פרשת שמות

 Fascinating differences that the Torah points out in three different stories, on how three people met their wives by wells of water.

Yitzchok-

Avraham sends his slave to find a wife for his son yitzchok. After the slave makes a condition with G-D (which the Rambam says is prohibited for jews to do), he sees  רבקה coming down with her flocks to a well and asks her to give him water to drink. רבקה being a person of חסד  not only gives him to drink but also his animals. 

The servant is the taker and the future wife is the giver.

Here are the pasukim-בראשית כד 

 וַיָּרָץ הָעֶבֶד, לִקְרָאתָהּ; וַיֹּאמֶר, הַגְמִיאִינִי נָא מְעַט-מַיִם מִכַּדֵּךְ.  יח וַתֹּאמֶר, שְׁתֵה אֲדֹנִי; וַתְּמַהֵר, וַתֹּרֶד כַּדָּהּ עַל-יָדָהּ--וַתַּשְׁקֵהוּ.  יט וַתְּכַל, לְהַשְׁקֹתוֹ; וַתֹּאמֶר, גַּם לִגְמַלֶּיךָ אֶשְׁאָב, עַד אִם-כִּלּוּ, לִשְׁתֹּת.  כ וַתְּמַהֵר, וַתְּעַר כַּדָּהּ אֶל-הַשֹּׁקֶת, וַתָּרָץ עוֹד אֶל-הַבְּאֵר, לִשְׁאֹב; וַתִּשְׁאַב, לְכָל-גְּמַלָּיו

And the servant ran to meet her, and said: 'Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher.' 18 And she said: 'Drink, my lord'; and she hastened, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. 19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said: 'I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.' 20 And she hastened, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

Yaakov-

Running away from esav and heading to his mother's family to find a wife (as per his father's command) he sees a well with three flocks of sheep  that are not able to access water from the well, due to a large rock blocking access. Only after all the shepards arrive, would they have enough manpower to remove the rock. Yaakov not knowing the details is concerned why the sheep are allowed to go thirsty or why the shepards are not doing their job. After the challenges are explained to him by the shepards, he sees Rachel and immediately rolls off the rock and gives to drink the sheep of Laban.

Yaakov is a man of justice and concerned with the property of others including his future wife( one could argue that the future wife was a bias and may have played a roll towards his action of rolling off the rock) Here are the pasukim in בראשית כט

וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה בְאֵר בַּשָּׂדֶה, וְהִנֵּה-שָׁם שְׁלֹשָׁה עֶדְרֵי-צֹאן רֹבְצִים עָלֶיהָ--כִּי מִן-הַבְּאֵר הַהִוא, יַשְׁקוּ הָעֲדָרִים; וְהָאֶבֶן גְּדֹלָה, עַל-פִּי הַבְּאֵר.  ג וְנֶאֶסְפוּ-שָׁמָּה כָל-הָעֲדָרִים, וְגָלְלוּ אֶת-הָאֶבֶן מֵעַל פִּי הַבְּאֵר, וְהִשְׁקוּ, אֶת-הַצֹּאן; וְהֵשִׁיבוּ אֶת-הָאֶבֶן עַל-פִּי הַבְּאֵר, לִמְקֹמָהּ.  ד וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם יַעֲקֹב, אַחַי מֵאַיִן אַתֶּם; וַיֹּאמְרוּ, מֵחָרָן אֲנָחְנוּ.  ה וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם, הַיְדַעְתֶּם אֶת-לָבָן בֶּן-נָחוֹר; וַיֹּאמְרוּ, יָדָעְנוּ.  ו וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם, הֲשָׁלוֹם לוֹ; וַיֹּאמְרוּ שָׁלוֹם--וְהִנֵּה רָחֵל בִּתּוֹ, בָּאָה עִם-הַצֹּאן.  ז וַיֹּאמֶר, הֵן עוֹד הַיּוֹם גָּדוֹל--לֹא-עֵת, הֵאָסֵף הַמִּקְנֶה; הַשְׁקוּ הַצֹּאן, וּלְכוּ רְעוּ.  ח וַיֹּאמְרוּ, לֹא נוּכַל, עַד אֲשֶׁר יֵאָסְפוּ כָּל-הָעֲדָרִים, וְגָלְלוּ אֶת-הָאֶבֶן מֵעַל פִּי הַבְּאֵר; וְהִשְׁקִינוּ, הַצֹּאן.  ט עוֹדֶנּוּ, מְדַבֵּר עִמָּם; וְרָחֵל בָּאָה, עִם-הַצֹּאן אֲשֶׁר לְאָבִיהָ--כִּי רֹעָה, הִוא.  י וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאָה יַעֲקֹב אֶת-רָחֵל, בַּת-לָבָן אֲחִי אִמּוֹ, וְאֶת-צֹאן לָבָן, אֲחִי אִמּוֹ; וַיִּגַּשׁ יַעֲקֹב, וַיָּגֶל אֶת-הָאֶבֶן מֵעַל פִּי הַבְּאֵר, וַיַּשְׁקְ, אֶת-צֹאן לָבָן אֲחִי אִמּוֹ.  

And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, three flocks of sheep lying there by it.--For out of that well they watered the flocks. And the stone upon the well's mouth was great. 3 And thither were all the flocks gathered; and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone back upon the well's mouth in its place.-- 4 And Jacob said unto them: 'My brethren, whence are ye?' And they said: 'Of Haran are we.' 5 And he said unto them: 'Know ye Laban the son of Nahor?' And they said: 'We know him.' 6 And he said unto them: 'Is it well with him?' And they said: 'It is well; and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.' 7 And he said: 'Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together; water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.' 8 And they said: 'We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep.' 9 While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she tended them. 10 And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.

Moses-

He was not looking for a wife; In fact he was running for his life because of his acting on an  injustice that he witnessed against his people. 

In running away from one injustice he encounters more injustice with the shepards chasing away the daughters of Midian from accessing a well for their flocks. Moshe saves them and then gives their sheep to drink(note-out of all three stories, the details of the moshe encounter is the smallest with yitzchak being the longest with the most detail).

Moshe stood for pure justice. It made no difference whether it was his people or pure strangers. Moshe had a need to take care of the weak and the oppressed. That is why he became the deliverer of the Jewish people, the writer of the greatest book of justice and the greatest prophet of all time.

Here are the pasukim in this weeks parsha שמות ב-

וּלְכֹהֵן מִדְיָן, שֶׁבַע בָּנוֹת; וַתָּבֹאנָה וַתִּדְלֶנָה, וַתְּמַלֶּאנָה אֶת-הָרְהָטִים, לְהַשְׁקוֹת, צֹאן אֲבִיהֶן.  ב,יז וַיָּבֹאוּ הָרֹעִים, וַיְגָרְשׁוּם; וַיָּקָם מֹשֶׁה וַיּוֹשִׁעָן, וַיַּשְׁקְ אֶת-צֹאנָם.  ב,יח וַתָּבֹאנָה, אֶל-רְעוּאֵל אֲבִיהֶן; וַיֹּאמֶר, מַדּוּעַ מִהַרְתֶּן בֹּא הַיּוֹם.  

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 And the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock

פרשת ויחי

 Something interesting I noticed in this weeks parsha.

In parsha ויגש, Joseph calms his brothers down by telling them that it wasn't them that sent him down to Egypt but instead it was G-D, with the end game of providing sustenance to the family during these last years of famine.

Here are the pasukim-

וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל-אֶחָיו גְּשׁוּ-נָא אֵלַי, וַיִּגָּשׁוּ; וַיֹּאמֶר, אֲנִי יוֹסֵף אֲחִיכֶם, אֲשֶׁר-מְכַרְתֶּם אֹתִי, מִצְרָיְמָה.  ה וְעַתָּה אַל-תֵּעָצְבוּ, וְאַל-יִחַר בְּעֵינֵיכֶם, כִּי-מְכַרְתֶּם אֹתִי, הֵנָּה:  כִּי לְמִחְיָה, שְׁלָחַנִי אֱלֹהִים לִפְנֵיכֶם.  ו כִּי-זֶה שְׁנָתַיִם הָרָעָב, בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ; וְעוֹד חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים, אֲשֶׁר אֵין-חָרִישׁ וְקָצִיר.  ז וַיִּשְׁלָחֵנִי אֱלֹהִים לִפְנֵיכֶם, לָשׂוּם לָכֶם שְׁאֵרִית בָּאָרֶץ, וּלְהַחֲיוֹת לָכֶם, לִפְלֵיטָה גְּדֹלָה.  ח וְעַתָּה, לֹא-אַתֶּם שְׁלַחְתֶּם אֹתִי הֵנָּה, כִּי, הָאֱלֹהִים; וַיְשִׂימֵנִי לְאָב לְפַרְעֹה, וּלְאָדוֹן לְכָל-בֵּיתוֹ, וּמֹשֵׁל, בְּכָל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. 

Joseph said unto his brethren: 'Come near to me, I pray you.' And they came near. And he said: 'I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5 And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land; and there are yet five years, in which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to give you a remnant on the earth, and to save you alive for a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God; and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

In this weeks parsha the brothers are nervous that now that their father has passed away, Joseph will take revenge. So they regurgitate the very argument that Joseph had told them regarding G-D sending him into Egypt, except they repeat it as if it came from their father. The key words are 

"אָנָּא שָׂא נָא פֶּשַׁע אַחֶיךָ וְחַטָּאתָם כִּי-רָעָה גְמָלוּךָ, וְעַתָּה שָׂא נָא, לְפֶשַׁע עַבְדֵי אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ"

"And now, we pray thee, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father"

Notice that they are saying that we were just being servants of the G-D of our father by fulfilling G-D's plan. It wasn't us that were truly evil but it was G-D that really planned all this.

Here comes the interesting part. In the next sentence, the brothers seem to be saying, that if you Joseph, are still upset at us, then we will stop being G-Ds servants and will instead choose to become servants to you..

Here are the words-

וַיֵּלְכוּ, גַּם-אֶחָיו, וַיִּפְּלוּ, לְפָנָיו; וַיֹּאמְרוּ, הִנֶּנּוּ לְךָ לַעֲבָדִים. 

And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said: 'Behold, we are thy bondmen.

Joseph immediately responds, I am definitely not a  replacement for G-D and once again repeats that G-D is good and is the one that  set this into motion in order to save the family; except this time, he does blame his brothers for the evil plotting/planning...

 וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם יוֹסֵף, אַל-תִּירָאוּ:  כִּי הֲתַחַת אֱלֹהִים, אָנִי.  כ וְאַתֶּם, חֲשַׁבְתֶּם עָלַי רָעָה; אֱלֹהִים, חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה, לְמַעַן עֲשֹׂה כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה, לְהַחֲיֹת עַם-רָב.

And Joseph said unto them: 'Fear not; for am I in the place of God? 20 And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Purim 2021 פרשת תצוה

 Just noticed this morning  during Megillah reading an interesting observation, that may connect to the mishkan that we are in the middle of discussing in our weekly parsha readings.

The Megillah starts off discussing the party of King Achashverosh and all the lavish ornaments and utensils that were used to celebrate. This reminds us of the Mishkan with all the ornaments and utensils that were being used to worship G-D. In fact, the Megillah goes our of its way to  mention the utensils that were captured from the mikdash that were used at this elaborate party of Achashverosh.

Another similar event in the Megillah, is the death of Vashti at the party of Achashverosh which reminds us of the death of the sons of Aaron; who also died during the inauguration and celebration of the chanukat hamishkan. The  major difference between the stories, is that the death of the sons of Aaron was a true tragedy vs the death of Vashtin actually put into motion, the eventual salvation of the Jewish people from the hands of Haman. 

One last interesting note,  in this weeks parsha, Moshe’s name is not mentioned; in the Megillah, G-D’s name is also not mentioned.

המבין יבין....:)

Shabbat Shalom :)