Was Joseph an avrech? – Mikketz
When Joseph went by in his chariot in Egypt, the court officials called out Avrech!
If this word comes from berech, a knee, it is a call for homage, “Kneel in obeisance!” (cf. Gen. 24:11).
The view of the Talmud (BB 4a), together with Onkelos and Rashi, is that it means “Father (av) of the king (rach)” suggesting “a royal statesman”.
Rabbinic usage in the halachic Midrash, the Sifrei, says avrech is a Talmudic student; in that sense the word combines “young in years, old in wisdom” – av b’chochmah, rach b’shanim.
There are two categories of yeshivah student, the unmarried bachur and the married avrech. The second category act as role models for the first. One of the great achievements of the contemporary Jewish world is the proliferation of yeshivot and the constant increase in numbers of bachurim and avrechim.
The alarmists who snoot about how bad things are on the Jewish scene have not realised (or prefer to deny) that our great growth industry is Jewish learning.
