Friday, January 6, 2012

I Will Lie With My Forefathers

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

The Temple Institute?

That through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

"I will lie with my forefathers"
(Genesis 47:30)
Tevet 10, 5772/January 5, 2012

Yaakov Avinu - our father Jacob - lived out his final years in Egypt. These were considered to be good years for Yaakov. Earlier, Yaakov, upon meeting Pharaoh told the Egyptian potentate that "'The days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and bad... '" (Genesis 47:9) Of these one hundred and thirty years, Yaakov spent twenty of them separated from his father Yitzchak, and another twenty two years separated from his son Yosef. The remaining years of his life up to this point had been spent in the shadow of his wicked brother Esau or in the domicile of his evil uncle Lavan. One can certainly see the truth in his summing up of his own life's experiences. His final seventeen years, on the contrary, were truly good years. He lived in comfort with all his children whose sibling rivalries had long since ended. Food and shelter were guaranteed by virtue of Yosef's position of power. Grandchildren and great grandchildren were aplenty. The opening verse of this week's Torah reading, Vayechi, even provides a subtle confirmation of the beneficent nature of Yaakov's latter years: "And Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years.. " (ibid 47:28) Seventeen is the numerical value of the Hebrew word for good -tov. If, as Torah implies, life was good for Yaakov in Egypt, then why did Yaakov detest this place?

When Yaakov senses him own imminent demise, he calls for his son Yosef and tells him,"'If I have now found favor in your eyes, now place your hand beneath my thigh, and you shall deal with me with lovingkindness and truth; do not bury me now in Egypt. I will lie with my forefathers, and you shall carry me out of Egypt, and you shall bury me in their grave.'" (ibid 47:29-30) Yosef readily agrees, but Yaakov is not contented with this and insists that Yosef make a vow that he will do so. Why?

Later, when the day of his departure had arrived, Yaakov gathered all his children around him. He described to them the Machpelah burial site of his forebearers and of his wifeLeah, and he commanded all his children that he be buried there, as well. And then, just before his soul expired, we are told that Yaakov "drew his legs up into the bed... " (ibid 49:33) We are not told such a thing either concerning Avraham or Yitzchak's deaths. Why did Yaakov "draw up his legs?"

Years earlier, when his sons first brought Yaakov the news of Yosef's death, Yaakovrefused to be consoled and said, "'I will descend on account of my son as a mourner to the grave.'" (ibid 37:35) The word used by Yaakov for grave is not the commonly usedkever, which he does, in fact, employ later when instructing his sons as to what is to be done with his remains. Here Yaakov uses the more obscure she'ol. Whereas the wordkever has a positive connotation of being a womb for the soul which is being born into the eternal afterlife, the word she'ol implies a bleak and desolate netherworld in which the soul of a man is granted no peace and no rest. This is the future Yaakov anticipated for himself on account of Yosef's death.

Much to his soul's delight, Yaakov was, indeed, reunited with Yosef before he died. But the idea that he would descend into She'ol, into a wasteland for the soul before he would ever see Yosef again, became manifest. No doubt Egypt, the glorious shining crown of ancient civilization was a sublimely beautiful land. And no doubt, despite the ravages of the seven years of hardship, the kingdom of the Pharaohs retained its unparalleled grandeur. But, as we will soon learn in the book of Exodus, and as Yaakov already was painfully aware of, Egypt was a pit of immorality, a she'ol of injustice, cruelty and licentiousness. Taking up residence in the land of Goshen was good, as Israel was separated from the rest of Egypt, and Yaakov understood that he must live out his days there. But he would not suffer his remains to be interred in this cursed land. So hateful to him was this place that before leaving this earth, he withdrew his feet from the land of Egypt. He died in Egypt, but he first separated himself from its soil, the soil through which the Nile ran and upon which the Pharaoh ruled. Even in his own death, Yaakov's soul would not be comforted and would not rest until his body was brought up out of the netherworld of Egypt and buried with his fathers deep in the soil of the land of Israel. Only from this holy portal would his soul enter Paradise.

Yaakov's insistence that he be buried in Canaan with his fathers wasn't solely for his own comfort. He knew that it was untenable that his bones should remain in Egypt even when his children, in their multitudes, would one day exit Egypt and return to Canaan. He knew that their ultimate redemption from Egypt wasn't merely a promise from G-d, but that it must always be a moral and spiritual imperative felt deep within the heart of Israel. This is why his desire to be brought to the Machpelah was not presented as a request. This is why Yaakov changed his language from a plea for "lovingkindness and truth" to a demandthat Yosef take a vow to do so, to his "commanding" his twelve sons to make it happen. They too must understand that neither he nor they belong in the G-dless land of Egypt. By doing so, by keeping his word to G-d, Yaakov set the groundwork for the eventual exodus from Egypt by his children and their return to the land of Israel, the land of G-d'sdelight, the apple of His eye.

Tune in to this week's Temple Talk, as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven bear witness to the headlong convergence of the dramatic conclusion of the book of B'reshith, with the cataclysmic events of the 8th, 9th and 10th days of the month of Tevet. How do we go from the joy of Chanuka's Temple renewal, to the anguish of the fast of Tevet commemorating the siege which led to the First Temple's destruction, as well as the other tragic events that this dominate the psyche of this month? Join Yitzchak Reuven and Rabbi Richman as they discover that the secret to the Jewish people's indefatigable nature is expressed by this very juxtaposition. The passing of the righteous Yosef, the conclusion of the book of Genesis, the portentous and foreboding translation of Torah into Greek... what is the common thread between all these? All this and more is explored in this week's inspiring edition of Temple Talk.

Three Days in Tevet: The eighth, ninth and tenth days of the month of Tevet are each considered dark days in the history of Israel. At one time each of the three days was observed by a fast. Today we fast only on the tenth. What happened on these three days?

The 8th: The Septuagint: Click here to learn about the translation of the Hebrew Torah into Greek, known as the Septuagint, which occurred on the 8th of Tevet.

The 9th: The Passing of Ezra and Nechemiah: The 9th of Tevet marks the passing of Ezra and Nechemiah who led the Jews exiled in Babylon back to Jerusalem. Click here to learn more about their crucial role in Israel's history.

The 10th: Breaching the Walls of Jerusalem: The 10th of Tevet marks the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in the year 586 BCE. Click here to learn more.

Due to repeated technical difficulties, we are again not able to post a new Return of Prophecy teaching this week. We are working hard to overcome these difficulties and hope to be able to post as soon as possible a new teaching within the coming days. The current teaching by Rabbi Avraham Sutton is entitled, "The Big Picture: The entirety of all creation, from the furthest galaxy to the tiniest grain of sand, is writ large in the first words of Torah, which describe the six days of creation." Click here to view.

When Yaakov asks of Yosef "Who are these?" it is not because his eyes are dim or that he does not know them intimately. It is because in his prophetic mind's eye he see the boys' greatness in the future redemption of Israel, which is taking place today. His words are not a question but an exclamation of sublime joy. Click here to view Rabbi Richman's teaching on parashat Vayechi(Genesis 47:28-50:26).