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Here is an amazing vort for parshas Vayeshev and Miketz. (Please let me know if it makes you flip out.)
There are various connections between Dovid and the hand or hands. First off, Yehuda’s blessing is about his hand at the nape of the enemy, and Rashi says it refers to Dovid. Moreover, the gematria of Dovid is fourteen, which is the gematria of hand. Dovid also spells du yad,two hands. Similarly, Shlomo, Dovid’s son, was called yedidya, which contains yad yad, two hands. Moreover, Dovid is compared to Eisav (in looks and innate tendencies), and the pasuk states that the hands are the hands of Eisav.
The pasuk says about the beis hamikdash, koninu yadecha, that it was built with His two hands. Who built the beis hamikdash? Dovid and Shlomo, HaShem’s two hands!
Yehuda said to Yaakov about Binyamin, from my hand you will ask him, that he would protect Binyamin. From my hand also means from Dovid you will ask him (Binyamin).Just as Yehuda was responsible for Binyamin, Dovid was also responsible to make sure that Mordechai (from Binyamin’s tribe) would be born, by not killing Shimi Ben Gera. The gemarah says that this is why the Megila calls Mordechai, “ish Yehudi.”
We can now fathom why the Torah tells us that Zerach stook out his hand. The gemarah says that Peretz broke through in kingly fasion, so Dovid hamelech came from him. Memeilah, Zerach stook out his hand. He wanted Dovid to come from him! But his hand was pulled back and Zerach broke forth! So Dovid descended from him!
Moish
Would you really be fine?
Would you love HaShem for taking you out of Mitzrayim, and giving you great leaders like Moshe Rabeinu, and great fathers like the Avos. Would you even properly believe in HaShem? No matter how refined some goyim are, their lower level neshama can not be a vehicle of truth. Moreover, it is Judaism that in one way or another spread morality throughout the world (whatever there is of it).
About the Bais Halevi’s vort.
You forgot to adress the second issue of the shevatim’s behavior.
The Bais Halevi says that Yoseph gave them mussar. Is my father still alive? You worry that he will die because of Binyamin, but is he still alive because of me!
We still need to understand the shevatim’s behavior. The truth is that Yehuda did a major teshuva. Through Binyamin he repaired the split between the sons of Leah and Rachel. This is why Yehuda became an areiv for Binyamin, and he was moser nefesh for him. This is why Yaakov later said to Yehuda, “from the ripping apart of my son you have arisen.” Although Yehuda was not that good in regard to Yoseph, he arose from that by fixing that sin through Binyamin.
This is also why Yoseph did his whole trick. He wanted to see if they would be moser nefesh for Binyamin and fix up the sin they did with him. Once they did so, he revealed himself to them.
Yoseph nonetheless gave them musar for not being good with him, because the pain they had from his mussar, feeling now more than ever before the pain they caused their father through him, further repaired the damage they caused.
This is a Dvar Torah about Shalom (peace).
Everything has different ways of looking at it. People are not b’shalom because they see things a certain way, while the other party sees it another way. The mida of shalom is to find a new way of seeing something that allows one to come to terms with it. Take suffering for instance. Many people are unhappy with it. But there are many positive aspects to it. When one undestands suffering in a different light, he comes to terms with it, and makes peace with it.
Who had this mida of Shalom?
R’ Akiva
He had an amazing ability to see things in a different way. When others cried over seeing foxes in the place of the beis Hamikdash, he laughed.
With this insight we can understand the gemara about the four who entered pardes, but only R’ Akiva entered in peace and exited in peace. We can easily understand that the deapest secrects of Torah are highly perplexing and seemingly contradictory. This would make a normal person go out of his box. But R’ Akiva entered in peace so he exited in peace. He entered with the mida of peace, the ability to see things in the ooposite way of how it appeared on the surface. Because he had this ability, he could come to terms with the various perplections of pardes. Because he entered with this mida of peace, he was able to exit in peace.
May we all find ways to judge each other favorably and achieve ahavas Yisrael.
Shalom al Yisrael.
My last Dvar Torah is for Parshas Vayechi.
Here is a short and sweet Dvar Torah for Parshas Miketz (that I should have posted two weeks ago.)
The Cupbearer and The Baker
Rashi comments that the Shechinah left Yaakov because Ephraim and Menashe would have wicked descendants, and he did not want to bless them. Kli Yakar says that Yoseph asked Yaakov to bless them in any case, just as HaShem blessed Yitzchak although Eisav would descend from Him. But how can Yaakov be compared to HaShem? Indeed, Avraham did not bless Yitzchak because Eisav would descend from him (Rashi Bereishis 25:11).
Yidden are the best because they believe in Hashem. The whole world are to’im, but even non religious Jews don’t believe in yeshu etc. This is a very big zechus for yidden.