Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Musar for Megillah 32:4

(בראשית מה, כג) ולאביו שלח כזאת עשרה חמורים נושאים מטוב מצרים מאי מטוב מצרים אמר ר' בנימין בר יפת אמר רבי אלעזר שלח לו יין [ישן] שדעת זקנים נוחה הימנו

“And to his father he sent in like manner ten donkeys laden with the good things of Egypt” (Genesis 45:23). What are “the good things of Egypt”? R. Benjamin b. Japhet said in the name of R. Elazar: He sent him [old] wine which old men find very comforting.

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

When the gifts Joseph sent to his father are described in 45, 23, and the Torah says: ולאביו שלח, the word לאביו is mentioned twice. The first time it probably teaches us the above described unique relationship between Jacob and his son Joseph. Our sages in Megillah 16b elaborate on the significance of the various gifts listed in that verse. They find an allusion to יין ישן, aged wine, in the words מטוב מצרים. We must realize that there were two categories of wine. One category is called by our sages יין המשומר. This wine has a mystical dimension to it, it is made from grapes saved since the six days of Creation, and it will be served to the צדיקים in the World to Come. It's potency is associated with the emanation בינה, the root of the auxiliary emanation דעת. When this kind of wine is drunk in our world it has a beneficial effect on the clarity of mind of the זקנים, and it puts their minds at ease concerning the Hereafter; it enables the one drinking it to penetrate with his mind up to the כתר, the root of roots of all the emanations. This root is called עתיק יומין, עתיקא קדישא, "The venerable One, the Holy One of antiquity."
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