Shabbat Parashat Mikeitz/Chanukah - 5785

Shabbat Parashat Mikeitz/Chanukah - 5785

Rabbi Hal Miller

  Yaakov saw that there was grain in Egypt, so Yaakov said to his sons, "Why

  do you make yourselves conspicuous?" [Bereishit 42:1]

What does the Torah mean that "Yaakov saw"? The Hebrew for the last phrase that

Yaakov said here is lamah titra'u, what does that mean?

Initially we might think that the next verse [42] answers about Yaakov seeing, when it says,

"And he said, 'Behold, I have heard that there are provisions in Egypt. Go down there

and purchase for us from there that we may live and not die'." Certainly this tells us

what he heard, but the verb in our verse is saw. In fact, Rav Saadiah Gaon and Chizkuni

both substitute 'heard' to replace 'saw' in our verse, but one has to ask why the Torah

would use different words to mean the same thing in consecutive verses.

Rashi understands 'saw' to be a limited prophetic vision, not enough to see that Yosef was

involved but enough to know that a trip to Egypt was warranted. Onkelos is similar. Ibn

Ezra compares it to the voice of God on Mt. Sinai, that all our senses were involved as one.

Radak is a little more 'natural', that Yaakov saw neighbors returning from Egypt with food

and when he asked them where they got it, he heard in the next verse.

Yaakov asked, why will you make yourself be seen? We know he was speaking to his sons,

but who is he concerned will see them? Onkelos and Sforno believe the sons were looking

at each other, not doing anything, rather waiting for one of their brothers to get up and go for

food. Ramban is similar, saying that Yaakov was chastising the brothers for not leaving as

soon as they had heard there were provisions in Egypt since they were low already. Rav

Soloveitchik explains that the brothers were delaying, afraid to travel the same road they

had put Yosef on years earlier.

But Rashi brings the Gemora [Taanit 10b] that the sons of Yishmael and Eisav would see them

sitting around, not going to Egypt, because they had enough food already. This would be a

danger to Yaakov and his family for others would attack to steal food. Ramban criticizes this

as Yishmael and Eisav were not living in the land of Canaan at the time, but notes it is possible

they were on the way to Egypt as well and would likely have passed through Canaan on the way.