Mikeitz: The Mitzvah to Feel Others' Pain During Times of Distress

The shiur opens with a Tosafos (תוספות) in Taanis that asks a fundamental question on a Rashi (רש"י) in Parshas Mikeitz. Rashi cites a Gemara (גמרא) stating that Yosef had relations with his wife before the famine began, proving it is forbidden to have marital relations during a time of hunger. Tosafos challenges this from Yocheved, who was born between the walls of Egypt during the second year of the famine, meaning Levi must have impregnated his wife during the famine period. Tosafos answers that the prohibition was only a midas chasidus that Yosef accepted upon himself, not a binding issur. This answer is difficult—could the shevatim not maintain even this standard of chasidus? The Maharal offers a different approach based on the halacha (הלכה) that someone who has not yet fulfilled pru u'revu is permitted to have relations even during a famine. Levi had not yet had a daughter, so technically he had not fulfilled pru u'revu. The Maharal adds a profound insight: while technically permitted, it would be inappropriate for one of the shevatim to be born through relations during chasuchei banim (deprivation of food). Therefore, Ephraim and Menashe had to be born before the famine, as they would become shevatim. Yocheved, being female, would not be counted among the shevatim, so there was no problem with her being born during this period. The Maharal compares this to someone born on Shabbos (שבת), who caused chillul Shabbos at birth—though the parents did nothing wrong, there remains an imperfection in the person's origins.