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Shabbat Parashat Miketz | 5770

Miketz | 2 Tevet 5770 | 19/12/2009

Parashat Hashavuah: The Spirit of Hashem in Them

In our parasha, the powerful and presumably responsible leader of the ancient world’s superpower, Paroh of Egypt, makes an incredibly strange political decision. He takes a convict, an ex-national of a lowly, despised nation, and gives him unparalleled power. Based on what? He had a convincing solution to Paroh’s dream, one which had not yet even been proven to be true. Even if we accept the explanations that Yosef proved he knew things others did not, in a country famous not only for great science but even for prowess in the occult, how does this make Yosef fit for immediate ascension to close to the throne?

Ask the Rabbi: How many times can a person serve as a sandek?

Can someone serve as a sandek more than once for the same family? Are there any halachic/minhag issues involved?

Ein Ayah: The Difference Between the People of the Two Temples

Regarding the pasuk, “Benayahu ben Yehoyada, the son of a live man, who was multi-active from Kabtze’el, he smote two Ariels of Moav, and he went down and smote the lion in the midst of the pit on a snowy day” (Shmuel II, 23:20). “Who was multi-active from Kabtze’el” – this means that he increased the number of and gathered Torah activists; “He smote two Ariels” (Rashi- a name that refers to the Beit Hamikdash, as indicated in Yeshaya 59) of Moav (the Beit Hamikdash is attributed to David who descended from Ruth, the Moavite)” – this means that no one in the time of either the first or second Temple was on his level.

P’ninat Mishpat: Precedence in the Payment of Multiple Debts – part II

We saw last time that the person who has the earliest dated document is first to receive payment from limited resources. Regarding real estate, we saw that seizing a resource does not help, whereas regarding movable objects, it does. According to the Shach, there is no precedence based on order of the loans regarding payment from movables.

Hemdat HaDaf HaYomi: A Single Judge (120b)

This week in the Daf Yomi the Gemara (120b) states that if a person made a vow and he regrets the vow, he can go to a single "mumcheh" (expert Rabbi) or three non-experts, and they can cancel his vow. Similarly, we find regarding monetary disputes that the Gemara (Sanhedrin 5a) says that they can be judged by three judges, or even a single judge if he is a "mumcheh lerabim" (public expert). We will try to clarify whether the concept of a mumcheh for the cancelation of vows is similar to the mumcheh lerabim for judging monetary cases.

This week’s Hemdat Yamim is dedicated in loving memory of
R' Meir ben
Yechezkel Shraga
Brachfeld
o.b.m

Hemdat Yamim is endowed by
Les & Ethel Sutker of Chicago, Illinois in loving memory of
Max and Mary Sutker and
Louis and Lillian Klein, z”l.

A weekly divrei Torah leaflet: A Glimpse at the Parasha, Ask the Rabbi, From the writings of Harav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, zt”l, Pninat Mishpat (Jewish Monetary Law).

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