל להיות כי לא רצו השבטים יותר רק שיסתלק ג”כ ע”י הבור וידע ענין עבודתם ויוכל לסבול אותם כאשר אח”כ נעשה להם אוהב. ומקודם לא הי’ יכול לסבול אותם כמ”ש בפרשה הקודמת] [Perhaps this is why the brothers threw him into a pit, to bring Yosef to the awareness of the effort that they were going through, and that he would understand their effort. This would accomplish that Yosef would be able to love them as he did indeed in the end, but at the beginning he could not stand them.] ועזר לו השי”ת וסליק מבירא.
And it was from the pit that HaShem saved him (in the Zohar above) and he got out of the pit.
לכן איתא במדרש כשבאו השבטים. טבוח טבח והכן זה שבת כו’
This is in the Medrash (Mekhilta Beshalach) when the brothers came. Yosef slaughtered an animal for them. It was Friday afternoon, and they prepared an animal for Shabbos. From here we see that Yosef kept Shabbos even before it was commanded in the Torah. and as a reward HaShem said that his descendant (the prince of Efraim) will bring his korban of Shabbos (at the inauguration of the mizbeach) and it will be accepted.
פי’ שיוסף הוא בחי’ השבת
This is the idea of Yosef – Shabbos.
ובספרים כתבו רמז חנוכה בפ’ טבח והכן.
And in the holy books it is written (Shiltei Giborim on the Mordechai 455 Shabbos Chap 2) the words טבח והכן ‘slaughter and prepare an animal’ hint to Chanuka. (The last four letters make up the word Chanukah plus gematria)
ועם דברינו א”ש כי הי’ אז התחברות חנוכה ושבת כי חנוכה הוא התיקון ע”י הבור כמ”ש ויעלני מבור שאון מטיט היון והוא ענין השבטים והי’ התחברות ב’ הבחי’ כנ”ל:
and according to what we have said above this is all connected. There is a connection between Shabbos and Chanukah. For Chanukah the effort is one of a ‘pit’ as it says (tehillim 40:3) He lifted me from a miry pit, the slimy clay’ היון is the same letters as יון Greece, which (as explained) is the idea of the rest fo the brothers

עוד לענין הנ”ל דכתיב אשר ברא אלקים לעשות.
Also on the above point. in the Medrash (Tanchuma Tazria 5) Tornes Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva, whose actions are greater than those of man or those of HaShem. Rabbi Akiva answered those of man. (He brought him an example from sheaves of wheat, that are the actions of HaShem; however they need man’s intervention to create them into food. see medrash)
(Rabbi Akiva was saying that HaShem created the world in such a way that the small and seemingly insignificant actions of man have such a great effect, that they are so to speak ‘nicer’ than even the actions of HaShem
פי’ שכל הנברא בימי בראשית צריך תיקון כדאיתא במדרש שם ואיתא במד’ ממלאכת עולמו שבת אבל לא שבת ממעשה הצדיקים כו’ ע”ש.
The meaning of this is that everything that was created in the beginning of creation requires man to ‘fix’ or elevate it. as in the Midrash; even though HaShem stopped His work of creating the world, nevertheless He did not stop from showing the righteous and the wicked the effect of their actions.
והענין כנ”ל כי שלימות הבריאה הוא התחברות כח הנשמה בגוף
This is because the completion (perfection) of the world comes about when there is the proper connection between one’s neshama and one’s body.
וזה נוהג בכל הבריאה שיש בכ”ד בחי’ נשמה וגוף וזה לא נשלם כי תלוי בעבודת האדם לכן נאמר אשר ברא לעשות פי’ לתקן.
This applies in all of creation, for everything physical has a spiritual soul that sustains it, and it is not yet complete for it is dependent on man’s actions as it says ‘HaShem created to do’ meaning to be completed by man.
וזה כוונת זוה”ק אשר תמצא כו’ לעשות בכחך לתקן כנ”ל.
This is the meaning of the abovementioned Zohar, the neshama of a person is his soldier to fight with and earn one’s right in the world to come.
אך בש”ק יש זה השלימות אף בלי עבודת האדם לכן כי בו שבת כו’:
However on Shabbos when there is an elevation of all the soul, there isa completion of everything even without the intervention of man, as it says ‘For on that day He rested’. (HaShem ‘rested’, it was a day of shabbos integrally even without mankind.)

בפסוק ולא נודע כי באו אל קרבנה.
“It was not apparent they had swallowed them” (Bereishit 41:21). (Even though the seven thin cows swallowed the seven fat cows, it was not visible on their appearance, and they remained thin afterwards.)
ובסיפור החלום בתורה לא נאמר זה רק פרעה הוסיף זה
It is interesting to note that the first time Paroh described his dream he left out the above pasuk, it was only when telling it over to Yosef that he added this point.
ומזה בא גם אח”כ אשר לא ידע את יוסף.
And this very point (as will be explained) caused Paroh to later forget all the good that Yosef had done for his country, and enslave Bnei Yisrael.
וביאור הענין כמ”ש במ”א כי שני הרעב שהם בחי’ הסט”א יש בהם נצוצי קדושה משני השובע. רק הרשעים אין מכירין זאת.
The explanation is as we have explained above that three years of famine which are comparable to the negative forces, get all their sustenance from the sparks of holiness. However the evil doers don’t recognise this. (Just as Paroh did not have any energy on his own, and subsequently ‘forgot’ Yosef.)
לכן אמר ולא נודע.
This is the meaning of ‘it was not apparent’. (the entire power of the negative forces are based on deception, how it appears, not the way it actually is).
אבל יוסף הצדיק ביטל זה ואמר חלום אחד הוא שגם בו יש נ”ק מהאחדות
However Yosef the tadik was able to nullify this trickery of Paroh and said the “entire dream is one ‘echad’ (meaning).” Yosef was telling Paroh that even Paroh has sparks of holiness from the oneness of HaShem.
וגם פתר החלום שיכין אוכל שנים הטובות כו’. כי הכל הי’ רמז על גלות מצרים.
And Yosef also interpreted the dream, in such a way that the years of plenty (referring to the positive forces) will prepare for the years of famine. This (as explained above) was also hinting to the exile of Bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim, that they need to prepare in the good times, for the difficulty to come.
אך ע”י עבודת אבותינו ויוסף הצדיק הכינו רפואה מקודם המכה. שבזכותם הי’ הגאולה אח”כ.
And it was through the hard work of our forefathers and Yosef, that they prepared a cure before the sickness, for it was through their preparation that they were redeemed from Mitzrayim (Medrash above through Yosef guarding himself from forbidden relations Bnei Yisrael were able to also guard themselves in exile).
[וכמו שפתר יוסף שיצמח טובה למצרים שהכל הביאו הכסף למצרים כן ואח”כ יצאו ברכוש גדול] [And just as Yosef interpreted that the entire world will bring money to Mitzrayim to buy food, and good will come to Egypt due to the famine, so too Bnei Yisrael left with this money as it says ‘they will leave with a great substance’] והחלומות הולכין אחר הפה.
And as we know the meaning of dreams comes about by the mouth ‘peh’ (interpretation) of the dreams.
דרך רמז כי כל הגליות הם כמו חלומות ודמיונות כנודע שאם הי’ ברור הבטחון בהשי”ת שהכל ממנו בא. הי’ נגלה הטוב בכל דבר.
This too was hinting to us as a preparation for the exile. That exiles are like dreams and imaginations, for if a person has complete trust in HaShem that everything is from Him, all the good in everything would be clear to him.
וע”י הפה שהוא כחן של ישראל בתורה ועבודה. יכולין לבטל אלה הדמיונות והרהורים שמהם באים חלומות שוא.
And through the mouth (interpretation) which is referring to the true strength that we have in learning Torah and prayer,, we are able to nullify these illusions that cause the false dreams.
ויוסף הוא המשביר לכל עם הארץ הוא הקליפה המכסה פנימיות האמת. וע”י הצדיק היא נשברת ומתגלה האמת כנ”ל:
Yosef was the one who provided for everyone, referring to Yosef being able to uncover the external shell of illusion and reveal the truth inside. And it is via the tzadik that can break open the shell and reveal the truth. (as explained above, it says that ‘Yosef opened all that was in them’ (41:56), it doesn’t say he opened the warehouses to feed the nation, rather he opened what was in them ‘bahem’, he was able to tap into the actual illusion and reveal the truth.

בפסוק אשר יאמר לכם תעשו פרש”י שצוה אותם למול.
Paroh said to his nation ‘Do as Yosef commands you’ (41:55), Rashi explains that Yosef commanded them to circumcise themselves before he would feed them.
וזה נחשב לו לחטא כמ”ש בסה”ק על שחתם אות מילה במצרים.
This was actually considered a sin on Yosef’s behalf, giving them the Egyptians the covenant of circumcision.
אך נראה כי לאשר הי’ צדיק נבדל לא הי’ יכול לזון אותם בלתי שימולו. וכן הלשון במדרש איני זן את הערלים כו’.
However it seems that since Yosef was such a tzadik and separated from the desires of the world, he could not bear to feed them, if they had not been circumcised. As it says in the medrash ‘I will not feed the uncircumsized’, for he could not bear it.
עכ”ז נחשב לחטא כי הצדיק צריך לסבול הכל ולמצוא תקנה עבור כל אחד כערכו:
Nevertheless he is taken to task on this, for the tzadik needs to be able to endure and tolerate every person and find their mission, on their individual level.

בפסוק על דבר הכסף השב כו’ כסף איש בפי אמתחתו כו’ ה’ אלקיכם נתן לכם מטמון באמתחותיכם כספכם בא אלי כו’.
But the men were frightened at being brought into Yosef’s house. “It must be,” they thought, “because of the money being replaced in our bags the first time that we have been brought inside, as a pretext to attack us and seize us as slaves, with our pack animals.” (43:18)
He replied, “All is well with you; do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your bags for you. I received you money” (43:22)
י”ל ע”ד הרמז גם במדרש ובזוה”ק כתבו ללמוד מזה פחד ליום הדין.
We can explain this is alluding to an important lesson. In the Medrash and Zohar, it says that the brothers were referring to the fear of the ultimate day of judgement.
כי הם היו צדיקים השבטים ולא הי’ בהם חטא. אך הצדיק אף שגובר נגד יצרו בכל דבר. יש לו פחד ממה שרואה יצרו מתגבר עליו בכל יום.
Now the brothers were completely righteous and free from sin, yet even though the tzadik conquers his evil inclination he still has an underlying fear when he sees how his inclination gets stronger every day
וכפי שכל האדם אם הי’ הרצון אמת לשמים וע”י שגובר יצרו וכל רצונו וחשקו מוסר להשי”ת צריך להיות סר ממנו יצרו כי הרצון שעולה ממש לשמים איך יחזור להתדבק בגשמיות.
And logically it is very bothersome, for how can the will of a tzadik that is so strong in true service of HaShem, he conquers his desire and gives it all to HaShem, in return it the evil inclination should be removed from his, how can he subsequently fall into the trap of the physical desires?
אבל באמת אינו כן כי כן רצון הבורא ית’ להיות הרצון רצוא ושוב כדי להעלות כל הרצונות שבאדם להשי”ת. וזהו תיקון הגוף.
However this is not the way it truly is. HaShem really desires that one’s service of HaShem should be ‘back and forth’ in order for a person to actually uplift all of the desires to the service of HaShem. This is the real mission in repairing the body.
ז”ש על דבר הכסף הוא הרצון.
This is all hinted to in the above pasuk. “It is because of the money ‘kesef’” the word kesef is connected to the word ‘kisufin’ longing or desire.
השב באמתחותינו הוא הגוף.
“that was returned to our pouches” refers to the body. (the desire comes back into the body)
כסף איש בפי אמתחתו הוא לפתח חטאת רובץ.
“Each person’s money in their pouch ‘ ‘befi amtechoteinu’” literally the mouth or opening. This is referring to the evil inclination which is crouching at the opening (Berieshit 4:7). (The tzadik is constantly beset by the evil crouching at any opportunity)
ע”ז השיב להם אלקיכם נתן כו’ מטמון באמתחותיכם.
Yosef’s response to this was HaShem has given each of the money in your bags
פי’ שיש נ”ק נטמנות בגוף וצריכין להוציא ולברר הקדושה. לכן שב הכסף והחשק תמיד לגוף כאמור.
He was alluding to the idea that there are sparks of holiness hidden in the body, and these all need to be purified to bring out the holiness, therefore the money – the desire- is returned to you again to the body. as above.
כספכם בא אלי. ואעפ”כ הוא שב כנ”ל.
and in conclusion Yosef says “your money has come to me”, meaning that the tzadik nevertheless constantly returns to HaShem. as above.
ולכן אל יפול לב האדם עליו אף כי רואה יצרו מתגבר עליו עכ”ז יאמין כי מעשיו הטובים עולין לשמים:
The lesson therefore is that one should not be disheartened when he sees how his desire gets stronger each day, and entraps him. He should nevertheless believe that his good deeds to go up to Heaven, there is a plan and purpose in all His ways.