Commento su Genesi 41:56

על כל פני הארץ OVER ALL THE FACE OF THE EARTH — Who are the face of the earth? the well-to-do people (Genesis Rabbah 91:5).

AND HE SOLD GRAIN UNTO THE EGYPTIANS, AND THE FAMINE WAS SEVERE IN THE LAND OF EGYPT. The verse states that Joseph did not throw open the contents of the storehouses until the famine had become severe in the land, but not as soon as they cried to Pharaoh,¹¹⁷Verse 55 here. as people would cry even when they have a small amount of sustenance, and it was his desire that nothing remain to them before he opened the granaries. This is the meaning of the verse, And the famine was over all the face of the earth, meaning that before he had opened his storehouses the famine was over the entire face of the earth, and then the verse proceeds to explain that he did not sell them food until the famine had become severe upon them. Perhaps it is possible that the verse is magnifying the famine by stating that it was a “famine accompanied by panic.”¹¹⁸See Aboth V, 8.

וישבר, a term used for trading in food and drink, as we know already from Yaakov having said to his sons, לכו שברו לנו מעט אכל. We also find the expression including the dealing in liquids in Isaiah 55,1 ולכו שברו בלא כסף ובלא מחיר יין וחלב, “come for water, even if you have no money, come buy food and eat, buy food without money, wine and milk without cost.”

Yoseif opened. He opened all his storehouses to show that he had sufficient grain to feed them all.

ויפתח יוסף את כל אשר בהם, Joseph opened all (the granaries) in which grain was stored. The reason that Joseph immediately opened all the silos instead of only the ones which were immediately needed was to see which ones contained grain that was capable of indefinite storage and which needed to be sold first in order that it should not deteriorate.

והרעב...ויפתח יוסף את כל אשר בהם, he now opened all the silos in which grain had been stored.

וישבר למצרים, “he sold to the Egyptians.” This means that he first sold to the Egyptians before selling to foreigners.

והרעב היה על פני כל הארץ, “and the famine embraced the entire land.” This is a reference to the wealthy people who were struck by the famine no less than the poor. The reason the wealthy people are referred to as פני הארץ, is because all the people turn to the wealthy in time of need. We have proof from here that the first people who felt the famine were the wealthy (the spoiled ones).

Who are referred to as פני הארץ? The wealthy people. But the poor people lower their faces to the ground and do not lift their faces.

(56-57) שבר .וישבר seiner Grundbedeutung nach: Brechen, Zerbrechen, scheint das Detaillieren, den Detail- Ein- und Verkauf zu bedeuten. Er verkaufte nur kleine, dem zeitlichen Bedarf eines Hauses entsprechende Quantitäten. Nur so konnte Spekulationsaufkauf vermieden werden. Wie die Weisen bemerken, wurde nur an selbständige Männer und an keinen Sklaven verkauft, sonst konnte ja einer fünfzig Sklaven schicken; und jeder durfte nur ein Lasttier mit sich führen. Und alle Welt mußte לשבר אל יוסף kommen. Er besorgte selbst den Einzelverkauf; leitete nicht das Ganze von oben herab aus vornehmer Ferne, verließ sich nicht auf untergeordnete Beamte, sondern besorgte alles unmittelbar selbst und trat in unmittelbaren Verkehr mit den hungernden Familienvätern, die zum Einkauf kamen. Darum heißt es auch im folgenden Kap.Raw Hirsch on Genesis 41: 6: ויוסף הוא השליט הוא המשביר, obgleich שליט war er doch selbst der משביר. Dies ihm von seiner Weisheit durch die Umstände gebotene Verfahren führte aber auch alles Folgende herbei. Nur so musste jeder selbst kommen, sonst hätte Jakob nur einen der Söhne, oder gar einen Fremden beauftragen können, für alle mit zu besorgen. Und nur so kam es, dass Josef selbst mit seinen Brüdern in unmittelbare Berührung kommen musste. Die wiederholte Bemerkung, mit welcher Stärke die Not auftrat, ist eine Motivierung dieses Verfahrens.

את כל אשר בהם — understand it as the Targum renders it: [JOSEPH OPENED ALL THE STOREHOUSES] IN WHICH THERE WAS CORN.

The famine became severe. Foods other than bread also disappeared.

וישבר למצרים, first he sold grain only to the Egyptians until word had spread that there was food for sale in Egypt. Then he also sold to foreigners. The expression וישבר, vayishbor, is from the conjugation kal, and is used both as applicable to the seller and the buyer. Actually, the word shever means “breaking,” i.e. the grain, the harvest, is what “breaks” one’s hunger. Compare Psalms 104,11 ישברו פראים צמאם, “the wild asses slake their thirst, the word for “slaking,” being the word שבר. When it comes to the transaction, i.e. trading in victuals, especially grain, the seller gives something which will still the buyer’s hunger, i.e. break it, whereas the buyer at the same time is receiving something which breaks his hunger. Hence it is understandable why the same root is used to describe either buying or selling food, seeing both parties are concerned in dealing with someone’s hunger, putting an end to it, as it were. One party hands over the price, the other party receives payment, thus both seller and buyer are active in the transaction. The conjugation הפעיל however, is applicable only to the seller of food, not to the buyer, as in most instances this conjugation is used transitively. The word mashbir, or hamashbir, therefore refers to the seller, not to the buyer.

את כל אשר בהם, “all that was in them.” This is a reference to all the kinds of stored grain contained. Onkelos also translates the verse to mean אוצריה רי בהון עיבורא, “the storage chambers which contained grain.”

Because we find it also in regard to wine and milk: “And go buy...” This is what Rashi means. We should not ask: Although שבר means selling, it also means grain. And since it is written שבר here, perhaps pertaining only to grain can שבר be used to mean selling, because the meaning of the word שבר applies [only] to grain? But regarding wine and other liquids, שבר cannot be used since its meaning of “grain” is not applicable to them. Rashi answers: [This is not so,] “because we find it also in regard to wine...”

Another reason why Joseph opened all the silos simultaneously was that he had arranged for the silos to be close to the various population centres. Had he opened only one silo at a time the people would have had to travel long distances to receive their rations. As it was, Joseph made sure the people knew that there was a supply of food close by. This made the famine a great deal easier to bear. Our rabbis have described this psychological fact by coining the phrase אינו דומה מי שיש לו פס בסלו למי שאין לו. "One cannot compare a person who has bread in his basket to someone whose basket is empty."

וישבור למצרים AND HE SOLD UNTO THE EGYPTIANS — The root שבר has the meaning both of selling and buying. Here it is used in the sense of selling, whereas in (43:2) “שברו for us a little food”, it means buying. You cannot say that it (the word) can be used only of selling and buying grain for we find it used also of wine and milk: (Isaiah 55:1) “And come, buy (שברו) wine and milk without money and without price”.

ויחזק הרעב, as foreign buyers appeared and the quantities sold to each had to be rationed in order to ensure that the supply would last, the famine was felt more strongly also by the local population, seeing the famine had been predicted to last for many years.

וישבור למצרים, “he sold grain to Egypt.” He sold to them (the people).

Joseph may also have wanted the population to see for themselves the huge grain reserves he had accumulated so that they would not become concerned that his supply would be inadequate. In spite of all these confidence building measures taken by Joseph the Torah testifies that the famine grew severe almost at once.

ויחזק הרעב בארץ מצרים, “the famine remained strong in the land of Egypt.” The people, though eating, were not feeling sated. We read of a similar phenomenon in Kings I 18,2 “the famine remained strong in Shomron.”