And the Needy for a Pair of Shoes • A Lesson from the Kiddusha Rabba of Parshat

Before you is the full lesson delivered on the Holy Shabbat of Parshat Miketz 5786 by the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, during the Kiddusha Rabba (festive daytime meal) following the conclusion of the Musaf prayer:

The lesson was transcribed according to the listener's understanding; any errors should be attributed to the writer and not, Heaven forbid, to our teacher, the Rav shlit"a.

[For their selling the righteous for silver] "and the needy for a pair of shoes" (Amos 2:6). Why did they sell Yosef (Joseph)? Because of shoes. Why didn't they have shoes? Why were they walking without shoes? What happened until then—did they walk without shoes?! Reuven (Reuben) was already 23 years old, since he was born a year after Leah got married, so now he is 23. Yosef was 17 and Reuven was 23. So for 23 years, he walked without shoes? And does one sell a brother for shoes? Let them sell a sheep! The Midrash (homiletic teachings) says that there were 1.2 million dogs just to guard Yaakov's (Jacob's) flocks. Each flock consisted of about a million sheep. So let them sell a sheep, or sell a cow! For one cow, you can buy a thousand pairs of shoes.

Rather, until then, they didn't need shoes because the land was the Holy of Holies. All of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) possessed the sanctity of the Beis HaMikdash (the Holy Temple), so they didn't need shoes.

And Yaakov returned to the Yabbok crossing because of the "small jars." Why did he return? How much is a jar of oil worth—two shekels? Why return?! Rather, he didn't want to leave it outside the Land, because that was the jar of oil for Chanukah. The Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer says: where did he get a jar of oil? When he fled from Esav (Esau), a jar of oil fell to him from Heaven, because he had no oil. Where would he have gotten oil? When he fled from Esav, did he take oil with him? Rather, it fell from Heaven. And when he returned from the house of Lavan (Laban), he forgot it at the Yabbok crossing, but he went back to take it so it wouldn't become impure—since outside the Land causes impurity—so that there would be a miracle on Chanukah.

And regarding Noach (Noah), it is written, "an olive leaf plucked (taraf) in its mouth" (Genesis 8:11). "Taraf be-piha" (plucked in its mouth) has the same gematria (numerical value) as "David ben Yishai"—for Noach was supposed to bring Mashiach ben David (the Messiah from the line of David), but Canaan did not agree. This was Canaan; the Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer says this in chapter 23, and the Zohar in the Zohar Chadash also says it was Canaan. Why didn't he want it? What did he care if there was a fourth child?! Rather, he knew that the fourth child was meant to be the Mashiach. He knew Noach was supposed to bring the Mashiach, and he didn't want it, because he knew that the moment Mashiach arrives, there will be no more sins and no more mitzvos (commandments). He wanted to commit sins, and if Mashiach arrives, there are no more sins or mitzvos. For Noach received the Mashiach as a gift because of what he suffered in the Ark, for the lion gave him such a bite... it wanted to taste human flesh, and he (Noach) became blemished. Now he could no longer offer sacrifices because he was blemished, so they gave him [a gift] that he would be able to bring the Mashiach.

So, "and the needy for a pair of shoes" (Amos 2:6)—what, because a brother dreams a dream, they want to kill him? In truth, if the brothers had said to him, "Chalma tava chazeis" (you have seen a good dream), then Yosef would have immediately become king over the whole world, and the brothers would have become ministers over the whole world. For Yosef was the king and they were supposed to be his ministers. But because they did not say to him "Chalma tava chazeis," they delayed it by twenty-two years. Only then did he become king, and they became shepherds.