Transcript
Okay, good morning, everyone. We're going to begin. Want to thank our sponsors this morning. פרשה Parsha class is co-sponsored by Gladys Sherman in honor of the Hebrew birthday of her Hebrew birthday. Very happy birthday. יום הולדת שמח Yom Huledet Sameach. And the Shrier family in commemoration of the יארצייט yahrzeit of their beloved parents and grandparents, Bernard and Maxine Selvan and in memory of their beloved uncle Lester Friedman. Also our learning is for a רפואה שלמה refuah shleimah of נעמי בת זיסל Naomi bas Zissel, who's undergoing surgery right now. Should have a complete, speedy, and painless רפואה שלמה refuah shleimah. אמן Amen.As always, we'll do an overview of the פרשה parsha and then we'll delve into our פסוקים psukim. We are, of course, reading פרשת ויחי Parshas Vayechi, concluding the opening book of חומש Chumash of our Torah, concluding the first storyline of Torah, which is the formation of the first Jewish family. We've mentioned numerous times, ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis is the story of a family coming together, a family going from dysfunctional hopefully to functional, of learning to cooperate, of learning to get along, of learning to be one cohesive unit. ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis has been up and downs of the family unit. We've had challenges intergenerationally, we've had sibling rivalry, according to some commentaries, we've even had friction within marriage. We've seen it all within the family. In פרשת ויחי Parshas Vayechi at the end, when the curtain closes on ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis, we are to have learned what it means to function as a family. And we'll see today that in many ways we did. We have the reference at the end of Yaakov bestowing the blessings to his children. The Torah counts and says these were the twelve שבטים shvatim. Though they seemed twelve separate, disparate individuals, they were one unit. They were one family. Yaakov died and his bed was whole in the sense that his family was together. In other ways, the story, the curtain goes down, and our challenges still continue. There's a famous רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya on our פרשה parsha who tells us that Yosef never fully forgave his brothers. That when the brothers come and they say after Yaakov dies, please, we forgot to tell you, Dad wanted us to tell you that when he dies, you still shouldn't hurt us. Don't do anything. That was devastating for Yosef to hear, but clearly there is something that precipitated the brothers to be afraid, to worry, to feel they had to tell Yosef that. Even though they fabricated it, obviously, but what led to, what precipitated their discomfort, they knew Yosef, though he verbally, though he articulated forgiveness, and he said, nah, God orchestrated me to be down here, it's not your fault, we're all good. They understood, they perceived we're not all good. And רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya says that's accurate. And what's רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya's evidence that Yosef never fully forgave his brothers, that the brothers never were fully held accountable? What's רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya's evidence, very compelling evidence? The story of the עשרה הרוגי מלכות Asarah Harugei Malchus. תשעה באב Tisha B'Av we read a קינה kinah, יום כיפור Yom Kippur we read in the סליחות slichos of מוסף musaf, the story of the ten martyrs murdered by the Romans. Not contemporaneous to one another, but lumped together. The מדרש Midrash tells us these great rabbis were held accountable. They were given capital punishment because at the end of the trial for Yosef's brothers, we had a phenomenal trial this past שבת Shabbos, worked out really wonderfully. At the end of our trial, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, was educational, was entertaining, nobody was held accountable with capital punishment. But the Romans were pursuing, perusing through חומש Chumash and said, one second, we read this story. And the curtain goes down, the brothers were never held accountable. And they failed the trial. And the ten rabbis are in their place. Of course, there's a question, there were only nine brothers who participated in the sale of Yosef. Who was the tenth brother? Why are there עשרה הרוגי מלכות Asarah Harugei Malchus? Who was the tenth? If there were only nine, Binyamin was too young. Binyamin didn't participate. There were not, so who? So who is the tenth? Some מפרשים meforshim say, you know who the tenth was? None other than Yosef. It takes two to tango. Yosef is the tenth brother of the עשרה הרוגי מלכות Asarah Harugei Malchus because his behavior aggravated his brothers, incited his brothers. He contributed to the divisiveness, to the atmosphere and the climate of enmity that resulted in his sale, so that he too is corresponded with the tenth brother, the עשרה הרוגי מלכות Asarah Harugei Malchus. But says רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, clearly the presence of the עשרה הרוגי מלכות Asarah Harugei Malchus means that they never fully reconciled. So on the one hand, ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis closes where a dysfunctional family has become functional. We have the first Jewish family. We became a nuclear family before anything else. And on the one hand, we're whole. The שבטים shvatim, the שבטי קה Shivtei Kah, the holy tribes are a unit. Yaakov's bed is complete, so to say. The healing took place. On the other hand, at least according to רבנו בחיי Rabbeinu Bachya, there is a holdover and it carries forward through שמות Shmos and ויקרא Vayikra and במדבר Bamidbar and דברים Dvarim, through נביא Navi, through כתובים Ksuvim, and until this very day. That rift, the fact that there was not a true complete healing, continues until this very day. With the שנאת חינם sinas chinam, the divisiveness, the destruction of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, and so on and so forth.Where's the example of the family becoming functional? We see in our פרשה parsha Yaakov gives the ברכות brachos, I know I'm going a little bit out of order here. He gives the ברכות brachos to his children, but he first gives ברכות brachos to his grandchildren. You know what, let's actually go in order. Let's do our overview and I'll tell you this insight when we get there. So ויחי יעקב בארץ מצרים שבע עשרה שנה Vayechi Yaakov b'eretz Mitzrayim shva esrei shana. Yaakov lives in Egypt 17 years. And the number 17 is significant. The סולובייצ'יק Soloveitchik points out in his חומש Chumash. It's not coincidental. Says the רב Rav, פרשת וישב Parshas Vayeishev and פרשת ויחי Parshas Vayechi begin with the number 17. 17 years of age, Yosef tended to the flock with his brothers. It's not a coincidence. Yaakov's teachings were responsible for Yosef's tenacity and persistence in times of distress as well as success. Yaakov knew that the longer a leader exercises authority, the tougher, more proud and less sensitive he becomes. There was still danger that after Yaakov's death, Yosef might imitate other rulers in their way of life. Yaakov therefore reviewed the teachings he had passed on to Yosef during his first 17 years. He recognized the need to fortify Yosef, the middle-aged viceroy of Egypt who wielded absolute power, against all temptations associated with the exercise of that power. This took Yaakov 17 years of continuous teaching, the same number of years originally required to fashion Yosef's young personality and imbue it with the morality and piety of Avraham and Yitzchak. So the רב Rav says, the parallel of the 17 in וישב Vayeishev that Yosef was 17 years old when he was sent to check on his brothers, that began the story, parallel the match, the mirror is that our פרשה parsha begins that Yaakov lived in Egypt 17 years. And suggests the רב Rav, what's the parallel, the meaning? That just as Yosef spent the first 17 years of his life learning with his father, sensitivity, leadership, values, ethics, morality, so too Yosef spent the last 17 years of Yaakov's life reviewing the very same lessons. Why would Yaakov feel he needed to review the very same lessons? Was Yosef a poor student? No. But Yosef's life had been interrupted. He was no longer sitting at his father's feet in the insular, protective ghetto of the Jewish culture, environment, atmosphere. Yosef had risen to the viceroy of Egypt. To a degree, חלילה chalila, hadn't assimilated his values, but had assimilated culturally into the Egyptian culture. And so Yaakov had to review the lessons of Yosef's early years at the end of his life to ensure that Yosef was unchanged and that Yosef would not become changed even after Yaakov passed away. Others disagree. You know, when when in our פרשה parsha, Yaakov anticipates his illness, his infirmity of age, he anticipates, he's towards the end. And he of course makes Yosef promise him, אם מצאתי חן בעיניך im matzasi chein b'einecha, swear to me, do a חסד ואמת chesed v'emes with me, don't bury me in Egypt. I want to eternally rest with my forefathers, bring me up and bury me there. And Yosef makes that promise. ויקרא לבנו ליוסף Vayikra l'vno l'Yosef. Yaakov had to call to his son Yosef. And many of the מפרשים meforshim say, why did Yaakov have to call to his son Yosef? And why does he have to send the message? Read very next thing, אחר הדברים האלה Achar hadvarim ha'eileh, ויאמר ליוסף הנה אביך חולה vayomer l'Yosef hinei avicha choleh. It's told to Yosef your father is sick. What do you mean it's told to Yosef your father is? Do you not visit your father? You can't see his decline? You don't notice he's deteriorating? Yosef has to be called? Sadly, sometimes we have to make a phone call. We have people in our community whose children visit regularly, call regularly, are involved regularly, set up incredible support for their parents. And then we have children we have to call and say, it's been a while since you're down here, you've made touch with your parent, they've deteriorated. We have to tell them, like Yosef was told, הנה אביך חולה hinei avicha choleh. Is Yosef that type of neglectful child, that he has to be told? Some מפרשים meforshim tell us Yosef stayed away. Why did he stay away? This is the opposite of the רב's Rav's interpretation. The רב's Rav's interpretation was the 17 years and 17 years, that they restored that sense of closeness of learning of Rebbe, Talmid, father, son relationship to transmit those values. That was the רב Rav. But others say no, Yosef stayed away. And why did Yosef intentionally at great personal pain, why did Yosef avoid his father? Because he was worried, if he became too close, too connected, too intimate with his father, what might he let slip? What might he say that he desperately wanted to restrain himself to protect the honor, to protect the fate of his brothers. He didn't want to tell his father what had happened. And at great personal pain, great personal expense and cost, he avoided his father so as not to let slip what had happened. So Yosef had to be summoned. You know, הנה אביך חולה hinei avicha choleh, your father is sick, it's time to come. Yosef comes with his two sons, Menashe and Ephraim. Yaakov says, it's the end of my life. And Yaakov gives a little review of his life. He mentions everything that had happened until he came to Egypt. ועתה שני בניך הנולדים לך בארץ מצרים עד בואי אליך מצרימה לי הם V'atah shnei vanecha hanoladim lecha b'eretz Mitzrayim ad bo'i eilecha Mitzraymah li heim. I had many sons, but you added two more. Your two sons born in Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are mine. Your two sons are not considered two generations removed from me, they're mine. Your sons are on such a level, though they were not born in my under my watch, they are as if my immediate progeny. לי הם Li heim. אפרים ומנשה כראובן ושמעון יהיו לי Ephraim u'Menashe k'Reuven v'Shimon yihyu li. My grandchildren are on the level of שבטים shvatim. Now it's troublesome. What is Yaakov doing here? What is he showing to Ephraim and Menashe? Favoritism. Do Reuven and Shimon and Levi and Yissachar and Zevulun and Naftali and Dan and Gad and Asher, do they not all have children? Do Yaakov's other grandchildren not see, here we go again. Next generation, we're doing it all over again. Yosef was the favorite of the brothers and led to all the problems. And now Yosef's children are the favorite of all the grandchildren. לי הם Li heim. They don't have the status of grandchildren, they are my children. וּמוֹלַדְתְּךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹלַדְתָּ אַחֲרֵיהֶם לְךָ יִהְיוּ עַל שֵׁם אֲחֵיהֶם יִקָּרְאוּ U'moladetecha asher holadeta achareihem lecha yihyu al shem acheihem yikaru and so on. To the point that הלכתא halachically literally, Menashe and Ephraim have the status of שבטים shvatim. At the end of our פרשה parsha, the פסוקים psukim we're going to study, Yaakov says, I have twelve tribes. I have twelve sons. The מפרשים meforshim point out there that there are twelve sons, the number twelve is significant. How you arrive at that number changes in תנ\"ך Tanach. Sometimes Levi is counted among the twelve, in which case the other one counted is Yosef. Sometimes Levi is not counted, because in many ways Levi has different הלכות halachos. Levi's not given a portion in the land and so on. Levi collects from the people. They are the religious figures, leaders, teachers. So they're supported by the community, the original כולל kollel model. So sometimes Levi is not counted among the שבטים shvatim. So how do you arrive at twelve? Because you count instead of Yosef, you count Ephraim and Menashe. For example, when it comes to the settling of the land, Ephraim and Menashe are counted. There is no portion of Yosef. We have Ephraim and Menashe. We have Reuven, Gad and חצי שבט המנשה chatzi shevet haMenashe. Menashe splits. Half of Menashe's east of the Yarden, half of Menashe's west of the Yarden. Menashe, that tribe is is split. So Yaakov literally elevates Ephraim and Menashe to have the status of שבטים shvatim. And then Yaakov says, as for me, when I was coming from פדן Paddan, my favorite sentence, מתה עלי רחל בארץ כנען בדרך בעוד כברת ארץ לבוא אפרתה meisah alai Rachel b'eretz Canaan baderech b'od kivras eretz lavo Efrasah. Yaakov talks about his beloved Rachel. Like it's an old jalopy car, I was coming from פדן Paddan, would you believe she died on me? מתה עלי רחל Meisah alai Rachel. She petered out. She up and went and died on me. מתה עלי רחל Meisah alai Rachel. It's a fascinating formulation. We've discussed it, we've learned about this in the past. מתה עלי רחל Meisah alai. What do you mean? מתה רחל Meisah Rachel. She died. She died on you? Is Rachel's entire life revolve around you? The only significance of her death is that you now don't have her? מתה עלי רחל Meisah alai Rachel? What about Yosef and Binyamin? What about? Anyway, it's a fascinating pasuk, we've discussed it in the past. So Yaakov sees the sons of Yosef, ויאמר מי אלה vayomer mi eileh. Who are these boys? What's that question, מי אלה mi eileh? Who are these boys? Rashi explains that Yaakov wanted to give them the ברכה bracha, but he lost the שכינה Shechinah at that moment because he saw that Ephraim and Menashe were each the progenitors of wicked descendants. So God withdrew the שכינה Shechinah, Yaakov didn't recognize them and he said, who are these? Others suggest that Ephraim and Menashe, who were raised in Egypt, who walked like an Egyptian, looked alien to Yaakov. מי אלה Mi eileh? Who are they? He wasn't entirely familiar with their sincere inside. He looked at their external and said, מי אלה mi eileh? Of course a question that must have been devastating for Yosef. Yosef's whole life is filled with disappointments, zingers, devastations. His father, who he was absent from for 22 years, he's finally reunited, and his father looks at his sons and says, who are these? Who are these people? מי אלה Mi eileh? That must have been devastating. So Yosef says, what do you mean? These are my children God gave me. קחם נא אלי ואברכם Kachem na elai va'avarchem. And Yaakov said, let me give him a ברכה bracha. And Yaakov then proceeds to give the ברכה bracha to Ephraim and Menashe. We all know the story, we're not studying it today, we've done it in the past. It's available on YU Torah. But Yaakov reverses the hands. He puts Ephraim under his right hand. I'm sorry, Yosef. ויקח יוסף את שניהם את אפרים בימינו משמאל ישראל Vayikach Yosef es shneihem es Ephraim bimino mi'smol Yisrael. Yosef takes Ephraim, the younger son on his right, to the left of Yaakov, and Menashe on his left, which is to the right of Yaakov. We always give precedence, preference to the right over the left. So he put the older son on his father Yaakov's right side. What does Yaakov do? He crosses his hands. So his right hand is on the son on the left, the younger son Ephraim. So he essentially overturns Yosef's placement of the sons. And Yosef corrects him, to which Yaakov responds, I know. I know, my son, but the younger one is going to surpass the older. And then we're told, we bless our children ישימך אלהים כאפרים וכמנשה yesimcha Elokim k'Ephraim v'chi'Menashe. ובך יברך ישראל לאמר Uv'cha yevarech Yisrael leimor. Prediction, a promise. Your children will be blessed like Ephraim and Menashe. וישם את אפרים לפני מנשה Vayasem es Ephraim lifnei Menashe. And now the order is reversed in that promise that our children will be blessed that way, Ephraim comes before Menashe. How do you think Menashe felt? How do you think Menashe felt? ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו. אמן. Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro. Amen. And what's the connection? Yosef corrects his father. Yaakov says, trust me, I know what I'm doing. And then we're told, we're not going to bless our children to be like Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, to be like Moshe, David, Shlomo, to be like Rabbi Akiva, to be like, we're going to bless them like Ephraim and Menashe, relatively unfamiliar, their personality, their character, their accomplishments, their achievements. Why? Why do we bless our children specifically to be like them? I think it has a lot to do with this episode. What do we see happen? Yaakov favors Ephraim over Menashe. And what does Menashe do? How does he react? Nothing. He's okay with it. He accepts that his brother has strength that he doesn't have. He respects, he admires, he loves. There's a camaraderie, there's a sense of brotherly unity. Is there a better and greater hope for a parent towards a child, towards children, than that they get along? That they see the strengths in one another, that they're not threatened and they're not jealous and they're not envious and they're not competing, but they're able to appreciate and recognize and admire one another's strengths and live together cohesively in unity. This hadn't happened till now. Yitzchak and Yishmael are adversaries. Yaakov and Esav are adversaries. Yosef and his brothers are adversaries. The first generation of brothers who are not adversaries but are brothers, Ephraim and Menashe. And though Yaakov challenges that brotherhood by elevating Ephraim over Menashe, how does Menashe respond? גארנישט Gornisht. No problem. He loves his brother. And that's the ברכה bracha we give our children. And that's maybe the flow of the פסוקים psukim. Why the ובך יברך ישראל uv'cha yevarech Yisrael? Because once we see that finally the dysfunctional family sibling rivalry has become functional, sibling rivalry has turned to sibling love. Ah, that's the generation. ובך יברך ישראל Uv'cha yevarech Yisrael. That's the ברכה bracha that we give. It's one of the most special times of the week that we take for granted, maybe neglect too much. Giving a ברכה bracha to our children every Friday night when they're physically present or my father's מנהג minhag, my father's here, in abstentia. He gives a ברכה bracha to every one of his children and grandchildren every Friday night, those who he's present with and those who are not there. It's an incredible opportunity. What other people pause at a set time every time during the week, think about their children, wish good things for their children, appreciate the gift of their children, and give a ברכה bracha to their children? We're so eager, we're hungry, we want a quick start the meal, finish the meal, get out with the meal, quick get your ברכה bracha, come on, I want to make קידוש kiddush. It's a cherished moment. It's a cherished opportunity in order to share. It's an amazing outreach opportunity. My dear friend Warren Struhl actually has a website, bless the children.com. He thinks we can create a movement of outreach that Jews who are not inspired by many other components of שבת Shabbos or of rigorous observant Jewish life can be very moved by the practice of Friday night being a family dinner, family night, Friday night being family night, which is launched with the experience of blessing your children. It's a universally appealing idea and practice and it comes from our פרשה parsha. And there's a second reason, ובך יברך ישראל uv'cha yevarech Yisrael. Why else might we be blessing our children through the past millennia to be like Ephraim and Menashe? What did Ephraim and Menashe successfully achieve that the other brothers were never challenged to? Where were they raised? In גלות galus. They were raised in Egypt. They didn't have a Jewish day school. They didn't have a vibrant youth program. They didn't have a community כולל kollel. They didn't have the opportunities the other שבטים shvatim had. And yet, if they could emerge Ephraim and Menashe, our ברכה bracha to our children over the last 2,000 years of being dispersed across exile, ובך יברך ישראל uv'cha yevarech Yisrael. Our ברכה bracha is that they too, like Ephraim and Menashe. What's the whole story with the switching of the hands? We gotta move on because I want to get to our פסוקים psukim. The סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe has a fascinating insight. He says, if you look at their names, you see the notion. We may have spoken about this last year, two years ago, I don't remember. Menashe, his name is such, why? כי נשני אלהים Ki nashani Elokim. God should cause me to forget all of my negative experience. Ephraim, כי הפרני אלהים ki hifrani Elokim, is the positive. God has allowed me, caused me, supported my success. Says the סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe, Menashe is סור מרע sur mei'ra, Ephraim is עשה טוב asei tov. Menashe is serving השם Hashem with יראה yirah, a sense of awe, a sense of fear, recoiling, constricting oneself. סור מרע Sur mei'ra, avoiding any negative influence, avoiding any negative impact. Ephraim, כי הפרני ki hifrani, is עשה טוב asei tov. Is not just living with fear or awe, not just avoiding bad things or getting in trouble, but it's love, אהבה ahavah, serving השם Hashem with אהבה ahavah. There's a fundamental debate happening in this exchange, says the סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe, between Yaakov and Yosef. Yosef says Menashe over Ephraim. יראה Yirah over אהבה ahavah. סור מרע Sur mei'ra over עשה טוב asei tov. He says, Dad, you don't understand it here in Egypt. It's really dangerous. The influences are so strong, so potent, so easy to assimilate, to lose one's way, that the values we live by are of Menashe. He supersedes Ephraim. We are סור מרע sur mei'ra. We're just avoiding assimilation. We are מדת היראה midas ha'yirah. We live with awe and tremble and fear. And Yaakov turns to him and he says, no, even here in גלות galus, even here in מצרים Mitzrayim, you cannot raise children out of fear and awe, out of יראה yirah and סור מרע sur mei'ra. You have to show them the אהבה ahavah. Especially in גלות galus where you have alternatives and options, especially in exile where it's easy and attractive and inviting to assimilate and to integrate, you can't just live with יראה yirah and retreat and סור מרע sur mei'ra. You have to instill אהבה ahavah, a love of our values, a passion, an enthusiasm, a vibrancy. It's a beautiful, סלונים רבה Slonimer Rebbe he says. That's the מחלוקת machlokes, Yaakov and Yosef. Is the attribute of Menashe, כי נשני ki nashani, סור מרע sur mei'ra, יראה yirah, is that primary? Is that the key strategy to survive in exile? Or should one place the emphasis on כי הפרני ki hifrani, עשה טוב asei tov, מדת האהבה midas ha'ahavah. That's what's going on. Yaakov then calls, assemble his children so that he can give ברכות brachos. Actually, he assembles them at first so that he can tell them ואגידה לכם את אשר יקרא אתכם באחרית הימים v'agidah lachem es asher yikra eschem b'acharis hayamim. I want to tell them what's going to happen at the end of days. He wanted to reveal קץ הימין keitz hayamin. He wanted to reveal ימות המשיח yemos haMashiach, the transition, exile to redemption. And of course, God disallowed it. But he begins. Reuven, my oldest son, Reuven, my firstborn, my strength and my vigor, first in rank. Let me tell you, Reuven. You know what your ברכה bracha is? You are an impulsive and impetuous person who lacks self-control, and therefore, though you are the firstborn chronologically, you are denied the status of firstborn. That's my ברכה bracha to you, my son. Such a ברכה bracha who needs? That's a ברכה bracha? Shimon and Levi, כלי חמס מכרותיהם klei chamas mecheiroseihem. Weaponry is a stolen craft. You came in conspiracy. I don't want any part of it. He criticized, ארור אפם arur apam. Cursed is your rage, your anger. ועברתם כי קשתה v'evrasam ki kashasah. אחלקם ביעקב ואפיצם בישראל Achalkem b'Yaakov va'afitzem b'Yisrael. I have to separate you two. It's like the teacher with the student. Do I have to separate you two? Shimon and Levi in combination, you have anger problems. I've got to separate the two of you and spread you out, disperse you among your brothers. That's my ברכה bracha to you. שכויח Shkoyach, such a ברכה bracha who needs? Yehuda, אתה יודוך אחיך ישתחוו לך בני אמך atah yoducha achecha, yishtachavu lecha bnei imecha. They will bow to you. גור אריה יהודה Gur aryeh Yehuda. Yehuda, you will be the leader, you are going to have the monarchy and the kingship will descend from you. Why is Yehuda chosen of all the brothers? It's a beautiful תוספתא Tosefta in ברכות Brachos. We spoke about it in the past, we're not going to get into it. The תוספתא Tosefta considers three options, rejects all three, and quotes a fourth. What did Yehuda display, what quality, what character trait, not any of the ones you're thinking, that made Yehuda the choice to be the progenitor of the monarchy. But then we continue. זבולון לחוף ימים ישכון Zevulun l'chof yamim yishkon. Zevulun, you're going to live at the seashore. והוא לחוף אניות וירכתו על צידון v'hu l'chof oniyos v'yarchaso al Tzidon. You'll be at the ship's harbor. יששכר חמור גרם Yissachar chamor garem. Yissachar, you're a strong-boned donkey. רובץ בין המשפתיים Roveitz bein ha'mishpetayim. Rest between the boundaries. וירא מנוחה כי טוב ואת הארץ כי נעמה ויט שכמו Vayar menuchah ki tov v'es ha'aretz ki na'eimah vayet shichmo and so on and so forth. We arrive at Yissachar and Zevulun. The tribes of Yissachar and Zevulun. Who is given the ברכה bracha first? Yissachar or Zevulun? What's the chronology of their birth? So Zevulun, he says you're going to settle by the seashore, the ship's harbor. Then he blesses Zevulun, they'll be successful merchants. You're going to make a lot of money. You'll be in the shmata business. And you're going to do well. And then he tells Yissachar, you're a strong-boned donkey. Although the ברכה bracha to Yissachar suggests agricultural pursuits, Rashi says no. What's the ברכה bracha to Yissachar? To serve. all Torah כחמור חזק שמטעינן עשו משא כבד. Like a donkey that carries a heavy load, Yissachar will carry the, not burden חס ושלום, Yissachar will carry the heavy load of תורה learning. When others don't have time, when others are preoccupied, Yissachar will be dedicated to the study of תורה, Yissachar will carry תורה. The connection זבולון and יִשָּׂשכָר next to each other, the מדרש says, teaches us an unbelievable rule. The מדרש, the גמרא both say that יִשָּׂשכָר and זבולון enter a partnership.And רש\"י here tells us that זבולון is given the ברכה before יִשָּׂשכָר, out of order. Why? They have a partnership. What's the nature of the partnership? יעקב blesses זבולון, you're gonna be rolling in the dough, you're going to make a lot of money. יִשָּׂשכָר, you're going to be rolling in the ספרים, you're going to learn a lot of תורה. What's the interconnection between the two? זבולון, you're going to use your money to support יִשָּׂשכָר's learning. And the מדרש tells us that we have a model of a contractual relationship, of a partnership, where when זבולון dedicates his resources to support יִשָּׂשכָר's learning, יִשָּׂשכָר's learning, the reward for that learning is divided, shared between both יִשָּׂשכָר and זבולון.Is this just a cute מדרש? Is it just a cute גמרא? No. The טור in יורה דעה רמ\"ו quotes the יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון arrangement הלכה למעשה. And the טור writes the following quote, \"One who cannot learn because he does not at all know how to do so, or because of a lack of time, should support others to learn. It will be considered as if he himself had learned.\" The מחבר, רב יוסף קארו, quotes the טור הלכה למעשה. He leaves out the last line, \"it'll be considered as if you yourself has learned.\" But the רמ\"א does quote the last line. And the רמ\"א says that if you support someone else's learning, it's as if you yourself have learned. The ש\"ך, in his commentary on יורה דעה says that the wages of תורה and what the other person profits will be divided equally between the two of them. And רב משה in אגרות משה יורה דעה חלק ד' says this is the הלכה and contracts exist that detail the יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationship.Now this is very different. רב משה points out in that תשובה, this is יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationship is very different than giving צדקה. There's a knock on the door for this כולל, a knock on the door for that ישיבה, a knock on the door for the בית מדרש program at BRS, a knock on the door, we want you to sponsor a scholar-in-residence, a knock on the door to sponsor the פרשה class. That's צדקה. Your מעשר, your צדקה, and so on. יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationship, says רב משה, is not צדקה. It neither comes from your צדקה money, nor must the recipient conduct themselves as if they've received צדקה. It's not צדקה. It is a business arrangement. It is a contract. As if I come to you and say, I'd like to invest in a business with you. I'll put in the money, you put in the sweat equity, we divide the profits 50/50. And we draw up a contract, and it's legally binding. Have I given you צדקה? No. Do you have to act as if you've received צדקה? No, it's a business relationship. Says רב משה, יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון is exactly that, and we have contracts that are extant that exactly reflect that relationship. The חזון איש was the beneficiary of the יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationship. רב שך, topic of tonight's Great Rivalries class. I'm teaching tonight 7:30, the rivalry between רב שך and the ליובאוויטשער רבי. ליובאוויטשער רבי had no greater adversary than רב שך. Usually in the great rivalries class, you can't show a video of the rivals talking about one another. Got a video of רב שך talking about the ליובאוויטשער רבי. What were they arguing about? What was so fundamental to their debate, to the rivalry? Talk about it tonight at 7:30. End of my shameless plug. But רב שך was a recipient of a יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationship as well. There's a whole question why the רמב\"ם omits in משנה תורה, in his הלכה, the רמב\"ם omits the יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון partnership. It's particularly puzzling why the רמב\"ם omits it. Anyone know the history of the רמב\"ם? The רמב\"ם was the beneficiary of the יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationship. The רמב\"ם had a brother, רב דוד. And early in the רמב\"ם's life, we think of him as the great man of תורה ומדע, the great doctor who was also a scholar. But before he was a practicing physician, the רמב\"ם sat and learned, and he was supported by his brother. Why did the arrangement end? Because his brother, רב דוד died in the Indian Sea, in the Indian Ocean. He died tragically, and when the רמב\"ם in a letter writes about the death of his brother, he of course bemoans the great צדיק, the righteous individual, his incredible brother. But with the ship's sinking went, he said, my brother's fortune, which included my money in the contract. The רמב\"ם himself benefited from a יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationship, so it's puzzling that he omits the הלכה. And רב משה deals with that, others deal with it. It's not for now. It's a fascinating article in the journal חקירה by רב אשר בן ציון בוכמן, The רמב\"ם and זבולון, בוז יבוזו לו, he has a whole article on that subject. The history of יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationships and contracts, it's a very interesting, not for now. But what I want to share with you is, why is זבולון listed first? We call it a יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון partnership, because יִשָּׂשכָר's the one learning תורה. So, the ספורנו and others observe that יעקב is following the chronology of the age of the brothers in all the ברכות he is giving, with one exception. ספורנו writes here in our פסוקים, though he's following the chronological age, ראובן, שמעון, לוי, and so on, he gets to יִשָּׂשכָר and זבולון and he first gives the ברכה to whom? זבולון, לחוף ימים ישכון. And only then, יששכר חמור גרם. Why does he reverse the order? And moreover, why does he reverse the order when I would think that יִשָּׂשכָר is the one who's learning תורה? Who gets more כבוד? The תלמיד חכם or the businessman supporting the תלמיד חכם? Oh. Very good. What? So the ספורנו says, essentially, אם אין קמח אין תורה. Nice that you're willing to sit and learn all day, but if I don't support you to sit and learn, what will your wife and children eat? Who will pay the mortgage on your home? So says the ספורנו, between יִשָּׂשכָר and זבולון, זבולון is more vital because אם אין קמח אין תורה. זבולון is the enabler, he empowers זבולון, perpetuating the learning of תורה.But I want to share with you a different interpretation, and then we've got to get the פסוקים that we're going to look at. Maybe the whole class will be an overview today. I want to share with you an interpretation of the רבי זצ\"ל, with all due respect to רב שך. You know, רב שך, when the רבי had a stroke and was very sick, give you a little preview for tonight. One of רב שך's תלמידים found him saying תהילים for the רבי. He asked his רבי, רב שך, you're on record. You've said things about the רבי. רב שך called the רבי a madman in New York driving the world crazy. That was the kindest thing that he said about the ליובאוויטשער רבי. So he said to רב שך, how could why are you saying תהילים for the רבי? So רב שך said I love the רבי. I want the רבי to have a רפואה שלימה. I've never been against the רבי. I'm against the רבי's heretical beliefs. And I דאווען that he abandoned those beliefs, but I hope he has a complete רפואה שלימה. It's instructive about the rivalry. At that level, the rivalry is not personal. It's not ad hominem. They were debating ideas. They debated in ways that might make us uncomfortable, but it's a fascinating debate. So the ליובאוויטשער רבי has the following insight. Between זבולון and יִשָּׂשכָר. He says, is זבולון exempt from תלמוד תורה? זבולון works hard. He's got the whole shipping industry here. He's on the on the beach, on the seashore. He's running the whole shipping industry. He's working hard, he's supporting יִשָּׂשכָר in his full-time כולל. Is he exempt from תלמוד תורה? He's got to be קובע עתים לתורה. The fact that you support a יִשָּׂשכָר complements your learning. It can never supplant or replace your obligation to learn. So זבולון is both earning a living and learning. יִשָּׂשכָר is exclusively learning. But said the רבי, the ליובאוויטשער רבי, when זבולון takes a portion of what he earns from all the time he's working and he dedicates it towards יִשָּׂשכָר's learning, he has transformed all the time that he's working into a religious experience. Until now, all of זבולון's income and profit is wages, his compensation, only helped him drive a nicer car, live in a bigger house, eat better food, wear fancier clothing. It was all a material experience and exercise. But by supporting יִשָּׂשכָר with the profit of his work, the work is transformed from a mundane, unholy, material exercise into a religious experience. So יִשָּׂשכָר is making a contribution where? To the spiritual world, to the world of רוחניות. Said the רבי, זבולון is doing something even greater. He is taking the world of גשמיות and he's turning it into רוחניות. It's even greater. So יִשָּׂשכָר, we need a יִשָּׂשכָר. As רש\"י says, we need someone who will carry the torch of תורה, who will preserve the accuracy, the authenticity, the transmission of תורה. We need the יִשָּׂשכָר. But who comes first, who is greater? Said the רבי, זבולון. Because יִשָּׂשכָר is only contributing in shaping the spiritual world, the world of רוחניות. But by זבולון working all day and then taking some of that reward to support תורה, he's impacting the world of רוחניות and he's also shaping the physical world, transforming it into a religious experience. So who comes first? זבולון comes before יִשָּׂשכָר. And then he points to something fantastic. The beginning of the book of במדבר, get ahead of ourselves. תורה describes the tribes all lived under separate emblems and flags. One of the big lessons of the transition of בראשית to שמות is that though we've merged to one family, we've been able to maintain individualized identities but functioning as part of one family. The culmination of בראשית is not that they blend into one. The sons are still the sons. They each have their own identity and that's what יעקב has given them a ברכה, their individualized identity. So in the beginning of במדבר, they each have a logo. They have an emblem, they have a flag. You go to בר מצוות today, every 13-year-old boy is a franchise. He's got his own, his initials are no longer his initials, he's got a logo, it's all over the יארמלקע, the invitation. You know, okay, you know, you're Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, I understand you got a logo. You're 13 years old. Don't we want to give them something to aspire to? They're already a brand. They're already a franchise. So every tribe had their own flag, emblazoned with its own logo. זבולון's flag is white, יִשָּׂשכָר's flag is black. Why? Listen to what the רבי said. He said the black of יִשָּׂשכָר's flag corresponds with the ink of תורה. The תורה message, the תורה ideas, the תורה values, the דברי תורה, it's the ink of תורה. The white of זבולון's flag corresponds with the, the קלף, the parchment. You could have all the תורה ideas in the world. You could have barrels and barrels of ink. But if you don't have a parchment to write it down, to capture it, to perpetuate it, it's lost. יִשָּׂשכָר is the ink, זבולון is the parchment. זבולון comes before יִשָּׂשכָר. זבולון takes the physical hide of the animal, the physical skin, the lowly animal, and זבולון transforms the hide, the skin of the animal and turns it into קלף that can hold the ink of יִשָּׂשכָר. זבולון goes to work and engages in the world, earns a livelihood, and transforms the world into a קלף that can hold the דברי תורה, the ink of יִשָּׂשכָר. It's a beautiful relationship, this יִשָּׂשכָר-זבולון relationship. It's not about צדקה. It's not a charity case. It's an investment, it's a partnership, it's a contract. We have the rest of the ברכות, דן, גד, אשר, נפתלי, יוסף. יוסף we studied last year, could listen online. בן פורת יוסף, בן פורת עלי עין. The ברכה of יוסף is fantastic. It has to do with עין הרע, to avoid עין הרע, what it means to avoid עין הרע, and so on. And that's where we got up to last year, that brings us up to שישי, פרק מ\"ט, פסוק כ\"ז, chapter 49, verse 27. That's what we're up to, that's what we're going to begin today. בנימין, the last ברכה. בנימין זאב יטרף, בבקר יאכל עד ולערב יחלק שלל. בנימין is a predatory wolf. In the morning he devours his prey, and in the evening, he distributes his spoils. What is this ברכה to בנימין? רש\"י fills us in. Says רש\"י, זאב הוא אשר יטרף, נבואה שיהיו עתידים להיות חטפנים וחטפתם לכם איש אשתו, פילגש בגבעה. The role of בנימין in the story of the civil war of פילגש בגבעה. ועל נבואה שאול שהיה נוצח בו אויביו סביב. So what is the predatory nature of this בנימין? בנימין was predatory and aggressive in the civil roar that had to do with פילגש בגבעה in the book of שופטים, the very end of שופטים. And שאול is a Benjamite. שאול, the first king of Israel, descends from בנימין, and שאול, though he has kind of a sad ending, שאול at first is a assertive king who shows great leadership, who protects the Jewish people, who defeats three nations and armies that try to destroy us. בבקר יאכל עד לשון ביזה ושלל, יש דומה בלשון עברית אז חולק עד שלל. על שאול הוא אומר. It's talking about שאול, שעמד בתחילת בקרן פריחתן וזריחתן של ישראל. What's the imagery of the morning and the evening? The morning is the beginning of the Jewish people's monarchy. שאול's the first king, and in the, in the morning, in the בקר of our existence, he conquered competing armies and defended the Jewish people. But ולערב יחלק שלל, משתשקע שמשן של ישראל על ידי נבוכדנצר שהגלם לבבל. In the nighttime, right? Continuing the imagery of ולערב, what's the nighttime? When the sun set on the Jewish people, when נבוכדנצר exiled us into Babylonia. יחלק שלל, who are the spoils of בנימין? Who are the other offspring, progeny of בנימין? מרדכי ואסתר. יחלקו את שלל המן, שנאמר הנה בית המן נתתי לאסתר. So רש\"י in the ברכה to בנימין sees allusions to שאול, a descendant of בנימין who reigns in our בקר in the beginning of our nationhood. And לערב, in a dark period, in exile, who are the spoils? מרדכי and אסתר who descend from בנימין, who take the spoils of המן and divide them. Okay. Running out of time. I'm just looking at which מפורשים. רב הירש has a comment here. Says רב הירש, it would be rather sad if here at his youngest son, with he whom he only concludes, he could find nothing better to say than to picture him as a ravening wolf. But it does not say זאב ערב, זאב טורף, but זאב יטרף. The זאב can very well be the object. If here at the end, יעקב thinks of a wolf, it is indeed the last glance that he gives over his flock. For 20 long years of his life, he had had to fear the real wolf for his real sheep. And now he sees his children, has blessed them, has recognized and described them in their differences and the importance of each one of them in the whole course of time. And his last glance into the future had just rested on the end of time, on the victory over the last world force. The מלכות רביעית. He sees the גלות and the power of the גלות against which his descendants will have to fight, and he proclaims, it will be the smallest of them, the youngest of them will be the one that will drive the wolf from the flock of יעקב. So רב הירש reinterprets the פסוק. יעקב is not predicting or prophesizing that בנימין will be like the predatory wolf, but rather בנימין will be the protector from the predatory wolf. יעקב has spent his life worrying, his flock, his sheep, his children, the wolves around them that are predators for them. And יעקב now when he glances in אחרית הימים, when he sees the end of days, he prophesies and anticipates, who will be the one to finally defeat the wolf? It will be the youngest. It will be בנימין. Already at early morning, the beginning of the national history, who will have administered a serious wounding, but in the eve of time who will completely destroy him. It is in a tradition that the archenemy עמלק will not be overcome by יהודה, but by the weakest might of the son of רחל. It's a פסוק in ירמיהו, אם לא יסחבום צעירי הצאן. The youngest of the flock, the צעירי הצאן, will drag them along as prey. עד from אדד, a piece torn off. So רב הירש turns this פסוק on its head and sees in this the prediction that it's the youngest child, seemingly the weakest. It's us, it's our generation, the youngest, the furthest along, in some ways the weakest compared to our ancestors, who will be finally the ones to defeat עמלק באחרית הימים, in the end of days. פסוק כ\"ח, כל אלה שבטי ישראל שנים עשר, וזאת אשר דיבר להם אביהם ויברך אותם איש אשר כברכתו ברך אותם. All of these tribes of Israel are 12, וזאת אשר דיבר להם אביהם ויברך אותם איש אשר כברכתו ברך אותם. So, יעקב says, \"Come gather, I want to tell you about the end of days.\" And then he predicts each one's strengths, their weaknesses, what they need to work on. And only now afterwards does he say, \"These are my children, the 12 tribes. These are the ברכות, איש אשר כברכתו ברך אותם.\" Each one according to their blessing, I blessed them. Which is it? According to their blessing or I blessed them. So רש\"י says איש אשר כברכתו, ברכה העתידה לבוא על כל אחד ואחד. Each one is individualized. It's an unbelievable lesson for parents in here. The lesson for parents is, the best, excuse me, the greatest blessing we could give our children is not to see them all the same. Is not to hold them to the same standard and expectations, not to squeeze them into the same box, not to raise them with the same rules, but to see the individuality within each of our children. חנוך לנער על פי דרכו, גם כי יזקין לא יסור ממנה. Raise each child according to their way, and then, no one ever quotes the end of the פסוק in משלי. גם כי יזקין לא יסור ממנה, they won't abandon you. If you try to make them all the same, uniform, if you make them conform to one another, to what you want from them, they're going to, when they get the chance, when they graduate your home, when they're out of there, they're going to abandon what you want. But if you individualize your relationship, your attention, your expectations, the education, then they'll stay true. Then you have the best shot at staying true. So יעקב does not lump one ברכה on 12 sons. You should have יראת שמיים, you should be צדיקים, you should have כבוד in תפילה, you should have געזונט, נחת and בריאות, and he doesn't give one ברכה, ברכה והצלחה. Hey קינדער, ברכה והצלחה. No, יעקב looks into the soul, he peers into the essence of each child. Is there a greater ברכה than your parent knowing what makes you tick? Is there a greater ברכה than your parent loving you enough to know what you're made up of, who you are, what you dream? And I'll go so far as to say, is there a greater ברכה than your parent willing to call you out for your shortcomings? Willing, caring enough about you to say, \"You have so many strengths, but if you don't repair the impetuousness, if you don't conquer the rage, if you don't overcome that.\" A ברכה is not only telling your kids, this is so relevant to our time, the helicopter parenting generation, the participation trophy generation. You know all of the because you all did it right and we're all doing it wrong. We know, we hear about it all the time from you. But there's truth to it. I don't know if you did it right, but we're doing it wrong. But this generation where every, a participation trophy, everyone gets the equal award, everyone gets the good grade because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. We're not helping. יעקב loves his children so much that he tells them, \"No award, no trophy for you. You've got to conquer this issue first.\" So רש\"י says, איש אשר כברכתו, the greatest ברכה was איש אשר כברכתו. It wasn't ברכה והצלחה, and it wasn't everyone's perfect, you're great, I love you all unconditionally. It was I love you all unconditionally, but some of you have work to do. And I love you so much, I'm not going to hold myself back from telling you. ברך אותם. So what does it mean he blessed all of them? Says רש\"י, ברך אותם means that even though he gave the individualized ברכה based on the personality of each one, he also wished those diverse ברכות on all of them together. That's the way רש\"י understands. רב הירש understands differently. רב הירש understands what it means is that he blessed them all individually and not that ראובן's ברכה should also fall on יהודה and דן's ברכה should also fall on אשר. אשר ברך אותם means that only when each of them realize and fulfill their ברכה will it be a collective ברכה for everyone together as a unit. Listen to what the רב writes. Each of יעקב's sons had disparate capabilities with unique and often clashing character traits. The רמב\"ן indicates they all fused together to form כנסת ישראל, which emerged through combining 12 contradictory traits into one coherent unit. When יעקב bestowed the earlier blessings to his children, each blessing was like an individual ingredient in a recipe. The final blessing was given to all the tribes to assimilate all the ingredients into the recipe. When the ingredients combine, כנסת ישראל emerges. So that's the ברכה. Each rest, you need the right amount of pepper, the right amount of salt, the right amount of whatever other ingredients you put into recipes. You need the right amount of each thing, but you also need it to combine to make a delicious dish. And that's the אשר ברך אותם. Boy, did we have a lot more to talk about here. We're going to stop here, but I'll call your attention to the other things we're going to talk about because they're very fascinating. You know, it says here that יעקב was collected, gathered to his people. What it does not say about יעקב that it says about אברהם and יצחק is, it does not say יעקב died. To which we have a tradition, the גמרא says in תענית, יעקב אבינו לא מת. יעקב our forefather did not die. There's someone else who we have a tradition did not die. I'll give you a hint. Look at the הפטרה. The הפטרה we read for פרשת ויחי is the story of דוד המלך on his deathbed. There are many, many parallels between דוד המלך and יעקב אבינו. Both anticipated their demise, called their sons to give them a ברכה. Both were surpassed by a son in their lifetime, יעקב by יוסף, and דוד by שלמה. Each suffered the rebelliousness of another of their sons. They have many, many similarities. יעקב is buried in חברון. Where does דוד's first capital in? חברון. There are a lot of similarities between the two. But one of them is יעקב אבינו לא מת, יעקב never died and דוד מלך ישראל חי וקיים. And דוד didn't die. I leave you with the following question. Why is יעקב described as לא מת that he didn't die and דוד is described as still here? If both of them what it's trying to tell us is they're still here or that they didn't die, why not formulate it the same way? לא מת or חי וקיים. What's the difference between יעקב and the message and דוד המלך and the message? That's question one. Other thing to call your attention to at the end of the פרשה, the very end of the פרשה, יוסף begs his brothers, don't leave me in מצרים. I need you to carry me up. And in fact, they fulfill that promise when they leave Egypt. The רב in the חומש has a beautiful interpretation when you'll hear it next year פרשת ויחי. Isn't it amazing what happened to יוסף's dreams that his brothers would bow to him? Isn't it interesting the way the story ends, who needs whom? At the very end of the whole story, who's the one asking the other to swear, \"I need you. Don't let me down. Promise me you'll be there for me.\" Isn't it fascinating? With that we end. Great rivalries tonight. Tomorrow night is the second installment of the series we're doing on the best version of yourself, culling from works like Seven Habits of Highly Effective People mixed with תורה ideas. And tomorrow, Social Action Committee, please participate in the effort to contact the countries and the UN, the conference.
