Берешит 41:50 Комментарий: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi, Chizkuni & Da'at Zekenim

“Before the years of famine, Joseph became the father of two sons” [41:50]. The verse tells us that because it was a great famine, it was forbidden to sleep with one’s wife.³⁴Rashi, Genesis, 41:50. Joseph had the children before the famine came. That is to say, they were not born in a sin. That is to say, one is not supposed to sleep with one’s wife during a famine, nonetheless, one who does not have children is allowed to sleep with one’s wife even during a famine in the hope of having children.³⁵Bahya, Genesis, 41:50. Joseph did not have any children and would have been allowed to sleep with his wife even during the famine. The explanation is that Joseph saw great suffering before him when the people were crying and shouting because of the famine. Therefore, it was forbidden for Joseph to sleep with his wife during the famine.³⁶Devek Tov, Genesis, 41:50, n. 5.

Hizkuni asks a question. Levi slept with his wife during the great famine and had a daughter who was called Yocheved, the mother of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Yocheved was born just as Jacob and his children came to the gates of Egypt, outside the walls of the city of Egypt, in the midst of the famine. The explanation is that Joseph had to separate himself because he knew well that his father and his brothers were also in trouble. However, Levi saw that his father was lacking nothing. If you want to ask, Levi should have thought of Joseph’s troubles. The explanation is that Joseph was one individual and one is not obligated to anguish over one person.³⁷Hizkuni, Genesis, 41:50. However, Devek Tov writes. Joseph had the grain in his hands. He saw the outcry himself that they were calling for bread.³⁸Devek Tov, Genesis, 41:50, n. 5.

בטרם תבא שנת הרעב BEFORE THE YEAR OF FAMINE CAME — from here we learn that a man must practise continence during times of famine (cf. Taanit 11a).