ON THE PARSHA Parshas Va'Yeishev by Dovid Lipman, Jerusalem The World Of The Supernatural (38:26) " [Yehuda said] 'She [Tamar] is correct; it is from me [her pregnancy].' " The words "she is correct", Yehuda's admission, certainly were spoken by him, but "it is from me" was actually announced by a bas-kol, a voice from heaven, acc. to the gemara (Makkos 23b). [Hashem was announcing, this episode was from me.] The gemara suggests a source from this pasuk - for how could Yehuda say for certain it was from him? Anyone could have done what he did! This proof is rejected, since Yehuda could have calculated the months and days, and assumed their fitting to be conclusive. "Rather," says the gemara, "we must say it is a tradition [that a bas-kol said it]." A Time To Laugh (40:20) "...on Par'oh's birthday he made a party..." Par'oh's birthday was not only known, it was celebrated and publicized. The following problem arises. Rashi (Sh'mos 7:15) brings a Midrash stating that Par'oh, in Moshe's time, claimed to be a god. Perhaps this can be understood with Rashi in Breishis (47:10) that Yaakov's blessing to Par'oh was that the Nile miraculously greet him whenever he went to it, by rising up. Rashi near there (47:19, with Sif. Cha.) explains further that this ended the famine in Egypt, because Egypt's economy rested entirely on the overflow of the Nile, so when Par'oh went out, and it overflowed to greet him, that was the end of the famine. Then, he was able to claim to be a god, even though everyone knew he'd been "born of a woman". You see, people will overlook just about EVERYTHING about their head of state if he's good for the economy. Worthy Of Note (37:24) "And the pit was empty; no water was in it." Two Midrashim, mysteriously juxtaposed in the gemara (Shabb. 22), are connected brilliantly by the K'lei Chemdah. The first states the halacha that a Channukah menorah may not be placed higher than twenty amos. Then, bringing our pasuk, the Midrash explains the repetition that WATER wasn't in the pit, but there were snakes and scorpions. The connection depends on the questions, if there were snakes, why did Re'uvain consider this better than murder? And why didn't the brothers realize Yoseif was righteous, when he was saved from death by what must have been a miracle? The gemara (Succ. 2a) says that the significance of twenty amos is that people don't notice anything that high. On Channukah, we need Pirsumei Nisa, publicizing the miracle, so this hight is invalid. Perhaps, hten the pit of Yoseif was LOWER than twenty amos down, so the brothers did not notice the snakes. So one Midrash is needed to understand the other. From the Gemara (38:26) "And Yehuda recognized it..." Makkos 11b - Yehuda caused Re'uvain to admit sin, by his example. Tos. (D"H Mi Garam) asks, bringing the Midrash on the earlier pasuk (37:29) "And Re'uvain came back" that says he had been missing from the feast due to fasting over his sin, then don't we see Re'uvain had admitted earlier? He explains, only after Yehuda's display did Re'uvain admit PUBLICLY. (38:27) "She came full term...she was carrying twins." Brachos 5b - from a textual hint to a different pasuk, we see that one who fulfills the halacha of aligning his bed from North to South will merit to have no miscarriages. (37:26) Sanhedrin 6b - On whom is said "A robber [botzeia] who blesses angers Hashem"? On Yehuda, who said "What gain [betza] is there in killing our brother?" [Rav Avigdor Miller explains that the Torah's sharp judgement here is for doing a job halfway, for Yehuda could have saved Yoseif entirely.] Rare And Unusual Words (38:2) "C'na'ani" This term normally refers to the nation descended from C'na'an, but here, where it describes Yehuda's father-in-law, the gemara (Pesa. 50a) interprets it to mean a merchant, as in the pasuk (Yeshaya 23) "Its merchants [C'na'aneha] were the most honored in the land..." After all, after Avraham told Yitzchak not to marry from C'na'an's family and Yitzchak told Yaakov the same, would Yehuda have done it??