Yosef Knew the 70 Languages
בראשית מא, מד לֶא הֹּעְרַ פ רֶמאֹּ
יַו-אֹּל ךיֶדָעְלִב ו הֹּעְרַפ יִנֲא ףֵסֹּוי-יָרִ ים אִישׁ אֶת-יָדוֹּ וְאֶת-רַ גְלוֹּ ב ְכָל-אֶרֶ ץ מִצְרָ יִם
סוטה דף לו/ב א"ר חייא בר אבא אמר רבי יוחנן בשעה שאמר לו פרעה ליוסף ובלעדיך לא ירים איש את ידו וגו' אמרו איצטגניני פרעה עבד שלקחו רבו בעשרים כסף תמשילהו עלינו אמר להן גנוני מלכות אני רואה בו אמרו לו א"כ יהא יודע בשבעים לשון בא גבריאל ולימדו שבעים לשון לא הוה קגמר הוסיף לו אות אחת משמו של הקב"ה ולמד שנאמר (תהילים פ"א) עדות ביהוסף שמו בצאתו על ארץ מצרים שפת לא ידעתי אשמע
Clearly, the Gemara explains the end of the verse in Tehillim that “I did not know, I understand.” And also note that the verse in Tehillim begins and ends with an ע (numerical value of 70).
Yosef Recognized the Brothers, But They Did Not Recognize Him
בראשית מב, ח תֶא ףֵסֹּוי רֵ כַ
יַו-אֶחָיו וְהֵם לֹּא הִכ ִרֻ הו
יבמות דף פח/א אמר רב חסדא מלמד שיצא בלא חתימת זקן ובא בחתימת זקן
Since the older brothers already had beards when Yosef last saw them, he was able to recognize them. However, when they last saw Yosef, he did not have a beard (too young) and now they did not recognize him. Ramban asks what about the younger brothers, Yissachar and Zevulun who were practically the same age as Yosef, how did Yosef recognize them? First, since Yosef recognized the older brothers and they came to him as a group, he was able to recognize all of them. Further, Yosef had the city guardians providing him with descriptions of all entering the city, and thus, he had more time to adjust to recognize the brothers.
Reuven Offers His Two Sons
בראשית מב, לז לֶא ןֵב ואְר רֶמאֹּ
יַו-אָבִיו לֵאמֹּר אֶת-שְׁנֵי בָנַי ת ָמִית אִם-לֹּא אֲבִיאֶנ ו אֵלֶיך
We need to understand Reuven’s offer of his two sons to die if he does not fulfill his mission. We know (Bava Basra 118b) that Yehoshua and Calev were called “alive” since they took the portions of Eretz Yisrael from the spies, who were considered dead. Also, the one that becomes rich at the expense of another is called be enlivened by the other.
It is known that Yaacov set up for his children to inherit Eretz Yisrael (the 12 shvatim) to be explained in more detail in Parshas VeYechi. Thus, Reuven offered that if he failed in his mission to return Binyomin safely, he would forfeit the merit of his two sons in the division of Eretz Yisrael. Therefore, this is what Reuven meant by offering his sons to be “dead”, meaning without land. Similarly, the ones that did receive a portion in Eretz Yisrael were called alive. (After many years Rabbi Epstein was in Pressburg, and was told that the Chasam Sofer wrote this same explanation)
Yosef’s Redemption Delayed
בראשית מא, א לַע דֵמֹּע הֵ נִהְו םֵלֹּח הֹּעְרַפ ו םיִמָי םִיַתָנְׁש ץֵ
קִמ יִהְיַו-הַיְאֹּר
It is well known that since Yosef twice asked Paroh’s baker to remember him, Yosef’s redemption was pushed off for two years. It is not explained why the punishment was for two years. Possibly, one can explain that the time frame for remembering a person is 12 months (like the time period of mourning for a parent, special blessing when first seeing a friend after 12 months). Thus, midah k’neged midah, since Yosef requested twice to be remembered, the time of the “punishment” would be two periods of 12 months.
Side note: since the Torah mentions for us to remember what Amalek did to us and not to forget, Chazal established a public reading of the Torah once a year to fulfill this concept.
Yosef’s Wisdom and Recognition
בראשית מא, מג רֶׁשֲא הֶנְׁשִ מַה תֶבֶ כְרִמְ ב ֹּותֹּא בֵ כְרַ
יַו - ןֹּותָנְו ךֵרְבַא ויָנָפְל ואְרְקִ יַו ֹּול אֹּתוֹּ עַל כ ָל-אֶרֶ ץ מִצְרָ יִם:
According to Rashi the word "אברך" is part Hebrew and part Aramis. However, in Medrash this word is a שנים בך רחכמה ובב אנוטריקון. Yosef was wise like an elder, only young in years.
Yosef’s Oath and the Brothers
בראשית מב, טז תֶא חַ
קִיְו דָחֶא םֶ כִמ וחְלִׁש-אֲחִיכֶם וְאַת ֶם הֵאָסְרו וְיִב ָחֲנו ד ִ בְרֵ יכֶם הַאֱמֶת אִת ְכֶם וְאִם -לֹּא חֵי פַרְ עֹּה כ ִי םיִלְגַרְמ אַת ֶם :
It is a wonder that Yosef would swear by the life of Paroh about a matter which he knew not to be true. First, you might say that the language of חי פרעה is not a language of swearing but rather an affirmation as if saying the matter is so obvious, just as obvious as that Paroh is alive. Second, the word "מרגלים" is roshei taivos (acronym) for כרתם משמעאלים יאורחת ל נבתם גחל רבני מ “From the children of Rochel you stole, you sold to a traveling group of Yishmaelim.” Thus, Yosef was addressing the brothers and telling them “you did not say something false.”
Yosef Takes Shimon
בראשית מב, כד תֶא םָ תִאֵמ חַ
קִ יַו םֶהֵלֲא רֵ בַדְיַו םֶהֵלֲא בָׁשָ יַו ךְבֵ יַו םֶהיֵלֲעֵמ בֹּ סִ יַו- םֶהיֵניֵעְל ֹּותֹּא רֹּסֱאֶ יַו ןֹּועְמִׁש
According to the simple understanding Yosef should have taken Reuven. As the first-born, he represented all the brothers and was the one responsible for all the others. However, Yosef overheard Reuven tell his brothers that they should have listened to him many years earlier and returned their brother (Yosef) to his father. Thus, he now understood that Reuven did not share the same punishment as due to the other brothers. Therefore, he took the next oldest, Shimon.
Dreams and the Ohr Sameach
בראשית מא, יא הָלְיַָ֥לְב םוֹלֲ֛ח הָָ֥מְלַחַַּֽנַואֶחָָ֖ד אֲנִִ֣י וָה֑וא אִ֛ישׁ כְפִתְרָ֥ וֹן חֲלֹמָ֖וֹ חָלַָּֽמְנו׃
We had dreams the same night, he and I, each of us a dream with a meaning of its own.
In the introduction to this sefer, Rabbi Epstein relates that one morning the Ohr Sameach appeared in the Bais Medrash extremely happy. When they questioned him about this, the Ohr Sameach replied that he had a dream during the night. In the dream he was is in the Bais Medrash in the Upper World and all the great Rabbis of Jewish history were there. They were discussing how there did not appear to be anyone in the physical world below that could understand the true intend of the Torah. The Rashba stood up and declared that I am a little embarrassed to say that in my commentary on Chulin 22a on the subject of the daily sacrifices that were made, there is an incorrect text (Shu”t part 1 siman 276), this is this one current Rabbi who was able to understand the correct intention and fixed the text of the commentary. If one looks into the sefer Ohr Sameach (Hilchos Maaser Sheni chapter 7, halacha 3) he writes that after he finished declaring the correct text, he states, “I am very happy that I was able to place (the words) of haShem in the correct manner.” Perhaps he was alluding to this dream.
