VOLUME 119 NUMBER 1
Teves 20, 5786
January 9, 2026
Parshas Shemos
Candlelighting Time 4:36
The Torah enumerates the total count of the nation when they arrived in Egypt. Then we are reminded that Yosef was in Egypt. Rashi explains that the Torah is emphasizing that Yosef withstood all the difficulties which the culture presented him with. They were a nation deeply entrenched in immorality. Additionally, we know that the wife of Potiphar went to great lengths to seduce Yosef. Yet, although distanced from his source of reinforcement and inspiration, his family, at a very young age, he was not drawn into the orbit of their depravity. Certainly, a sign of his nobility and preeminence. A picture of greatness that the family was able to envision upon their arrival in Egypt, the capital of iniquity and decadence. However, shouldn’t this extreme praise of Yosef have been stated earlier in sefer Bereishis when he was still alive?
Rav Shmuel Birnbaum Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir presents a very astute observation that is actually very pertinent to us today. Of course, the Torah could have mentioned the purity of spirit that Yosef displayed when he was still alive, however, the intent was to empower the generations arriving now in Egypt. How incredibly impressed they were when they heard about the tremendous self-sacrifice of Yosef. Not only did the wife of Potiphar attempt to seduce him, all the young women in Egypt were charmed by Yosef and made efforts to attract his attention. Yet he wasn’t fazed by all of that and rather strove forward to maintain the sanctity of his life as he had absorbed from his home.
Rav Shmuel actually explains Yosef’s steadfast conduct has another important aspect. In order for Yaakov and the nation to exist in Egypt and not fall prey to the decadent atmosphere that was present there was a need to temper the polluted environment of Egypt to bar its negativity upon the family. And that was exactly was Yosef was able to achieve with his stalwart behavior in the face of such adversity.
The Shelah Hakadosh in his seminal work indeed has a lengthy discourse also explaining that Egypt was the center of depravity and Yosef with his tremendous focus on purity and virtue battled those forces of corruption and introduced into the landscape of Egypt an entirely new theme of sanctity. Although it is possible to assume that the Egyptian population at large was not so impacted but at least the family was somewhat barricaded from the harmful effects of Egyptian debasement.
Perhaps we can take from Yosef a lesson that we also can effectively create a milieu that is suffused with the sanctity and holiness of Torah. And that is really what occurs when people with vision settle into a community which may not be so advanced with Torah values and ethics and they proceed to inspire the people that they are in contact with and therefore build shuls of prominence, schools for children to grow in their Torah, yeshivas for the teenagers and perhaps even a kollel to establish young married couples that can have a lasting and profound impact on the public.
A BYTE FOR SHABBOS
One should never say that something is impossible. When Pharoah’s daughter saw the tiny raft which held Moshe she stretched her hand knowing fully well that it could not reach him. However, miraculously her hand stretched out and grabbed his little boat. CHOFETZ CHAIM
GOOD SHABBOS
