From the Pages of the OU Press

Yosef ’s wrenching descent into Egyptian bondage begins innocuously as his father, Yaakov, sends him to inquire after the welfare of his brothers in Shechem: “And he (Yaakov) sent him (Yosef) from the valley of Hevron and he arrived at Shechem…”

Strangely enough, at this critical turning point, Rashi focuses on a seemingly minor, ancillary problem in the text: “Was not Hevron on a mountain?”

The answer that Rashi proposes, however, moves far beyond geography and touches upon a powerful issue, central to the story of Yosef and his brothers.

Rashi cites a Talmudic passage which explains that by referring to the “Valley of Hevron,” the Torah allegorically alludes to the “deep plan” which had been revealed, decades earlier, to Yosef ’s great-grandfather, Avraham, who is buried in Hevron.

During the Covenant between the Pieces, God told Avraham: “Know full well…your children will be strangers in a land not their own, where they will be enslaved and persecuted for four hundred years.” (See Lech Lecha 4.)

Avraham’s prophetic vision is now about to unfold, generations later. The sale of Yosef is the mechanism which will set the initial events of the prophecy in motion. The Torah, therefore, introduces the story of Yosef ’s sale with a reference to the “Valley of Hevron” – the deep plan rooted in Hevron.

With his short, seemingly technical observation, therefore, Rashi alerts us to a fundamental truth concerning the story that we are about to read. The tale of Yosef and his brothers overlays deeper currents. This is not only the painful, personal story of a family in crisis. Yosef ’s first steps towards Shechem are also the first steps in another journey, which will ultimately transform the patriarchal family into an eternal people.

We are about to experience the divinely guided transition from the patriarchal era to the national era of Jewish history.

As the apparently harmonious reunion of Yaakov and Esav draws to a close (a reunion which, according to the rabbis, is actually more discordant than appears on the surface), the Torah recounts the following conversation between the brothers:

Esav: Let us travel…and I will proceed alongside you.

Yaakov: My lord knows that the children are tender and that the sheep and cattle are a burden upon me. If they are driven hard for a single day, then all the sheep will die. Let my lord travel ahead of his servant and I will make my way according to the pace dictated by the cattle…and by the children; until I come to my master at Seir.

Yaakov: For what purpose? Simply allow me to find favor in my lord’s eyes.

After the conversation concludes, Esav returns to his home in Seir while Yaakov travels to Succot.

In the course of his journey from Be’er Sheva to Charan, Yaakov arrives at a location where he is forced to bed down for the night. There he dreams his famous dream of a ladder stretching from the earth heavenward.

The phrase used in the Torah to describe Yaakov’s initial encounter with the location of his dream is: vayifga ba’makom, “and he encountered the place.”

In an episode strikingly similar to an earlier event in Avraham’s time, Yitzchak is approached by Avimelech, king of the Philistines, for the purpose of contracting a covenant of non-belligerence. After throwing a celebratory party, Yitzchak apparently agrees and the two camps part in peace.

A series of five seemingly unconnected events towards the end of Avraham’s life actually establish a pattern designed to teach the patriarch the parameters and boundaries of his involvement with an outside world:

1. Avraham prays on behalf of the Philistine king, Avimelech. The king had been punished with illness after abducting Sara (see Lech Lecha 2 for a discussion of a similar event).

2. Yitzchak is born.

3. Avraham and Avimelech contract a covenant.

4. The Akeida takes place.

5. Avraham defines himself as a ger v’toshav in his negotiations with the Hittites for the Cave of Machpeila. The patriarch then sends Eliezer to Aram Naharaim to find a wife for Yitzchak.

God appears to Avraham and launches Jewish history with the commandment: Lech lecha mei’artzecha…, “Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace and from the home of your father to the land that I will show you.”

Avraham responds by journeying to the land of Canaan; and the story of our nation begins.

The first sentence of Parshat Noach describes Noach as “righteous, complete in his generations.” The Torah goes on to say, “Noach walked with God.”

These two statements serve as the foundation for the following well-known rabbinic observations:

1. “Righteous, complete in his generations.”

Rabbi Yochanan said: The qualification “in his generations” indicates that Noach can be considered righteous only when judged against members of his own evil generation. Had he lived at another time, however, he would not have been considered righteous.

Reish Lakish said: The qualification “in his generations” indicates that Noach was righteous in spite of his generation. Had he lived at another time, however, he would have been even more virtuous.

Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe in his commentary Levush Haora notes that both Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish agree upon the mediocre nature of Noach’s righteousness. Even Reish Lakish, who interprets the text to Noach’s benefit, believes that this biblical hero could have been better. Noach, according to Reish Lakish, failed to live up to his potential because of the evil influence that surrounded him.

2. “Noach walked with God.”

Avraham, however, describes his relationship with God as follows: “the Lord before whom I walked.” Avraham walked before God; Noach only walked with God. This textual contrast indicates that Noach needed assistance and support while Avraham strengthened himself and walked in righteousness on his own.

One of the piyyutim on Simchat Torah contains an enigmatic statement: “Let us rejoice and delight in this Torah, for she is strength and light for us.” What is the meaning of “be-zot ha-Torah —this Torah”? Should we not merely say “Let us rejoice and delight in the Torah”?

More than simply the first date on the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Chavah in the Garden of Eden. It is the Day of Judgment, when not only Jews, but all people are measured and marked on their deeds of the past year. It is the start of the Ten Days of Repentance, which culminate on Yom Kippur, a period when Jews are called upon to be on their best behavior and reflect upon ways for self-improvement.

The mishnayot in Massechet Bikkurim describe the pomp and circumstance which surrounded the bringing of the bikkurim by the farmers to Jerusalem. The procession involved a large group led by an ox whose horns were plated with gold. A flute was played at the head of the parade, announcing that the bikkurim procession was headed toward Jerusalem.

But why this mitzvah? Why did the Torah choose bikkurim to be presented in such a unique and public fashion? What differentiates bikkurim from, say, ma’aser sheni, which is also brought to Jerusalem?