BAR
MITZVA MIKETZ
And
Pharaoh called Yosef:”Tzafnat Paaneach”, and gave him Osnat the
daughter of Potefera the priest of Unes wife.
How
difficult it is for the nations of the world to recognize the efficiency of the
Hebrew man. Once Pharaoh understood that Joseph would be his
savior, he wanted to change his name, to falsify his identity. As soon as he
nominated him to a position “in which only the crown will exceed you” he immediately
called Joseph “Tzafnat Paaneach” and with an additional effort to shrink
Joseph’s Jewish identity, Pharaoh
ordered Joseph to marry Osnat, the daughter of Potifera the Priest of
Un. Pharaoh wanted to convert Joseph to an Egyptian for all and every purpose, Alas
this effort failed. As notwithstanding the changing of the name and the
marrying of an Egyptian The Bible testifies “And Joseph walked
out on the land of Egypt”.
We have learned that thrice in
the bible the word “us” in Hebrew-
(Anachnu-אנחנו) while deleting the first letter A-א .In lieu of אנחנו Anachnu the text reads Nachnu נחנו..
The first time in our Parasha;
all of us (Nachnu) are the sons of one person.
The second time, We (Nachnu)
should go forward, thus the two and half tribes committing themselves to fight in
The Land of Israel as the front when wishing to reside outside Israel.
The third time; we [Nachnu]
have committed crime and betrayed.
Now why was the A missing? why
was it written Nachnu and not Anachnu?
The missing A Testifies of a
certain breach; on a problem requiring amendment; that each member of the
community must seek for the wrong make it right. Because of the shortage of
time we will concentrate only on the example of our parasha.
It is stated “we are (Anachnu)
the children of one man”. Later during the course of the story, the brothers
have stated, twelve of your servants we (Anachnu) are
brothers - with the A.
Rabbi Menachem of Kusuv
explains that once the brothers became determent to free Joseph even by risking
their lives, the emptiness was fulfilled. The A was readded. They were privileged to add the A thus Nachnu became Anachnu .
And how do you fill in the A?
“Last in deed but first in thought”. To understand that the other is always
different and that there is a lot of positive in the change. As the talmud
states in tractate Sanhedrin:
And why were the faces of people not similar to one
another? So a man will not see a nice apartment and nice
women and claim they are mine.
To guaranty that notwithstanding the difference mentioned above, the “A” still stands - stable and ensured. How does the tractate
Yevamut state?
Notwithstanding the fact that the house of Shamay and
the House of Hillel dispute; those
prohibiting, and those permitting, the House of Shamay did not refrain from
marrying girls of the House of Hillel and the House of Hillel, women from The
House of Shmai. To teach you that love and affection was ruling. Thus implementing the ruling: Justice and
piece thou shall love.
The thinking and the action together promise
the future of the “A”.
The Talmud in tractate
Kidushin states that the Deed is a realization of the deed and the realization
of the Thought. Whereas, the thought does not realize neither the Deed nor the
Thought.
Allow me to add my own interpretation of the
above,
It is not suffice to think
that you are a Jew. This was the basic origin of the reform movement in
Germany. They thought, ‘be a Jew in your tent, - in your thought - and a German outside, in your Deed, when you
walk in the public domain. This
philosophy was doomed because the Deed of being German in public, uprooted the Thought
of being a Jew at home. And only when the others - like the Nazis - reminded the Jew that he is an “Undermentch” the
Jew out of no choice, recognized his roots.
Joseph acted differently. Not only did he feel Jewish in his heart, he
refused to change his name; he refused to alter his identity. He was Jewish outside. as it was not ”Tzafnat
Paaneach”, who ruled Egypt; It was as
the Bible states Joseph.
Zalli Jaffe
Zalli Jaffe
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