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

Before you 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 5th of Shevat, 5786, Parshat Bo:

1. Why did the brothers sell Joseph for shoes? The Pelach Rimon explains that the brothers wanted to be privy to the secret of the shoes; they wanted Jacob to teach them Torah from Shem and Ever as well.
2. When the Ohr HaChaim passed away, the Baal Shem Tov said, "The western lamp has been extinguished," because the secret of washing hands (netilat yadayim) had been revealed to him.
3. All the secrets of netilat yadayim and becoming 'shoes' for the Shechinah (Divine Presence) are revealed only to the 'unique one of the generation' (chad bedara). And of this, the brothers were jealous.
4. Moses learned the entire Torah. All the most important laws are 'a law given to Moses at Sinai.' The Maharshal says that Moses knew the entire Torah in its entirety. So, how is it that Moses supposedly did not know the law regarding a blasphemer?
5. Rather, he wanted to find a merit for him. Just as Rabbi Akiva says, "I would never have executed anyone." For if one says he is willing to be stoned, that alone exempts him because he is insane.
6. "And the wheat was not smitten," meaning that all the wheat that remained from the hail was only so that the locusts would have something to consume.