\u201cWhy is it so hard to find Parshas Vayechi?\u201d is the oft frustrating lament of the ba\u2019al koreh (Torah reader)<\/p>\n
The answer of course is that Vayechi has the unique status of being the only stumah, i.e. the only Torah portion that begins in the middle of a masoretic paragraph \u2013 which only begs the question of why. Famous among the many notions is Rashi\u2019s opening comment:<\/p>\n
Why is this portion [of the Torah] completely closed? This is because once our father Yaakov died the eyes and hearts of Israel were “closed” because of the tzaras hashibud, (pain of the bondage<\/b>) for they [the Egyptians] began to subjugate them<\/i><\/p>\n
Our closed parsha connotes the closing of Jewish eyes and a Jewish heart – a predicament catalyzed by Yaakov\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
Two technical questions and one bomb come to mind.<\/p>\n
More fundamentally, Rashi\u2019s poignant midrashic comment is openly contradicted by his own words! Flash forward to the Torah\u2019s recording of Levi\u2019s death:<\/p>\n
The years of Levi’s life were one hundred and thirty-seven years.<\/em><\/p>\n Rashi comments:<\/p>\n Why are the years of Levi’s life specified [here]? To tell the length of time that the enslavement lasted, for as long as one of the Tribes (Yaakov’s sons) remained alive there was no enslavement, as it is said “Yosef and his brothers died,” and afterwards: “A new king arose,” and Levi outlived all of them.<\/i><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the problem: Do the math and you will discover an 80 year gap between Yaakov\u2019s (the father)\u2019s and Levi\u2019s (the son) demise\u00a0(1)<\/a>. We are left wondering when the actual servitude began.<\/p>\n R. Gedalia Schorr, develops an incredible dual notion. Actual physical slavery began only with Levi\u2019s death. Yaakov\u2019s demise unleashed a more subtle process; a servitude prior to slavery. It is this former stage that Rashi alludes to with the phrase tzarat hashibud \u2013 the misery of bondage and is encompassed by the eyes and heart.<\/p>\n Note the remarkable spiritual metaphysics that are at work here.<\/i><\/p>\n Yaakov in particular and the Patriarchs\/Matriarchs generally, infused incredible holiness within Klal Yisrael. In Ramban\u2019s language they were a merkava(2)<\/a>, a conduit for the Divine presence, to the point that the Beit Hamikdash (Temple) derived its essential sanctity from them. Yaakov\u2019s passing was a micro churban, akin to the destruction of the Temple. His death signified the closing of Klal Yisrael\u2019s collective eyes and heart(3)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Practically, this meant that the intellectual (eyes) and emotional (heart) sensitivity of the Jew to the constant presence of God in one\u2019s life – their God consciousness, had vanished<\/b>. Without spiritual rootedness, it was only a matter of time before the physical servitude would commence. With Levi\u2019s death, all personal conceptions of greatness and sanctity were completely obliterated. Lacking any sense of their own holiness, the Egyptians were able to devastate Klal Yisrael.<\/p>\n And so it was for over a century. After experiencing indignity upon indignity and internalizing the Mitzrayim experience, the Jews became numb to their plight, lost their voice and almost completely forgot their identity. In Rav Soloveichik\u2019s words (\u201cRedemption, Prayer, Talmud Torah\u201d – Tradition, 1978):<\/p>\n The animal is exposed to pain; so is the slave. When the slave meets with pain he reacts like the animal, uttering a sharp, shrill sound. However, the howl of the beast, like the shriek of the slave, lasts a moment in the darkness and hush of the night. In a split second all is silent again. There is no aftermath to the pain-sensation of the animal or the slave; there follows no complaint, no request, no protest, no question of why and what. \u2026 The needs of a slave are, like his shriek, not human: the etiology of his needs is exclusively biological\u2026No complaint was lodged, no sigh, no cry uttered. Only an agonizing un-human shriek would penetrate the weird silence of the night. The slaves were gloomy, voiceless and mute. … Torture was taken for granted. They thought this was the way it had to be. The pain did not precipitate suffering.<\/i><\/p>\n But then along came Moshe Rabbeinu and the Jews begin to pray. Something remarkable happens \u2013 as the Zohar describes:<\/p>\n When Moshe came to the Jewish people the voice returned<\/i>\u05db\u05d9 \u05d0\u05ea\u05d0 \u05de\u05e9\u05d4 \u05d0\u05ea\u05d0 \u05e7\u05d5\u05dc …<\/p>\n Moshe davka<\/i> (precisely), the enigmatic interloper from the royal palace pries open the Jewish mouth. How so?<\/p>\n Moses, by defending the helpless Jew, restored sensitivity to the dull slaves. Suddenly they realized that all that pain, anguish, humiliation and cruelty, all the greed and intolerance of man vis-\u00e0-vis his fellow man is evil. This realization brought in its wake not only sharp pain but a sense of suffering as well.<\/i><\/p>\n Along came Moshe Rabbeinu, who went out to his brothers (Shemos 2:11) and saw their suffering. He knows that this is not the way it should be. At great personal risk, he stands up and responds. The average Jew began to ponder – who is this Moshe? They realized he\u2019s fun unzerer \u2013 he\u2019s one of ours. He\u2019s what we should aspire towards.<\/p>\n And how did it all begin? Listen to the remarkable words of Rashi, as he describes Moshe coming on the scene:<\/p>\n Nasan einav v\u2019libo lihiyot meitzar imaheim<\/i> \u2013 he gave his eyes and heart<\/u><\/b> to feel their pain.<\/p>\n Moshe, by giving of eyes and heart, reopens what Yaakov\u2019s death had closed.<\/p>\n Stage two redemption, the physical liberation, had to be preceded by the spiritual redemption – the recognition of who the Jew is and from whence he came. After seeing Moshe, Jews began to reflect: What has happened to us? How far from being the spiritual heirs of Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov have we<\/b> strayed! Why have we been silent all these years? From this reflection emerged a sense of existential awareness. They remember, finally cry out to God \u2013 who of course \u201cremembers\u201d and has been waiting all these years.<\/p>\n Now that Mitzrayim has left the Jew, the Jew is ready to leave Mitzrayim. As 21st Century Jews who ponder our own state of exile, let us find our Yiddishe oigen and hearts so that the Almighty will remember his children.<\/p>\n Good Shabbos,\u00a0Asher Brander FOOTNOTES:<\/p>\n <\/a>1. Yaakov was 130 and died at the age of 147 for a total of a 17 year sojourn. Yosef was 39 when the brothers came down to Egypt and Levi was ~ 43 when he descended as he was born a bit before Yosef. (Sisei Chachamim puts the age gap at 4 years, even though this is academic as 11 sons were born within 6 years.) and died at 137, totaling 94 years in Egypt \u2013 a gap of 77 years.<\/p>\n
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