VA'EIRA. 6:2-9:35

 VA’EIRA. 6:2-9:35

In this week’s Parshah, Pharaoh refuses to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. The first seven plagues strike Egypt: Blood, Frogs, Lice, Wild Beasts, Pestilence, Boils, and Fiery Hail.

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In Parshat Va’eira at 6:3, Hashem speaks to Moshe:
אֲנִי יְהוָה
וָאֵרָא, אֶל-אַבְרָהָם אֶל-יִצְחָק וְאֶל-יַעֲקֹב--בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי; וּשְׁמִי יְהוָה, לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶם

“…I am Hashem. And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shadai, and I did not make my name Hashem known to them”.

As we learned last week from Rav Kook through Reb Yitz that a name reveals a being’s potential. When El Shadai speaks to our Patriarchs or when a Patriarch uses the name “El Shadai” it is to speak of a future promise or of a latent quality that may be developed. For example when at 24:3 Isaac blesses Jacob, he says: “And may El Shadai bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and you shall become an community of peoples”.

Moshe’s task was to fashion a nation out of an enslaved people, and bring them to the Land of Israel. In this instance our Creator, Hashem, has to fulfill the promise of El Shadai made hundreds of years in the past.

For all of us who have made Aliyah, Hashem's promise has come true.

In the Land of Israel we Jews are a community of peoples.

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More from Rav Kook:

With the formation of Israel as a nation the special providence of the Land of Israel became the Jewish people’s permanent inheritance. The generation of Moses was granted a higher revelation of God’s providence, as reflected in the name Y-H-V-H. This Divine name comes from the word lehavot, “to cause to exist.” Their world and ours was no longer a universe ruled by the forces of nature. We have merited a constant, direct connection to the One Who continually creates and sustains all existence.

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KHNUM

In the Parsha at 7:17 we learn about the first plague, turning the water of the Nile into blood.  Khnum was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt and clay, and its water brought life to its surroundings, he was thought to be the creator of the bodies of human children, which he made at a potter's wheel, from clay, and placed in their mothers' uteruses.

Do you think there may be a speculative connection between Khnum and the first plague? Also is there a Khnum connection to Hebrew babies being drowned in the Nile?  Any chance of the charoset that we ritually eat on Passover and which represents the sand and mortar we were forced to make, has a Khnum connection?

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Hitler, may his name be blotted out, said something like this:

If the Jew is victorious over the other peoples of the world, his crown will be a funeral wreath for all humanity…

This is fear mongering and demagoguery.  And we all know that it continues today.  Antisemitism is a Jewish reality.

 However lest you be demoralized, there is a greater reality, a much greater reality.  One in which the stage has been set by Hashem, but enacted by us Olim.  This greater reality is found in this week’s Parshah.   It is first found in Chapter 6, Verse 6 where Hashem speaks to Moses and promises him וְגָאַלְתִּי- I will redeem you.  It is this promise of redemption that trumps Antisemitism.

 Admittedly for me the word redemption or redeem is somewhat problematic.  I know how the term “redeem” is used in the ordinary sense of the word.  For example:

·        A corporation may redeem some of its shares of stock.  You turn in the stock certificate to your broker, and in exchange you get money.

·        You need some cash.  You take an item of personal property.  You bring it to a pawnbroker.  He lends you some money; gives you a pawn ticket, and he retains the item of your personal property.  Later, when you have some money to repay the loan plus some interest, you give the pawnbroker the money and the pawn ticket and you get your property back…you have redeemed your property.

 Visually for me these examples do not relate well to the redemption as presented in the Parshah.  I have difficulty imagining Hashem in the context of a pawnshop redemption.  The image just doesn’t cut it.  However, seeing Olim, in the context of a pawnshop redemption is a different matter.

 By definition, to redeem something is to gain or regain possession of something that belongs to you, however for a price.  In the first chapter of the Book of Joshua, verse 13, when Joshua and the people of Israel are setting out to reclaim our Land, Hashem says to Joshua: "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you”.

 That self same promise was also given to Moses.  And the reality is that Hashem has indeed given us this Land.  We possess this special Land because the soles of our feet have tread upon it.   And yes that requires paying a price.  All of us here have done that.  We have all given up some physical and emotional comfort in order to make Aliyah.  And so have many of our brothers and sisters given of their lives in order to reclaim this Land.

 When viewed in this context, the thirty five hundred years of Antisemitism pales if not diminished; it hides in a corner and loses its impact. When you make Aliyah you are uplifted, not only are you living a miracle, but you are part of that miracle.  I find that to be heady stuff.  Being an Oleh in Israel today is heady stuff, and I am thankful and humbled to be part of this miracle of redemption.  Shabbat shalom.

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In the Parshat Va’eira at 6:9  Hashem tells Moshe to speak to us, that Hashem will take us out of Egypt, remove us from slavery and deliver us to the Land promised to the Patriarchs.

 But we do not listen to Moshe, the reason given in 6:9 “מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ, וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה” – lack of spirit and the hard work.  Was this the only reason for us not listening?

In the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 20 we gain additional insight.  It is a sad commentary:

5. …and [I] made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My hand to them, saying: I am the Lord your God.

7. And I said to them: Every man cast away the despicable idols from before his eyes, and pollute not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

8. But they rebelled against Me and would not consent to hearken to Me; they did not cast away, every man, the despicable idols from before their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt; and I said to pour out My wrath over them, to give My anger full rein over them, in the midst of the land of Egypt.

9. But I wrought for the sake of My Name so that it should not be desecrated before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were, before whose eyes I made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

Bottom Line:  In spite of ourselves, Hashem brought us out of Egypt.

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In Chapter 7 of the Parshah there are three references to Pharaoh’s heart:  It has been hardened, strengthened and made weighty:

7:3 – וַאֲנִי אַקְשֶׁה, אֶת-לֵב פַּרְעֹה

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.

7:13 – וַיֶּחֱזַק לֵב פַּרְעֹה, וְלֹא שָׁמַע אֲלֵהֶם

And Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened and he did not listen to them.

7:14 – כָּבֵד לֵב פַּרְעֹה; מֵאֵן, לְשַׁלַּח הָעָם

Pharaoh’s heart is weighty; he refuses to let the people go.

The heart when referred to in the Chumash is the organ in the body that is synonymous with our brain. It is what we learn with, and in our case, Pharaoh has been made more smart, more rationale, more reasoning.  He has concluded that at whatever the cost the Jews are valuable and should not be let go.

It would be good if the government of Israel reached the same conclusion, and provided the wherewithal, spiritual and material, for us Israelis to remain in the Land.

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There is some confusion at 7:9: When Aaron through down his staff, what did it turn into?  Was it a snake or something else?

At 7:9, Aaron was commanded by Hashem to appear before Pharaoh  and throw down his staff which will be turned into a crocodile תַנִין or perhaps a sea monster, not a serpent נָחָשׁ.

"קַח אֶת-מַטְּךָ וְהַשְׁלֵךְ לִפְנֵי-פַרְעֹה--יְהִי לְתַנִּין..."

"...Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a sea monster.'

 

A few years ago, I saw this baby sea monster in a hotel wall in Acco.  Notice the spinal column, dorsal fin or maybe a paddle, jaw and eye sockets.  It is a plesiosaur and it swam in Israel perhaps 70 million years ago.

One of the first paleontologists to describe plesiosaurs was Mary Anning.  She was born in England in 1799.  Being a woman in 19^th century England, Mary Anning was not permitted to join the Geological Society of London.  

Shame on them.

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As part of a detailed genealogy of the House of Levi and the family of Amram, Moses’ father, at 6:23 we get some detail about Aaron’s family:

וַיִּקַּח אַהֲרֹן אֶת-אֱלִישֶׁבַע בַּת-עַמִּינָדָב, אֲחוֹת נַחְשׁוֹן--לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה; וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ, אֶת-נָדָב וְאֶת-אֲבִיהוּא, אֶת-אֶלְעָזָר, וְאֶת-אִיתָמָר

“And Aaron took Elisheva, the daughter of Amminadav, the sister of Nachshon, for a wife to him; and she bore to him Nadav and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.”

Noticeably absent in the genealogy is any mention of Moses’ family and that of Miriam…any suggestions why?

It would be super to be connected to Moses or to Miriam, but it is not really necessary: Greatness is not reserved for the privileged few with “good yichus”, but rather is available to anyone willing to make the effort necessary to attain it. (Rabbi Shlomo Riskin)

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The Haftorah portion for Parshas Va’eira is taken from the Prophet Ezekiel,  28:25 - 29:21.  Sometimes payback to our enemies is a long time in the coming, but rest assured if it has not yet come, it is surely on its way.

Living today in Israel I know this to be true.  However for Ezekiel who was exiled in 598 BCE, before the destruction of Jerusalem it may have been only wishful thinking:

At 29:19-21:

“Therefore says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its abundance, and pillage its spoils, and plunder its booty; and that shall be the wages for his army.

I have given him the land of Egypt as his hire for which he served, because of what they [Egypt] did to Me, says the Lord GOD.

On that day will I cause the horn of the House of Israel to blossom out, and I will give you free speech in their midst, and they shall know that I am the Lord."

A major unanswered question for me, and most assuredly for Ezekiel, is that while Nebuchadnezzar did destroy Jerusalem, he was not able to conquer the city of Tyre. He tried very hard for 13 years, but did not succeed.

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SHEMOT 1:1-6:1, THE BOOK OF NAMES, EXODUS

 SHEMOT 1:1-6:1, THE BOOK OF NAMES, EXODUS

We start a new Book this week, Sefer Shemot, the "Book of Names".   The opening Parshah begins with a retelling of the names of Jacob's sons that came with him to Egypt.  They are all gone now; it's a different generation, but one that may have problems:

In this retelling of the names, the sons of Leah and Rachel are enumerated first, and then come the sons of their hand maidens (1:1-4).  From the way they are presented, one can draw an inference that the sons of the Matriarchs consider themselves higher than the sons of the handmaidens.  This differentiation may be a indicative of disunity and discord between the brothers.

Then we are told that: "The children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed (creeped?) and increased and became very very strong, and the land became filled with them". The use of the word "swarmed", וַיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ in Hebrew is not complimentary.  Swarmed is interpreted as being lowly creatures.  You remember in the Book of Genesis when God says:  "Let the waters swarm a swarming of living creatures..."  In modern Hebrew a שרץ is a creepy crawly or a reptile or an insect.  No wonder the new Pharaoh is concerned.  

The question then is just what Pharaoh is going to do about it

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I'm listening to a tape of Rabbi Soloveichik on the opening sentence of the Book of Exodus where it says "And these are the names of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt...".

The Rabbi asks: Why is the present tense "were coming" used for an event that took place 210 years in the past?

The Rabbi answers that even after 210 years the Jews were not accepted: While it is true that they were present, it is as if they were outside the land because the locals did not give them a positive response. Indeed, they were made to be slaves, their male children slaughtered..

It is only in Israel that Jews can hold their head high. It is here that we are all brothers and sisters. Outside of Israel, Jews are only fooling themselves. The best they can do is try to assimilate. But even so, you will always be a stranger in a strange land.

Come on home to beautiful Israel, better yet to beautiful Nahariya.

https://youtu.be/WBugBEWVnpA

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NAMES

This week we begin a new Book, Sefer Shemot also called Exodus 
This is Rav Kook’s take on the 1st Parshah in Shemot:
The Parshah begins with “These are the names of the B’nai Yisrael…”.
The names of the brothers are enumerated

Names are very important in Judaism. A person’s name reveals a person’s potential. And in this case the potential of the B’nai Yisrael, the nation of Israel.

What exactly is our potential?  With due respect to the Levites, the לוויים, We are no longer the Twelve Tribes.  As best as I can tell the Twelve Tribes have been replaced by Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Secular, Humanist, Sephardic, Ashkenazi, Chassidim. Misnagedim, Atheist, Haredi and Zionist Jews.  Obviously there has been some intermingling between the groups, but we are All JEWS nonetheless.  

Let us realize our God-given potential: Compassion and Social Justice.

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At Chapter 2, Verses 11-12 we learn about Moses as a grown man:

וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם, וַיִּגְדַּל מֹשֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל-אֶחָיו, וַיַּרְא, בְּסִבְלֹתָם; וַיַּרְא אִישׁ מִצְרִי, מַכֶּה אִישׁ-עִבְרִי מֵאֶחָיו.

וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה, וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ; וַיַּךְ, אֶת-הַמִּצְרִי, וַיִּטְמְנֵהוּ, בַּחוֹל.

“Now it came to pass in those days that Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and saw their suffering, and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man from his brothers.

He turned this way and that way, and when he saw no man; he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”.

This was not a crime of passion.  Moses was deliberate in his action.  He had intent and what is called in the court system, the requisite mens rea or guilty mind.

The Sages go out of the way to exonerate Moshe:  Moshe never raised his hand against the Egyptian; he either said the ineffable name of Hashem or only stared at the Egyptian, both of which resulted in the Egyptian’s demise.

 In the alternative:

The Egyptian taskmaster had laid eyes on the Hebrew’s wife. So the Egyptian woke the Hebrew at night and took him out of his house, and he returned and entered the house and was intimate with the Hebrew’s wife.

This was a capital crime, and Moses’ slaying of the Egyptian was tantamount to rendering justice to a wrongdoer.

An explanation as to why the Sages were against a Jew standing up for a fellow Jew has to do with the terrible losses that we incurred during the unsuccessful Bar Kokhba Revolt.  The Sages were reluctant to have Moshe  pictured as a hero, and perhaps inspire another costly rebellion.  We took this mindset with us into the Diaspora, and outside of Israel (and sometimes inside) it is still shamefully prevalent today.

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In the Parsha at the burning bush we hear for the first time Moshe being called by his name (3:4) -

וַיִּקְרָא אֵלָיו אֱלֹהִים מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה, וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה מֹשֶׁה--וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי

“…'Moses, Moses.  And he said: 'Here am I.”

We do not know what name Moshe was given at birth.  We do know that Pharaoh’s daughter called him “Moshe” which means “son” in Egyptian. as for example in Egyptian names like Thutmoses ('child of Thoth') and Ramesses ('child of Ra'),

 However, Pharaoh’s daughter may have also reasoned that since he was drawn out from the water, מִן-הַמַּיִם מְשִׁיתִהוּ,“מֹשֶׁה” is a fitting Hebrew name.

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In the Parshah at 3:8 Hashem speaks to Moshe telling him to deliver the following message from Himself to the Elders of Israel:

וָאֵרֵד לְהַצִּילוֹ מִיַּד מִצְרַיִם, וּלְהַעֲלֹתוֹ מִן-הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא, אֶל-אֶרֶץ טוֹבָה וּרְחָבָה, אֶל-אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ--אֶל-מְקוֹם הַכְּנַעֲנִי, וְהַחִתִּי, וְהָאֱמֹרִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי, וְהַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי.

“And I said, 'I will come down to bring you out from the hand of Egypt, out to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivvites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.'””.

Moses is given an almost impossible job of galvanizing the B’nai Yisrael, to actualize their potential. It is a two-step process: firstly to seek their freedom, and secondly to make the Land of Israel their home. Moses and most of the generation do not make it to Israel. It takes 40 years of wandering to get us to the point where we are ready to fulfill Hashem’s promise.

Being in Israel today we are again fulfilling Jewish potential.

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In the Parshah at Chapter 3, Moshe Rabeinu meets Hashem at the burning bush. This is not a chance happening; it is an initial prophetic encounter. Similarly in the Haftarah portion, as read by Sephardim, the Prophet Jeremiah experiences his initial prophetic encounter.

Both men either out of modesty or fear are reluctant to proceed on their Divine mission:

Moses at 3:11-12 says to God:

 "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

And God responds:

And He said, For I will be with you, and this is the sign for you that it was I Who sent you. When you take the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

Likewise, Jeremiah at 1:6-7, “And I said, Alas, O Lord God! Behold, I know not to speak for I am a youth.”

Hashem responds: “… Say not, I am a youth," for wherever I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Fear them not, for I am protecting you, says the Lord.”

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                                  “Long Live King Mashiach”

Last week was the Christmas holiday. It celebrates the birth of Jesus, and whether you like it or not the most famous Jew of  all time.

There is a custom not to study Torah on Christmas eve. The custom is called Nittel Nacht.

"Nittel" is Yiddish for Christmas.   It is derived from the Latin natalis or maybe the Hebrew nitleh, the hanged one, referring to the crucifix ion.  

Considering that Jesus is one of us, the most famous Jew of all time, this custom very popular with Chabad. To me it seems inappropriate.  And tongue in cheek:  Maybe it is a matter of competition if your choice for the Messiah is a dead Rebbe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nittel_Nacht?wprov=sfla1    

 

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In Parshat Shemot (3:13-14), Moses is told that with Hashem's help he will lead the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. And Moses asks:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר משֶׁ֜ה אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּ֨ה אָֽנֹכִ֣י בָא֘ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וְאָֽמַרְתִּ֣י לָהֶ֔ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם וְאָֽמְרוּ־לִ֣י מַה־שְּׁמ֔וֹ מָ֥ה אֹמַ֖ר אֲלֵהֶֽם:

“And Moses said to God, "Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"

Hashem replies: "אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה "...I will be who I will be".

Is this a Divine Name of Hashem? What does it mean? What are the ramifications?

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It would appear that Hashem has made public His name to Moses.  Bearing in mind the significance of name revelation, what do we have here; what do we do with this information?

To me this is a watershed or seminal moment in Jewish knowledge regarding the ultimate being, God.  We have just been told what may be the personal name of God. 

Now don’t you say so what, no big deal.  It is a big deal.  We do not articulate the name of God when we read it in a text.  Instead we say Hashem or Adonai.  Many of us write the word God as G-d, leaving out the middle letter. We pronounce the individual Hebrew letters as a whole name, but say it as yud-kay-vav-kay, changing the letter hay to a kay.  In short, we go out of our way not even to get close to what may or may not be God’s name.  It is more than a sign of respect; it is a sign of awe.

And whether or not the name  אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה should ever be uttered, I will leave that up to you.  The only time that Hashem’s name was fully and correctly articulated was by the Kohen Gadol at Yom Kippur and only in the Holy of Holies. 

 It is called the "Ineffable Name of God".

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Rav Kook considers the following:

The redemption from slavery in Egypt is not a one-time rescue mission; it is continuous, happening even today:

God’s message to the Jewish people is that the Torah and its mitzvot enables us to attain the highest state of being. The Torah guides us throughout history, in all situations, whether we were a subjugated people in exile or a free people in our own land.

The Torah at that time prepared us to be an eternal nation, to overcome the challenges of future exiles. “'I Will Be’ with them in this exile; and ‘I Will Be’ with them in future exiles.”

 Today, the Torah allows us to overcome the challenges of a free people in the Land of Israel. 

I am not sure if I hold with Kook.  But what I do know is that we are not command to forget about the name אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה, or to cease from contemplating its meaning. Had that been what was intended, then it would not have been written in Sefer Shemot.  It is my belief that the meaning of אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה should be understood, and contemplated, and discussed, and remembered now and forever.

Rabbi Riskin takes the letter yad of אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה and substitutes the letter vais to get I will love who I will love. 

 This gives me the shivers…a loving God...Wow.

Christians do a take on this with the expression "Jesus loves you".

This is all good and fine except if you are being locked up in a Mexican prison.

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But for the heroism of women in Parshat Shemot there would be no Moshe Rabeinu:

SHIFRAH and PUAH, the midwives who blatantly disobeyed the Pharaoh, (1:15-21).

JOCHEVED, who put her life at risk in just giving birth to Moshe, and despite knowing if she had a boy, it was probable that he would die because of the Pharaoh’s decree, she still carried him to term. (1:22, 2:1-3).

MIRIAM, watched over her infant brother, bravely spoke up to Pharaoh’s daughter and arranged for her brother’s feeding, (2:4, 2:7-9).

BITYAH, Pharaoh’s daughter who defied her father by rescuing the Hebrew infant, named him Moshe and raised him as his foster mother, (1Chronicles 4:18, Shemot 2:5-10).

ZIPPORAH, saved Moshe’s life when he was about to be killed for not circumcising his son. She stepped in and did the circumcision herself, 4:24-26). An unattended consequence is that a women who performs the brit milah is called a Mohelet
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VAYECHI 47:28-50:26

 VAYECHI 47:28-50:26

  

This essay on Parshat Vayechi contains among other things:

• ·        The meaning behind Joseph’s tears.
• ·        Where Ephraim and Manasseh for us or against us?
• ·        Blessing your children.
• ·        Labayu, King of Shechem, a city-state.
• ·        Our right to Machpelah.
• ·        Embalming Jacob through the ages.
• ·        Turning the past into the future.

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Joseph is characterized as being a dreamer. He is also described as Joseph “the righteous” when he does not succumb to the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife. 

But Joseph is also a weeper.  Time after time he weeps copious tears: 

 42:23-24, They did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them. And he turned away from them and wept, then returned to them and spoke to them…

43:30, And Joseph hastened, for his mercy was stirred toward his brother, and he wanted to weep; so he went into the room and wept there.

45:1-2, And he wept out loud, so the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.

45:14, And he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.

45:15, And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and afterwards his brothers spoke with him.

46:29, And Joseph harnessed his chariot, and he went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and he appeared to him, and he fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck for a long time.

50:1, Joseph fell on his father's face, and he wept over him and kissed him.

50:17,… Now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 

Yael Tzohar of Bar Ilan University writes: “…it must be said that weeping is the song of the soul.  It expresses that which is beyond words.  That which cannot be expressed by words, which limit, finds expression in the meritorious tears of Joseph, the righteous man who wept.”

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In this week’s Parshah at 48:8 Israel (Jacob) asks:

וַיַּרְא יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶת-בְּנֵי יוֹסֵף; וַיֹּאמֶר, מִי-אֵלֶּה

“Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, Who are these?"

Joseph’s two boys will be the beneficiary of their father’s double portion.  It is not unreasonable to assume that Jacob was asking whether they are Jews or Egyptians, culturally or otherwise.  They are being brought up in a palace.  They are not herdsmen.  Their mother is not a Jew.  She is the daughter of an Egyptian priest.

Ezra (Chapter 9) makes it clear that intermarriage is verboten. 

Will these boys be for us or will they be against us?

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Traditionally on Friday nights we bless our boys, referring them to Joseph’s sons: “May you be like Manasseh and Ephraim”.  I do not think this is wise.  My reasoning is as follows: As to whether Ephraim and Manasseh will be for us or will they be against us?  Hindsight being 20-20, they were against us. 

 The most famous descendent of Ephraim was Jeroboam, the first King of the Northern Kingdom.  To his shame, the Ephraimite Jeroboam constructed a temple replete with priests and two golden calves for his followers to worship.

Without exception the Kings of the Northern Kingdom are viewed as wicked and evil.

If you are looking for an alternative with which to bless your boys consider two other brothers: Moshe and Aaron

Parents bless their children for a variety of reasons.  For example: that the youngsters be able to cope in difficult surroundings, that they continue the family line, that they succeed in elevating themselves in spirituality in a way appropriate to them, and that they preserve peace and friendship with one another.

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At 48:22 Jacob says to Joseph:

וַאֲנִי נָתַתִּי לְךָ, שְׁכֶם אַחַד--עַל-אַחֶיךָ:  אֲשֶׁר לָקַחְתִּי מִיַּד הָאֱמֹרִי, בְּחַרְבִּי וּבְקַשְׁתִּי

“And I have given you Shechem, one portion over your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."

Jacob knows that his life is drawing to close.  He wants Joseph to ensure that he will be buried in Machpelah.  In return, Jacob gives to Joseph a burial place in Shechem.

Not only did Jacob purchase land in Shechem, but he fought to keep Shechem as his.  This is unusual; Jacob is largely understood as a peaceful man, not as a man of war.

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Today we recognize Shechem as the city of Nablus.  

                            This letter is from Labayu to an Egyptian Pharaoh.

 

There are cuneiform (Amarna) postal letters from about 1350 BCE.  In them Šakmu or Shechem is said to be the center of a kingdom carved out by a warlord who recruited mercenaries from among the Habiru, Hebrews.

Shechem was a city-state had its own ruler, and consisted of a main city and a system of villages around it.  Its king was named Labayu.  He is noted for his territorial ambition.  Using diplomacy and a strong army Labayu expanded the boundaries of Shechem into other Canaanite city-states.

There is a possibility that Labayu, is Gideon’s son Avimelech from the Book of Judges (Chapter 9).  They both lived approximately at the same time and are identified as rulers of Shechem.  Labayu is characterized as an unprincipled, ambitious ruler, often engaged in war with his own subjects. 

This is a translation of the illustrated letter to the Pharaoh where Labayu defends himself against accusations made by a Canaanite city-king ruler named Milkilu.

To the king, my lord and my Sun:

Thus Lab'ayu, your servant and the dirt on which you tread.

I fall at the feet of the king, my lord and my Sun, 7 times and 7 times. I have obeyed the orders that the king wrote to me.

Who am I that the king should lose his land on account of me?

The fact is that I am a loyal servant of the king!

 I am not a rebel and I am not delinquent in duty.

 I have not held back my payments of tribute; I have not held back anything requested by my commissioner.

He denounces me unjustly, but the king, my Lord, does not examine my (alleged) act of rebellion.

Moreover, my act of rebellion is this: when I entered Gazru-(Gezer), I kept on saying, "Everything of mine the king takes, but where is what belongs to Milkilu? "

I know the actions of Milkilu against me! Moreover, the king wrote for my son.

I did not know that my son was consorting with the 'Apiru (Herews).

I hereby hand him over to Addaya-(commissioner).

Moreover, how, if the king wrote for my wife, how could I hold her back?

How, if the king wrote to me, "Put a bronze dagger into your heart and die", how could I not execute the order of the king?

 

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In the Parsha at 49:1, the Torah says:

וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב, אֶל-בָּנָיו; וַיֹּאמֶר, הֵאָסְפוּ וְאַגִּידָה לָכֶם, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יִקְרָא אֶתְכֶם, בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים

“Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather and I will tell you what will happen to you [at the end of days] or [in days to come].”

If you have a Messianic bent, then בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים means at the end of days, but if you opt for the simple meaning, then you favor in days to come.

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In this week's Torah portion, Parshat Vayechi, there are important lessons for Jews today:

 

Machpelah, Hevron

At 49-29-30, Jacob commands his sons to bury him in the double cave purchased by Abraham from Ephron the Hittite:

“And he charged them, and said unto them: 'I am to be gathered unto my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place”.

The description of the burial place is specific and exhaustive. There is no doubt as to its location, the lesson being that it belonged to us then; it belongs to us now and it will always belong to us. We are talking about Hevron, where between 500-850 Jewish Israeli citizens live, and who are surrounded by 200,000 Muslim Arabs. 

Despite the condemnation of International bodies, Arab peoples and Leftist whining, there is no question as to our right to right to live there in our Land, and so we do.

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In the Parsha at 50:2 -

 וַיְצַו יוֹסֵף אֶת-עֲבָדָיו אֶת-הָרֹפְאִים, לַחֲנֹט

אֶת-אָבִיו; וַיַּחַנְטוּ הָרֹפְאִים, אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל.

“And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. And the physicians embalmed Israel”.

Upon his death, Jacob undergoes the Egyptian embalming process, something that is antithetical and abhorrent to Jewish death and burial practice today. The lesson is that when a Jew is living outside the Land of Israel, he willfully or by osmosis will absorb the customs of his non-Jewish friends, family and neighbors.

An example of one such custom, although lovely, is to exchange gifts at Chanukah time. I'm not playing at holier than thou. The custom is overpowering and most of us have done it, perhaps using blue wrapping paper instead of red, but it is not something for us.

Come to Israel and you can forget your foreign traditions.

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This Tuesday, January 3 is the 10^th day of the month of Teves.  On this day in the year 588 BCE the forces of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem.  It is observed as a day of mourning and begins on Tuesday morning at daybreak. 

 In Israel, relatives of victims of the Holocaust whose yahrzeits is unknown, observe the traditional yahrzeit practices for the deceased.  These include lighting a memorial candle, learning mishnayot and reciting the kaddish.

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FINAL WORDS

The Haftarah portion is from 1Kings 2:1-12 –

King David is about to die, and he gives over to his young son Solomon these final words:

אָנֹכִי הֹלֵךְ, בְּדֶרֶךְ כָּל-הָאָרֶץ; וְחָזַקְתָּ, וְהָיִיתָ לְאִישׁ

"I go the way of all the earth; you shall be strong,  and you will be a man…”

In Hebrew grammar the future tense is marked by prefixes that indicate person, gender and number.  In contrast the past tense is marked by suffixes that indicate person, gender and number.  In this verse the suffix תָּ should normally indicate 2^nd person, male, singular for the past tense.

However, this is not always so.  In biblical Hebrew the letter vav וְ, normally a conjunction, has the power to change the past tense into the future tense and vice versa.  From its context, David must be addressing Solomon about the future where if Solomon is to be a man, he must be strong.

Jews also must be strong.

Vayechi is the final Parsha in the Book of Genesis.  At the conclusion of the Torah reading it is a custom to say:

חזק, חזק, ונתחזק

Chazak Chazak Ve-Nit’Chazek

Be strong; Be strong, and let us strengthen one another. 

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