“And Yaakov dwelled ….” (Bereshit, 37:1) “And Yaakov shall return, and be quiet and contented, and none shall disturb him” (Yirmiya, 30:10). “And it shall be afterwards I will pour out my spirit … your elders shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions” (Joel, 3:1). All the actions done in the world seem to be the actions of flesh and blood, but ideas and thoughts seem to come from God. But in these Parshiot God teaches us that it is the actions are in the hands of God and thoughts come from man, and all the actions that man does are only those that he is given leave to do, as it is written in the Gemara (Berachot, 33b), “all is in the hands of Heaven.” So the performance of a commandment or the opposite is in the hands of God, and only occasionally does He make the performance of a commandment dependent on man. We find in the Gemara (Sotah, 10a), “on the incident of Yehuda and Tamar, where he said, ‘she is more righteous than I,’ ‘than I,’ ‘mimeni,’ also means ‘from Me.’ Our Rabbis interpreted this to mean that a Divine voice came out of heaven to say that the whole incident came forth from Me.” It is said concerning the dreams of Yosef haTsaddik that they were inconsequential daydreams (that thoughts are really from the side of man), and truly his brothers gave him this response when he told them his dream. When Yaakov Avinu dreamed his dream en route to Lavan, he investigated it and taught all the depth within it to the tribes, and they studied it, each time receiving new Torah insights into its nature, for so many deep Torah insights are contained in this dream. So when Yosef haTsaddik said to them that he also dreamed dreams as precious as his father’s, they answered him, “will you surely rule over us?” For how could you resemble our father, for is not our father in a state of awe and cleaving to God all day long, and for this God shows him the depths of the Torah in his dreams, for he is cleaving God even in his sleep. But you are not on this level, so all your dreams are inconsequential fancies, and through your desire for greatness and status you dream these dreams, for you have no greatness from the qualities of the fear of God or humility. Yaakov Avinu, on the other hand, was constantly engaging in Divine service through these qualities—fear—meaning that he saw how God watches over everything, as it is written (Tehilim, 33:14), “from Your dwelling place you watch” and “he does not sleep” (Tehilim, 121:4). And humility—meaning he did not find himself superior to any part of creation, for “the superiority of a man over a beast is naught.” This, “naught” ayin in Hebrew, means that even though that truly from God’s point of view there is a difference between man and beast, from man’s point of view there is no (ain) distinction. This is “and Yaakov dwelled in the land of his father’s sojourning,” signifying fear (Zohar Bereshit 180a), and the continuation, “in the land of Canaan,” means humility. (The name Canaan is similar to the word for humility or submissiveness, c’niya.) And as the Midrash says, “he asked to live in peace.” This particular kind of peace occurs when a man conducts himself in a way as to remove himself and to guard himself from all doubt and all evil action. Concerning this, God told him that as long as man is connected to his body, it is not possible to reach the highest levels of self-guarding, fear, and humility. This is because God desires the actions of man, and in this world one must conduct himself with love, which means to act in ways that are not in the highest state of refinement. This is the formulation of the verse in Yirmiya, “and Yaakov returned [shav],” similar to “He restores [yeshovev] my soul,” in the delight of the Torah. “And be quiet,” meaning on the level of Shabbat, “and strangers shall stand and tend your sheep,” (Yesahya, 61:5). “And content,” meaning in thought, not to fear from wars and transient events. “And none shall disturb you,” meaning that even in your sleep you shall cleave to God, and not to fear, for nothing shall cause you to withdraw from God. This was the accusation of the tribes against Yosef haTsaddik. He too conducted himself in the attribute of fear. On this it says in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba, 84:8), “the light of his face was similar to Yaakov,” meaning that he delved deeply into these two attributes of fear and humility, in order that he could proceed in confidence. Thus it was said of him, “he was the son of his old age,” meaning that just as Yaakov Avinu conducted himself according to the attributes of Yitzchak Avinu, namely fear, so too did Yosef conduct himself with this attribute, and with humility, just like his father. For this reason God was also exacting with Yosef haTsaddik down to a hairsbreadth, for even though these attributes are good, one still needs to trust in God, for the actions done on the part of man are not an everlasting structure. Even though Yosef guarded himself greatly, and from him emerged all the kings of Israel who were called great, as it says in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba, 84:14), “It was the custom of great men to wear sackcloth [to suffer], for Yehoram dressed in sackcloth,” yet still, it is said of them (Kings 1, 11:39), “yet not all the days.” This means that (even through all their suffering) an everlasting structure was not to be in their portion, but rather in the portion of Yehuda. Even though he (Yosef) acted so his righteousness would stand in the world throughout the 6,000 years (until the redemption), still, the everlasting structure was the portion of Yehuda. And Yosef haTsaddik continually voiced the complaint—why is it that God causes all the actions of my brother Yehuda to succeed, yet with me, the Holy One, blessed be He, is exacting down to a hairsbreadth? So, in an answer to his query, God showed him the example of the wine steward and the baker. Every king has two attendants, one a wine steward and the other a baker. Truly, with the wine steward, if the king finds a fly in his cup it is not proper to punish him, for what could he do? The fly is an independent living creature, and if once the cup has been passed to the king the fly decides to land into the cup, then it is not possible to guard from it. Yet with the baker, if there is a pebble in the bread, isn’t it his fault, for the pebble is not a living being and he could have prevented it? In this God shows Yosef that he corresponds to the baker, for God established him in a bright and clean place over against Eisav, in order that Eisav would not have any room for accusation. This is why established Yosef against him, clean in all respects, as it is written (Ovadiah, 1:18), “and the house of Yosef is a flame [and the house of Eisav straw … and they shall devour them].” He gave him strength to be able to overcome all his desires. Then if some impure aspect comes to him from without, it is counted against him as a crime. Only out of God’s love for Yosef did He put another man in his place, and kill the baker, as it is written (Yesahya, 43:4), “and I will give men in your place.” From this he understood the matter. Yehuda corresponds to the wine steward, for King David is called “the King’s jester” (Zohar Shemot, 107a), and the songs of David are sung over the wine libation offerings. Truly, with Yehuda, concerning the incident with Tamar and all the happenings of the tribe of Yehuda similar to this, God instilled them with such a great power of desire that it was not even within their power to overcome it. As it is explained (Bereshit Rabba, 85:9), “the angel in charge of desire forced him.” Therefore it was not his fault that he could not overpower his inclination to evil. This is the meaning of “the King’s jester,” meaning that he lets God win over him, as King David said (Tehilim, 51:6), “in order that You should be shown right in Your word,” let whoever it pleases You to be right, You or I.

This is as it is said (Yesahya, 11:13), “Efriam shall not be jealous of Yehuda, and Yehuda shall not distress Efriam.” These two tribes were always opposing each other, for the force of life which God gave to Efriam (from Yosef) was of the nature that it always looked to every action regarding its judgment and law, without moving from it. Therefore, when the writings warn Israel against sinning, then the aim of the Torah will be to say (Amos, 5:6), “lest the house of Yosef should prevail like fire,” that they should take care that there is no opposition to their actions. The root of life for Yehuda, however, is to look to God regarding the course of every action. Even though he sees where the judgment leans, still he looks to God in order to see the depth of the truth of the matter. It could be that even though the judgment is true according to the claims of the plaintiffs, yet still it is not at the deepest level of truth, for fear that one would make a false claim. This is as we find (Nedarim, 25a) in the case of Rava’s cane. (One had not paid another a debt, and the other asserted that he had paid it. They told him to swear on a Torah scroll, and before doing so, he said to his lender, “hold my cane,” inside of which he had hidden the amount owed. He then swore on the Torah that all the money he owed he had paid to his hand. Which, of course, only he could know was true. The lender was furious at the apparent false oath and broke the cane, the money spilling onto the floor.) So it is with all matters, and this is the root of life for Yehuda, to look to God in everything and not to act simply in a way that is accepted or habitual. Even though yesterday he acted in such a way, yet anyhow, today he does not want to rely on his former response, only that God should illuminate His will into him anew. This matter sometimes necessitates even doing something against the law, for, “it is a time to do for God, the Torah has been suspended” (Tehilim, 119:126). In this way these two tribes oppose each other. Of the future it is said that, “Efriam will not be jealous of Yehuda, and Yehuda will not distress Efriam.” Then Efriam will not accuse Yehuda for the times when he goes outside of the law. He will not trouble him over this, because God will show Efriam the intentions of Yehuda, that his intentions are for the sake of Heaven and not for his own benefit. Then, of itself, there will be peace between them.

“And Yaakov returned to the land of his father’s sojourning, in the land of Canaan.” (Bereshit, 37:1) In this Parsha we find the first fine spiritual birrurs (birrurim) that occurred internally within Israel. Avraham Avinu was the root of the attribute of love, for he separated out all the kinds of love in the world that were not love solely given over to God’s will. Yitzchak Avinu was already refined in this attribute, for he was born from Avraham Avinu after he had refined himself with all such birrurs. So his attribute was only to refine fear, that is, to disencumber fear from any variety that is not the fear of God alone. With Yaakov Avinu, these two attributes were already well refined, and all of his dealings were in the attribute of tiferet—beauty (balance, splendor), termed the “middle bolt,” (See Shemot, 36:33) to arrange fear in its proper place and time, and so too with love. In the days of Avraham Avinu the depth of the preciousness of the Jewish people was not yet clearly recognized, and also in the days of Yitzchak, therefore they had to refine themselves from the attributes of the nations and to separate themselves from their power. This was not so with Yaakov Avinu, who had the twelve tribes of Yeshurun, who were all in their proper place, and not one deviated from God’s will. Here, all his efforts were to refine them among themselves, to clarify who would come first and who would come after. This too caused Yaakov Avinu suffering, for he asserted that Yosef was the chosen one. Yosef also thought this. These are the fine internal birurim that occurred within Israel, and will be explained further.

“And Yehuda said to his brothers, what will we profit in killing our brother?” (Bereshit, 37:26) It is written in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 6b), “whoever blesses [congratulates] Yehuda is called a compromiser.” (“sells out.”) Concerning this, it is said in the Gemara (Nedarim, 32b), “at the time of the evil inclination, no one remembers the inclination to good.” When God wants to test man, He causes him to forget the very basis of the prohibition in which he is being tested. So it was with the tribes when they wanted to kill Yosef; then the basis of the prohibition against killing was hidden from them, and he was only saved from counsel outside the realm of Torah. This also saved his brothers from sin. Yehuda was a great sage in the wisdom of this world, therefore he devised advice and said, “what profit [ma beitsa].” This means, even though that it seemed to him that it was lawfully permitted to kill him, as will be explained, still, what benefit will we receive by killing him?²⁹, ³⁰. And from not killing him our father will love us so much more. And immediately when they decided among themselves not to kill him, they saw the basis of the prohibition, that from the side of the law it was also forbidden. One is forbidden to defend himself by means of this advice based on the wisdom of this world anytime he wants to, he may only do this at a time that he is being tested and there is no other advice to be used. However, he is not to separate from the prohibition at a time when he remembers that it is forbidden, for it is forbidden for him to separate himself based on this kind of counsel unless it a direct commandment from the blessed One. This is the explanation of the Gemara, “all who congratulate Yehuda,” meaning for one who thinks that it always proper to do as Yehuda did, is called a compromiser (or one who compromises with the Torah), for even Yehuda used such advice only at a time of testing.

footnotes: ²⁹ And this was the “counsel outside of the realm of the Torah.” ³⁰ Would I suppose that my father would give me the coat? The coat of many colors was only meant for Yosef. Tashlum

“Let us go and sell him to the Ishmaelites ….” (Bereshit, 37:27) The tribes had first sentenced him to death, since he had spoken of their evils to their father. In their view this sin was in the very root of his life, God forbid, for creating a separation between them and their father was in their eyes akin to separating the Holy One, blessed be He, from the community of Israel, the Shekhina. At that time Yaakov was the “Tsaddik Yesod Olam,” the righteous one who is the foundation of the world, on whom the entire world rests, and he was the place where God revealed himself in this world, and they were at that time all of Israel. They were all included in the word “One” in Shema Yisroel, Echad (alef, 1; het, 8; dalet, 4). One was Yaakov; eight were the eight children of Leah and Rachel; and four were the four children of the handmaids. They understood that Yosef wanted to separate this unification. Only Yehuda in his wisdom said that the judgment was not arbitrated in this way. Maybe he is good and we are mistaken about him. In that case we should not do anything about him, and only let God make it clear concerning him, and if he is good in his root then certainly God will rescue him from all sin and he will not be lost in exile. So therefore God refined him, purifying his soul through the incident with the wife of Potiphar. For the brit of the foreskin corresponds to the brit of the tongue (Sefer Yetsira, 1:43), and when he emerged refined from this, then he was also refined and clean concerning the loshan horah (evil speech) of which his brothers had suspected him.

“… and Yehuda went down from his brothers ….” (Bereshit, 38:1) Why did Yehuda go and wed a wife at this particular time? When he saw how Yaakov refused to be consoled, and as he was the one who had to bring Yosef’s coat to his father, he became depressed, and felt as if, God forbid, there was no more hope. So he went to marry a wife, saying, “perhaps I will have good children from whom will grow an everlasting structure.”³¹. Then afterwards, the Holy One, blessed be He, caused him to understand the following. If, God forbid, it is as you think, and there is no hope for you, and you have no life at your root, if so, then even if you give birth to a hundred, they will not have any more life than you. For with God, the channel through which He sends life must itself be of life. Then, if it is as you think, that you will only have temporary life, then it will be so also with your descendants. Therefore, when the matter became clear to him, he fathered Shela, his name Shela meaning misled, the mistake he made in this matter. This is why his first two sons died, and Shela remained alive.

footnotes: ³¹ This is why his son’s name was Er, which means awake, as if to say that it would awaken the spirit to descend on us from God. Tashlum

“And Er the firstborn of Yehuda was evil in the sight of God ….” (Bereshit, 38:7) Rashi explains, “he was afraid that she would become pregnant and lose her beauty.” The sin of Er emerged in a way similar to what is explained. “Yaakov asked to dwell in peace [but the troubles of Yosef came upon him. The righteous want to dwell in peace. The Holy One, blessed be He said, it is not enough for the righteous that which is prepared for them in the world to come, but they seek also to dwell in peace in this world].” “To dwell in peace” means to guard oneself from all actions that could lead him into uncertainty. But this is not God’s will in this world. Therefore God showed Yaakov, saying, “look who will come from your progeny [Er], and he also intentionally avoided action in order not to suffer a loss. The only difference is he was involved in physical matters. See and understand the value of this.” Yaakov Avinu also had this deficiency, but his deficiency concerned the service of God where he guarded himself so as not to mar the beauty of his service. When this intention branches out into the body it becomes an explicit sin. So it was with all the thoughts of the Patriarchs, which to them were quite small, and then afterwards, when the Holy One, blessed be He, clarifies them, and creates a unique soul from this thought, then whatever will be clarified is clarified. The sin of Er and Onan follows according to what is explained in the Mishna (Avot, 2:1), “Rabbi said, what is the proper course for a man to follow? All that brings honor to he who does it, and honor to his fellow man.” “Honor to he who does it” actually means that the action will find favor in the eyes of his fellow man. “Honor to his fellow man” means that it will be good at its depth, from the depths of his life, at the very form (essence) of man.³², “man,” is a higher level than Ish, “mortal”. Tashlum. A man must look into all his actions to make sure they are refined according to these two requirements. If a man happens into an action that does not effect these two birurum (birrurs), on this we have the disagreement between the house of Shammai and the house of Hillel in the tractate Ketubot (16b). “Our Rabbis taught, how should one dance in front of a new bride? The house of Shammai says, the bride just as she is [one should not exaggerate in her presence and say she is beautiful if she is not].” Their assertion is that the main principle is “bringing honor to the one who does it,” for if they were to say, “a beautiful and comely bride,” it would not bring honor in the view of men because we are told to “stay far from lies.” “The house of Hillel says, a beautiful and comely bride,” meaning that even if it does not bring honor to the one who does it, still it is not necessary to look at this, since it brings honor from his fellow man. This means that man’s intellect will necessitate this.³³. This is as it explained, “The house of Hillel said to the house of Shammai, according to you if one has made a bad purchase in the market, should one praise it in his eyes or criticize it? Surely, one should praise it in his eyes.” It was that Er primarily regarded “bringing honor from his fellow man,” for it is well known that every birth will only come about through concealment and forgetting, just as the seed that is sown will not sprout unless it is destroyed and deteriorates in the soil. So too the drop of life, which descends from the brain, will not bring about birth until it becomes coarse and conglomerates in the seed of man. For at the moment of conception the consciousness of man (before God) is interrupted and forgotten, and if a man’s consciousness could stand constantly before his Creator then he would not be able to experience this concealment and forgetting necessary for conception. Therefore Er, since he only looked towards “bringing honor from his fellow man,” meaning that he always had a clear and brilliant intellect, and stood in the presence of God, therefore he did not want to detract from this. This is the meaning of “he did not want to detract from [or mar] her beauty,” meaning that he did not want to mar the splendor of Israel. Onan took the other way, for his actions were based on how he saw his father’s intentions, that his seed would only be called in the name of his brother. Therefore it was evil in his view that he would not be able to fix himself, but only the soul of his brother. This caused him to voice his grudges, as also happens with the great Tsaddikim. And the action of Onan is called “bringing honor to the one who does the action,” so therefore their souls were rectified when Peretz and Zerach were born. Peretz was the soul of Er, because Peretz is a term denoting tekufut (vigorous strength),³⁴.” meaning “bringing honor from his fellow man.” This means that even when the honor turns against his fellow man (into something else), he shall not look at this. Zerach was the soul of Onan, for his very name proves that his attribute is “bringing honor in contrast to his fellow man.”³⁵ Concerning these two, Peretz and Zerach, God said, “she is more righteous than I [also, from me],” (what Yehuda said of Tamar, their mother, and as the Gemara explains) “from Me came forth hidden things.” This means that even though Er and Onan were not worthy in God’s eyes, still their souls in Peretz and Zerach would be fixed. Even though it would seem that the descendants of Peretz would act against God’s law, as we find with the kingdom of the House of David, God would testify that it was always because of “a time to do for God.” Even though in terms of the action it seems that Er’s sin was greater than that of Onan, nonetheless his soul was greater at the depth than the soul of Onan, for the kingdom of the House of David was born from him. For the Holy One, blessed be He, conducts all the structures of the kingdom of the House of David, according to structures such as these, even though at the time of the action it seemed like a sin. In this way Yehuda thought that Tamar was a harlot because she was covering her face, which really means that the matter was concealed; a secret from God. This is as it is explained (Sotah, 10b, “she is more righteous than I” [Mimeni means both “than I” and “from me]), “from Me came forth hidden things.” The secret of the kingdom of the House of David is greatly concealed, even from the prophets.

footnotes: ³² For Adam ³³ As it is written (Mishlei, 3), “to find grace and good understanding” first, “in the eyes of God,” and only after “and man.” Tashlum ³⁴ A kind of “holy Chutspah ³⁵ Zerach means to shine, meaning shining from within, or bringing honor to the one who does it.