Two Yehudah's and a David We've just finished celebrating the beautiful holiday of Chanukah, the holiday which commemorates the triumph of the Jewish spirit over Hellenism; the twin miracles of the oil and of the military victory over our powerful Greek enemies. It is the holiday which focuses on the achievements of the valiant Jewish family, the Chashmonaim, under the leadership of Matityahu, the Priest, and of Yehudah HaMaccabee, the leader of the five sons. That family stood up against the Greeks, saved the Jewish People and prevented the forgetting of the Torah, and thereby guaranteed immortality for themselves.Yet, when their later generations attempted to create a ruling dynasty, that dynasty was doomed to oblivion. In the opinion of the RAMBAN (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, a 13th Century commentator), it was because they attempted to usurp the right of kingship which had been promised and which was made part of the blessing of the nation's patriarch, Yaakov, to his son, Yehudah, "Lo yasur shevet mi'Yehudah," "The scepter shall not depart from Yehudah." In our Parshah, we meet Yehudah, the son of Yaakov, again. Believing that he is facing the power of Egypt embodied in the royal figure who stands before him, Yehudah confronts Yoseph. He is also here rising to complete the process of "teshuvah," repentance, for the sin of leading his brothers into the sale of their brother into slavery. At that time, he had uttered the fateful words, "Mah betza ki naharog et achinu ve'chisinu et damo?" "Of what profit to us is the killing of our brother, and the covering over of his blood?" "Lechu ve'nimkerenu la'Yishmealim," "Let us rather sell him to the Ishmaelites." He begins his "teshuvah" when he spares the life of Tamar, his daughter-in-law, with his confession, "Tzadkah mimeni!" "She is more righteous than I!" He continues the process when he says to Yoseph, "Mah nomar la'adoni, mah nedaber, umah nitztadak? HaElokim matza et avon Avadecha." "What can we say to my master, how shall we speak, and how shall we justify ourselves? The L-rd has found out the sin of your servants." By saying those words, he introduced into the vocabulary of his People (and, hopefully, into the vocabulary of civilization), the language of "viduy," "confession," which the Jewish People uses in the Prayers of the "Yamim Noraim," the "Days of Awe," Rosh HaShanah and Yom HaKippurim. And he completes his process of "teshuvah" here, when he offers to become Yoseph's slave, selling himself to redeem his brother, Binyamin, in order to fulfill his sacred vow to his father. Yehudah had said to his father, Yaakov, "Anochi e'ervenu, mi'yadi tevakshenu; im lo haviotiv lefanecha, ve'hitzagtiv lefanecha, ve'chatati lecha kol ha'yamim," "I will put myself in his place, from my hand shall you seek him; If I do not bring him to you, and present him safe and sound before you, I will have sinned against you for all of the days," and our commentators explain the expression "all of the days" to mean "in this world and the next." David HaMelech, King David, is the great desendant of Yehudah. For when Megilat Ruth traces nine generations from Peretz to David, it also links Peretz back to Yehudah, "Viyehi baytecha kebeit Peretz, asher yalda Tamar liYehudah," "May your house be as the house of Peretz, whom Tamar bore to Yehudah." David, too, is endowed with great courage, which enables him to fight off the lion and the bear, in order to protect the flocks which he is shepherding. But he also rises to the defense of the People of Israel from the Philistine giant, Galyat. When he does this, he approaches the giant with no armor, and no weapon but a slingshot, and declares his faith in the G-d of Israel, whom Galyat has taunted, to help him. In "Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit LeDavid," a psalm which plays a central role on Chanukah, David utters a far different "mah betza?" "what is to be gained?" than did his ancestor, Yehudah. David asks the "Ribbono shel Olam," the "Master of the Universe," "Mah betza bedami berideti el Shachat? HaYodecha Afar? HaYagid Amitecha?" "Of what profit would be my life were I to descend to Shachat? Would the dust praise You? Would it tell of Your truth?" David is called the "neim zemirot Yisrael," the "sweet singer of Israel," and praises Hashem "mimizrach shemesh ad mevo'oh," "from the rising of the sun until its setting." He writes, "Tov le'hodot laShem, ulezamer le'shimecha Elyon," "It is good to thank Hashem, and to sing praise to Your great Name;" "lehagid baboker chasdecha, ve'emunatecha baleilot," "to tell of Your kindness in the morning, and of Your faithfulness in the nights." But David too has a heightened sense of sin; he says "Ki pishi ani adoh, vechatati negdi tamid," "For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me." But he also believes in Atonement; "Chaneni Elokim ke'chasdecha; kerov rachamecha meche peshaai," "Be gracious to me, O L-rd; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions." And in Renewal, for he also requests "Lev tahor bera li Elokim, ve'ruach nachon chadesh bekirbi," "Create in me a clean heart, O G-d, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." In the merit of our great leaders, who sinned and then rose to do teshuvah with their whole hearts, May Hashem open for us the gate of teshuva, if we only open ourselves to Him "as the eye of a needle," "as wide as the gate of the palace courtyard." Rabbi Pinchas Frankel Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU |
