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Naftali Kassorla
Parshat Va'yechi
In this week's parsha, the Torah continues to tell us of the reunion between Yaakov and Yosef. The Passuk says, "The time approached for Yisrael to die, so he called for his son for Yosef, and said to him, 'Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, please place your hand under my thigh and do kindness and truth with me, please do not bury me in Egypt. And I will lie down with my fathers and you shall transport me out of Egypt and bury me in their grave." Yosef answers back to his father, "I will do in accordance to your words." But this isn't enough for Yaakov, as he reiterates to Yosef, "Swear to me" and as a result Yosef swears.
At first glance, this episode is hard to understand. Just before this, in Parshat Mikeitz, after Yaakov hears the news that Yosef is still alive and is a ruler in Egypt, HaShem comes to Yaakov and says, "Do not be afraid of descending to Egypt...I shall surely bring you up." Rashi explains that HaShem Himself promised Yaakov that he would be buried in the land of Israel. According to this, why does Yaakov feel the need to push Yosef so hard to bury him in Israel? Wasn't the promise of Hashem enough? One could say that this teaches us that one must make 'Hishtadlut' (effort) to open up a path for Divine help, but this explanation isn't enough. We learn that Yosef was punished with two extra years imprison for asking the wine butler to speak to Pharaoh to get him out. It would seem that this was proper hishtadlut, but rather we learn from this episode that the forefathers are held to a higher standard than us, and they must rely solely on HaShem. It would follow that Yaakov, as one of the forefathers, did not need to put in so much hishtadlut in this case.
Furthermore, the way Yaakov makes Yosef swear to him is reminiscent of how Avraham made his servant Eliezer swear to find his son Yitzchak a wife. (In both instances, the one swearing is asked to put his hand on the other's thigh.) Interestingly, the Medrash tells us that Eliezer wished that Yitzhak would marry his daughter, which explains why Avraham made him swear to take a girl only from Avraham's family – it could be that Avraham feared that Eliezer would give his own daughter instead. But does Yaakov really think that Yosef would not bury him with his father Yitzchak and grandfather Avraham in the Maharat HaMachpela? If Yaakov has nothing to fear, why is he so adamant?
To answer these questions we must deal with another profundity. If we look at this weeks Haftorah we will notice an instant connection between it and the parsha: the ending of David and Yaakov's life, the gathering of their sons to bless them, and so on. Yet there is one disparity – David leaves an ethical will to his children to "Safeguard the charge of HaShem, your G-d, to walk in his ways, to observe his decrees, commandments ordinances and testimonies as written in the Torah of Moshe..." However, by Yaakov, there is no such ethical will; he only gives his children blessings. Where is Yaakov's ethical will?
One could explain that Yaakov's urging of Yosef to bury him only in Eretz Yisrael serves exactly this purpose. Through this, he was sending a very powerful message to his children for all generations. Perhaps Yaakov saw the affluence with which Yosef lived in Egypt and he feared that he would get too comfortable in Egypt among his luxury and freedom, thus forgetting the bond between our nation and the land of Israel. (This also gives us more understanding as to why Yaakov stresses to be buried not only in Eretz Yisrael but also "...With my fathers," meaning to uphold the connection which Avraham and Yitzchak had to Eretz Yisrael by being buried among them.) Yaakov's emphasis on being buried in Eretz Yisrael would serve as a constant reminder to his children of the strong connection we have to this land. According to this, Yaakov completely trusted in HaShem's promise to him to be buried in Israel, and of course Yosef had no such thought to bury Yaakov in Egypt, but rather Yaakov wanted to stress this connection to the land of Israel to his offspring forever. This was Yaakov's ethical will.
Today, our exile prevents us from living in Israel or, even for those of us who do live there, from fully connecting to G-d's presence in the land. However, we should always remember the bond that exists between Klal Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael, and with G-d's help, we will merit experiencing that bond in its totality very soon with the coming of Mashiach.
Shabbat Shalom
Naftali Kassorla
