Shnayim Yomi - Vayigash - Shvi'i - #7 - R Mordechai Schiffman - The Mesorah of Being a Ba'al Habayis

In the seventh aliyah of paras vigash we are told that yoseph brings all of his family down to mitim and that is there it is there that they settled. Rabbi Yseph b Salvich quoted here in a kish in that excerpts many of his essays and comments writes something very fascinating. He said that Yoseph stands as a pillar in our tradition in our misora. That's not the classical tradition of passing on Torah from one generation to the other. Rather, there's another misora, Rabbi Salvich writes, of great significance, the misora of Jewish balabatin, the lay people. This Msura is not one of concepts, but rather of methods and images. It is a continuity of a type of personality. The first Balabias was Yoseph in Egypt. He provided support for his father and his brothers. Our survival in Gulas is due not only to the struggle of the Jewish scholar but also to the efforts of the Jewish Balhabias. Rabbi Salviche continues, there are three characteristics that Balabatan possess which makes them unique. First, the Balabias feels a clear awareness of his responsibility not only for himself but for the entire Jewish community. Second, the Balabias has a pragmatic mind. He has an aptitude for decision-making and decision executing. Finally, the Balabias is a visionary. He is a dreamer. He looks to the stars. From whom were these traits inherited? From the first Jewish Balabias, Joseph. How did the Torah portray Joseph? His first dream involved bundles of wheat. He was an individual with a prosaic practical vision. There was another dream, however, of stars in the heavens. Both dreams were found in Joseph's personality. He was pragmatic, but he also looked to the stars. He was a visionary, imagining the limitless goals that he could achieve in aiding his nation, inspiring responsibility, values, skills, and ideas that are essential of how to infuse Torah and the livelihood together. How to live a life of halah and Torah values in the workplace. How to bring wisdom, professionalism, and business acumen to the world of Torah. That is who Yoseph stands for and he is a role model for all of us to look up to.