Crying for Your Brother

And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.                                          Genesis 45:14

“And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept” – (Joseph) wept for the two Temples which will be in the portion of Benjamin and are destined to be destroyed; “and Benjamin wept upon his neck” – for the Tabernacle at Shiloh, which will be in the portion of Joseph and is destined to be destroyed.                     Rashi

            Ḥassidic Master, Rabbi Yeḥezkel of Kazmir (1775 – 1857) raises two questions:

1) Why did Joseph and Benjamin cry at the time of their joyful reunion? (Without in any way denigrating the answer that the Master will present below, the simple answer seems to be that it is an expression of “raising Jerusalem above their greatest joy.” [Psalms 137:6]);

2) Why did each cry for the other’s sorrow and not their own?

            Rabbi Yeḥezkel explains that when Joseph and Benjamin met after being separated for twenty-two years, they felt that their separation was caused by baseless hatred, and thus they cried since baseless hatred would cause the Temple’s destruction.

            The antidote to baseless hatred is increasing mutual love to the point where each experiences the other’s pain and sorrow more acutely than his own. Thus each of the brothers cried for his brother’s sorrow.

            The Master adds that though the Temple in the portion of Benjamin could be built only after the destruction of the Tabernacle in Joseph’s portion, nonetheless Benjamin cried over its destruction, believing that it would be better to not have the Temple built if his brother’s Tabernacle would not be destroyed.

            The Master concludes that the mutual love demonstrated by Joseph and Benjamin indeed should serve as the rectification of baseless hatred.

 

 

Presaging David's Monarchy

Now it came about at that time that Judah went down from his brothers, and he turned to an Adullamite man, named Hirah.                             Genesis 38:1

            Many commentators wonder why Hirah is mentioned, as Ḥassidic Master Rabbi Zvi Elimelech of Dinov phrases it: “I do not know what purpose is served by informing us that Judah turned to an Adullamite man.”

            Akeidat Yitzḥak (Rabbi Yitzḥak Arama, 1420 – 1494) writes: “The proximate reason (for mentioning Hirah) is that he is connected to Judah’s taking Tamar as a wife, since her home was there (in Adullam).” That is, Hirah is seen as the matchmaker between Judah and Tamar (even if only indirectly and unintentionally). Thus, Akeidat Yitzḥak asserts that Hirah’s role was decidedly positive.

            In contrast, Don Yitzḥak Abravanel is of the opinion that Hirah’s role was not positive, but intended to stress the depth of Judah’s descent from his brothers:

Judah’s friendship with Hirah constituted a descent in status compared to his friendship with his brothers, thus the verse states “Judah went down from his brothers,” that is he descended from friendship with his brothers and turned to an Adullamite as a friend.

The fact that Judah left the society of his brothers and instead chose that of an Adullamite gentile, constituted a true descent in his status.

            Based upon Midrash Breishit Rabba, we can understand the role of Hirah as an example of “the events of the fathers presaging the events of the sons.” Thus comments the Midrash:

“And he turned to an Adullamite man named Hirah” – the rabbis say Hirah is identical to Hiram, who lived in the days of King David, as the verse states; “for Hiram always loved David.” [I Kings 5:1] This man (Hirah/Hiram) was used to loving this tribe.

            Quite clearly, the Midrash is not intended to be taken literally, since a literal reading would require that Hirah lived more than one thousand years.

            Rashi comments;

Midrash Breishit Rabba states “This man (King Hiram of Tyre) was used to loving the tribe of Judah” as Hirah the Adullamite loved Judah. [Commentary on I Chronicles 14:1]

That is, the intention of the Midrash is to note that the common thread between Hirah and Hiram was love of members of the tribe of Judah.

            In a similar manner, Rashi’s spiritual descendants, the Tosafists wrote:

Hiram was of the family of Hirah and the entire family loved the tribe of Judah, and therefore Hiram loved Solomon, who was of the tribe of Judah.

            Ḥassidic Master Rabbi Zvi Elimelech answered his own astonishment by suggesting that Hirah’s figure points us to the future. When David, the tenth generation from Judah, [I Chronicles 2:1-15] ran away from King Saul, his first hiding place was the cave of Adullam. [I Samuel 22:1] While David was in the cave, “Every man who was in distress, and every man who had a creditor, and every man of embittered spirit, gathered themselves to him, and he became a chief over them; and there were about four hundred men with him.” [Ibid., 2:2] That is, David’s status as a leader began at the cave of Adullam, as Rabbi Zvi Elimelech phrases the point, “There was the beginning of the blossoming of David’s governance.” The Master notes that according to some commentators, the verse in Psalms “A maskil (some translate the word as “A cry to the Lord,” others as “An instruction”) of David, when he was in the cave” [Psalms 142:1] refers to the cave of Adullam. In this cave, writes Rabbi Zvi Elimelech:

David was aware of what happened with his ancestor Judah, when he “went down from his brothers” he came to Adullam and there “A shoot of monarchy sprang forth.” [based on Isaiah 11:1]

That is, just as the basis for the Israelite monarchy was established by Judah and Tamar in Adullam, so David took his first steps towards realizing that monarchy specifically in Adullam.

            Rabbi Zvi Elimelech suggests that the name “Hirah” is related to “ḥerut” (freedom) and writes;

The name of the man is Hirah, and he is from the city of Adullam, teaching that it is there that the redeemer of Israel (i.e. Messiah, a descendant of King David), who will bring freedom to the entire world,  will be “born.”

This being the case, the role of Hirah is truly significant.

            The primary lesson of the episode of Hirah is that despite the low state Judah had reached when he parted company with his brothers, He Who foresees history from the onset guided events towards the ultimate redemption.

 

Unity of the Sons of Jacob and the End of Days

Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather (hei’asfu) and I will tell (va’agida) you what will happen to you at the end of days.”

                                                                                           Genesis 49:1

            Rashi quotes Midrash Aggada which states that Jacob wanted to reveal the end of days, that is, the era of Messiah [Naḥmanides], to his sons, but the Shechina departed from him.

            Tzror haMor understands the words “hei’asfu” and “va’agida” (which are consecutive in the Hebrew) as referring to imparting wisdom. In preparation for presenting Torah at Sinai, God commanded Moses to “say to the house of Jacob and tell (va’agida, the same root word as “va’agida”) the sons of Israel,” [Exodus 19:3] and in the review of Torah, the Master of Prophets relates that God “ told you (vayaged) His covenant which He commanded you.” [Deuteronomy 4:13] The root word “asaf” as well is connected to wisdom, as we read “The sayings of the wise are like goads, and those from masters of collections (asufot) are like firmly embedded nails,” [Ecclesiastes 12:11] and “Assemble (isfa) for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel.” [Numbers 12:11]

            Indeed, gathering Israel together “as a single person” is the factor which prepared the Children of Israel to hear God’s words at Mount Sinai, as the Sages elucidate the verse “And Israel camped (singular) there opposite the mountain” [Exodus 19:2] – “as one person, with one heart.”[Rashi, quoting Midrash Lekaḥ Tov]

            Based upon these introductory comments, Tzror haMor explains the meaning of Jacob’s call to his sons to “gather” to be: “unite as a single band, without hatred or envy,” which is the sole means for the sons of Jacob and for us, the Children of Israel their descendants, to merit experiencing the era of Messiah.

            Tzror haMor’s words are a precursor to Rabbi Kook’s famous phrase “Given that we were destroyed and the entire world with us, as the result of unfounded hatred, we shall be rebuilt and the entire world rebuilt with us by virtue of unbounded love.”

 

 

The Land of the Deer

And behold, the Lord was standing over him, and He said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac; I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying.                                                                                       Genesis 28:13

upon which you are lying: (Chullin ad loc.) The Holy One, blessed be He, folded the entire Land of Israel under him. He hinted to him that it would be as easily conquered by his children (as four cubits, which represent the area a person takes up [when lying down]). [From Chullin 91b]The land on which you are lying: The Holy One, blessed be He, folded the entire Land of Israel under him and hinted to him that it would be as easy for his children to conquer as four cubits (the area a person takes up while lying down).

                                 Rashi, based upon Babylonian Talmud, Ḥullin 91b

            Rabbi Yehonatan Eybschutz finds a hint of an additional agadda in the Talmudic comment cited by Rashi.

            One of the appellations of the Holy Land is “Eretz haẒvi.” [Jeremiah 3:19; Ezekiel 20:6,15; Daniel 11:16] While the word “ẓvi” is variously translated as “praise” [the Aramaic translation attributed to Yonatan ben Uziel], “glory” [Radak, Ezekiel 20:6] or “splendor and beauty” [Meẓudat Ẓiyon, Ezekiel 20:6], our Sages understood the word in its typical meaning as “deer,” and teach:

The Land is called “Land of the deer;” just as the skin of the deer cannot hold its flesh (Rashi: if the deer is killed its skin shrinks), so the Land of Israel when inhabited expands but when not inhabited contracts.                                                  Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 57a

That is, the Land expands or contracts as a function of the presence or absence of Israel within her.

            Rabbi Yehonatan writes that in folding the Land under Jacob, God hinted to him that the Promised Land will expand in accordance with the needs of his descendants who will settle her. In so doing, God also showed Jacob “the importance of the Land of Israel … which is a spiritual land and this is the reason Eretz Yisrael is the choicest of lands, for she is entirely a spiritual land.”

            It is clear that the Land’s ability to expand and contract is super-natural. The Ḥassidic Master of Sochotchov writes [Shem miShmuel, Parashat Sh’mot] that this quality hints that the earthly Eretz Yisrael is located opposite the Heavenly Land, as Zohar [Parashat Kedoshim 84a] comments:

There is another Eretz Yisrael, sublime and holy, which the Holy One, blessed be He, has which is also called Eretz Yisrael.

            Thus Maharal explains our Sages’ words “The skin of the deer cannot hold its flesh:”

When the skin is taken from the deer, the spirit of life is taken from it, and without life all that is left is the body and the skin can no longer hold the flesh. So it is with the Holy Land, her inhabitants being within her constitutes the vitality of the Land, (emphasis mine), which was given (to Israel) by God, and then she achieves the spiritual level of sanctity … and when her inhabitants are not within her, the spiritual level departs and the Land shrinks.

That is, the Land’s vitality is dependent upon her sons’ presence within her and when that happens, the Land’s vitality allows her to expand; when her sons are absent from her, the Land loses her vitality and necessarily shrinks. Maharal concludes his comments with the statement “These are truly deep matters.”

 

The Blessing of the Attribute of Justice

And they (Rebecca’s family) blessed Rebecca and said to her, "Our sister, may you become thousands of myriads, and may your seed inherit the cities of their enemies (son’av)."                  Genesis 24:60

            Interestingly, Jewish tradition is to recite the blessing given to Rebecca by her family when the groom covers his bride’s face with a veil, prior to the ḥuppa.

            Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal [Mishne Sachir, Parashat Ḥayye Sarah] wonders:

Why our tradition chose to accompany a bride to her with the blessing of the evil Laban, rather than with the (similar) blessing of God’s angel. (Following the binding of Isaac, God sent an angel to convey His blessing to Abraham: “I will surely bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand that is on the seashore and your descendants will inherit the cities of their enemies (oyvav).” [Genesis 24:17])

            Rabbi Teichtal’s answer is based upon a comment of Alshikh on the verse in Psalms [67:2] “God will be gracious to us and bless us; He will cause His countenance to shine with us forever.” Alshikh writes that a blessing which originates from the Attribute of Mercy will not necessarily be permanent, since by definition, such a blessing is a function of grace and benevolence. Therefore, the Attribute of Justice can argue for nullification of such a blessing and invalidate it. On the other hand, a blessing is given “with the consent of the Attribute of Justice,” is guaranteed to be permanent.

            Rabbi Teichtal suggests that Laban represents the Attribute of Justice (since we never find him demonstrating mercy towards his family). Therefore, the blessing which Laban gave his sister Rebecca originates from the Attribute of Justice and will be permanent. In contrast, the blessing which Abraham and Isaac received on Mount Moriah (Rashi [22:17] comments that the repetitive language of the angel’s words “I will surely bless you” [the Hebrew repeats the verb “barech”] intends “One [blessing] for the father, one for the son.”) originated with the Attribute of Mercy (the blessing was delivered by an angel of God [the Hebrew uses the Tetragrammaton, which connotes the Attribute of Mercy]). Therefore, Laban’s blessing, which is guaranteed to be permanent, is preferred to the angel’s blessing.

            Rabbi Teichtal wrote these words in 1942, in the midst of the Holocaust and concluded his comments with a prayer:

As Laban blessed Rebecca “May your seed inherit the cities of their enemies,” and the Attribute of Justice agreed with this, so may this blessing be fulfilled in our days, and may it be God’s will that this blessing be realized and that we merit inheriting our enemies’ cities, speedily in our days.