YISSACHAR IS A STRONG-BONED ASS,
CROUCHING AMONG THE SHEEPFOLDS. WHEN HE SAW HOW GOOD WAS SECURITY AND HOW
PLEASANT WAS THE COUNTRY, HE BENT HIS SHOULDER TO THE BURDEN, AND BECAME A
TOILING SERF.
(Bereishit 49:14,15)
In Yissachar that
disposition is described which works gladly but only in such a way, and with
such an idea, as has worth in the true Jewish nation. While in Yehuda the
ruling tribe and in Zevulun the commercial tribe is presented, in Yissachar the
real backbone of the Jewish nation appears - the Jewish land-worker. He does
not work to go on and on and earn more and more wealth, the Jewish man of the
people, and does not wear himself out in the pressure of his work, he works to
earn leisure for himself. He is content to allow Zevulun to earn millions with
his products, prefers to stay quietly at home, and sees that leisure, so won,
won by one's own independent work, is the highest prize that man can strive for
by his work. For it is in his leisure that a man really comes to himself. For
that he bends his shoulder to take on burdens, leaves the ruler's scepter to
Yehuda, the prize of commerce to Zevulun; he is not tempted by military glory
nor by the wealth to be made in trade. He knows other conquests and other
treasures that can only be won and only nurtured in leisure. It was just this
tribe that became thereby cultivators of the spiritual treasures of the nation.
When, after the fall of Saul, all the tribes gathered about David, thousands
and hundreds of thousands came from them all. Yissachar sent only 200 and there
the heads of the tribe, - the others stayed at home and did not leave their
work. But these 200 were all philosophers and scientists, who understood the
signs of the times, they brought "binah" - understanding
- with them. Binah is really discrimination, recognition of the true
relation of men and matters to each other and the result of their constant
reaction on each other. This insight Yissachar had won in its leisure for which
it had worked, and indeed had bina, practical knowledge, not mere
sophistic cleverness, but that practical understanding of the real relationship
of men and matters which the true Torah wisdom gives, and indeed applied it to
a just estimation of the special meaning and implications of any moment.
(Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Bereishit
49:15, translated from the original by Isaac Levy)
Dedicated with
appreciation to the blessed memory of
the noble
Rabbanit Esther Rozovsky, z"l,
who passed away
on the 16th of Marheshvan 5763
Rashi,
in the footsteps of Midrash Bereishit Rabba (Tsav, 1) opens
his commentary on this parasha with a homiletic explanation of the traditional
transcription of this parasha:
Yaakov
lived - Why is this
parasha 'sealed'? (The
Masoretic text of the Bible is divided into parshiot. (The division into
chapters was a later innovation of Christian scholarship). There are 'open' parshiot
(petuchot), the ends of which are indicated by an open space extending to
the end of the line, and there are 'sealed' parshiot (s'tumot),
which are followed by a space of nine letters.) When Yaakov died, the eyes and the hearts of Israel were
sealed because of the distress of the servitude which had begun. An alternate
explanation: He wished to divulge the end to his children but it was concealed
from him." (Rashi,
Bereishit 47:28)
Rashi
chose to explain not the words, but rather the absence of open space between
the parshiot, seeing in the 's'tumot' an allusion to two types of
's'tumot', of 'sealings': the sealing of the eyes and hearts of
the people enslaved after the demise of our father Yaakov, and the sealing of
Yaakov's ability to reveal the end to his sons.
True,
there is no explicit evidence in the Bible that the bondage began with Yaakov's
death, for it is only at the beginning of the Book of Shemot, after Yosef's
death, that there arises a new king over Egypt "who did not know of
Yosef", and therefore we should perhaps understand the words of the
Midrash in the sense of the Midrashic explication (also adopted by Rashi) to
"Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs,
and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years" i.e.,
the exile begins from the moment of Yitzchak's birth. (Rashi, Bereishit 15:13)
Another
hint at the commencement of the period of bondage was found by Rabbi Yissachar
Katz (author of "Matnot Kehunah", a commentary on Midrash Rabba) in
the word "Vayechi", the opening word of this parasha; a number
of midrashim claim that "Vayechi is a term indicating distress."
A
number of commentators relate to the Midrashic determination that the bondage
began with Yaakov's passing (Baalei HaTosafot, Chizkuni, "Kli
Yakar"). Rabbi Efrayim of Lunchitz (author of "Kli Yakar")
explains, on the basis of an exact reading of Midrash, that the lack of a space
between verse 27 - "Thus Israel settled in the country of Egypt, in the
region of Goshen; they acquired holdings in it, and were fertile and increased
greatly" - and the opening passage of our parasha teaches us that only
during the lifetime of our father Yaakov did Israel dwell in Goshen in ease and
in tranquillity; afterwards the bondage began. Two possibilities are suggested:
(1)
As long as Yaakov lived, the bondage was delayed in his merit and (2) The Holy
One, Blessed Be He, shortened Yaakov's life span so that he not witness the
enslavement of his children.
In any case, regardless of how we understand the connection between Yaakov's death and the commencement of the bondage, we must consider what happens when a people is enslaved: "The eyes and hearts of Israel were sealed." A nation that is not free, which is enslaved to another nation, loses the ability to see and the ability to feel. The master nation also loses its ability to see and feel. Blindness and insensitivity do not fall upon a nation or a person suddenly; they are the result of an extended process - the beginning stages are not felt, but the end of the process is the sinking into the 49 levels of impurity. History records many processes of gradual and inconspicuous enslavement of one nation by another; at the beginning, neither the enslaving nation nor the enslaved people is aware of the change. Whoever studies the history of the previous century and visits the Museum of the Shoah in Washington discovers that the rise of the Nazis to power caused, at the beginning of the process, blindness which succeeded in anaesthetizing the German people, a significant part of the Jewish world, and the world at large for a long time, until the overt persecutions began. Bondage seems to begin with the blindness and insensitivity of both oppressor and victim.
The
"end" in this context may possibly be the end of the bondage in
Egypt. Yaakov, who internalized God's promise to our father Avraham,
understands that his going down to Egypt because of the famine symbolizes the
beginning of the exile in Egypt; he feels a need, before his death, to equip
his sons with a spiritual bequest which contains a message of hope - there will
be bondage, but there will come an end. An allusion to this is his request to
be buried with his fathers, and also the later request by Yosef, who
assimilated the message, (Bereishit
50:25): "Yosef made
the sons of Israel swear, saying, "When God has taken notice of you, you
shall carry up my bones from here."
Yaakov
wanted to enable his sons to rely on a specific date, thinking that perhaps a
defined time for liberation would lighten the yoke of slavery.
According
to the "Kli Yakar", revelation of the end would have resulted in the
loss of hope and in the Children of Israel's assimilation into a foreign land.
It is possible, on the other hand, that the exile and the bondage were, in a
certain sense, a test of their faith and hope and their willingness to be
redeemed even when the appointed time for redemption is not clearly known in
advance.
In
most Chazal literature, however, "revelation of the end" refers to
the end of days, to the Messianic era, and therefore Rashi and the
author of the midrash relate to Yaakov, the father of the Jewish people in all
generations, and not to the real Biblical figure who, according to a
plain-reading of the text, takes leave of his children and grandchildren;
"Yaakov our father did not die" (Bavli, Taanit 5b), he lives in our midst.
Our father Yaakov wanted to reveal, to his children and to us, the end of days, but he was prevented from doing so. Sometimes, in a situation when the end is revealed and has a definite "date", there exists the danger that
"such
knowledge will bring with it much damage, as they will not call upon Me, and
will not consult earlier generations, and they will desire to dwell permanently
in the lands of the nations, on own estates in their adopted lands as residents
and as those who have despaired of redemption. Therefore God hid and sealed the
final end, so that in every generation they will seek the face of God and of
David their king, and will not wish to be residents in the lands of the
nations, and they will constantly anticipate the end of His salvation."
("Kli Yakar" 47: 28)
This
danger, as described by the ""Kli Yakar"", exists when the
Jewish people is in exile, under the impression that the end is known, but
irrelevant to its life, and therefore establishes itself in foreign lands.
There
exists, however, an opposite danger, a danger which may be more actual for the
nation living today in Zion; the revelation of the end, i.e., interpretation of
contemporary history in messianic terms. Not only is there presumption to
understand the hidden ways of God - constituting impertinence towards Heaven -
it is also liable to seal hearts and eyes.
It
is possible, therefore, to homiletically expound the two midrashim quoted by
Rashi in another fashion: As long as "Yaakov our father did not die",
i.e., as long our moral compass (the image of Yaakov which prevented Yosef from
sinning, Yaakov who condemns the acts of Shim'on and Levi) lives within us,
we are not enslaved and we do not enslave others. When the Yaakov inside
us dies, eyes and heart are sealed because of the tribulations of the bondage.
The sorrows of the bondage are liable to lead to "the speeding up of the
end" as an illusory solution and as a substitute for challenging and
obligating faith. Similarly, the consciousness of the end of days is liable to
pervert perception of reality, of the value of the daily coping with faith and
hope in an unredeemed word, while striving to repair the world with the Kingdom
of God. In this sense, this "sealed parasha" makes possible a life of
challenge and faith.
Pinchas
Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist
"Binyamin,
a wolf that tears-to-pieces! In the morning he devours prey, and in the evening
he divides the spoil"
"Binyamin, a wolf
that tears-to-pieces" - He
prophesied that in the future they will be snatchers (Judges 21) "Let each of you seize a
wife" in the story of the concubine from Giv'ah, and he prophesied
about Saul who will be victorious over all his surrounding enemies, as is
written (I
Samuel 14) "After
Saul had secured his kingship over Israel, he waged war on every side against
all his enemies, against the Moabites, Ammonites... and wherever he turned, he
worsted them."
(Rashi,
Bereishit, 49:27)
"Until" and "Spoils": In War,
Too, There Is Necessary Violence and Needless Violence
"In the morning he
devours prey, and then, in the evening divides up the spoil" [Translator's
note: The first clause of this pasuk defies definitive plain translation; the
Hebrew work "ad" - translated in English versions of the Bible
as "foe" or "prey" is problematic. Usually it means
"until" or "forever", and the latter is the meaning which
the author of the following midrash had in mind]. Everything which is essential
for man, i.e., sufficient for his consumption in order to satiate his
family's hunger, is granted with smiling countenance, and he will never lack
his bread forever, for eternity. All luxuries which man requests beyond
his needs he will eventually leave his wealth to others and will share with
others, perhaps to whoever marries his widow, and he himself will be despoiled
and distanced from those luxuries in the evening. Therefore it states "In
the morning", meaning that which is granted him smiling
countenance; only that which he eats as per his needs alone is given him
with smiling countenance and given him forever, for even though "ad"
also connotes negation, the Torah uses the term "ad",
connoting eternity. "And in the evening" - that which
is given him with dark countenance is that which he will share with
others and he will be despoiled of it, for the word "shallal"
["spoil"] also implies removal, "the ax-head slips off
the handle" (Devarim
19:5).
This above pasuk was
juxtaposed to the blessing "A wolf that tears to pieces" to
admonish the judges of Israel that in war they not seize more than is
essential, as is written (Zephania
3:3) "The officials
within her are roaring lions; Her judges are wolves of the steppe, they leave
no bone until morning." The prophet accuses them of seizing more than
is necessary, therefor he designates them "wolves of the steppe", and
said "they leave no bone until morning" because they did not
ask only the essentials given in the morning. Similarly does the prophet accuse
Saul, descendant of Binyamin "and swoop down on the spoil in defiance
of the Lord's will?" (I Samuel 15:19);
Saul did not remember Yaakov's blessing to Binyamin. But with regard to
Avraham, it is written (Bereishit
14:24) "Only that
which the lads have consumed" did he take, not giving them of the
excesses of the spoils. Thus did he [Yaakov] draw a parable from the wolf who
seizes as needed for his consumption, but who occasionally seizes and
destroys without benefit. This is beautiful commentary.
("Kli Yakar", Bereishit 49:27)
"Your father
commanded" - they
prevaricated for the sake of peace, for Yaakov had not thus commanded them, for
Yosef was not suspect in his eyes.
(Rashi
Bereishit 50:16)
Said Rabbi Il'ah in the name
of Rabbi El'azar son of Rabbi Shim'on: A person may conceal the truth for the
sake of peace, as is written: (Bereishit 50) "Your
father commanded... thus shall you say to Yosef" Pray forgive your
brothers' offense, etc."
Said Rabbi Nathan: It is a mitzvah,
as is written:
(I Samuel 16) "And
Shmuel said, How can I go - when Saul hears of it, he will kill me, etc."
In the academy of Rabbi
Yishmael it was taught: Great is peace, for even The Holy One, Blessed Be He,
altered [the truth] for its sake; in the beginning it is written: (Bereishit 18) "And my master is old", at
the end it is written: "and I am old".
(Bavli,
Yevamot 65b).
Said Rabbi Shim'on ben
Gamliel: How much ink has been expended and how many pens have been broken and
many parchments worn out, and how many children are struck in order to learn -
in the Torah - things which never really happened. See, then, how great is the
power of peace. And so we find with regards to Sarah - the ministering angels
came to Avraham and told him "I will return to you next year" (Bereishit 18); at that moment "Sarah laughed to
herself saying "Now that I am withered, am I to have enjoyment - with
my husband so old?" But God told Avraham, "Why did Sarah
laugh, saying "Shall I in truth bear a child, for I am old".
What is the purpose of all this? For the sake of peace. And in the world to
come, when The Holy One, Blessed Be He, shall return the exiles to
Yerushalayim, he shall return them in peace, as is written (Psalms 122) "Pray for the well-being of
Yerushalayim; May those who love you be at peace." And it is also
written (Isaiah
61) "I will extend
to her peace like a stream."
(Tanchuma, Parashat Tsav, 7)
Editorial
Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam Fine (Coordinator), Itzhak
Frankenthal and Dr. Menachem Klein
Translation:
Kadish Goldberg
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