Parshat Miketz
by Rabbi Avi Billet
We begin with several verses that will be referenced over and over below (with the assigned letter in parentheses), and translated when presented for the first time in the analysis.
ויקרא פרק כב פסוק לב - וְלֹ֤א תְחַלְּלוּ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם קָדְשִׁ֔י וְנִ֨קְדַּשְׁתִּ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֲנִ֥י יְקֹוָ֖ק מְקַדִּשְׁכֶֽםA
במדבר טז פסוק כא - הִבָּ֣דְל֔וּ מִתּ֖וֹךְ הָעֵדָ֣ה הַזֹּ֑את וַאֲכַלֶּ֥ה אֹתָ֖ם כְּרָֽגַעB
במדבר יד פסוק כז - עַד־מָתַ֗י לָעֵדָ֤ה הָֽרָעָה֙ הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר הֵ֥מָּה מַלִּינִ֖ים עָלָ֑י אֶת־תְּלֻנּ֞וֹת בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֵ֧מָּה מַלִּינִ֛ים עָלַ֖י שָׁמָֽעְתִּי C
בראשית מב פסוק ה - וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לִשְׁבֹּ֖ר בְּת֣וֹךְ הַבָּאִ֑ים כִּֽי־הָיָ֥ה הָרָעָ֖ב בְּאֶ֥רֶץ כְּנָֽעַןD
Several years ago, quite by accident, I came across a comment of Rabbenu Bachaye on Parshas Emor which challenged an assumption I had based on something I had been taught, but hadn’t put much thought to and hadn’t looked into properly. The verse (Vayikra 22:32 - A) tells us “They shall not desecrate My Holy Name, and I shall be sanctified (ונקדשתי) among (בתוך) the children of Israel (בני ישראל), for I am God Who sanctifies you.” This concept of God being sanctified hints to the concept of what we call a דבר שבקדושה, namely something which requires the presence of a Minyan, which in halakha is defined as 10 males over the age of Bar Mitzvah.
Having always been taught that we learn this concept from the story of the spies (which we will get back to momentarily), Rabbenu Bachaye’s comment was enlightening. “The rabbis proved from this verse that any דבר שבקדושה requires 10 (over Bar-Mitzvah males), as the Talmud (Brachos 21b) teaches, based on this verse. And it says over there (in Bamidbar 16:21 - B) ‘Separate from (מתוך) this congregation (עדה).’ Just as there (the verse in Bamidbar 16) refers to 10, so is it 10 over here (in Vayikra 22).”
Rabbenu Bachaye continues quoting R’ Yaakov who said this language and comparison is imprecise because we should not be learning of the concept of a minyan from the spies! But the comparison is made from the word תוך (technically it is מתוך in Bamidbar 16) to the word תוך (technically בתוך in Vayikra 22). A better comparison through תוך to תוך would be through comparing the Vayikra 22 verse to the verse in Bereshit 42:5 (D) “to get food among (בתוך) those who were coming” (referring to Yosef’s 10 brothers coming to Egypt to get food). Just as they were 10 men, so is the verse (in Vayikra 22) referring to 10 men. And now we are bringing a proof to the idea of a minyan from Yosef’s 10 righteous brothers.
One need not mull too much over this to consider that learning that “a minyan = 10” from Yosef’s brothers is a much better idea than learning the same concept from the spies.
But there is a more troubling problem, because the verse from Bamidbar 16:21 doesn’t reference the spies! It references those who challenged Moshe in the Korach rebellion, to which Moshe responds saying “Should one man sin, and you get upset at an entire עדה?!” Korach’s group were 250! Not 10! And even in the spies story, every time the word עדה is used it references the entire nation (except possibly Bamidbar 14:27(C) “How much longer will this evil congregation who are [causing?] complaining against Me (exist)?” – but that may also be referring to the entire nation).
The Talmud in Sanhedrin (2a) suggests that the word עדה in that verse (14:27 – (C)) does refer to the 10 spies because Kalev and Yehoshua are not counted. However, upon scrutiny, and considering that the word עדה in the rest of that narrative references the entire nation, it is a hard sell. (ומנין לעדה שהיא עשרה - שנאמר עד מתי לעדה הרעה הזאת, יצאו יהושע וכלב). In either case the word תוך doesn’t make an appearance in the story of the spies, removing that favorable comparison.
The Kesef Mishnah (commentary on Rambam written by Rabbi Yosef Caro) – Laws of Nesias Kapayim 8:5 - references both comparisons of תוך תוך and עדה עדה, but the same problems are not dealt with in that the תוך connection in Bamidbar references Korach and co. and the עדה reference doesn’t conclusively refer specifically to the 10 spies.
In the Midrash compilation of Yalkut Shimoni on Parshas Miketz (148) (living at the same time as Rabbenu Bachaye in 13th Century), the following is recorded. “How do we know that an individual doesn’t say ‘Kadosh’ [i.e. because a Minyan is required to say Kedusha]? Because the verse says ‘And I shall be sanctified among the Bnei Yisrael’ (Vayikra - A) and it says ‘Separate from this Edah’ (Bamidbar – B) – just as this (B) is 10, so is it 10 [in (A)]. Rabbi Yosi Bar Bon argued ‘If you’re learning it from there, we will protest! Rather it says ‘Bnei Yisrael’ (in (A)) and it says (in (D)) ‘And the Bnei Yisrael [referencing Yaakov’s 10 sons] came to get food.’ Just as they (Yaakov’s sons) were 10, so is it 10 in the Vayikra verse (A).”
Yalkut Shimoni continues referencing the aforementioned תוך תוך and עדה עדה comparisons, while concluding that the בני ישראל בני ישראל comparison (of Yaakov’s 10 sons (D) to the verse in Vayikra (A)) is the most compelling.
The Mishnah in Brachos (7:3) makes reference to the concept of a Minyan being 10 people, in the context of introducing God’s name at a Zimun (נברך א-לקינו שאכלנו משלו), and the Yerushalmi on that Mishnah references all the points we saw recorded by Yalkut Shimoni, seeming to conclude that the strongest argument is from בני ישראל (the 10 sons of Yaakov in (D)) to בני ישראל (in (A) the Vayikra verse) as the source that a minyan should be 10. [The Talmud (Megillah 23b) records both the תוך תוך argument and the עדה עדה argument, without mentioning Yosef’s brothers at all!]
In a Responsa on the question of a synagogue that can’t typically get 10 men, but often gets 9, asking whether a boy under bar Mitzvah can join to help make a Minyan, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef (Yabia Omer O”C 4:9) gave an extremely thorough analysis of our topic. Among other sources, he quotes Rabbenu Bachaye’s comment we saw above, and emphasizes that the brothers of Yosef verse (D) includes the word תוך allowing a תוך תוך comparison to be made, and he also notes the tradition that we learn of the concept of a minyan from the מרגלים.
Ironically, as much as we refer to the spies as מרגלים, the fact is that the only group of people in the Torah who are referred to as מרגלים are Yosef’s brothers, when they are “accused” of being spies by Yosef himself! (Every word מרגלים in them Torah appears only in Bereshit chapter 42) The Spies of Bamibdar 13-14 are always called אנשים – “Men” - not spies!
Is it the case that something got lost in translation over time, that the concept of a Minyan is indeed learned from the מרגלים, just not Moshe’s spies, but the ones Yosef is accusing of spying – his brothers? It is certainly a possibility.
There are ways we can look at everything – through rose colored glasses, or just through a lens that seeks out the positive. In terms of this basic question –where does a minyan come from? – there is certainly what to be said about learning it from negative stories, whether Korach or the Spies, as how even “they” constituted a body of significance.
On the other hand, if we view the tribes themselves, the sons of Yaakov, as righteous people, and especially as part of their motivation in coming to Egypt was to find out Yosef’s fate and perhaps bring him home, then learning of their Teshuvah, and their efforts to be reunited with a brother as the source for the number of men required to experience a דבר שבקדושה is certainly worth considering as a parallel answer, if not a greater answer than the one with which we may have been more familiar.
May we seek out positivity, and may the positivity we seek and find have an influence on our own outlook in life. Positivity is infectious: it helps raise our spirits and it helps us be more content with the challenges life brings our way.
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