Providential Promise
PARSHAT VAYIGASH
Shira Smiles shiur – 2015/5776
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
With Parshat Vayigash the Torah begins the narrative of the descent of Bnei Yisroel to Mitzrayim led by our Patriarch Yaakov. Yaakov begins the journey and stops overnight in Be’er Sheva, afraid and unsure if he should continue to Mitzrayim. According to Rabbi Dunner inMikdash Halevi, Yaakov had three major concerns. First, he wasn’t sure he was allowed to leave Eretz Yisroel, as his father Yitzchak was prohibited from leaving the sanctity of Eretz Yisroel. Then he was concerned lest he be buried in that defiled earth rather than with his father and grandfather inMeorat Hamachpelah. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, he was concerned for the proper education of his children and grandchildren in such an immoral environment.
Hashem comes to Yaakov in a dream, allays his fears, and reassures him of so much more. He tells him, “… Have no fear of descending to Egypt, for I shall establish you as a great nation there. I shall descend with you (eireid imcha) to Egypt, and I shall surely also bring you up (veAnochi a’alcha gam aloh); and Yosef shall place his hand on your eyes.”
While these promises allay Yaakov’s fears, the prophecy of Yosef placing his hand on his father’s eyes seems out of place. But this is precisely the point. Yosef, who was able to withstand the lures of Mitzrayim, symbolically covering his eyes to avoid seeing them and being distracted by them, will be in charge of the education of the children and grandchildren, continues Mikdash Halevi. This is the same reason that we cover our eyes when we recite the Shema, so that we are not lured after what our eyes might see and we remain focused on the theme of testifying to God’s sovereignty.
Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz in Tiv Hatorah focuses on a different aspect of Hashem’s words. Hashem twice uses the emphatic Anochi, “I will go down with you and I will surely raise you up.”Regardless of whether there is any overt revelation of Hashem’s presence, Hashem reassures Yaakov, as He reassures all Yaakov’s descendents, that He will always be with us, for we are His messengers on earth.
There are ten times that Hashem writes of “going down”. This is the fourth time notesLetitcha Elyon. When Hashem comes down to earth, it is more than being with man, eheyeh imach. Just as Hashem came down at Sinai, it is a guarantee that we will remain a distinct people and maintain a Jewish identity. Further, notes the Orazhov Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Epstein in Be’er Moshe, the addition of the word “also” reassures our Patriarch that Hashem will descend with us not just into Egypt, but also into the subsequent exiles. Each time we descend into exile, Hashem will raise us ever higher when He takes us out.
Why was this reassurance necessary? After all, Yaakov must have known of the prophecy at the Brit bein Habesarim, the Covenant between the Halves, that we were destined to go into exile and that Hashem would take us out? The Be’er Moshe explains that while Yaakov knew his progeny would be in exile, the nation under which they would be subjugated had not been specified. Yaakov was concerned with his family being in the unparalleled depravity of Mitzrayim. Hashem promises Yaakov that if necessary, He will remove Bnei Yisroel from that exile early, as indeed He did, 210 years instead of 400 years. Hashem is going down with us as a parent goes with his child into a pool. If the child starts going under the water, the parent is in the pool with him, not on the side, and can immediately pull the child out. That Hashem will actually go down with us, not merely be with us on the sidelines, is the greatest blessing of all.
The Beis Halevi further explains the connection between Hashem and Bnei Yisroel. Hashem’s presence in the world is manifest mostly through Bnei Yisroel. Therefore, when Bnei Yisroel is down, Hashem’s honor and immanence are likewise low, but when Hashem raises up Bnei Yisroel, His glory is also revealed, and He too rises. There is a direct linkage between the state of Bnei Yisroel and the revealed honor of Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
So why is it necessary to put Bnei Yisroel into exile to begin with? The Ohel Yosef offers a beautiful insight into one of the purposes of our exiles. He writes that there are sacred sparks and sacred souls hidden among the nations. These souls need to be elevated and brought back through contact with Bnei Yisroel and their source. Then Hashem Himself will be elevated.
If the Shecinah actually came down to Mitzrayim, we have another question. When Moshe prayed to remove the plagues, he had to leave Egypt because prayer is not accepted where there is no Divine shechinah. How can we reconcile this conflict? The Slonimer Rebbe, the Netivot Shalomexplains that there are many levels to God’s presence, to the Shechinah. While a low level certainly remained in all of Egypt, His greater presence could be found in Goshen, the land of the Jews within Egypt, an island of kedushah, where there was no idol worship. It was here that Moshe went to pray as necessary. However, during the plague of the firstborn, Hashem Himself came down to inflict the plague and to save Bnei Yisroel, not entrusting that responsibility to any angel, just as the father did not entrust his floundering son in the pool to the lifeguard on duty. As Netivot Shalompoints out, Hashem is with us not only as a nation in exile, but also as individuals who find themselves in their own “exile”.
What makes us worthy of being saved, both nationally and individually? Both Rabbi Gamliel Horowitz in Tiv Hatorah and Rabbi Zaks in Menachem Zion agree that we merit salvation through our emunah, through our faith. Believe that hat same Anochi – the “I” Who went down to Egypt with you will remain the Anochi Who brings you up again and is the same Anochi Who then would appear to you at Sinai and reveal the Ten Commandments to you. We activate the Divine presence with our faith. In fact, notes Rabbi Yaakov Schachter citing the Apter Rebbe, emunah, faith, and omein, protector share the same root. It was this promise that later inspired King David to sing, “Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear, for Thou art with me.”
Rav Avraham Schorr offers an additional criterion for making us worthy of salvation, the fact that Bnei Yisroel did not change its speech. While on the surface level, this seems to mean that Bnei Yisroel continued to speak Hebrew, on a deeper level it means that they retained the sanctity of speech, not defiling it with loshon horo, negative speech and gossip. As proof, Rabbi Schorr notes that when Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, he wanted to prove to them that he had remained loyal to the moral precepts of his father’s house. While he told them that their eyes see him, he insisted that it was his mouth, the mouth of a ben Yisroel, who was speaking to them. Jews throughout the ages and in all environments are expected to retain their refined speech, whether in the family, at social gatherings, or around the water cooler at work.
This is indeed part of the reason for Hashem’s introducing Yosef into His reassurances to Yaakov. But Rabbi Frand offers a deeper understanding of Yosef’s placing his hand over Yaakov’s eyes. Rabbi Frand juxtaposes Yosef’s placing his hand over Yaakov’s eyes with Hashem’s placing His hand over Moshe’s eyes. Moshe asked Hashem to show him His glory, meaning Moshe wanted to understand the age old dilemma of why the poor suffer while the evil ones prosper. Hashem put Moshe in the crevice of a rock, covered Moshe’s eyes until He passed, and then let Moshe see His“back”. Hashem was telling Moshe that mortals generally cannot understand why things happen in real time, but may be able to understand in retrospect. Who better to represent this concept than Yosef who was sold into slavery, and incarcerated in a dungeon on trumped up charges. Yet it was those very experiences that paved the way for Yosef’s coming to Pharaoh’s attention and eventually saving both Egypt and his entire family. He came to understand in his life that what appears as harshness is really the means to mercy.
When we cover our eyes as we recite the Shema, we attest to the same truth. In life, when something good happens, we bless Hashem with Hatov veHametiv – He is good and does good. When some catastrophe falls or upon hearing of someone’s death, we say Boruch Dayan Emes –Blessed is the truthful Judge. Only in hindsight, and usually not until we reach the world of truth, can we fully understand that Hashem – the God of mercy – and Elokhim – the God of strict justice –are truly One and the Same Merciful God. Then we will testify that all that occurred was fromHatov veHametiv. Since this truth is hidden from us, we place our hand over our eyes, as Yosef would place his hand over Yaakov’s eyes. As the Netivot Shalom adds, this faith is what sustains us through all the tragedies of our bitter exiles together with the promise that Hashem will raise us up to ever greater heights.
The Torah tells us that when Yaakov and Yosef finally meet after so many years apart, Yosef fell on his father’s shoulders and cried. Wasn’t Yaakov equally moved? Why wasn’t he crying? Our Sages tell us that he was affirming his trust in Hakodosh Boruch Hu; he was reciting Shema. According to Vayovinu Bamikra, Yosef was not just crying, but upon his father’s recitation of the declaration of faith in the Shema, Yosef responded with “Boruch Shem … Blessed is the Name of His glorious kingdom for all eternity.” Yosef was testifying that the hand that was not immoral could testify to the all encompassing Oneness of God. At this point Yosef than puts his hand on Yakov Avinu's eyes. Both were reaffirming their acceptance of the yoke of Heaven and presenting a model of faith for us through all the generations of our dark exile.
May we merit seeing Hashem’s raising us up and understanding the purpose of these long, dark exiles so that we can bless Him as the fully embracing Hatov veHameitiv.