"Joseph Detains the Brothers for Three Days

"And Moses took [Gematria: 3], Rebbe Nachman ben Simcha ben Feiga [Gematria: 284], Moses our Teacher and the daughter of Yitro"

"For on Chanukah, two Messiahs descend; therefore, we read [Parshat] Miketz on Chanukah. Usually [it corresponds to] Ephraim and Menashe, because on Chanukah one merits the Yechidah (highest level of soul), the 'crown of the head of the one separated from his brothers'."

"It is written, 'And he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses' [Exodus 2]. Moses never ate in his life; you would never see food placed before him. It is written in the Ten Utterances (regarding the verse) 'And Moses agreed (vayoel) to dwell,' why suddenly 'And Moses agreed to dwell'? It does not say to eat. Regarding Jacob, it is written, 'And they ate bread' (Genesis 31:54). Regarding Abraham, it is written about the angels, 'Come take a morsel of bread and sustain your hearts' (Genesis 18:5). Here, it does not say a morsel of bread; there is no morsel of bread. Jethro said, 'Call him that he may eat bread' [Exodus 2], but Moses did not eat. Moses does not eat; the Tzaddik does not eat. Jethro asked him to sit, so he sat. Good, for ten years he was in the pit and [Zipporah] threw him a slice of bread every day, and another ten years after that until age sixty. Only at age sixty did he arrive in Midian, because he was a king in Kush (Ethiopia). He was there at age sixty, and as soon as the king died, they made him king. The king had gone to fight, and precisely then Balaam seized power, just like Trump seized power—now, now he says he is going with the Arabs all the way, he is not afraid of them."

"So, Balaam was king over all the Arabs, he was king over all of Kush. The king goes out to war, and exactly then Moses arrives. The king is outside, and it is impossible to enter the city because the city is surrounded by snakes and predatory beasts. So the king asked (how can we enter the city?). Moses said, 'Take storks (chasidot), starve them for three days.' That is how they ate all the snakes, and then the king entered the city. Afterwards, he passed away, and they gave the king's daughter to Moses. After forty years, his wife asks him—after forty years—'Why do you not pay attention? What are you, Shuvu Banim, that you don't pay attention? That you don't pay attention to women?' He said, 'I am a Jew and you are a Gentile, what can I do?' (So she said to him), 'I am willing to convert.' (Moses) said to her, 'Converting won't help you; you cannot convert.'"

"(So she said to him), 'Good, then send me back.' (And she) released him. He went to Midian. Just as he arrives, exactly before this, Jethro had said that all idolatries are false. There were (1550?) types of idolatry; every day he would say which one to go to. An idol is only effective for one day. He knew all the segulos (spiritual remedies): 'You want to get married? Go to this one today, to that one today, to this one today.' And so people saw that he could heal people. He knew it was all a lie; he didn't know the truth, he only knew that everything was a lie. (So all the nations boycotted him). Suddenly Moses arrives, and they are throwing them into the Nile, into the spring, into the stream—they threw all seven (of his daughters). Now, if Jethro had accepted this with love, then on the spot she would have given birth to the King Messiah, Mashiach ben Yosef. Because on Chanukah, two Messiahs descend; therefore, we read Miketz on Chanukah. Usually [it corresponds to] Ephraim and Menashe, because on Chanukah one merits the Yechidah, the 'crown of the head of the one separated from his brothers'."

"Only Joseph merited the 'crown' (kodkod). It is written in Torah 85 that only Joseph merited the 'crown'; Benjamin merited the shoulders, (as it is written) 'He dwells between his shoulders' [Deuteronomy 33:12]. The brothers merited nothing. The brothers aren't even worth the dust of Joseph's shoe soles. They only caused division, they only threw arrows, so they merited nothing. Joseph stops them for three days and three nights, trying to get them to grasp their mistake, and then they would return to their spiritual levels. But they do not grasp the mistake. They only say, 'Yes, it isn't nice, we did something not nice, you sold my father.' For 22 years Jacob sits and cries and cries, with a third of his tears (measure of intense weeping), with sackcloth and ashes spread out for the many. He sits in sackcloth and ashes. Because he went out with sackcloth and ashes, therefore Mordechai also had to go out with sackcloth and ashes. This is a terrible thing, because the moment Jacob went out with sackcloth and mourning, it was decreed upon the Nation of Israel to always be with sackcloth and ashes."

"Start dancing! Your son was killed? Hashem only does good. Hashem does not do any more bad; there is no such thing as 'more bad.' Why is it written 'I have dealt ill' (hare'oti)? Now, here in prison, I saw the Maharit for 10 seconds, so he says: What is this 'Why have I dealt ill'? Would a Tzaddik say 'Why have I dealt ill'? So he already received a punishment for two words, 'Why have I dealt ill' (Note: This likely refers to what Jacob said to Pharaoh in Genesis 47:9 'Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life', or Genesis 43:6 where Jacob says to the brothers 'Why did you deal ill with me to tell the man...'). Your son has become a king! Now you are going to be a king in Egypt, you will rule over all of Egypt, the best of the land is yours, they are sending you wagons, golden carriages, four horses on every carriage—what are you lacking? Why do you say 'Why have I dealt ill'? Go out in a dance! They tell Eliezer 'Donkey, double-donkey' and he goes out in a dance, 'Donkey, double-donkey'!"

"Goliath does not forgive. Goliath does not forgive; even in the grave, he does not forgive. Forty years, even though he is in the grave, he does not forgive. He does not forgive David. He came at him with a stick; he said (to David), 'Am I a dog?' (So David said to him), 'You are a dog, son of a dog.' So to this day, he does not forgive him for that. But Eliezer goes out in dances until morning: 'Abraham called me a donkey!' He told me the truth! What joy this is! What joy that they tell me the truth! What joy that my Rav (tells me the truth). Because they don't say anything to Reuben. Regarding Reuben, the Daas Zkenim Baalei HaTosafot says: Why was Asher in Cherem (excommunication)? The Daas Zkenim Baalei HaTosafot (asks), why was Asher in Cherem? There are sixty billion explanations for why Asher was in Cherem."

"People don't know at all that Asher was in Cherem. You don't learn. You made a Cherem (ban) on the Baal HaTurim. You know, Shuvu Banim made a ban on the Baal HaTurim. I heard this, so I am lifting the ban for you. I permit you to start learning Baal HaTurim (Baal HaTurim on Deuteronomy 33:24). So why was Asher in Cherem? There are sixty billion explanations for this. Moses lifted the ban from him after 250 years. They went down to Egypt for another 210 years plus 40 (in the desert), that is 250 (years) he is in Cherem. You don't learn; you also made a ban on the Weekly Torah Portion. You don't learn the Weekly Torah Portion, you Shuvu Banim. So I am permitting the ban for you. You are allowed, you are allowed, you are allowed to learn the Weekly Torah Portion. You are allowed to learn Baal HaTurim. I am telling you, you are allowed, allowed, allowed, allowed."

"True, one needs a singular expert (to annul a ban). I am not a singular expert, but I am telling you that you are allowed. Asher was in Cherem—terrible things. The brothers made many mistakes. It isn't just that they sold Joseph; they also put Asher in Cherem, and all sorts of things, and they gave blows to Benjamin the Tzaddik. If he had accepted the blows with joy, he would have received the entire Temple. They give you blows on the shoulders? Rejoice! Joseph merited the Yechidah because they shot arrows at him endlessly. Asher, too, his brothers excommunicated him. His daughter (Serach bat Asher) entered Gan Eden with her body. Because they put him in Cherem, she enters Gan Eden with the body. Anyone who is put in Cherem merits 248 (Ramach). What is 248? When there is a Tzelem (Divine Image). One receives the Tzelem in Cherem. Now I saw this in Etz Chaim; it is written in 'Kedushat Tzelem' in chapter nine. The 'Kedushat Tzelem' says there is a 'Tzelem Ish' (Image of a Man). Gentiles have 'Tzelem Ish'. 'Tzelem Adam' is not for terrorists. 'In the Image of God He created Man' refers to the Tzaddikim, to Joseph the Tzaddik, who merits 'A womb, two wombs' (racham rachamatayim) [Judges 5:30]. There are three Images: Inner, Surrounding, and Middle. The Tzadik (letter Tzadi) is the Outer, the Lamed is the Middle, and the Mem is the True Inner one. So there are three Images. Deborah merited all the Images."

Shuvu Banim does not speak about anyone, does not dispute with anyone, and does not argue with anyone, does not answer anyone. Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 20 Part 2 regarding the miscarriage of fetuses: Let everyone kick us, let everyone mock us. What is our business? Our business is only to pray, to learn Torah. Let them say we are heretics (apikorsim), let them say we are not Breslovers, let them say we are the biggest criminals, the biggest thieves, let them say everything. The more they say, the more we will reach the ultimate purpose. May these people have long days and years in goodness and pleasantness, and may their bones be saturated with every delight in the world, and may they just be healthy and whole so they can continue speaking. May Hashem give them a long tongue so they can speak in health. With strength and vigor, 'He gives (power to the faint and to him who has no) might He increases strength' (Isaiah 40:29). May He give vigor, power, and strength to speak, to speak day and night without a split-second pause. And the more they speak, the more we will be purified, the more and more we will be sanctified, the more we will be elevated.

"And the fact that people think such suspicions about the Tzaddik comes from the sin of the Serpent. For the moment Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, everyone became a 'Snake-Man'. Everyone is composed of a Snake-Man, and the snake speaks from within him. When they speak about the Tzaddik, the snake is speaking. Because a person is composed of two parts: one part man, one part snake. And then (when speaking about the Tzaddik), the snake speaks. And when the snake speaks, then woe is us—at that moment one goes to Gehennom. When they speak about the Tzaddik, the snake speaks from within him. And the woman needs to save (her husband and children), (like in the sin of the Golden Calf) where the calf screamed 'I am Hashem your God.' So the men said, 'If the calf says I am Hashem your God, then he is God and he took them out of Egypt.' So in the end, the women were left widows because they did not resist their husbands. The husbands wanted to bow to the calf, and their wives should have given them a plate over the head: 'Why are you running to bow to a calf?' They should have broken their bones."

"Man is a Snake-Man. Man is a human mounted on a snake, who is entirely slander (Lashon Hara), entirely murder; every moment he murders someone else with his Evil Inclination. Like the brothers who murdered their father. They didn't even know they were murdering their father; they didn't do teshuvah (repentance) for it at all. A person thinks he can run the world without the Tzaddik. There is no such thing! Only the Tzaddik influences all the minds (mochin). Even for the most wicked person, he transforms his mind. If a person believes in the Tzaddik, nothing stabs him; everything is smooth, everything goes peacefully."

"(But) when he disputes the Tzaddik, then everything stabs. The Tzaddik is the Foundation Stone (Torah 61). The Tzaddik purifies from everything (Likutey Halachot, Choshen Mishpat, Halachot 332 and 189). The true Tzaddik feels the pain of every single Jew. The true Tzaddik feels the pain of every single Jew; he cannot sleep, he cannot eat, he feels the pain of every single Jew. Any person who disputes the Tzaddik is a reincarnation of the people of Sodom. Whenever a person has a question, he runs to some wicked person to solve the problem for him; he doesn't go to the Tzaddik to solve the problem. He has a question about the Tzaddik, so he runs to some wicked person to explain it to him, and the wicked person explains it logically, convincingly. If he had run to the Tzaddik to explain, to Moses our Teacher, he would have seen everything clearly. So this is what Reb Nosson explains here: When Hashem wanted to give the Torah to all creatures and He spoke with all creatures, with every person, every person heard a Bat Kol (Heavenly Voice), only everyone gave it their own interpretations. Instead of flying to Moses our Teacher so he could interpret it for him, or to see the voices, to see them literally in Heaven how they illuminate 31 (Lamed Aleph) 'Do not murder' (Lo Tirtzach), 31 'Do not steal' (Lo Tignov)—(No) with an Aleph, not with a Vav."

"So whoever merits, whoever was at Rosh Hashanah with the Tzaddik, and wants to listen to the voice of the Tzaddik—because one can come to the Tzaddik and, may Hashem have mercy on what happens, he doesn't even know that one comes to the Tzaddik—but if he wants to listen to the voice of the Tzaddik, then he says: First thing, know Shas (the Talmud). And know Shas with intellect—the Rebbe says, the Rebbe says with intellect, with intellect to know it, not just by mere saying, but with intellect, with depth (Iyun). Take a good study partner (chavruta), sit patiently, learn, and then you will exit all bad character traits, and you will begin to hear the Bat Kol that exists in every second. At every moment a person must search for the true Tzaddik, and he must be 'nothing' (Ayin). And the moment he finds the true Tzaddik, the true Tzaddik will erase all the judgments from upon each and every one. If a person follows the Tzaddik, he will always win. A person's entire work is to follow the Tzaddik at any cost. A person must follow the Tzaddik at any cost. And if a person follows the Tzaddik at any cost, then he always wins; no one can stand against him, he always wins."

Rebbe Nachman says a person learns; all learning is to break pride. All learning is that a person breaks his pride. Usually, when a person learns, he gets pride from the learning. But through the Tzaddik, it is the opposite, for since a person connects everything to the Tzaddik, he wants everything to be for the honor of the Tzaddik, for it to be 'kisses' with the Tzaddik, as written in Torah 12, that this is the aspect of kisses with the Tzaddik. Here in Likutey Tefilot Prayer 12, [it says] that what I learn with the Tannaim is to kiss the Tzaddik. If I learn for the sake of pride, to be a scholar, to be a Rosh Yeshiva, then one slanders the other. And this, they say, is the test if it is Torah Lishma (for its own sake) or not Lishma: that a person will not slander any person in the world. If a person learns Torah Lishma, he does not slander any person in the world. Come what may, let them speak about him, let them do everything to him, he will not speak. Never in the world will he speak. Let them cut him into pieces and pieces, he will not speak about the other. This is from Hashem; Hashem is cutting me. So this is the sign that a person is learning Torah Lishma. But if a person learns Torah not Lishma, then he slanders this one, and speaks about that one, and he vomits up all the Torah. He vomits up all the Torah. The Rebbe says that the one they speak about needs to be smart. So now he can learn for a whole week without sleeping—so much Torah they poured upon him, he doesn't need to sleep at all. Now like this, until he understands, and until he... like this and like this, they poured upon him, they poured a sea of Torah upon him, tons of Torah. So when they speak about a person, then that person pours the Torah he learned—he pours it onto this person.

Book of Mishlei Yaakov - Parshat Va'era

(87) A parable regarding one who kept a servant with him for several years. Every time he needed to borrow money from his wealthy friend, he sent this servant to him, and by his word and hand, the money was sent to him. When the time came for this servant to get married, he took a new servant into his home. A few days later, he sent this servant as well to his friend to borrow a certain sum. The lender said to him, "I will not give you money until you bring a promissory note from your master." He went to his house and told him these things. [The master] was very amazed, lifted his feet, went himself to his friend, and asked him, "What is different today from other days?" He answered and said, "Know, my brother, that you are a faithful man to me from time immemorial. However, the first servant, whom I already knew to be the faithful one of your house—from him I did not require a promissory note to be brought. Not so with this young man, for I do not yet recognize in him who he is and who his master is. Therefore, I properly asked him for proof."

The Lesson (Nimshal): So was the matter with Pharaoh. For it is explained in the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 5) that when Moses came to Pharaoh and said to him, "So said... etc.," he became angry and said, "Who is Hashem... etc., I do not know... etc. But wait for me until I search in my book." Immediately he entered his palace library and looked at every nation and its god. He began reading: the god of Moab, the god of Ammon, the god of Sidon. But the God of Israel he did not find. Moses said: To what is this comparable? To a Kohen (priest) who had a foolish servant. The Kohen went out of the province. The servant went to look for his master in the cemetery. The people of the city said to him, "Fool! What does a Kohen have to do in a cemetery?" So said Moses: "These that you mention are dead. But our God is a Living God, and what has He to do in a cemetery?" And if so, Pharaoh properly asked for a sign (wonder), for he did not yet know of Him.