About the Cover

The cover may seem like a beautiful mess...because it is.
I tried to capture many of the overarching themes in the sefer before you about the deep meanings contained in your name Yonah Yosef. I wrote down a few of the allusions, and I'm sure you can find more.
Yonah Yosef - these names, though distinct, share an essential connection that runs deep beneath the surface.
At the splitting of the Red Sea, when our people stood trapped between the rushing waters and the advancing Egyptian army, we embodied the description of the verse in Shir HaShirim"O my dove (Yonasi), in the cranny of the rocks" (2:14), which indeed Rashi explains there, is referring to the situation Klal Yisrael found themselves in at the Red Sea.
In that moment of crisis, what caused the mighty waters to yield? Our Sages teach us it was the sight of Yosef's coffin that compelled the sea to split.
The connection between Yosef and the splitting of the sea seems to be arbitrary. Why did the presence of Yosef's coffin have such an impact on the sea splitting?
Yosef was a person who devoted his life to master his natural urges and desires and live with unwavering devotion and trust in Hashem. A lifetime of overcoming his innate desires created a reality where "nature" itself held no dominion.
Though the waters could have - perhaps should have, by the laws of nature - engulfed our people, however when the sea was confronted with the remains of someone who had mastered his natural urges and remained steadfast in his connection to Hashem, the sea itself could no longer "justify" to claim to stay to its "natural" course.
Yosef's lifetime of spiritual victories created a reality where nature itself had to yield, and saved the nation from which he came.
Our Sages teach us that Yosef is likened to the sun, as we learn in Shabbos 88b: "About those who are insulted and do not insult, who hear their shame and do not respond, who act out of love and are joyful in suffering, the verse says: 'And they that love Him are as the sun going forth in its might'" (Judges 5:31).
Throughout his life, Yosef also embodied this ideal - facing hatred from his brothers, enduring sale into slavery, and weathering countless trials that might have caused another to feel abandoned by Hashem.
Yet not only did his faith not diminish, he emerged as an eternal exemplar of trust in Divine providence, showing us how to believe that all is for the best even when understanding eludes us.
As we will explore in this work, Yosef achieved mastery over his eyes and mouth, two crucial organs in man's journey of spiritual growth. The reason these two organs are highlighted is because these were the two organs that Adam HaRishon sinned with in the Original Sin, as the verse says:
"And from the ground Hashem caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad." (Bereishis 2,9)

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Just as Yosef's merit prevented our ancestors from drowning in the Red Sea, so too was it the Yonah - the dove - that heralded the end of the Great Flood. In the cover illustration, you may discern waters that simultaneously evoke both the splitting of the sea and the raging flood waters.
And truly, proverbial raging waters surround Klal Yisrael in our own times.
These turbulent waters represent the wicked, as Isaiah declares, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea" (57:20). Untamed waters symbolize the influence of the nations - yet we as Jews possess the power to split these waters and walk on dry land, finding safety in Hashem's protection.
The attacks we have endured - not only from our immediate enemies, but through the surge of antisemitism across Europe, Canada, and America - echo these turbulent waters.
Yet there is comfort to be found even in these dark times.
While the nations appear united against us, their unity is mere illusion. We find by Krias Yam Suf, when the Mitzriyim saw that they had made a mistake to wage war with Hashem and Klal Yisrael that they tried to turn back. The passuk says: “Hashem locked the wheels of their chariots so that they moved forward with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for Hashem is fighting for them against Egypt.”
The Rashbam says that Hashem made it difficult for them to return and they were knocking into one another to try and escape because they realized they were hopeless to fight against Hashem. We see from here, that when “push comes to shove”, the Mitzriyim were a disjointed nation, not like Klal Yisrael who have achdus.
True achdus - genuine unity - exists only among Klal Yisrael. As protesters chanted empty slogans, the Jewish people sprang into meaningful action. Thousands of volunteers mobilized to help their brethren, each contributing according to their ability - whether through financial support, opening their homes to the displaced, or joining the ranks of defenders - always with full hearts.
(Parenthetically, this is also why Klal Yisrael is compared to sheep: When one sheep has abundant pasture but sees another with little, it leaves its plenty to join and share the burden of its fellow. And when one sheep is taken for slaughter, the others rush to its aid.
The nations, however, are likened to goats - when one goat sees another eating, even from an unreachable place like a rooftop, it will attempt to knock the other down! And when a goat witnesses the slaughter of its fellow, it shows no emotion, even licking up the blood afterward.
A sheep cares for its fellow sheep, even at the cost of its own wellbeing.
And this is one of the keys to the strength and continuity of the Jewish People.
Am Yisrael Chai!