Yosef brought his brothers before Pharaoh, who asked them a seemingly simple question: “מה מעשיכם” – literally, “What do you do? What is your occupation? What is your field of expertise?” How does a Jew answer such a question?
Rabbi Dovid Gurwitz shlit’a gives us a wonderful insight. The passuk tells us, “And Yehuda was sent ahead of him to prepare ahead of him in Goshen.” Rashi explains that Yaakov sent Yehuda ahead of him to establish a “Bais Talmud,” a house of study. Yaakov Avinu insisted on the establishment of a Bais Talmud – a yeshivah, a cheder, a place to teach children – before he came down to the land of “מצרים,” the land of restriction (מצר).
Why? Because this is the first act that must be done when establishing a Jewish community, especially in a foreign nation; the need for a house of Torah study. When the brothers of Yosef came before Pharaoh and he asked them, “Ma ma’asechem, What do you do?”, obviously, the answer is ... we build a Bais Talmud! We lay the foundation of a Jewish community with Torah study. We create synagogues for prayer, mikvaos for purity, and yeshivos for our children to learn. That is what we do!
The sons of Yaakov heard Pharaoh’s words not as a question but as a “bas kol,” a veritable call from Heaven, telling them what to do. In fact, the word ”מעשיכם” has the gematriah of 480, which is exactly the same value as the word “תלמוד.” Indeed, what do we DO? What do Jews do? “Ma’aseynu,” our deeds, are based on “Talmud,” on learning Torah whenever and wherever we can!
When someone asks us what we do for a living, this is the correct response. What we do, our job, is not being a lawyer, an accountant, or a doctor. We learn and support learning – that is the message of “מה מעשיכם” – THAT is what we Jews do.
TORAH TAVLIN
