A Valley and Two Sticks

And you, son of man, take one stick, writing on it “For Judah and for the children of Israel his companions;” then take another stick and write on it “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and the entire house of Israel his companions.” Then, joining them one to another, make them one stick, so that they become one in your hand.                                  Ezekiel 37:16-17

            The prophetic reading for Parashat vaYigash is Ezekiel’s vision of the union of the tribes of Israel in the end of days, symbolized by the miraculous merging of the stick of Judah and the stick of Ephraim into a single stick in the prophet’s hand.

            It is significant that the verses of the prophetic reading are the continuation of the chapter which presents Ezekiel’s vision in the valley of the dried bones. The first part of the chapter ends with the summary of the vision in the valley of the dried bones, in God’s words:

And I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own Land; and you shall know that I God have spoken and done it, says God.                                                                      Ezekiel 37:14

The message of the vision in the valley of the dried bones is Israel’s return to its Land. Based upon this, we can appreciate the continuity of the two visions, for Israel can achieve true unity only within its Land. Zohar [Leviticus, Parashat Emor 93b] elucidates the verse “And who is like Your nation Israel, one nation in the Land” to mean that Israel can be considered a united nation only within the Land.

            Thus, it is not surprising that God explained the message of the prophecy of the sticks with the words:

And I will make them one nation in the Land [37:22] 

            And as if to stress the connection between the two visions, the “son of man” is instructed to explain to his compatriots the meaning of the union of the two sticks in his hand in the following words:

And say to them: “Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am taking the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from all around and I will bring them into their own Land. [37:21]

Almost exactly the same words of the vision in the valley of the dried bones, with a change from second to third person:

And I will bring you to the Land of Israel [37:12]

            After Israel’s return to its Land and the reunion of the tribes of Israel, God promises:

And they will live in the Land which I gave to Jacob, My servant, in which your fathers lived, and they will continue living there, they and their children and their children’s children, forever; and David, My servant will be their ruler forever. [37:25]

That is, the return of the tribes of Israel to their Land will be eternal, and they will never be exiled from her again.

            Concerning the reference specifically to Jacob, Malbim comments:

The verse refers to Jacob, since Jacob saw the miracle of the union of the stones into a single stone, as here the sticks united into a single stick, both symbolizing that Israel will be united as a single nation in the end of days.

            The vision of the union of the stick of Judah and the stick of Ephraim is, in fact, a repetition of the vision which Jacob saw as he began his journey into his first exile, when the stones he arranged as his pillow united into a single stone. (See Rashi, Genesis 28:11.)

            In essence, Ezekiel’s vision completes the huge circle of the history of the nation of Israel. Jacob, on his way to his personal exile, was informed of the unity of his twelve sons into a single nation, while Ezekiel’s prophecy is that at the end of days, Jacob’s children’s children will return to their Land and will realize their national unity for all eternity.