Why Did the Brothers Sell Yosef for Shoes? • The Daily Lesson from Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Here is a summary of the topics from the daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, yesterday after the Maariv prayer on Thursday night, the eve of the 5th of Shevat, 5786, Parashat Bo: 1. Why did the brothers sell Yosef for shoes? The 'Pelech Rimon' explains that the brothers wanted to be part of the secret of the shoes; they wanted Yaakov to teach them Torah from Shem and Ever. 2. When the Ohr HaChaim passed away, the Baal Shem Tov said the western light was extinguished because the secret of washing hands was revealed to him. 3. All the secrets of washing hands and being shoes for the Shechinah are revealed only to the unique individual of the generation. This is what the brothers envied. 4. Moshe learned the entire Torah. The most important laws are 'Halacha leMoshe miSinai'. The Maharshal says Moshe knew the entire Torah. So how is it that Moshe seemingly did not know the law regarding the blasphemer? 5. Rather, he wanted to find a merit for him. As Rabbi Akiva says, "I would never execute anyone," because if someone says they are ready to be stoned, that alone exempts them as they are considered insane. 6. "And the wheat was not struck," meaning that all the wheat that remained from the hail was only so that the locusts would have something to consume.