Sotah - Daf 36
- The נסים on the day Yisroel entered Eretz Yisroel, and the lost potential of the ביאה שניה
It was taught in a Baraisa: בא וראה כמה נסים נעשו באותו היום – Come and see how many miracles were done on that day they entered Eretz Yisroel. עברו ישראל את הירדן – They crossed the Yarden miraculously (as described on Daf 34), ובאו להר גריזים ולהר עיבל יתר מששים מיל – and they came to Har Gerizim and Har Eival that same day, a distance of more than sixty mil, ואין כל בריה יכולה לעמוד בפניהם – and no creature could stand against them, וכל העומד בפניהם מיד נתרז – and anyone who stood against them immediately lost control of his bodily functions from terror, as it says: "את אימתי אשלח לפניך והמותי את כל העם אשר תבא בהם" – I shall send My fear before you, and I shall confuse the entire people among whom you will come. A passuk is darshened to refer to both the first entering Eretz Yisroel under Yehoshua, and the second entering under Ezra. This comparison teaches: ראויין היו ישראל לעשות להם נס בביאה שניה כביאה ראשונה – Yisroel was fit to perform a miracle for them in the second entering like in the first entering, when they came with miracles and of their own accord, אלא שגרם החטא – but sin during the first Beis Hamikdash caused the loss of this benefit, and they required permission to return.
- Yosef’s refusal of Potiphar’s wife
Rebbe Shimon Chasida said that Yosef, who sanctified Hashem’s name in private (when he resisted Potiphar’s wife), merited to have a letter of Hashem’s name added to his, in the passuk עדות "ביהוסף" שמו – He appointed it as a testimony for Yehoseph. The sanctification is described: ויבא הביתה לעשות מלאכתו – And he entered the house to his “work.” Rav and Shmuel dispute the meaning of this word. One says: לעשות מלאכתו ממש – He came to literally do his ordinary work. The other says: לעשות צרכיו נכנס – he entered to perform his needs, i.e., it is a euphemism for relations. The passuk says no one was home that day, and Rebbe Yishmael’s academy explains that it was a pagan holiday, and everyone went to their temple. Potiphar’s wife feigned illness, saying: אין לי יום שניזקק לי יוסף כיום הזה – I have no better day than today for Yosef to be intimate with me! The Gemara relates that when she grabbed hold of his garment, his father’s visage appeared to him in the window and said: יוסף עתידין אחיך שיכתבו על אבני אפוד ואתה ביניהם – Yosef! Your brothers are destined to be inscribed on the stones of the ephod, and you among them. רצונך שימחה שמך מביניהם ותקרא רועה זונות – Do you want your name to be erased from among them and to be called “a companion of harlots”?!
- Yosef learns the seventy languages
Rebbe Yochanan says that when Yosef rose to power, Pharaoh’s astrologers protested that a servant bought for twenty coins should rule over them. Pharaoh responded that he detected royal character traits in Yosef, and they persisted that he must know the seventy languages. Gavriel came that night to teach them to him, but Yosef was unsuccessful. הוסיף לו אות אחת משמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא ולמד – [Gavriel] added one letter (the “hei”) from Hashem’s name to Yosef’s (as above), and he mastered them. The next day, Yosef responded in every language Pharaoh spoke to him. When Yosef spoke to Pharaoh in לשון הקדש, Pharaoh did not know it, and although he instructed Yosef to teach it to him, he could not learn it. He made Yosef swear not to reveal this information. Later, when Yosef requested leave to bury Yaakov in Eretz Yisroel, he explained that he swore to his father he would do so. Pharaoh told him to void his oath, and Yosef responded that he would then void his oath concerning Pharaoh, which forced Pharaoh to allow him to go.
