Vayeishev 40:7 · EXTRA

EXTRA · Parashas Vayeishev · Passuk 40:7 · not a Torah Temimah citation on this passuk

The Complete Passuk

וַיִּשְׁאַ֞ל אֶת־סְרִיסֵ֣י פַרְעֹ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אִתּ֧וֹ בְמִשְׁמַ֛ר בֵּ֥ית אֲדֹנָ֖יו לֵאמֹ֑ר מַדּ֛וּעַ פְּנֵיכֶ֥ם רָעִ֖ים הַיּֽוֹם׃

He asked Pharaoh’s courtiers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you appear downcast today?”

Classical source (EXTRA side-ring): Bereshis Rabbah 88:4.

Core Text

מַדּוּעַ פְּנֵיכֶם רָעִים הַיּוֹם — מִכָּאן שֶׁשְּׁאֵלַת שָׁלוֹם מִן הַתּוֹרָה.

English: “Why are your faces bad today?” — from here, that inquiring after another’s welfare is from the Torah.

In context: Yosef’s question is treated as a model of noticing and asking about another’s distress.

Derash on the verse (Bereshis Rabbah) — not a formal named middah of the 13. A simple question becomes a source for ethical practice.

It is a Torah value to notice when another’s face is downcast and to ask why.