| Podcast: | Subscribe to Rabbi Gordon - Chumash |
| Audio: | Listen to Audio | Download this MP3 |
I may be missing something in the lesson here, again. The Egyptians called Joseph a Hebrew and treated him as such, but his brothers did not see him for who he was? They did not recognize him without his coat that they had shredded? Was he asking about his father being alive referring to Hashem, or Jacob? More questions than answers, and it seems as if the even the simple explanations from Rashi are beyond me.
At the time "Hebrew" could have meant anyone that was from a different land, i.e. a foreigner or an "alien." The main reason they didn't recognize him was because he had grown a beard -- and more importantly, he took steps to ensure that they wouldn't know his true identity until the time was right.
If I understand the reply, he was seeing if they had learned anything from their mistakes and if they would do it again before he shared the bounty he had been given?
Nafsho shura b’nafsho (Regarding Rabbi Gordon’s explanation of the Baal Turin on this phrase) Now I better understand how, the longer I learn with Rabbi Gordon, the more connected I feel to him. May his sweet neshama have ever more aliyot and may he bask in the presence of the Almighty.
Nafsho shura b'nafsho
Rabbi Gordon mistakenly says that Yaakov's soul is bound up with Yosef's soul (which is true). In this context, I think he meant to say "with Binyamin's soul" instead of "with Yosef's soul."