Vayigash 45:14 · unit 1

Parashas Vayigash · Passuk 45:14

The Complete Passuk

וַיִּפֹּ֛ל עַל־צַוְּארֵ֥י בִנְיָמִֽן־אָחִ֖יו וַיֵּ֑בְךְּ וּבִנְיָמִֽן־בָּכָ֥ה עַל־צַוָּארָֽיו׃

He fell upon the neck of his brother Binyamin and wept, and Binyamin wept upon his neck.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Megillah 16b.

TT lemma: על צוארי בנימן.

Sefaria — Megillah 16b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
״עַל צַוְּארֵי בִּנְיָמִין״ — וְכִי כַּמָּה צַוָּארִין הָיוּ לוֹ לְבִנְיָמִין? אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: בָּכָה עַל שְׁנֵי מִקְדָּשִׁים שֶׁעֲתִידִים לִהְיוֹת בְּחֶלְקוֹ שֶׁל בִּנְיָמִין וַעֲתִידִין לֵחָרֵב.

English: “Upon the neck of Binyamin” — but how many necks did Binyamin have? Rabbi Elazar said: He wept over the two Temples that were destined to stand in the portion of Binyamin and were destined to be destroyed.

On the daf / in context: Megillah 16b reads the plural “necks” as an allusion to the two future Temples located in Binyamin’s tribal territory.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The plural form is taken as a prophetic allusion to the two Batei Mikdash.

What Is Learned

Yosef’s tears on Binyamin’s neck were for the two Temples that would one day stand in Binyamin’s portion and would be destroyed.