Proceeding along this enlightening path, we will now demonstrate to our esteemed audience the wonders of the Torah. As mentioned, the rationale given in the Torah for Leah naming her firstborn Reuven is: "כי ראה ה' בעניי"—because Hashem has discerned my humiliation. Yet, in the Gemara, in Torah she’b’al peh, our sages provide a different rationale: "אמרה לאה ראו מה בין בני לבן חמי"—Leah said, “See the difference between my son and the son of my father-in-law.
Let us begin by quoting a passuk from the Navi (Ovadiah 1, 18): "והיה בית יעקב אש ובית יוסף להבה ובית עשו לקש"—the house of Yaakov shall be fire, and the house of Yosef a flame, and the house of Eisav for straw. The Pri Tzaddik (Balak 1) interprets this passuk as follows: Yaakov Avinu is associated with “fire,” namely, Torah she’b’chsav. As it is written (Devarim 33, 2): "מימינו אש דת למו"—from His right hand, He presented a fire of law to them. Yosef, on the other hand, is associated with “a flame,” namely, Torah she’b’al peh, which is comparable to a flame that spreads from the fire. Together, this incredible combination of Yaakov and Yosef, Torah she’b’chsav and Torah she’b’al peh, burns down the house of Eisav easily like “straw.”
We can substantiate Rabbi Tzaddok’s contention that Yosef is associated with Torah she’b’al peh with the passuk (Bereishis 41, 42): "ויסר פרעה את טבעתו מעל ידו ויתן אותה על יד יוסף וילבש אותו בגדי שש... וירכב אותו במרכבת המשנה אשר לו"—and Pharaoh removed his ring from upon his hand and put it on Yosef ’s hand; he then had him dressed in garments of linen . . . and he had him ride in his second chariot (“merkavah”). In Ohev Yisrael, the great Rabbi of Apta, zy”a, points out several allusions in this passuk: "וילבש אותו בגדי שש"—alludes to the fact that HKB”H adorned Yosef with the kedushah of the six (״שש״) orders of the Mishnah; "וירכב אותו במרכבת המשנה"—he was the master of the chariot—“merkavah”—of the six orders of the Mishnah (note the similarity between the word “mishneh” in the passuk and Mishnah) that encompass all of Torah she’b’al peh. The Degel Machaneh Ephraim (Mikeitz) makes a similar comment regarding these words and adds that Yosef actually merited becoming the “merkavah” of the six orders of the Mishnah.
Now, if we scrutinize these words: "וירכב אותו במרכבת המשנה אשר לו", it seems that the two words "אשר לו" are superfluous; of course, the second chariot was his (Pharaoh’s). Instead, let us interpret these words as an allusion to the ל"ו (36) tractates of Gemara on the Mishnayos. Accordingly, in the Derashos Chasam Sofer (Part 2, p. 411, column2), this is how he explains the final teaching in the Talmud Bavli (Nidah 73a): "תנא דבי אליהו כל השונה הלכות בכל יום מובטח לו שהוא בן עולם הבא, שנאמר הליכות עולם לו." The Academy of Eliyahu taught: He who studies “halachos” every day is assured that he will be an inhabitant of Olam HaBa, as it states: “The ways (‘halichot’) of the world are His (ל"ו). This statement alludes to the fact that the world exists and endures—“halichot olam”—in the merit of the study of the ל"ו (36) masechtos of Torah she’b’al peh. This then is the “remez” of the words "במרכבת המשנה אשר לו"—they allude to the 36 masechtos of Torah she’b’al peh that Yosef HaTzaddik was the chariot of.
This provides us with a very nice interpretation of the passuk (ibid. 41, 45): "ויקרא פרעה שם יוסף צפנת פענח"—and Pharaoh named Yosef Tzaphnat Pahneiach. Rashi comments: Tzaphnat Pahneiach means decipherer of the cryptic. It seems that this was a prophecy uttered by Pharaoh unwittingly. For, as the “merkavah” of Torah she’b’al peh, Yosef was truly "צפנת פענח"—a decipherer of the cryptic—since Torah she’b’al peh deciphers and reveals all the mysteries of Torah she’b’chsav. Moreover, Rashi adds that there is no word resembling "פענח" in Scriptures. We can suggest that Rashi is alluding to the fact that Torah she’b’al peh explains all of the things for which we cannot find a satisfactory explanation or similarity anywhere else in Torah she’b’chsav.
With this understanding, we can truly appreciate the great love and attachment Yaakov Avinu displayed for Yosef HaTzaddik. It represents the bond between Torah she’b’chsav and Torah she’b’al peh. Additionally, we have learned in the Gemara (Gittin 60b): "לא כרת הקב"ה ברית עם ישראל אלא בשביל דברים שבעל פה"—HKB”H only entered into a covenant with Yisrael on account of the Oral Law. This then is the underlying message conveyed by the passuk (ibid. 33, 3): "וישראל אהב את יוסף מכל בניו כי בן זקונים הוא לו"—and Yisrael loved Yosef more than all his sons, because he was a son of his old age (wise). Rashi comments: Everything Yaakov learned from Shem and Eiver, he conveyed to Yosef. He conveyed all of his Torah to Yosef, so that he would clarify it in Torah she’b’al peh. And once again, the term ל"ו here alludes to the 36 masechtos of Torah she’b’al peh.
