5782
Chapter 37;v.26
כו וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוּדָה אֶל־אֶחָיו מַה־בֶּצַע כִּי נַֽהֲרֹג אֶת־אָחִינוּ וְכִסִּינוּ אֶת־דָּמֽוֹ
- And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
Rabbi Yechiel Meir of Gustinin said: The word “בֶּצַע“, profit, is an abbreviation for: בקר (morning), צהרים (afternoon), and ערב (evening). Of what use are our three daily prayers if, between our prayer services, “we kill our brother” we will gossip and thereby “kill” people with our words! (Rabbi Menachem HaCohen Torat Am)
5781
Chapter 37;v.35
וַיָּקֻמוּ כָל־בָּנָיו וְכָל־בְּנֹתָיו לְנַֽחֲמוֹ וַיְמָאֵן לְהִתְנַחֵם וַיֹּאמֶר כִּֽי־אֵרֵד אֶל־בְּנִי אָבֵל שְׁאֹלָה וַיֵּבְךְּ אֹתוֹ אָבִֽיו
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
The Midrash Rabbah calls attention to the expression ‘daughters’, used here in the plural, even though Jacob had only one daughter.
The Midrash explains that the collective expression refers to his daughters-in-law, for fathers-in-law are accustomed to refer to them too as daughters. The Midrash further explains that that a son-in-law may be referred to as a son by his in-laws.
It is also possible, however, to explain the verse literally, referring to Jacob’s daughter, even though the text uses the plural expression ‘daughters’. There are other locations in the text where the plural expression is used for the singular, like Genesis 46:23, where the Torah writes: וּבְנֵי־דָן חֻשִׁים , ‘and the sons of Dan were Chushim’, even though it speaks of only one son.