<HTML>I am teaching Parshat Vayeshev and I was bothered by an unusual wording
in the Pasuk. In 37:3, in telling that Ya'akov gave Yosef a special
robe, the Torah informs us "v'asa lo k'tonet pasim". It would appear
that the form "vaya'as" should be used here, as it refers to the past
tense.
The word "v'asa" shows up lots of times in the Torah, and in all other
cases it is used in the future tense. There is "v'asa Betzalel
v'Ahaliav" at the beginning of Shmot 36, which is part of Moshe's
instructions to building the Mishkan. Most of the other times "v'asa" is
used to instruct how the kohen performs the avoda in the Mishkan.
I am interested to hear if anyone has seen this explained in m'forshim,
or if anyone can suggest an original explanation.
Rabbi Chaim Kosofsky
Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy
Longmeadow, MA</HTML>
