The Parsha begins with Yehudah stepping up to the plate and telling Yosef “let’s speak one on one.” The Bais Halevi has a gishmak pshat regarding the whole first Aliyah which seems to be repeating exactly what happened last week and doesn’t seem to add anything new. The Bais Halevi explains that it's true there wasn’t anything new, but Yehuda was making a point that something isn’t adding up (as the expression in the Gemara אין ההודאה ממין הטענה the response didn’t seem to fit the question). This led Yehuda to think that maybe the problem is with the translator, which was Menashe. So Yehuda said let’s speak to each other directly and don’t tell me you don’t understand Hebrew.
There is another important lesson that I think emerges from the first Pasuk, and it connects to the special fast we have on Friday this year, Asarah Beteves. The Passuk says ויגש אליו יהודה ויאמר בי אדוני. There is a beautiful explanation from the Vilna Gaon regarding the trop on these words. The trop is קדמא ואזלא, רביעי, מונח, זרקא, מונח, סגול. The literal translation means that Yehuda came forth as the fourth of the brothers because he was going to be thrown out of the nation of Israel. I would like to add another idea especially in the words בי אדוני, “it’s in me, my master.”
The halachos of Asarah BeTeves that comes out on Friday are very interesting, and although there are opinions that one can end the fast early by accepting Shabbas, lemaseh we follow the Shulchan Aruch that the fast ends by Tzais Hakochavim – just that one should see that davening should not go later than necessary, and if one has a difficulty time fasting one can certainly rely on the earliest times for tzais. The main question is why does Asarah Beteves have such a power, that not only Friday we fast into Shabbas but, according to the Avudraham, if the fast actually came out on Shabbas (which it can’t, based on our calendar) we should actually fast?
Many explanations have been given. Rav Yonsasan Eibeshitz explains this based on the concept of אתחולי פורענותא עדיפא, the beginning of a calamity is dominant. I think that what this means to us is that when something bad is starting to arise, it’s a major warning sign, and when it’s ignored, the results can be catastrophic, so much so that the results themselves do not compare to the original cause. When there is a warning sign, that’s an opportunity that calls on us as a nation or as an individual to step up, and when we do not, that can lead to great tragedies.
Many years back, Yehuda was in such a situation; he was really the leader of the brothers, and when the question of what to do with Yosef arose, he failed. As Rashi explains, right after the sale of Yosef, Yehuda went down from his leadership position. In Parshas Vayigash, Yehuda is stepping up to the plate; this time, he won’t let his brother down.
The darkness of destruction began on this date of Asarah BeTeves that was actually two and half years before the final destruction. But as the Chasam Sofer explains it, it was a bad omen that had to be addressed, but was ignored.
The Chasam Sofer explains that each year, there is a new convening of the heavenly courts to decide whether we are maintaining the siege, which will lead to continued destruction and exile, or this time, are we are waking up and seeing the true light, in order to stop the downward trajectory, and instead bring the final Geula? May we be zoche this year to see the full redemption!
