Parsha Paragraphs
Rabbi Naftali Kassorla
Parshat Vayechi 5778
Life Above Death
The D’var Torah for this week is dedicated in memory of:
ר׳ אלחנן יעקב ז״ל בן מורי וחמי ר׳ שמואל פנחס
ר׳ אלחנן יעקב ז״ל בן מורי וחמי ר׳ שמואל פנחס
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In this week's parsha, after all the tumultuous episodes in his life, Yaakov knows his time is coming to an end. And just as his father Yitzchak had done, and his father Avraham before them, he attempts to sort out his affairs and bless his children. He requests of Yosef not to bury him in Egypt, rather his will is to be buried in Eretz Yisrael, with his forefathers and wife Leah in the Ma’arat Hamachpela. Later he blesses Ephraim and Menashe and all the rest of the Shevatim. Ultimately Yaakov’s mission in this world draws to a close as the Torah says: “When Yaakov finished instructing his sons, he drew in his feet onto the bed; he expired and was brought in to his people” (Bereishit 49:33). Thus concludes the difficult life of Yaakov Avinu.
The Gemara in Ta’anit (5b) makes a perplexing statement:
א''ר יוחנן יעקב אבינו לא מת
Rav Yochanan said: Yaakov, our forefather, did not die
There are a multitude of explanations of this statement; some interpret it literally, others allegorically. However, Rav Tzadok Hakohen M’Lublin, in his Sefer Resisei Layla (אות נו׳) explains that Yaakov perfected himself to such an extent by living on such a high spiritual level. Consequently, while the physical body is normally at odds with the spiritual, for Yaakov Avinu, the body was not a contradiction to his soul. Death, as stated in Kabbalah, is the difficult process of the soul being removed from the body, known as חיבוט הקבר. As the soul moves to the next world, it is confronted with the decay of the body. Since the soul has been housed in the body for so many years, this process serves to “re-train” the soul to dissociate itself from the body, a very painful ordeal.
However, says the Resisei Layla, Yaakov had so completely divested himself of the physical world that the process of “death” meant as little to him as one who removes a coat. The transition of the soul leaving the body was merely the shedding of an ancillary skin. In this way, death did not exist for Yaakov, thus: “Yaakov, our forefather, did not die”.
Still, I have wondered, what was so significant in particular about Yaakov Avinu that he reached this exalted status? Did not Avraham and Yitzchak Avinu also live on such “angelic” levels that they too should be considered as having “not died”?
Rashi in Vayeishev (Ibid. 37:1) quotes the Midrash Rabbah (פד-ג):
וישב: ביקש יעקב לישב בשלוה, קפץ עליו רוגזו של יוסף…
Yaakov desired to dwell in tranquility, [but] the pain of [the] [episode of] Yosef seized upon him.
The Midrash elaborates that Hashem exclaimed: “Is it not enough that the righteous will receive their share in the World To Come, but they also want tranquility in this world?” It Seemingly, Hashem in a sense deliberately gives challenges and withholds “rest” from the righteous, in this world. But why? What does this accomplish for them? And what is wrong with desiring tranquility? Is it not conducive to accomplishing our goals? Wouldn't a life of serenity allow Yaakov the “head space” to grow further in his service of Hashem?
In discussing this Midrash, the Alter of Novhoradok Rav Yosef Yoizel Hurwitz זצ״ל in Madreigas Ha’Adam (נקודת האמת) makes an important distinction. There are two distinct – and very different – states of being that a person can experience: שלוה and מנוחה. Shalva, explains the Alter, is when all of a person’s needs are met. Of course, in this state, a person can find a sense of calm and achieve great things. However it has one caveat: the moment one is lacking any particular “need,” he can be thrown into a tizzy of confusion or even madness, thus uprooting all his gains. Menucha, on the other hand is a much loftier level with greater stability. It is a state where man has peace of mind, not because his needs have been met, but rather despite the lack of those “needs.” He has risen above; he has, in fact, uprooted his desires completely and is unchained – able to grow as he wishes.
The Alter explains that this was the “mistake” that Yaakov made in his request. For Yaakov was not asking to live in this elevated state of Menucha, but rather he sought Shalva. He wished to live out his final days in tranquility serving Hashem as his father had done. In response, Hashem sent Yaakov the episodes of Yosef. According to the explanation of the Alter, Hashem did this in order to convey to Yaakov the following message: the only way to truly grow is through challenges. When faced with difficulties, if a person rises to the occasion, he can discover strengths within himself that he did not know existed. Rather than avoid dealing with the challenge and being left “as is,” he gains tools to handle anything which comes his way. These gains are concrete, everlasting acquisitions; they cannot be shaken when he is faced with lack of needs. Now, he has no needs. He has only strength.
However, a person's response to pain and trauma can go in two directions: he can either bow to the pain, and let it overtake him, causing him to subconsciously build a protective shell which separates himself from humanity. Or he can embrace the challenge and allow it to be the harbinger of personal change, from a mere man of flesh and blood, to a totally different being – an elevated being that “does not die.” Not because he is entirely out of this world, but because he has risen beyond, through the realities of this world. Trials and tribulations have the power to cleanse one from the alluring facades of this world – to give him a laser-sharp focus on what is truly important: G-d, Torah, Family, and Chesed.
Yaakov suffered immeasurably in this world: in his dealings with Eisav, Dinah's capture, Lavan’s trickery, the death of Rachel, Yosef's long absence. But he had indeed risen to a higher level through his “few and bad...years of his life” (Ibid. 47:9 – Yaakov describing his life to Pharoah). Yaakov’s comment to Pharaoh, was a statement of fact. His life did not compare to the quality of life that of his fathers, yet he had risen to a new elevated status. Yaakov achieved a state where he was not attached to this world, and this lack of attachment to his body meant that he did not die, a truly exalted praise indeed.
We should be blessed with the fortitude of Yaakov to be strengthened by difficulty. Through our personal challenges, may we be able to recognize our own strengths, which can then then use to grow in our connection to Hashem and development of our true values in life.
Shabbat Shalom
