Vayechi
The last seventeen years of the life of our father, Yaakov, are years of
contentment and serenity. His family has been reunited, albeit in the
foreign land of Egypt, and the rift between Yosef and his brothers has
somehow been repaired. Yaakov studies Torah with his grandsons, even those
who were born in Egyptian exile, far from the holy home of Yaakov in the
Land of Israel. He basks in the glory of the achievements of his beloved
son Yosef and in the accomplishments and students of the school of Torah
established by Yehuda in the land of Goshen. He is finally at peace after
his long and difficult life of struggle, enemies and heartbreak. As the
Lord had promised Yaakov, "Yosef will place his hands over your eyes." The
triumph and success of Yosef soothes Yaakov's later years.
But Yaakov is aware that the success and prosperity of his family is
illusory and temporary. He sees in his prophetic vision the exile of Egypt
unfolding and how it will become progressively more bitter. The baleful
scene that his grandfather Avraham witnessed in his dream of his
"descendants being strangers in a land that is not theirs, and that they
will be enslaved and tortured there" until God redeems them, is a living
reminder to Yaakov of what the future of Egypt will hold for his
descendants. Yaakov knows that difficult times are coming and that his
dream of the creation of the people of Israel will be contested by the very
Egyptian nation that has proved so kind and hospitable to him and his
family in his lifetime. Yaakov's concern therefore is how can he help
prepare his descendants for the ordeal that awaits them. What are the
weapons of inner strength that he can bequeath to them that will enable
them to withstand the centuries of physical and psychological degradation
that face them? The nature of a father and/or grandfather is to protect and
support his progeny. Yaakov is therefore undoubtedly determined to help his
children. But how?
I think that the answer lies in the final blessings that Yaakov grants to
his children before his death. Yaakov addresses each one of his children
individually. Each one has his merits and talents. Yaakov is not reticent
to point out shortcomings of personality in his sons as well. But it is
apparent that Yaakov's intention is that each one of the sons develops, in
fact, concentrate, on their inner strengths and particular individuality.
It is as if the salvation of Israel lies in its diversity, its individual
independence and human differences, rather than in a sense of conformity
and unnatural sameness. Yehuda is the lion, Zevulun the sailor, Yisachar
the great-boned donkey who bears the burden of Torah scholarship, Naftali
is the swift gazelle and Binyamin is the prowling wolf. Our teacher, Moshe,
in his final blessing to the then nation of Israel, also follows the
pattern of Yaakov. He does not bless the people as a whole, nor does he
blur the differences of outlook, professions, and personalities within the
nation. Rather he blesses and strengthens the particular talents and ways
of each of the individual tribes, thereby guaranteeing a healthy, balanced
and strong Jewish people. Yaakov knows that without the individual
strengths of each of his sons separately being reinforced and put to
constant use, the Egyptian exile could very well overwhelm the Jews.
Therefore the Psalmist phrases the redemption of Israel from Egyptian
slavery as being the moment "When Israel left Egypt, the House of Jacob
[departed] from an alien society." Israel, as a united nation and people
left Egypt. But it was only able to do so because it remained "the House of
Jacob," individual personalities and distinct individuals. This insight
into the blessings of Jacob remains valid today. It was the great Rebbe of
Kotzk who said it perhaps best: "If I am I because I am you, and you are
you because you are me, then I am not I and you are not you. But if I am I
because I am I and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are
you!"
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein
Text Copyright © 2000 Rabbi Berel Wein and
Project Genesis, Inc.
