INTRODUCTION TO PARASHAT HASHAVUA

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In loving memory of Channa Schreiber (Channa Rivka bat Yosef v' Yocheved) z"l,
with wishes for consolation and comfort to her dear children
Yossi and Mona, Yitzchak and Carmit, and their families,
along with all who mourn for Tzion and Yerushalayim.

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PARASHAT VAYECHI

By Rav Zvi Shimon

Jacob's Last Wish

            The Rashbam (Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir, France, 1080-1160) comments that our parasha should actually begin with the last verse of the previous parasha, parashat Vayigash: "Thus Israel settled in the country of Egypt, in the region of Goshen; they acquired holdings in it, and were fertile and increased greatly" (47:27).  The reason for which it does not is in order that parashat Vayigash should not end on a sour note with Pharaoh controlling all of the lands of Egypt (see 47:26), but rather positively with the sons of Jacob settling and flourishing in Egypt.

The Rashbam's assumption is that the above verse (47:27) is a positive portrayal of the condition of the people of Israel in Egypt.  This assumption is supported by the Netziv's (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, Lithuania, 1817-1893) interpretation of the opening verse of our parasha: "Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt so that the span of Jacob's life came to one hundred and forty-seven years" (47:28).  Why does the Torah inform us of the length of Jacob's residence in Egypt?  This could easily be calculated by the reader on the basis of Jacob's age, 130 (see 47:9), upon his arrival in Egypt, and the total years of his life, 147.  The Netziv explains that the Torah specifically states that Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years to indicate that, as opposed to his years in Israel, these last years in Egypt were pleasant and untroubled.  His entire family escaped famine and were alive and prospering on Egyptian soil.

            However, a close analysis of the continuation of our parasha raises a seemingly different appraisal of the situation.

"And when the time approached for Israel to die, he summoned his son Joseph and said to him, 'Do me this favor, place your hand under my thigh as a pledge of your steadfast loyalty: please do not bury me in Egypt.  When I lie down with my fathers, take me up from Egypt and bury me in their burial-place.'  He replied: 'I will do as you have spoken.'  And he said, 'Swear to me.'  And he swore to him.  Then Israel bowed at the end of the bed.  (Bereishit 47:29-31)

            Jacob asks Joseph to bury him in the land of Israel.  He is not satisfied with Joseph's affirmative response and asks him to swear that he will fulfill the request.  Why does Jacob make Joseph take an oath?  Are Joseph's words not enough?  Does Jacob not trust his son?  The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, Spain, 1194-1274) offers the following answers:

"Swear unto me, and he swore unto him - Jacob did not suspect that his righteous and beloved son would disobey his father's command and renege on the matter which he had promised him by saying, I will do according to thy words.  But Jacob did so in order to strengthen the matter in the eyes of Pharaoh, as perhaps he might not give Joseph permission to leave him, and he would instead say to him, 'Send your brothers and our servants, and they will bring him up there.'  It may be that Pharaoh would want the prophet [Jacob] to be buried in his country as an honor and privilege to them.  It was for this reason that he made him swear for it would not then be proper for him to force Joseph to violate his oath, and Joseph too would feel more obligated to fulfill his father's wish on account of the oath.  Such indeed was the case, as Pharaoh said, Go up and bury thy father, as he made you swear (50:6)."  (Ramban 47:31)

            According to the Ramban's first explanation, the oath was not intended for Joseph but rather for Pharaoh.  Jacob suspected that Pharaoh might refuse the request on account of his not wanting Joseph to leave Egypt or due to his wanting Jacob to be buried in Egypt.  Rabbi Hirsch (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Germany, 1808-1888) adds in a similar vein:

"We would have thought that carrying out this request [of burying Jacob in the land of Israel] would not entail such difficulties that it should require a ceremonious oath for it.  But, as can be deduced, Pharaoh and the        Egyptians would by no means have been pleased if Jacob and his family had moved again back out of Egypt, so that the bringing of the body up to Canaan would by no means make a good impression.  It would clearly show that Joseph's family still did not consider themselves naturalized and their hearts were still in their old homeland."

            Pharaoh might not only desire that Jacob be buried in Egypt, but he might also be offended by the request and be suspicious of the Israelites' loyalty to his kingdom (an accusation raised by the next Pharaoh, see Exodus 1:10).  The purpose of the oath, according to this explanation, is to justify the request to bury Jacob in the land of Israel in Pharaoh's eyes.  Pharaoh would understand that Joseph is obliged because of the oath that his father made him take.

            The Ramban, however, suggests a second explanation for the oath: "Joseph too would feel more obligated to fulfill his father's wish on account of the oath".  It is not only directed towards Pharaoh, but also towards Joseph himself.  The oath is to demonstrate to Joseph the importance that Jacob attributed to being buried in the land of Israel.  Jacob wanted to stress that his request should not be regarded lightly and that Joseph should invest his maximum in accomplishing it.  However, the question arises, why is it so important for Jacob to be buried in the land of Israel?

            Scripture states that Jacob wished to be buried with his forefathers, Abraham and Isaac, in the Cave of Makhpela (47:30).  His desire to be buried in Israel stems from a yearning to connect with his past, with previous generations.  An opposite explanation raised by our sages is that Jacob knows that those buried in the land of Israel will be the first to be resurrected in the Messianic era.  Jacob's motivation is personal and relates not to the past but to the future, the messianic resurrection of the dead.  Close analysis of Jacob's request, however, reveals another dimension.  Jacob twice stresses his objection to being buried specifically in Egypt: "please do not bury me in Egypt ... take me up from Egypt" (47:29,30).  It is not only that he wishes to be buried in Israel but also that he dreads being buried in Egypt.  Why is Jacob so antagonistic to Egypt?

            Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak, France, 1040-1105), citing a different explanation of our sages, suggests that Jacob requested not to be buried in Egypt "so that the Egyptians shall not make of me an idol."  Jacob feared the long-term spiritual consequences of his being buried in Egypt.  The Egyptians, being an idolatrous people, were likely to transform Jacob into an idol after his death.  Jacob therefore prudently requested to be buried in Israel.

The Midrash Ha-gadol (14th century Yemenite collection of homiletic interpretations of our sages compiled by Rabbi David Ha-edni) offers an alternative explanation:

"Why did our father Jacob endeavor to have his bones taken from Egypt?  It is so that the tribes would not settle in Egypt claiming that were Egypt not holy soil, Jacob would have certainly not been buried there."

            Jacob's request is not a product of self-interest.  It rather stems from a deep concern for the future of the people of Israel.  This is hinted to by Scripture's usage of the name Israel in Jacob's request for burial in the land of Israel: "And when the time approached for ISRAEL to die he summoned his son Joseph..."(47:29).  The verses preceding the request (47:28) and following it (48:2) use the name Jacob.  Why does the verse describing the request to be buried in the land of Israel use the name Israel?  The name Jacob reflects an individual personal standpoint but the name Israel reflects a national perspective.  It is Israel, the bearer of the national mission, who asks out of NATIONALISTIC concerns to be buried in Israel.

            What so concerned Jacob?  Was he not, after all, finally enjoying some peace of mind?  Does not Scripture testify to the speedy rise of the tribes in wealth and power?  Pharaoh himself proposed to Joseph in relation to his brothers: "settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land ... and if you know any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock (47:6)."  The brothers were put in charge of all of Pharaoh's livestock!

            I believe the answer to this question may be found in the Ramban's commentary to the beginning of our parasha.

"And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years - Jacob's descent into Egypt alludes to our present exile at the hands of the 'fourth beast,' which represents Rome.  [There are many parallels,] for it was Jacob's sons themselves who, by the sale of their brother Joseph, caused their going down there.  Jacob, moreover, went there on account of the famine, thinking to find relief with his son in the house of his son's friend, for Pharaoh loved Joseph and considered him as a son.  It was their hope to ascend from there as soon as the famine would cease in the land of Canaan, just as they said, 'To sojourn in the land we have come, for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is heavy in the land of Canaan' (47:4).  But then THEY DID NOT COME UP, but instead the exile prolonged itself upon Jacob and he died there, and his bones ascended from there accompanied by all the elders and courtiers of Pharaoh, who instituted severe lamentation for him.  Our relationship with our brothers Rome and Edom is similar.  We ourselves have caused our falling in their clutches, as they made a covenant with the Romans, and Agrippa, the last king during the Second Temple, fled to them for help.  It was due to famine that Jerusalem was captured by the Romans, and the exile has exceedingly prolonged itself over us, with its end, unlike the other exiles, being unknown."  (Ramban 47:28)

            The Ramban, following his exegetical principal of "ma'asei avot siman le-banim' - the narratives of the patriarchs hint to future events affecting the Jewish people, interprets Jacob's descent to Egypt as a foreshadowing of the exile which occurred during the time of the Romans.  According to the Ramban, the exile was a result of the Jewish people's making a treaty with the Romans and settling in foreign lands.  This parallels the tribes' descent to Egypt.  Jacob went down to Egypt for one purpose - to survive the famine.  He had no intention whatsoever of remaining in Egypt.  The return to Israel was, however, postponed, year after year.  Jacob finally realizes that a speedy return to Israel is an illusion.  It is this realization which troubles him and prods him towards the end of his life to attempt to rectify the situation.  Jacob never sets roots in Egyptian soil nor does he integrate into Egyptian society.  His aspirations lie in the covenant of his forefathers, in the land of Israel.  He is too aged to return there himself and his offspring are too busy successfully integrating and ascending the economic ladder to consider departing.  The tribes wish to remain in Egypt, to settle this foreign land.  Jacob's request to be buried in Israel is a blaring message to the tribes to remember their true calling, their real home.  In the words of Rabbi Hirsch:

"Jacob noticed what a powerful influence Egypt was beginning to have on his descendants, how they already began to see the Jordan in the Nile, and to find their stay in Egypt as no exile.  It is this attitude which motivated Jacob to press with such ceremonious solemnity        that they should not bury him in Egypt, but that they should carry him to their old true homeland.  It was motive enough for Jacob to say to them: 'You hope and wish to live in Egypt, I do not wish even to be buried there!'"

            This message was directed specifically to Joseph, the leader and sustainer of the family.  It was Joseph who invited Jacob and his sons to dwell in Egypt.  It is he who now has the power to effect change.  Did Joseph absorb the message?

            Although Joseph and his brothers never returned to live in Israel, the message was nevertheless not lost on Joseph.  He responds to his father's request by saying: "I will do as you have spoken" (47:30).  Rabbeinu Bachya (Rabbi Bachya ben Asher, Spain, end of 13th - beginning of 14th century) cites the following homiletic interpretation of Joseph's response: "I will do as you have spoken" (47:30)- "Just as you made me take an oath to carry your bones out of Egypt so will I make the tribes take an oath to carry my bones out."  Joseph's response to his father's request is not only a willingness to do as was requested; it is also an adoption of Jacob's outlook with regard to the centrality of Israel.  Joseph's request of the tribes at the end of the book of Genesis: "you shall carry up my bones from here" (50:25) is a direct reaction and consequence of his father's request.  Joseph tells his father that he, too, will similarly ask to be buried in Israel.  Joseph who spent the larger portion of his life in Egypt and reached the highest echelons of that society knows that Egypt is not his real home.  His deepest commitments lie elsewhere, in the land of Israel, in the covenant of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.