liss@gramps.DEC (Frederick R. Liss DTN 237-3649) (12/10/85)
Last weeks parsha, Vayeshev, besides telling about Yosef being
betrayed by his brothers also digresses and tells the story of
Yehuda, his sons, and Tamar. However, there is another short
digression that puzzles me. I will ask the question as best I
can without having my chumash in front of me.
Yosef left his father and went to find his brothers. On his
way he was wondering aimlessly through a field when "he met a
certain man". This man told Yosef that his brothers were not
were they were expected to be. The man then said where they
were and Yosef went straight to them.
I know that there is a great deal of symbolism in this parsha.
Yosef was on a spiritual journey and became distracted. This
"certain man" guided Yosef back to the correct path. He
certainly must have been a wise man to influence Yosef since
we know that Yosef was knowledgeable of spiritual matters
while his brothers were only interested in physical matters.
My question is who is this man and what was it that Yosef was
searching for?
Thank you in advance,
Fred
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Frederick R. Liss UUCP ...decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-gramps!liss
Digital Equipment Corp. ARPA liss%gramps.DEC@decwrl.ARPA
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dsg@mhuxi.UUCP (David S. Green) (12/12/85)
> >I will ask the question as best I >can without having my chumash in front of me. I'll try to answer as best as I can without my chumash in front of me. >Yosef left his father and went to find his brothers. On his >way he was wondering aimlessly through a field when "he met a >certain man". This man told Yosef that his brothers were not >were they were expected to be. The man then said where they >were and Yosef went straight to them. > >My question is who is this man and what was it that Yosef was >searching for? > Frederick R. Liss UUCP ...decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-gramps!liss The commentary says that "a certain man" or this man was an "angel" I forget if he was Michael or Gabriel. The reason that the man was an angel is because he knew Joseph was looking for his brothers without Joseph having to ask. The exact identity of the angel is taken from a similar phrase "a certain man" elsewhere in the TANACH where the angel is identified. As to the second part of your question, Joseph had to fulfill the part of the prophecy that Israel would be enslaved for 400 years. Joseph kind of new where he was eventually going and what his "mission" was. Some say that Joseph's brothers weren't doing things all that pleasant and that is why they weren't where they were supposed to be! So, I don't think that Joseph was really searching for anything other than the location of his brothers. Please note that I recently read the ArtScroll commentary to the above and there are various interpretations to your question, I am writing the one I remember best.
am@vilya.UUCP (MALEK) (12/13/85)
In article <380@mhuxi.UUCP>, dsg@mhuxi.UUCP (David S. Green) writes: > The commentary says that "a certain man" or this man was an "angel" I forget > if he was Michael or Gabriel. The reason that the man was an angel is > because he knew Joseph was looking for his brothers without Joseph having > to ask. The exact identity of the angel is taken from a similar phrase > "a certain man" elsewhere in the TANACH where the angel is identified. Rashi quotes Tanchuma that the man was Gavriel, based on the pasuk in Daniel "Ve-ha-is Gavriel". This is not clear from the Chumash, since nothing supernatural occurs here. However, any pshat should explain why the word "ish" occurs so many times, so there is some reason for Rashi's pshat. Ibn Ezra says that the man was a regular person, following his regular practice of interpreting psukim literally whenever the literal interpretation makes some sort of sense. This does not negate the fact that the "man" was sent by Hashem. For a more complete analysis, Mr. Green has suggested that one refer to the Torah Shlema or the Art Scroll. -- Avi Malek @ATT Bell Labs Parsippany, NJ