The Shach Al HaTorah answers: Yosef HaTzadik due to his righteousness didn’t have any bad smell, therefore, there was no need to smear him with pleasant smelling fragrances – Yosef naturally emitted a pleasant smell.
The sefer Vayalaket Dovid writes, that on the contrary Pharaoh's messengers were afraid to wash him, as they were afraid they would remove the pleasant smell. He writes: Certainly one who sits in prison for 12 years emits a foul smell, however, Yosef HaTzadik didn’t have any smell, due to his righteousness! On the contrary, he emitted a pleasant smell! If he would have smelt badly, they would have washed him. Yosef HaTzadik (יוסף הצדיק) – is the same gematria as the words ריחו נודף (pleasant smell). Therefore, it writes, ‘They hastily brought him’, they hastened to bring him whilst he was still smelling pleasant, and this is why they never washed him, as they were scared the pleasant smell would get washed away!
The sefer Vayalaket Dovid continues. The pasuk says: ויגלח ויחלף שמלותיו - “He gave himself a haircut and he changed his garments”. It doesn’t say, “They gave him a haircut and brought him new garments”, it says, Yosef gave himself a haircut and changed into his own garments. Surely, he was in prison for twelve years, so how did he have his own clothes to change into?
The Vayalaket Dovid explains: Yosef wanted to show how kind Hashem was to him, and he wanted to show that he never got sweaty or smelly all his years in prison. So, he took off his under garments and put them on the top, to show that even his under garments remained fresh and were fit to come in front of a king in. He wanted to publicize the miracle that Hashem performed for him, which helped him stay fresh, and he changed his own garments, by putting the under garments on the top.
The Vayalaket Dovid then offers another explanation for why the pasuk doesn’t mention that Pharaoh’s messengers “gave him a haircut and changed his clothes”. He explains that in truth it wasn’t Pharaoh’s messengers who did it, rather it was a malach [angel]. Whilst Yosef was in prison there was a malach there which taught him the seventy languages, perhaps this same malach, gave him a haircut and new clothes.
The Shach Al HaTorah writes that malach Gavriel gave Yosef a haircut and brought him clothes from Gan Eden.
Why Did Pharaoh’s Messengers Not Prepare Yosef and Bring for Him Clothes?
Pharaoh’s messengers were sent to prepare Yosef to come and meet with him, so why didn’t they come with clothes? Moreover, why did Yosef need clothes from Gan Eden, what was wrong with regular clothes?
The Alshich and other meforshim explain, that the messengers of Pharaoh weren’t interested in giving him a haircut and changing his clothes, on the contrary, they wanted to bring him as he was, as Yosef was a yefas to’ar, very beautiful. However, Yosef refused due to kavod malchus [respect for the king], and he refused to go before having a haircut and changing his clothes. This explain why the messengers never brought any change of clothing
Shatnez Free
Perhaps we can suggest another answer to why Yosef needed clothes from Gan Eden. Yosef HaTzadik kept the entire Torah – even when in prison he learnt Torah, therefore, certainly when he came in front of Pharaoh he was careful not to wear clothes which may contain shatnez. However, perhaps the messengers of Pharaoh were rushing him too much and he didn’t managed to get hold of shatnez free clothing, therefore, a malach had to come and provide him clothes from Gan Eiden.
Exempt from Tzitziz
Perhaps we can also say, that the clothes Yosef wore required tzitzis, and there wasn’t time to attach them, therefore, malach Gavriel brought special clothes from Shomayim which were not created by man, and such clothes are exempt from tzitzis (see Meshech Chochmah, Parshas Vayechi, with pirush Mekor Chochmah V’Yad Chochma, ois 7).
What Was Special About the Worn-Out Clothes of the Kohen Gadol
Slightly related to the above, and related to Chanukah, I would like to mention one last point. The Yerushalmi (5:3) writes: From the worn-out trousers of the Kohen Gadol – they would light candles inside (the menorah), and from worn-out trousers of the Kohen Hedyat – they would light candles outside (of the azorah)”. The question is, why did they specifically use worn out trousers of the Kohen Gadol for the menorah, surely both the worn-out trousers of the Kohen Hedyat and the Kohen Gadol were suitable?
The Aruch LaNer (Succah 51a) explains: “Perhaps they were very dirty and disgusting from sweat – however, they used the Kohen Gadol’s worn out clothes due to its importance.”
[It seems from the Aruch Laner that they never washed the clothes before using them. Perhaps this is due to chavivus hamitzvah [love for the mitzvah]. Like we find that the Maharil would use his wine stained kittel for Yom Kippur – in order that the stains of wine would come and testify how Klal Yisroel are careful and love mitzvos so much.]
However, we still have to understand: Just because the Kohen Gadol was prestigious, why does that make it that his clothes had less sweat than a Kohen Hedyat?
In Kovets Moriyah (Cheshvan 5769, Year 29, Booklet 5-7, pg. 236) R’ Yisroel Danderovitz shlita explains based on what we mentioned above that Yosef HaTzadik never sweated, and on the contrary his clothes gave off a pleasant smell. We see that tzadikim don’t sweat and get dirty.
Based on this we can understand, why they specifically used the worn-out clothes of the Kohen Gadol. The Kohen Gadol was an adam kodosh [holy person], and due to his holiness, he never sweated or got dirty. Therefore, they specifically used the Kohen Gadol’s worn out clothes.
[However, this peshat only works in the first Beis HaMikdosh, when the Kohen Gadol was a tzadik. In the second Beis HaMikdosh when rich and people with good connections managed to become Kohen Gadol, it won’t help explain why they specifically used the Kohen Gadol’s worn-out clothes, on the contrary it would be better not to.]
