The Golden Years

The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of blessed memory, related:[1] When the Tzemach Tzedek was a young child and learned the passage, "Ya'akov lived in the land of Egypt for 17 years,"[2] his teacher translated it according to the Baal HaTurim commentary: "Our father Ya'akov lived his 17 best years in Egypt."

Upon his return from cheder, he asked his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe: How can it be that our father Ya'akov, the elect of the Patriarchs, had his best years in Egypt, the land of corruption?[3]

The Alter Rebbe answered: It is written, "And Yehudah sent before him to Yosef to give instruction for Goshen."[4] The Midrash states, and Rashi quotes this: "R. Nechemya said: to establish a house of study so Torah would be there and the tribes would learn Torah."

"To give instructions for Goshen" means (in a deeper sense), that when one learns Torah, he becomes closer to G-d, may He be blessed. So, even in Egypt, it is possible to say vayechi - Ya'akov truly lived.

At first glance, it is not hard to understand why Ya'akov's best years were the last 17 of his life, which he spent with his beloved Yosef. As the select of the Patriarchs, Ya'akov's primary delight was in seeing that Yosef was not only alive, but conducting himself as befitted Ya'akov's son, remaining wholly righteous, notwithstanding the fact that he had lived in a corrupt land for so many years.[5]

This is also to be understood from what Ya'akov said to Yosef when he saw him in Egypt: "After I have seen your face, that you are still alive."[6] This passage is puzzling: Was it only by actually seeing Yosef's face that Ya'akov could know that he was alive?

The verse informs us that, by gazing into Yosef's face, Ya'akov was able to see that Yosef was alive spiritually as well as physically. Yosef's righteousness had not waned; indeed, it had grown while he was in Egypt. And this was the main reason for Ya'akov's extreme joy.[7]

It is thus understandable that Ya'akov's tremendous joy[8] in seeing Yosef resulted from the latter's ability to transform the gloom of Egypt into a blaze of holiness.

This being so, both the Tzemach Tzedek's question and the Alter Rebbe's answer require an explanation.

The Hebrew word for Egypt, mitzrayim, is related to the words "straits" and "limitations"[9] - it is a land that does not allow the infinite revelation of G-dliness. Indeed, as "the land of corruption," it did not readily allow for any degree of Divine revelation.

The goal of man's spiritual service is to achieve a state of exodus from all limitations, so that he can serve G-d without constraints.[10]

This, then, was the point of the Tzemach Tzedek's question: While during these 17 years, Ya'akov achieved a measure of spiritual joy that he had not attained until then, his descent into such a land had to have a limiting effect on his spiritual service. How then could these years be considered the best of his life?

The Alter Rebbe answered by noting that Ya'akov "established a house of Torah study": Torah study can raise an individual above all limitations, so that one can be truly alive in a spiritual sense, even while in Egypt.

The reason for this is that the Torah is rooted in G-d's essence.[11] Just as G-d defies all limitations, so too with Torah; even though it descends within the physical, it remains essentially limitless.[12] Therefore, by cleaving to Torah, one can withstand even the spiritual trials and tribulations of Egypt.

By establishing a Torah center in Egypt, Ya'akov was assured that his going there would not involve a descent in spiritual service, for the study of Torah placed him beyond the nation's spiritual concealment. This enabled Ya'akov to live the best spiritual years of his life, even while in Egypt.

Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. X, pp. 160-162

   

Notes:

1. (Back to text) HaYom Yom p. 12.

2. (Back to text) Bereishis 47:28.

3. (Back to text) See Rashi on Bereishis 12:19 and Vayikra 18:3.

4. (Back to text) Bereishis 46:28.

5. (Back to text) See Bereishis Rabbah, Vayigash 94c; Alshich, Vayigash 45:26.

6. (Back to text) Bereishis 46:30.

7. (Back to text) Alshich, Vayigash ibid.; Or HaChayim, Bereishis 46:30; Shach Al HaTorah, ibid.

8. (Back to text) See commentary of Rashi, Vayeishev 37:35, Vayigash 45:27, 46:30.

9. (Back to text) Torah Or 49d, 57c.

10. (Back to text) See Tanya ch. 47; Torah Or 38:c,d; 71a ff.

11. (Back to text) See Tanya, ibid.

12. (Back to text) See v'Hu KeChason 5657.

---

Ya'akov's Blessings

The Torah portion of Vayechi relates the blessings Ya'akov bestowed upon his children, the 12 tribes, prior to his demise.

In these blessings, Ya'akov blessed Yehudah with the strength of a lion, Binyamin with the hunting attributes of a wolf, Naftali with the swiftness of a deer, and so on.

Upon concluding the individual blessings, the Torah goes on to say:[1] "All these are the tribes of Israel, 12 in all, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them; each individual according to his blessing did he bless them."

Rashi[2] notes that the verse should perhaps have stated: "each individual according to his blessing did he bless him." Rashi explains this in the following manner: "Since he gave Yehudah the strength of a lion, Binyamin the hunting attributes of a wolf and Naftali the swiftness of a deer, one may think that he did not include all of them in all the blessings. Therefore, the verse states "he blessed them."

Rashi thus informs us that Ya'akov intended that every tribe be blessed with all the aforementioned qualities. The difference between one tribe and the other was merely that the blessing mentioned for a particular tribe reflected that tribe's strong point.[3] All the other qualities, however, were also received by them directly from Ya'akov.

Chassidus explains[4] that a blessing involves the drawing down upon the individual who receives it of that which he possesses in his source above. A blessing thus reveals one's innate qualities and characteristics.

This is the meaning of "each individual according to his blessing did he bless them" - each tribe received the blessing which stemmed from its own source;[5] it had already been designated from above as the quality of the selected individual was drawn down by Ya'akov.[6]

In light of the above, we must understand Rashi's comment that all the tribes were included in all the blessings: Since a blessing involves the revelation within an individual of his latent qualities from his own unique source, how could these blessings be transmitted to the other tribes as well?

The difficulty resolves itself when we realize that Ya'akov blessed the 12 tribes, not as 12 distinct individuals, but rather as they were encompassed within himself, their father. At their source, all the brothers were truly one. When this unity is revealed, it becomes clear that all the above-mentioned qualities are possessed by each tribe; by blessing them as he did, Ya'akov brought all these qualities to the fore.[7]

Thus, Ya'akov's blessings were indeed superior to blessings that tap only an individual's particular source; the Patriarch blessed his offspring with these qualities as they - the tribes as well as the blessings - existed within Ya'akov. Therefore, although each tribe had a dominant attribute, all the tribes received the other blessings as well.

There is an important lesson here in terms of our own spiritual service:

The fact that each Jew is descended from a particular tribe offers us a guide to our particular mode of spiritual service.[8] / [9] For example, some tribes excelled in commerce, or shone through their charitable endeavors, while others excelled in Torah knowledge.[10]

The fact that each tribe received all the blessings teaches us that, while one may have his own aspect of Divine service, one can and should shine brilliantly while engaged in other aspects as well.

Thus, the business person engaged in Torah study can qualitatively achieve as much as the full-time Torah scholar. And conversely, the Torah scholar must engage in doing good deeds with the intensity of a person who devotes most of his life to helping others.

Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXV, pp. 285-291

   

Notes:

1. (Back to text) Bereishis 49:28.

2. (Back to text) Ibid.

3. (Back to text) See commentaries of Gur Aryeh; Levush HaOrah on this Rashi.

4. (Back to text) See Torah Or, Mikeitz 37c; Likkutei Torah, Re'eh 19a; Ko Sevarechu 5626, et al.

5. (Back to text) See places cited in fn. 4.

6. (Back to text) See Bechaye on this verse.

7. (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXIII, p. 57ff.

8. (Back to text) See Introduction to Shaar HaKollel; Likkutei Sichos, Vol. VI, p. 11 (fn.), ibid., p. 304; Vol. X, p. 97ff., Vol. XXIII, p. 6, and sources cited there.

9. (Back to text) See discourses on Parshas Vayechi in Torah Or and Or HaTorah.

10. (Back to text) See Rashi, Bereishis 49:13.