Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Vayechi Volume 23, No. 12 14 Tevet 5769 January 10, 2009 Sponsored by the Rutstein family in memory of father and grandfather Nachman ben Asher Halevi a"h (Nathan Rutstein) and in memory of family friend Dr. Leonard Schlossberg a"h Today's Learning: Tamid 2:3-4 O.C. 263:8-10 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Bava Kamma 13 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Gittin 31 King Shlomo writes in Mishlei (12:28), "In the way of charity there is life; in the way of its path there is no death." Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher z"l (Spain; 14th century) explains: We learn from our parashah that man is born with a fixed number of years allotted to him. This is the meaning of the verse (47:29), "The time approached for Yisrael to die," i.e., the days allotted to him were about to expire. We find similarly a verse (Melachim I 2:1--this week's haftarah), "The time approached for King David to die." Nevertheless, King Shlomo teaches in the verse quoted above, man can extend his life by performing acts of charity. "In the way of charity there is life." At a minimum, writes R' Bachya, one who excels at charity will not die before his time, as it is written, "In the way of its path there is no death." What is charity? R' Bachya writes that charity means giving something of yours to someone who needs it. The most basic form of charity is to give a small amount of money to a person in need, even a gentile. A higher form of charity is to give money to poor Jews in another town. Still higher is giving to the poor of one's own town. Higher than that is supporting one's own relatives who are in need. The next level up is supporting one's children past the age where one is obligated to do so. This is the meaning of the verse (Tehilim 106:50), "Praiseworthy are those who maintain justice, who perform tzedakah at all times." How is it possible to perform tzedakah at all times? By supporting one's children. A higher level still, writes R' Bachya, is supporting one's parents for one thereby performs two mitzvot -- charity and honoring one's parents. Our parashah relates how Yaakov merited to be supported by his son Yosef for 17 years, just as Yaakov had supported Yosef for the first 17 years of Yosef's life. ******** "Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years . . . ." (47:28) Rashi comments on the fact that our parashah, unlike all other parashot, is written in the Sefer Torah with no space between it and the preceding parashah. He explains that this alludes to the fact that once Yaakov died, the eyes and hearts of his descendants "shut" due to the subjugation associated with the exile. R' Shlomo Wolbe z"l (died 2005) observes that the subjugation of Bnei Yisrael did not begin until the last of Yaakov's sons had died. However, our verse is referring to spiritual subjugation. As long as Yaakov was alive, he kept his family's spiritual standards high. Once he died, they began to notice a deterioration of their own level due to the influences of the surrounding culture. R' Wolbe (who was born in Germany and lived in Poland and Sweden before settling in Israel) adds: Outside of Eretz Yisrael, it is very difficult not to be influenced by the surrounding culture. This is reflected in particular in the fact that Shabbat has become a day for "hanging out," much as Sunday is in the societies in which we live. (Shiurei Chumash) ******** "Then Yisrael saw Yosef's sons and he said, `Who are these?' Yosef said to his father, `They are my sons, whom G-d has given me ba'zeh / with this'." (Bereishit 48:8-9) Did Yaakov not know Yosef's sons? Rashi explains: Yaakov wished to bless them but the Divine Presence departed from him because the wicked kings Yerovam and Achav would come from Ephraim, and Yehu and his sons from Menashe. Yaakov thus wondered whether Ephraim and Menashe had impure lineage. Yosef answered, "Ba'zeh" / "With this." He showed Yaakov the shtar erusin and ketubah / contracts of betrothal and marriage, proof that his wife had converted to Judaism before they married. Where in our verses is there an allusion to a shtar erusin and a ketubah? R' Yekutiel Yehuda Halberstam z"l (1905-1994; the Klausenberger Rebbe) explained (when he was nine years old) as follows: Yaakov wondered: A marriage ceremony is invalid in the absence of kosher witnesses. How, then, did Yosef get married in Egypt? Yosef answered him: In general, a person's admission can take the place of witnesses. This is learned from the verse (Shmot 22:8), ". . . about which he says, `This is zeh / it!'" Why is marriage different? Because we do not accept someone's admission when it causes a detriment to others, as in the case of marriage, where the marriage partners now become unavailable to marry every other person in the world. In Egypt, though, there were only two Jews - Yosef and his wife, Osnat. They, therefore, could marry without witnesses and their signatures on the marriage documents would suffice as an admission, as we learn from "This is zeh." (Quoted in Ke'motzai Shalal Rav) ******** "May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the lads, and may my name be declared upon them, and the names of my forefathers Avraham and Yitzchak, and may they proliferate abundantly like fish within the land." (48:16) How could Yaakov place himself in the blessing before his father and grandfather? R' Shmuel Shmelke Guntzler z"l (rabbi of Oyber-Visheve, Hungary; died 1911) writes in the name of his father, R' Moshe Yehuda Guntzler z"l: Later in the parashah, Yaakov prays (49:6), "Into their conspiracy, may my soul not enter!" Rashi explains that Yaakov did not want his name mentioned in connection with the rebellion of Korach (see Bemidbar 16:1). Why? When one sins, so long as his sin is superficial and does not reach the root of his soul, there is hope for repentance and rehabilitation. However, if the sin is so ingrained that it has reached the root of one's soul, there is no hope. Yaakov, the root of the Jewish People, represents the root of a Jew's soul as well. Since Yaakov is the root of the Jewish People, it follows that Yitzchak and Avraham are even deeper roots. This is why Yaakov placed himself before the other Patriarchs. One who wishes to connect himself with the Patriarchs must do so through Yaakov. (Meishiv Nefesh) ******** "I have given you Shechem - one portion more than your brothers - which I took from the hand of the Emorite with my sword and my bow." (48:22) Onkelos translates: ". . . with my prayer and my pleading." How did Onkelos know that the verse is not to be taken literally? R' Yechezkel Abramsky z"l (died 1976) explains that if Yaakov were referring to an actual battle, he would have said, "with my bow and with my sword," not, "with my sword and with my bow." Such is the nature of war - first one shoots arrows from his bow from a distance, and only later does he move forward and use his sword. In Yehoshua (24:12) we read: "I sent the hornet-swarm ahead of you, and it drove them out before you - the two kings of the Emorite - not by your sword and not by your bow." There, says R' Abramsky, the sword precedes the bow as if Hashem says, "Not only did you not need to fight the Emorites with your swords (up close), you did not even need to shoot arrows at them (from a distance)." (Kovetz Ma'amarim p.126) ******** "Yissachar is a chamor garem / strong-boned donkey; he rests between the boundaries." (49:14) Why did Yaakov call his son Yissachar, the leading Torah scholar among all of Yaakov's sons, a "donkey"? R' Moshe David Valle z"l (Italy; 1697-1777) explains that the word "chamor" / "donkey" is an allusion to "chomer" / "material" (as in "materialism"). The word "garem," usually translated "strong-boned," also can mean "breaking." Yissachar, through his Torah study, breaks materialism. Without Torah study, writes R' Valle, there is no way to overcome materialism. R' Valle continues: The inclination for materialism "rests between the boundaries." This indicates that the moment one leaves Torah study, materialism is ready to grab hold of him; one does not even need to travel a distance from the bet midrash to be ensnared. (Ohr Olam) ******** This Week in History, Halachah, and Minhag 14 Tevet 4913 (1153): On this date, the Torah commentator R' Avraham ibn Ezra z"l was inspired to compose Iggeret Ha'Shabbat, his famous partially-rhyming letter regarding Shabbat. R' ibn Ezra, who came from Spain, was visiting London at the time. (Luach Davar B'ito p. 469) In Iggeret Ha'Shabbat, ibn Ezra writes in defense of the now-universally accepted view that the Jewish day begins at nightfall. This day is "Window Purim" in Chevron because in 5501 (1741) the Arab governor of Chevron threatened to expel all of the Jews if they did not pay a ransom by a certain date. The Jews fasted, and then an official of the community found a purse on a window sill that contained the required amount of money. (Luach Davar B'ito p. 471) Shabbat Parashat Vayechi: There are different customs regarding the declaration of "Chazak" at the conclusion of a book of the Torah. Many have the custom to call out, "Chazak, chazak, v'nitchazek" / "Be strong, be strong [a blessing to the one who was called to the Torah], and let us be strong." Some have the custom to declare "Chazak, chazak, chazak," whose gematria equals the gematria of "Moshe." Some Sephardim say, "Chazak u'varuch," while Jews from Libya have a longer formula. (Luach Davar B'ito p. 470) Sunday of the week of Parashat Shmot: Today begins the period of Shovavim (an acronym for the Hebrew names of the next six parashot). Kabbalists teach that this is a propitious time for repenting for sins relating to morals. 18 Tevet 4230 or 4231 (470 or 471 C.E.): The Talmudic sage Rav Huna bar Mar Zutra was martyred on this day together with Rav Mesharshaya bar Pekod. Two months later, the sage Ameimar bar Mar Yenuka was martyred as well. (Luach Davar B'ito p. 481) These murders were part of the reign of terror which the Jews suffered at the hands of King Peroz the Wicked. (History of the Jewish People: From Yavneh to Pumbedisa p.205)