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Why couldn't the brothers answer Yosef when he revealed himself? The Midrash compares Yosef to Bilaam's donkey—both victims speaking personally, not judges pronouncing verdict. On Yom HaDin, Hashem (ה׳) judges our deeds, but on Yom HaTochacha He speaks as the One we victimized, and to a victim there is no answer.
Rabbi Zweig opens with a story about the Ponevezher Rav's question regarding the halachic principle that we rule like Rava over Rav Yosef, despite the Gemara (גמרא) in Gittin stating that the "mar dechitaya" (master of erudition, i.e., Rav Yosef) is greater. The Chazon Ish's response was that while Shas records only fifteen or so disputes where we rule like Rava, there were thousands of unstated disputes where Rav Yosef brought a Baraisa or Mishna proving the halacha (הלכה), effectively ending the debate. In those cases we pasken like Rav Yosef because he provided textual proof. Rabbi Zweig suggests an alternative: Rava needed Rav Yosef's challenges and sources to sharpen his thinking, similar to how Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai needed his students' questions to clarify his positions. The shiur then turns to a Midrash on Parshas Vayigash that links three seemingly disparate episodes: Bilaam being unable to answer his donkey's rebuke, the brothers being unable to answer Yosef's "Ha'od avi chai" question, and humanity being unable to answer Hashem (ה׳) on Yom HaDin. The Midrash concludes with a kal vachomer: if Bilaam could not answer his donkey and the brothers could not answer their youngest brother Yosef, how much more so will we be speechless before Hashem's rebuke.
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Vayigash 45:3
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