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Why does Ner Chanukah (חנוכה) allow us to make a bracha on someone else's mitzvah (מצוה) performance? Rashi (רש"י)'s reading of Yosef's dream—where "beautiful cows" means cows that gazed kindly at each other—reveals that the seven years of "savah" were years of emotional satisfaction, not merely plenty. True satisfaction is measured by our ability to rejoice in another's success, the antithesis of Greek competitive culture and the essence of Chanukah's victory.
Rabbi Zweig opens with a unique halacha (הלכה): Ner Chanukah (חנוכה) is the only mitzvah (מצוה) where one may recite a bracha (shehecheyanu) upon witnessing another person perform it—not for oneself, but simply by seeing someone else light. Tosafos (תוספות) explains this flows from the mitzvah being "chaviv" (precious), yet the conceptual basis for this distinction remains unclear. The parsha of Mikeitz provides the key. Pharaoh's dream describes cows grazing "be'achu"—Rashi (רש"י) translates as "in a swamp," but Onkelos and Ramban (רמב"ן) suggest "be'achva," in brotherhood or among diverse grains. More strikingly, Rashi interprets "yefos mar'eh" (beautiful appearance) not as physically attractive, well-fed cattle symbolizing agricultural abundance, but as cows that "gazed kindly at one another"—they did not begrudge each other's grazing. Rashi states explicitly: this is a "siman" (sign) for the people during the seven good years, that they did not begrudge one another.
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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.
Parshas Mikeitz, Bereishis 41:2-3
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