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Moshiach in the Parsha
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"AT THE END (KEITZ) OF TWO YEARS"
GENESIS 41:4.
Sources: Beraishis Rabah 89:1. Midrash Hagadol in Torah Shleimah 41:6 Hashem set the time (keitz) in advance for when Yosef would be set free. Hashem also set the time for when everything else will happen. He set the time for the Geulah; the time for techiyas hameisim (when the dead will come back to life); and the time when He will take away the yetzer hara. The same way Yosef's time came, so too our time will come, and we will have the Geulah very, very soon!
PHAROAH'S DREAM
GENESIS 41:2-4.
Source: Likutei Sichos 15:346
Pharoah's dream is compared to the Galus. In his dream he dreamt of fat and skinny cows -- two opposite things. This is just like in Galus, where we are faced with opposites all the time. One minute we want holy things and the next minute, our yetzer hara makes us want things that are not holy. When the Geulah comes we won't be fooled by the yetzer hara anymore. We will see how everything in the world is only for Hashem.
"YOSEF WAS RUSHED FROM THE PIT"
GENESIS 41:14
Source: S'forno Yosef was locked up in the pit of Pharoah, and didn't know if he would ever get out. But suddenly, Hashem had Yosef freed from jail. The same thing happens when Hashem redeems the Bnei Yisrael. When He took us out of Egypt He did it very quickly. And the same thing will be now -- when Hashem takes us out of Galus very speedily!
HASHEM WILL BUILT IT QUICKLY
GENESIS 41:32.
Source: Midrash in Torah Shleimah 41:68. Michah 4:1 Pharoah saw two dreams with the same idea: one with two kinds of cows and one with bushels of wheat. Why did he have to see the same dream twice? Yosef explained to him that he saw the dream two times because, "Hashem is all ready and is in a rush to do it." The expression "ready" is also used in another verse, in Michah. Hashem told the prophet Micah that Yerushalayim and the place for the Bais Hamikdash is also ready. And when the Geulah comes, Hashem will rebuild it very quickly.
WE WILL "LOSE" ONLY TWO
GENESIS 43:14.
Source: Rashi. Beraishis Rabah 92:3 Yaakov was worried that when his sons went back to Egypt, Binyamin would be captured. Yaakov said, "If I lose, I lose". The first "I lose" means that he lost Yosef and Shimon. The second "I lose" refers to losing Binyamin. Yaakov was also talking about the Galus of the Bnei Yisrael. We would "lose" the first Bais Hamikdash, and then the second Bais Hamikdash. But the third Bais Hamikdash will never be destroyed!
HASHEM'S MERCY AND THE GEULAH
GENESIS 43:14.
Sources: Midrash Lekach Tov, Torah Shleimah 43:36 When Yaakov sent his sons back to Egypt, he asked Hashem to inspire Yosef to have mercy on them. Hashem's mercy is extremely great, and therefore has the power to take us out of exile. Therefore, when the Torah speaks about Hashem redeeming the Bnei Yisrael, Hashem's mercies are mentioned: "Hashem your G-d will return your exile and have mercy upon you." (Deuteronomy 30:3) Yaakov did not only ask that Hashem arouse mercy in Yosef. Yaakov requested an additional blessing that all the nations of the world have compassion upon us when the time for Geulah comes.
Hashem will have mercy on all the Bnei Yisrael in Galus and bring us safely to Eretz Yisrael when the Geulah comes.
"THE END OF SADNESS"
GENESIS 43:14.
Sources: Beraishis Rabah 92:1. Yefei To'ar Yaakov had many sad things happen to him in his life. In this parsha another sad thing happened, Yaakov had to send Binyamin to Egypt and was afraid he would never see him again. Before they went, Yaakov said, "May Hashem Al-mighty (Sh-d-a-i) grant that the man have mercy upon you." He hinted in this prayer to Hashem, "The One Who will eventually say dai ("enough") to all suffering, let him now say dai to my suffering and worries!" Yaakov told Hashem, "I know that when the Geulah comes we won't have any more worries. Please take away my worries right now as if the Geulah was already here!" -
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Insights on the Geula (Redemption)
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Adapted from the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
"It came to pass at the ketz (end) of two full years.." (Miketz 41:1) This verse introduces the story how Joseph was freed from prison, the ketz (end) to his confinement. Joseph's confinement was only physical but not spiritual. Even in jail he retained and guarded his spiritual heritage, the teachings absorbed from his father, and this light overcame the darkness of prison and filled him with hope, joy and delight. The restraints of prison did not really fetter him. Those restraints, therefore, were but a temporary confinement, and immediately upon his release he rose to rule over all of Egypt. The prison-house of Joseph, "a place where the king's prisoners are bound," is an allusion to this world into which the souls of Israel - the "children of G-d" - are made to descend to become vested in finite bodies in order to observe Torah and mitzvot. The analogy with a prison is noted especially during the time of the galut (exile). Thus we must remember Joseph and the events of his life. We must realize that the very idea of confinement is alien to us, because Jewish life is essentially unrestricted. The present era of restraints, therefore, is undoubtedly only temporary. It is merely a step toward the ultimate goal of illuminating the world, even in its present state of lowliness and galut, with the light of Torah and mitzvot. The fulfillment of this mission will be followed immediately by the final redemption of Moshiach .
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"Pharaoh sent and summoned Joseph, and they rushed him from the dungeon .. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you in charge over all the land of Egypt." (Miketz 41:14-41) Joseph's early period in Egypt was filled with difficulties and hardship. First he was a slave in the house of Potiphar, and from there was thrown into a dungeon where he suffered for many years. Yet while in prison there occurred a drastic change: simultaneously with his release from prison he became a ruler! When Joseph interpreted correctly the dreams of Pharaoh, he also solved the riddle of all his troubles to that point; for everything led progressively to his becoming the viceroy without whose permission "no man is to lift a hand or foot in all Egypt." The Jewish people, too, is presently in the dungeon of a harsh and bitter galut. For many years we have been bound and fettered by the shackles of the galut. We must realize, though, that just as Joseph went from confinement to rulership, so, too, our whole nation will speedily leave the prison of galut and simultaneously ascend to the status of royalty - "children of the King of all kings."
The mystery of the "dream of the galut" will be solved and explained at that point.
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Light Candles
