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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
ויגש אליו יהודה (פרק מד פסוק יח)
After Yosef decides that he will take Binyomin captive because of the “stolen” goblet, Yehuda approaches him to plead their case. The Chiddushei Harim puts a spin on the words of the pasuk, that teaches a lesson applicable to all of us. He says that “Yehuda” (יהודה) really refers to all Jews- Yehudim (יהודים), who are called as such because of their tendency to admit (להודות) that everything is from Hashem. The word אליו, to him, in the pasuk really means to Hashem. If so, the pasuk is saying thatאליו ויגש- he approached Him, יהודה, the Jewish people through their admittance that He is their benefactor. In other words, the ability to approach Hashem is through admitting that everything we have comes from Him. The Chiddushei Harim says that this is truly powerful advice for anyone in a difficult situation, the way to connect to Hashem and His blessings is by recognizing that He is the Source of everything.
ואת יהודה שלח לפניו…להורות לפניו גשנה (פרק מו פסוק כח)
Yaakov and his entire family travel down to Egypt to be supported by Yosef. The Torah tells us that Yaakov sent Yehuda ahead of the family to prepare for them. Rashi quotes the Medrash that this was to prepare a Yeshiva for them. This indicates the tremendous importance of establishing a place of Torah learning and enabling learning of Torah. R’ Yitzchok Zilberstein said a story of how he was once traveling to Bnei Brak and a gorgeous high-end car pulled up aside him to offer a ride. He took him up on the offer and, upon entering the car, realized that the driver was a terrible cripple with many physical handicaps. The car was a very expensive version, where the handicapped driver could still drive through buttons. The man did not seem especially learned, just a kind man doing him a favor. The next week he met the driver in the same situation again, but this time two of the man’s sons were already sitting in the back seat. He noticed that they were incredible תלמידי חכמים, יראי שמים, and בעלי מידות, truly impressive people. R’ Yitzchok wanted to get to bottom of the story, and he found out that the driver of the vehicle always had terrible handicaps and therefore was never able to learn in a Yeshiva setting. He decided that although he himself could not learn, he will assist others in their learning. He would drive around in his car and give rides to all Rabbis and Roshei Yeshiva so that they could go to the Yeshiva to teach Torah. He would then bring abundant food and drinks for all those learning in the Yeshiva. He was an amazing enabler of Torah study, and apparently his devotion to the Torah paid off in his sons’ exceptional character. So great is the importance of enabling Torah study.
