The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
Rabbi Frand's first vort related to Ya'akov crossing his hands when blessing Ephraim and Menashe so that his right hand would be on Ephraim, although Yosef had aligned the boys in age order so that Ya'akov would have placed his right hand on Menashe's head.
But why did Ya'akov cross his hands? Wouldn't it have been easier to just move the boys from one side to the other?
R' Frand quoted the Chizkuni who answered that this was done out of sensitivity for Menashe who was the bechor. It already was an affront to him that his grandfather was placing his right hand on his younger brother because his grandfather had nevuah that Menashe's descendants would be greater. But to physically move him to a lesser position would be a more public slight and Ya'akov did not want to hurt his feelings any more.
R' Frand told a story about an MD from Minnesota who was an expert on epilepsy who attended a conference in Jerusalem. While speaking at the conference, he noticed a Yerushalmi who was sitting in the audience. The doctor approached him and asked, what is your specialty? The man responded, I am not a doctor. The man explained that he had a daughter with epilepsy and whenever there were conferences he would attend to hear the latest treatments.
At the close of the conference the Yerushalmi approached the doctor and asked if he would like to spend Shabbos at their home. The doctor accepted the invitation and when they were walking to the home, the Yerushami told the doctor that he had five daughters and he was certain that the doctor would not be able to tell which was the epileptic. This daughter was perfectly normal and did not act differently unless she was having an incident. The doctor said - yes I can tell. They even bet on it.
After the Friday Night meal, the doctor correctly identified who was the epileptic (of course out of earshot). The Yerushalmi asked - how did you know? The doctor answered that he saw that when the Yerushalmi gave the Brochos he had more intense concentration when he gave that daughter the Beracha - even his heart rate increased. There was nothing that the girl had done to give away her condition. It was her father's concern which gave it away.
R' Frand said a second vort on the pasuk where Yosef tells his brothers not to feel bad, as Hashem had this as part of his plan. The Torah states in Bereishis 50:20 - וְאַתֶּ֕ם חֲשַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עָלַ֖י רָעָ֑ה אֱלֹהִים֙ חֲשָׁבָ֣הּ לְטֹבָ֔ה לְמַ֗עַן עֲשׂ֛ה כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה לְהַֽחֲיֹ֥ת עַם־רָֽב. Although much of the pasuk seems simple, why did Yosef use the words לְמַ֗עַן עֲשׂ֛ה כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה - what happened on a day like today?
R' Frand quoted the Be'er Moshe who tied the pasuk to a pasuk in Parshas Vayeshev which is in the middle of the story of how the wife of Potiphar attempts to seduce Yosef on a daily basis. The Chumash writes in Bereishis (39:11) that one day -וַֽיְהִי֙ כְּהַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה וַיָּבֹ֥א הַבַּ֖יְתָה לַֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת מְלַאכְתּ֑וֹ וְאֵ֨ין אִ֜ישׁ מֵֽאַנְשֵׁ֥י הַבַּ֛יִת שָׁ֖ם בַּבָּֽיִת.
When Yosef invokes the term Kayom Hazeh in Parshas Vayechi, he is in effect telling the brothers that Hashem had a plan and He needed me to be there in Egypt to resist the urges of the wife of Potiphar. Based on my resistance, the Jews will be able to survive their time in Egypt and emerge from a country which was on the lowest level of tumah, intact. As a result I am not only keeping the people alive based on the food I have gathered, but I will be able to keep the Jews spiritually alive so that the Jews could fight the yetzer harah to be mezaneh in Egypt.
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