SO JOSEPH WENT UP TO BURY HIS FATHER; AND WITH HIM WENT UP ALL THE OFFICIALS OF PHARAOH, THE SENIOR MEMBERS OF HIS COURT AND ALL OF EGYPT'S DIGNITARIES

(Bereishit 50: 7)

 

And with him went up - in his honor, so that he would not go by himself - This comes to teach us that although Pharaoh's officials did not intend to honor the dead, it is accounted to their merit as if they had. We similarly explained the honor done by crying over the dead. Even though [the mourner] cries over his own suffering, in any case it is counted as an honor to the dead and as the fulfillment of a mitzvah. All of the details of the funeral, even walking behind the casket, are things one does to fulfill one's own needs, but none the less we receive a reward [from God] for accompanying the dead. After all, in any event one has honored the dead; it is an example of a mitzvah performed with imperfect intention, and such an act is still considered as the performance of a mitzvah. All the more so in regard to an act of kindness, for which it is of no consequence whether or not one thinks of oneself as performing a mitzvah. Rather, all acts of kindness are meritorious, including walking behind the casket, since in any case, it honors the dead, and is credited to the walker.

(HaEmek Davar and Harhev Davar Bereishit 3: 7)

 

 

Our Father Jacob Did Not Die

Pinchas Leiser

 

Like parashat Hayyei Sarah, parashat VaYechi describes the final days of our father Jacob. After Jacob has taken leave of his sons and blessed them, the Torah tells us about Jacob's death n these words: When Jacob finished his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and, breathing his last, he was gathered to his people. (49: 33) Rashi reads the verse precisely and notes that no mention is made of Jacob actually dying. He writes:

Breathing his last, he was gathered to his people - but it does not say he died. Our rabbis of blessed memory said: "Our father Jacob did not die."

Rashi's comment is based upon an aggadic passage from the Talmud (Ta'anit 5b):

This is what Rabbi Yohanan said: "Our father Jacob did not die." [They] said to him: "Could it be that in vain they eulogized him, embalmed him, and buried him? He answered: I learn this from a biblical verse, for it says (Jeremiah 30: 10) But you, have no fear, My servant Jacob - declares the Lord - be not dismayed, O Israel! I will deliver you from far away, your offspring from the land of their captivity. We learn about him from his offspring. If his offspring will be alive - then he also will be alive.

Other exegetes grappled with this complex issue, among them the RaMBaN [following the Chavel translation]:

Breathing his last, he was gathered to his people. - but it does not say he died. Our rabbis of blessed memory said: "Our father Jacob did not die." This is the language of Rashi. Now according to this opinion of our Rabbis, the difficulty arises: Now Jacob applied the term "death" to himself, as it is written (48: 21), Behold, I die, but God shall be with you! Now perhaps he did not come to know it himself, or it may be that he did not wish to pay honor to himself. Similarly, with respect to the verse (50:15), And when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, we must say that to them he was dead, or it may be that they did not know all of this.

Now the purport of this midrash [which states that, "Our father Jacob did not die"], is that the souls of the righteous are bound in the bind of life with the Eternal (I Samuel 25: 29), and his soul covers him all the day (Devarim 33:12), "wearing a scarlet garment" [that drapes the soul after leaving the body after death] so that it not be stripped naked, as Jacob's [soul was privileged to do continually], or which it dons at certain occasions [as do the souls of lesser individuals]. This whole matter will be understood in the light of what is told in the tractates Shabbat (152b) and Ketubot (103a).

The RaMBaN here attempts to work out the tensions between the plain meaning of the biblical text and the midrash brought in by Rashi. His guiding assumption is that "Scripture never escapes its literal meaning," and so, the plain meaning of scripture must agree with worldly, concrete reality. Every human being, regardless of religion, race, gender, or spiritual station, will eventually succumb to physical death. That was just as true of our father Jacob as it was of Moses our rabbi. Any attempt to "communicate with the dead" is essentially idolatrous, making it necessary to insist on a clear distinction between peshat [plain meaning] and derash [midrashic extrapolation] regarding such issues.

The RaMBaN briefly explains his understanding of the midrashic statement, "Jacob did not die," using the expression bound in the bind of life and pointing us towards the broader discussions to be found in the Talmudic tractates Shabbat and Ketubot. Maimonides also makes use of the expression bound in the bind of life in his description of the Next World, which constitutes the sublime spiritual reward received by God's servants (Mishneh Torah, Teshuva 8).

Talmudic source-texts, including those cited by RaMBaN, may enlighten us regarding the distinction made by the Sages between bodily death and spiritual survival. However, it seems to me that the passage from the tractate Ta'anit from which Rashi draws his midrashic statement adds an additional and interesting stratum to our discussion. It is clear that Rabbi Yohanan knew that, in the manner of all humans, our father Jacob died a physical death many years ago. Therefore, let us read his words with precision: "I learn [doresh, produce a midrash about] this from a biblical verse...We learn about him from his offspring" - one of the possible expressions of a person's eternal survival is through his offspring who continue his heritage.

In this connection, one might also mention Rashi's concise and apposite comments on the beginning of the first mishnah of Perek Helek, which reads, "All of Israel have a place in the world to come - those that do not have a place there [include] one who says, 'There is no mention of resurrection in the Torah.'" Rashi explains: "One who denies the midrashim."

One who denies the midrashim sees life and scripture only in literal, concrete terms. Such a view is both limited and limiting, making our lives finite. In contrast, one who recognizes the authority of midrashim opens up many opportunities both in Torah study as well as in perceiving life's additional dimensions.

In my opinion, this is also true of our father Jacob's continuation in every generation. The "midrashic" Jacob, whose souls is bound in the bind of life (as RaMBaN applied the phrase) continues to live and develop through us. Sometimes we may feel that our existence is devoid of hope. At times, we ask ourselves hard questions about the future of the project of the Jewish People's rebirth in its land. The "midrash" teaches us to see reality not only as it appears to us through the eyes of "plain meaning," but also to see reality as it can and should be.

Pinchas Leiser, the editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist.

 

 

The "Sword" Which Destroys the World Needs to be Distanced and Scattered

Their weapons[mekhoroteihem] are tools of lawlessness (Bereishit 49:5). In Greek this means "their ruins." Jacob said: If these two tribes live together as one they shall destroy the world, so I will scatter them (as it is written): I will divide them in Jacob, scatter them in Israel (49: 7)

(Midrash Aggadat Bereishit 83)

 

How is Levi Different from Pinchas? The Dangers of Zeal

And behold, Levi and Pinchas were both zealous against fornication, and risked their lives fighting it. As a result, Pinchas rose to high station, while Levi was chastised by his father. Many additional instances [of inconsistent reactions to zeal] have occurred. That is why we read in Pirkei Avot: "An ignoramus is not pious." Great precision of thought is required in order to properly weigh the appropriateness of an action at a particular time and in a particular place, sometimes requiring the consideration of Torah principles whose application is ambiguous

[And of Levi he said] Let your Thummim and Urim be with your pious. (Devarim33:8): The piety of performing mitzvot with devotion in order to preserve faith in God and His covenant among the masses requires great cautiousness. That is why Moses mentioned Urim [literally: lights] in his blessing so that the light of the true Torah prepare them for this piety, that they direct themselves in the straight path and avoid strange acts that are not in accordance with the words of the Torah.

(HaEmek Davar, as quoted in Nehamah Leibowitz's Iyyunim beSefer Bereishit pg. 390)

 

Foe and Spoils: Even in War There is Necessary and Unnecessary Violence

In the morning he consumes the foe [Hebrew: la'ad], and in the evening he divides the spoils [shalal]... and anything which is necessary for a person, that is, what he needs to consume to break the hunger of his household, is something given cheerfully and he shall not want bread la'ad [forever] and for all eternity. But the luxuries that a person asks for beyond his own consumption will eventually be left to others and divided among them - perhaps to his widow's new husband - while he is denied [meshulal] and distanced from those luxuries given him in the evening. That is why it says In the morning [he consumes his foe], speaking of the thing given him cheerfully, of which he consumes only his fill and which is given to him forever. Even though la'ad also refers to spoils, the term la'ad was used in order to imply eternity. And in the evening uses the term shalal in the sense of removal, as in the verse the axe-head flies off [ve'nashal habarzel] the handle (Devarim 19:5), in the sense of negation and casting off.

This matter (In the morning he consumes the foe [Hebrew: la'ad], and in the evening he divides the spoils [shalal]) appears next to the blessing (Benjamin is) a ravenous wolf (49:27) in order to warn the judges of Israel not to ravage in war more than is necessary, as it says: Her judges are wolves of the steppe, they leave no bone until morning (Zephaniah 3:3). The prophet accuses them of ravaging more than is necessary, therefore he called them wolves of the erev [steppe, also "evening"] and says they leave no bone until morning because they did not ask for the necessities given in the morning. Similarly, Saul, who was of Benjamin is accused [of having] swoop[ed] down on the spoils (I Samuel 15: 19), for he did not remember Jacob's blessing to Benjamin. However, of Abraham it is said [that he took of the spoils] nothing but what my servants consumed (Bereishit 14: 24). They took only what was needed for their own consumption, and he did not divide superfluous spoils among them. That was the inspiration for his comparison with the wolf who hunts for his own consumption yet sometimes needlessly kills and destroys, and this is a precious interpretation.

(Keli Yakar Bereishit 49:27)

 

 

 

Editorial Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam Fine (Coordinator), Itzhak Frankenthal and Dr. Menachem Klein

Translation: Kadish Goldberg

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