Comentário sobre Gênesis 45:23

שלח כזאת HE SENT AFTER THIS MANNER — according to this amount. And what was the amount? עשרה חמרים וגו׳ ten asses etc (i.e. as much as ten asses could carry).

AND TO HIS FATHER HE SENT ‘KAZOTH’ (IN LIKE MANNER). I.e., according to this amount. And what was the amount? Ten asses, etc. This is the language of Rashi. It is not correct that kazoth should refer to the amount [for if it refers to cheshbon (amount), it should have said kazeh in the masculine, and not kazoth in the feminine]. But it is possible that Scripture says, in like manner, meaning “according to this gift,” [with the word minchah matching the feminine gender of kazoth] The purport thereof is, “and to his father he sent this gift: ten asses, etc.,” [with the word kazoth being understood as if it were written zoth], and the letter kaph in the word kazoth is considered redundant. However, it is the way of the Sacred Language to express it in this way, just as, And she spoke to him, [saying]: ‘ka’dvarim ha’eileh’ (after the manner of these things) did thy servant do to me.⁵⁵Ibid., Verses 17 and 19. It may be that Scripture is saying: “and to his father he sent provision (tzeidah), [which is also in the feminine gender], which was like this provision which he gave to his brothers.” But the intent of the expression is not to make them equal, but only to say that just as he gave them provision for the road when they went to Canaan, so did he send his father corn and bread and sustenance for his journey towards Egypt. And this is the correct interpretation. Scripture mentions asses and she-asses to inform us that he sent him both the provisions and the animals that carried them, and it was customary to send males and females, as his father had done.⁵⁶Ibid., 32:16.

כזאת, “as follows:”

ולאביו שלח כזאת, similar to the gifts given to Binyamin. In addition he sent ten donkeys and ten she-asses. In the plural mode the letter ו indicating who else is included appears at the end [the last word in the sequence. Ed.} Examples of such constructions are: .Exodus 1,2 יששכר זבולון ובנימין.

ולאביו שלח כזאת, To his father he sent the following: The reason the Torah added the word זאת instead of merely enumerating the list of provisions and gifts which appear in this verse is to tell us that what is described as מטוב מצרים, Egypt's best [produce], something which the Torah had not identified, referred to the quality of the various items listed. The verse therefore says: "Of all the items listed forthwith Joseph sent his father of the best quality available in Egypt." Our sages in Megillah 16 describe the words מטוב מצרים as referring to wine which had been aged for a long time. Bereshit Rabbah 94,2 identifies טוב מצרים as some kind of special white beans, a medication with anti-depression properties. If that were so, the verse should have written בזאת, instead of זאת and has to be understood as if the word עשרה חמורים had a conjunctive letter ו at the beginning.

ולאביו שלח כזאת, changes of clothes, similar to what he had already given to the brothers. In addition he sent עשרה חמורים

ולאביו שלח כזאת, “and to his father he sent the following:” Rashi explains that the word כזאת here is short for כחשבון הזאת: “the following amounts.” What did these “amounts consist of?” 10 donkey loads, etc., etc. Nachmanides feels that the word כזאת refers to the food for the extended family of Yaakov, which would sustain them on the journey to Egypt. He had, after all, provided his brothers with rations to sustain them on their homeward trip, also. (verse 21). The Torah mentions to Joseph’s credit that he did not only give them the supplies in question but also the means of transporting them, i.e. donkeys and she asses. According to Ibn Ezra the word כזאת refers to the quality of the new clothes Joseph handed out, i.e. the best quality available in Egypt. Some commentators claim that Joseph did not send Binyamin back with the other brothers, and they prove their point by the fact that he sent only ten donkeys to his father and not eleven. In other words, Joseph gave each of the ten brothers a donkey that would be led by him; if Binyamin had also returned to Canaan he would have had to give them eleven donkeys. Some say that this is no proof as Joseph simply did not want to burden Binyamin with the task of leading a donkey all the way back to Canaan.

.ולאביו שלח כזאת “and to his father he sent the following:” The word מנחה, “gift” is missing here. The meaning of the verse is that Joseph sent his father a gift consisting of the items mentioned in our verse. He sent both male and female donkeys just as Yaakov had done when he sent a number of gifts to Esau [though Yaakov had sent twice as many female donkeys as males. Ed.]

Aged wine from which old people derive pleasure. Maharshal writes: [Rashi knows this] because it is not written what was the good thing that Yoseif sent him, implying it was not something notable. So why did he send it to him? Because for Yaakov it was good. Therefore Rashi explains it was aged wine which is generally not so notable, but it was noteworthy to Yaakov because old people derive pleasure from it.

Ten male donkeys. See Rashi. The donkeys were a hint that in selling him the ten brothers were like mere beasts of burden, fulfilling someone else’s purposes uncomprehendingly. That is, Hashem had used them to bring about this salvation.

שלח כזאת “he sent a corresponding amount;” he sent his father ten sets of garments of the best quality available in Egypt ten donkeys, ten sheasses, for his ten brothers. Each one was to lead two animals. Even though Binyamin would also travel with them, he did not want to burden him with this.

מטוב מצרים OF THE BEST THINGS OF EGYPT — We find it stated in the Talmud (Megillah 16b) that he sent him old wine which old people like very much. The Midrash states that he sent him split beans. (Genesis Rabbah 94:2).

עשרה חמורים, one each for his ten brothers. Even though Binyamin was also returning with them, he did not want to bother him [to have to look after the beast and its load. Ed.]

בר ולחם ומזון, “grain, bread, and food.” The word בר includes the five major cereals fit to bake into bread. The word לחם in this instance refers to kitniyot, pulses. The word מזון, refers to dried fruit such as figs, dates, raisins, etc. Whereas every kind of בר is suitable raw material to make into bread, the same does not apply to the term לחם. Similarly, whenever we encounter the word לחם, it is definitely a kind of food, whereas the word מזון does not necessarily refer to something which can be converted into bread.

ועשר אתונות נושאות בר, as well as ten she-asses carrying grain and bread, etc. The reason the Torah repeats the word לאביו, for his father, a second time is to tell us that it was not a separate consignment. The Torah meant that apart from the load carried by these she-asses, i.e. the grain and the bread, there were special delicacies for Jacob only. Joseph instructed his brothers that these items were meant only for his father.

בר, ten donkeys loaded with grain, fodder for the animals. ולחם, not literally bread, but the kind of grain for human consumption used to make into flour and bake into bread. The word לחם applies to food generally, not only food made from cereals. It includes even delicacies such as dates, etc.

בר ולחם CORN AND BREAD — understand this as the Targum renders it.

ומזון means things that are eaten together with bread.