Introduction to Parashat Hashavua
Yeshivat Har Etzion

PARASHAT VAYECHI

Ya'akov's Last Request

By Rav Michael Hattin

INTRODUCTION

            For seventeen years, Ya'akov lives in Egypt surrounded by his doting children and his extended family and sustained by Pharaoh's munificence.  The unexpected reconciliation among the brothers has restored his spirits while beloved Yosef, whose authority is second only to the god king, is able to attend to all of his physical needs.  And although it was with serious misgivings that he left Canaan's sacred earth behind, Ya'akov is sustained by a Divine pledge that his descendents will one day return to their ancestral land.  In the meantime, the stability and serenity that had so eluded him for most of his turbulent and tempestuous years – years consumed in abject fear of Esav, in oppressive service to Lavan and in mourning over Yosef – are now finally his, and he lives out his life's final stages basking in their soft, golden light.

            As death approaches, Ya'akov summons his son Yosef and extracts from him a solemn oath: "…do not bury me in Egypt.  When I die and join my ancestors then you shall bear me out of Egypt and bury me with them."  Yosef responded: "I shall fulfill your words."  He (Ya'akov) said: "Swear to me!," and he swore to him, and then Yisrael prostrated himself at the head of the bed…(Bereishit 47:30-31).  Ya'akov can now die peacefully, for he knows that Yosef will fulfill his final wishes and inter his earthly remains at the cave of Makhpela at Chevron, notwithstanding the serious logistical and political difficulties involved in such an undertaking. 

            Thus it is that Ya'akov, at least in death, will be reunited with his ancestors and with the land that God had promised to him and to his descendents forever.  And Ya'akov's children and grandchildren, who have by now established themselves so successfully on the teeming Nile's verdant shores, will in the process be pointedly reminded that Goshen, notwithstanding all of its natural bounty and material comforts, is neither their home nor their heritage.

INCLUDING YOSEF'S CHILDREN AMONG THE TRIBES

            Sometime later, Ya'akov becomes ill, and Yosef is summoned to his bedside.  Sensing that mortality now ominously hovers over the scene, Yosef brings his two children with him – Menashe and Ephraim – to say goodbye.  Upon Yosef's arrival, the aged patriarch strains himself to sit upon his sickbed and informs Yosef that the two lads will be counted among the tribes of Israel.  Ya'akov said to Yosef:

"Almighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me.  He said to me: 'behold, I will cause you to increase and to multiply, so that I shall make of you a multitude of peoples, and I shall give this land to your descendents after you in perpetuity.'  Now therefore, your two sons that were born to you in the land of Egypt before my arrival in Egypt shall be counted as my own, for Ephraim and Menashe shall be considered by me as Reuven and Shim'on.  But those that were born to you after them shall be considered as yours, for they shall be called by their brothers' names upon their inheritance of land.  As for me, when I arrived from Padan, my Rachel died in the land of Canaan enroute, while there was yet some distance to Efrat, and I buried her there on the way to Efrat, also known as Beit Lechem."  When Ya'akov saw the sons of Yosef, he said: "who are these"?  Yosef said to his father: "they are my sons that the Lord has given me here," and he responded: "bring them near to me so that I might bless them!" (47:3-9).

The section as a whole is about the election of Menashe and Ephraim to the status of full-fledged tribes, in deference to Yosef's esteemed position as acknowledged "firstborn."  Ya'akov's descendents have already organized their extended clan into tribal units in accordance with each one of the brothers and his respective children.  In his mind's eye, the blind patriarch already sees their return to the land of Canaan and thus informs Yosef that his two oldest children – Menashe and Ephraim – will be counted among them as tribes in their own right.  When the land is apportioned among the children of Israel, the tribes of Ephraim and Menashe, marching under two separate tribal standards, will thus secure two portions of territory, as well as provide two independent representatives to the tribal council that will form the nascent nation's proto-government.  But any other children born to Yosef after Ya'akov's arrival in Egypt will be included among the clans of their older brothers and therefore absorbed into the tribes and territories of Menashe and Ephraim.  Thus it is that the combined tribe of "Yosef" will potentially yield power in Israel and exercise influence over national affairs to a greater degree than any of the other tribes.   

            The patriarch's fateful decision is immediately reinforced by what follows.  Seeing the two sturdy lads that flank Yosef but unable to make out their features due to his failing eyesight, Ya'akov enquires concerning their identities.  Are they indeed the two eldest children of Yosef and therefore entitled to their special status, or are they perhaps some of the younger siblings that will not be counted as independent entities among the tribes?  When Yosef informs his father that they are in fact Ephraim and Menashe – "sons that the Lord has given me here" before Ya'akov's descent to Egypt – then he responds that they must step forward to receive their blessings.  

A MISPLACED VERSE

            Most curiously, though, in the midst of a passage that is otherwise devoted exclusively to the issue of Yosef's enhanced tribal status and the securing of blessing by his sons, Ya'akov unexpectedly recalls the death of beloved Rachel.  A restatement of the section with the verse in question now highlighted, underlines its seeming disconnection from the context:

"…Now therefore, your two sons that were born to you in the land of Egypt before my arrival in Egypt shall be counted as my own, for Ephraim and Menashe shall be considered by me as Reuven and Shim'on.  But those that were born to you after them shall be considered as yours, for they shall be called by their brothers' names upon their inheritance of land.  AS FOR ME, WHEN I ARRIVED FROM PADAN, MY RACHEL DIED IN THE LAND OF CANAAN ENROUTE, WHILE THERE WAS YET SOME DISTANCE TO EFRAT, AND I BURIED HER ON THE WAY TO EFRAT, ALSO KNOWN AS BEIT LECHEM."  When Ya'akov saw the sons of Yosef, he said: "who are these"?  Yosef said to his father: "they are my sons that the Lord has given me here," and he responded: "bring them near to me so that I might bless them!" (47:3-9).

Why does Ya'akov suddenly and briefly digress to recall Rachel's tragic death enroute?  Why does he remember now the details surrounding her hurried burial?  How is any of this connected to the matter at hand, namely the designation of Menashe and Ephraim as separate tribes?  Radak attempts to provide a reasonable solution whose main features are echoed by most of the medieval commentaries that lived both before and after him:

This statement of Ya'akov was a form of apology to Yosef concerning Ya'akov's failure to bury his (Yosef's) mother at Makhpela as he had done for Leah.  Yosef should therefore not criticize his father's own request to be borne after his death to that very cave!  Ya'akov said to him that he had not been negligent in this matter, for Rachel had died enroute and he had to proceed slowly on account of their flocks and children.  He could not leave all of them unattended even to bear her body to Beit Lechem and surely not to the cave at Makhpela that was more distant…Conversely, had he traveled to there at that slow pace, her body would have decomposed in the heat, and he had no provisions for preserving her; there were of course no embalmers in attendance and she died on the road.  Therefore he buried her enroute with dignity and set up a memorial upon her grave, a memorial that is still there until this very day (commentary to 48:7).

THE DIFFICULTIES INTRODUCED BY RADAK'S EXPLANATION

            For the Radak, Ya'akov's reference to Rachel's burial was an attempt to diffuse any lingering resentment on Yosef's part.  After all, here was Ya'akov now asking his son to make special efforts to inter him at the cave of Makhpela – efforts that involved the traversing of large distances – when he himself had not extended the same privilege towards Rachel.  She had been chaotically buried on the way where she had tragically perished and her body was not brought neither to Makhpela nor even to Beit Lechem!  Therefore, avers the Radak, Ya'akov feels the need to explain to his son that trying circumstances prevented him from transferring Rachel's body to Chevron, and that there was certainly no lack of will on his part but rather a series of obstacles that were insurmountable.

            While Radak provides an admirable explanation for Ya'akov's seeming digression, his approach introduces serious difficulties.  First of all, the issue of Ya'akov's internment at Machpela had already been discussed with Yosef and resolved with a solemn oath in the parasha's opening section.  It was there that Ya'akov had broached the subject about being borne back to Canaan for burial and it was then that he had secured his son's agreement and pledge.  If Ya'akov felt that he needed to explain to Yosef the matter of Rachel's haphazard burial, then this verse should have been mentioned in that context, rather than now!  Our passage, unfolding at a later point when Ya'akov was already deathly ill, is not about his plans for burial at all but rather about Yosef's special status and about the designation of Menashe and Ephraim as tribes, as we have seen. 

            Furthermore, we note that Yosef had been present at the time of his mother Rachel's death and burial (see Bereishit Chapter 35).  Surely he was himself aware of the difficult circumstances that faced the family at the time and of his father's great pain over the inability to convey Rachel's earthly remains to Makhpela.  Would Yosef really have felt antipathy towards his father, who had loved Rachel more than anything and had so bitterly mourned her untimely death?  Would he not instead have wanted nothing more than to now extend to his father what had been so utterly impossible at the time of beloved Rachel's death?

THE LITERARY FRAMEWORK

            It seems therefore that a different approach is in order.  We noted earlier that the topic of our passage was the designation of Ephraim and Menashe as tribes, and by extension, the special status now accorded By Ya'akov to Yosef to be effectively considered as the firstborn son.  This unique development was further emphasized in the qualification indicated by Ya'akov: only the children of Yosef born to him before the descent of Ya'akov to Egypt would be considered as "his sons," while any offspring born afterwards would not.  Surely the designation of Ephraim and Menashe is meant to highlight Yosef's struggle and triumph.  For twenty-two years he had been separated from his father, growing up in a strange land under the patronage of foreigners.  In Egypt, Yosef married and had children while his own father remained pathetically unaware. 

            In the meantime, the other brothers went about their lives, raising children of their own and building the extended family into a tight-knit clan.  But Yosef had never been forgotten by his father, and Ya'akov had never ceased to mourn his demise.  When it became clear that Yosef was still alive and that he had not only survived but had prospered fabulously, Ya'akov was overjoyed because his unspoken hopes had finally been vindicated.  And while there was no possibility of restoring or reliving those lost decades, at least Ya'akov could attempt to make some amends.  As his strength ebbs and he feels death approaching, Ya'akov informs his precious Yosef that he now bestows upon him the privileges of the firstborn son, designating Ephraim and Menashe as tribes.

            It is as if Ya'akov says: "you were so painfully wrenched from my embrace and I was unwillingly separated from you.  Of your trials I knew nothing and of your accomplishments I was unaware.  I did not merit seeing you take a wife and marry, nor was I near you while your young sons grew up and became youths, and nothing can replace what has been lost!  But in my heart the memory of you always burned bright, and with it the memory of your beloved mother.  Now I will bestow upon you the special status that you have earned by your merits and your brothers shall not dare dispute my actions, for they know that my deed is justified.  Your children will be considered like my own, for it is as if they have grown up in my presence and under my tutelage along with my other sons." 

UNDERSTANDING YA'AKOV'S DIGRESSION

            And Ya'akov's digression concerning the death and burial of Rachel can thus be understood as part of his impassioned words to Yosef about the pain of their earlier parting and about his profound desire to rectify now what can be rectified.  When Ya'akov mentions Rachel's demise and internment it is not because he fears that Yosef is angry with him for requesting that which he could not grant to his (Yosef's) own mother.  Rather, Ya'akov now mentions Rachel's tragic death and burial because he intends to right an ancient wrong!  How cruel fate had been to all of them!  Rachel had been suddenly and sorrowfully torn from him and later Yosef had been consumed by the wild beasts, and though Ya'akov was surrounded by his other wives and children, the raw wound had never healed.  But now Yosef stood proudly before him with his own two sons, Ya'akov's grandchildren and the offspring that he had never dreamed that he would see.  If only Rachel were alive to see it!  But she had died on their return from Padan and Ya'akov had been forced to hurriedly bury her enroute.  Cathartically, the measured words spill out of the old man as he relives the scene in his mind's eye.  There was Rachel, her breathing stilled and her wracked body now motionless; there was Yosef, bent over in grief and sobbing uncontrollably; and there he was, powerless to stop his love from being taken away from him and now abruptly faced with the prospect of continuing on alone.  As the makeshift shovel struck the hard earth and dislodged the rocky clods, Ya'akov silently wept. 

            But in His mercy, God had granted Ya'akov restoration, for Yosef had prospered mightily and had even sired sons of his own.  As Ya'akov now blesses beloved Yosef and his offspring, it is only natural that he simultaneously recalls his Rachel, beloved wife and mother.  For while the past cannot be repaired nor the dead by human hands revived, at least the present and the future can yet be improved by conscious choices made by those still alive:

"…As for me, when I arrived from Padan, my Rachel died in the land of Canaan enroute, while there was yet some distance to Efrat, and I buried her there on the way to Efrat, it is also known as Beit Lechem."  When Ya'akov saw the sons of Yosef, he said: "who are these"?  Yosef said to his father: "They are my sons that the Lord has given me here" and he responded: "bring them near to me so that I might bless them!" (47:7-9).

Shabbat Shalom