Parshas Vayigash Shabbos Times Erev Shabbos Shabbos Day Plag HaMincha 7:11pm Latest time for Shema 9:39am Candle Lighting 8:26pm Shabbos Ends 9:33pm Shkiya 8:43pm Shaarei Shabbos Riddles 1. Explain how the following situation could occur: You take a certain item and before deriving benefit from it you say the required brocha. One minute later you take the exact same item and derive the exact same type of benefit from it. However, this time the required brocha beforehand is a different brocha. (The item contains no grain and the item undergoes no change whatsoever) 2. In this parsha, in what context is the number five mentioned? (3 answers) 3. Where in this parsha do things not add up? 4. What part of the body is mentioned four times in this parsha? Short Vort on the Parsha After being informed that his son Yosef was still alive, Yaakov packed his bags and set off toward Mitzrayim. While still on the way, the Torah tells us, "He sent Yehuda ahead of him to Yosef, to prepare ahead of him in Goshen" (ibid. 46:28). Rashi cites the Medrash which explains that he sent Yehuda to open a Beis HaTalmud, so that it would be ready upon their arrival. Rav Wolbe points out that Yaakov obviously felt that they could not enter Mitzrayim unless there already was a Beis Medrash in working order. Why did Yaakov feel so strongly about this, to the point that he would not set foot into a country without a Yeshiva? When the Shevatim were all in Eretz Canaan, they were living in familiar territory. Yaakov was the Patriarch of the Jewish tribe and it was relatively easy for them to maintain their own identity. They were now about to enter a foreign land and their Jewish identity would be put in jeopardy. A person's surroundings have the ability to affect a person and blur his identity. So what does a Jew in galus do? He makes sure that there is a Yeshiva nearby. Throughout the generations, the Yeshiva has been more than just a school designated for learning Gemara. It is the place which protects the identity of the Jewish People. Every Yeshiva is a link in the chain which spans millennia, back to Matan Torah and our forefathers.