Parashat Vayeshev

“The second Shlichut”

Rav M. Elon

In the parashot that precede this parasha we encountered the person of Ya’akov, we saw how he embarked on shlichut (“a mission”) at the behest of his father.  This shlichut takes place from Be’er Sheva to Charan, to the place of Divine anger (“charon af.)  [As the Sforno expounds the word “Charan” on this verse, Cf. the shiur on the previous parasha, VaYetze, 5756 – “U’faratzta.”]

 It is while on this shlichut which will last two decades that Ya’akov will build his family, founding the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and then ultimately he will return to the land of his fathers.

However, as we will understand in the course of this shiur, this shlichut cannot be completed without Ya’akov appointing an additional shali’ach, (“emissary,”) a shali’ach who only when he fulfills his specific shlichut will bring about the completion of Ya’akov’s shlichut.  This shali’ach – whose shlichut will begin in this week’s parasha - is Yosef.  And this shlichut, we will see, will never culminate.

As we have previously noted, Ya’akov is the father of the Galut (literally “Exile,” i.e. Diaspora,) and his shlichut, his unique mission is the founding of a home.  This House of Ya’akov has a double destiny; firstly, it protects its members from the floods that course by outside, serving as an anchor and shield against the evil in the world.  However, this house has an additional purpose, this being the creation of the internal bonds between its inhabitants.  The home does not simply offer a random group of people shelter against the elements, rather the house serves as the home of people with strong bonds and deep ties with one another.  This is the concept of a home, a house among Yisra’el.

Ya’akov yearns to fulfill the shlichut of his father, Yitzchak, and to build a home.  On the eve of his departure for Charan, the place of Divine Anger, Ya’akov makes a vow:

“If God will be with me, and if He will protect me on the journey that I am taking, and if He gives me bread to eat, and clothing to wear…”

(Bereshit 28:20)

This is not all, though, for he continues:

“And if I return to my father's house in peace; then God will be my Lord.”

(ibid v.21)

Ya’akov yearns to return home in every aspect of the word.

Lavan senses this yearning after many years, when he says to Ya’akov:

“And now that you are on your way already since you so dearly long after your father's house.”

(ibid 31:30)

However Ya’akov’s mission that he received from his father, Yitzchak, to establish a home, will not be completed without full harmony and unity within the family.  For a family without unity is as a body without a soul, and it is here that we will observe Yosef’s shlichut.  Ya’akov will send Yosef to bring that content, that life-force that offers the concept of a home its significance, peace and unity.

Let us begin our examination of this subject step by step.

Our parashah opens with the following description:

“And Ya’akov settled (“va-yeshev”) in the land of his father’s dwelling, in the land of Canaan.”

(ibid 37:1)

Rashi comments as follows:

“And it was also expounded as follows – ‘And he settled,’ Ya’akov desired to live in tranquility, (but) the fury (“rogzo”) of Yosef pounced on him.”

(Rashi, ibid. v. 2)

The basis of our Sages’ exposition that Rashi quotes is a combination of the two expressions “And he lived” and “his father’s dwelling” – “m’gurei aviv.”  To dwell, “lagur,” stems from the word “ger” – “foreigner” – denoting foreignness and transience.  Ya’akov desires to “settle,” an expression of stability and permanence in the place of his father’s transience and temporary living.

Yet the literal meaning of this Midrash is not clear:

Firstly, what is this “tranquility?”  Does it mean living in peace and calm?  This does not seem to be the case, but even if this is the case – why is this desire considered to be negative?

Secondly, what exactly is the ‘anger’ of Yosef that pounced on Ya’akov?

Let us consider Ya’akov’s life until this point.

Ya’akov was sent by his father, Yitzchak, on a long shlichut.  Yitzchak is Avraham’s shali’ach, and it is by this power that he makes Ya’akov his shali’ach.  Ya’akov sets out into a twenty year exile, difficult years that he must spend with one of the greatest charlatans, Lavan the Aramean.  Ya’akov is set to work, and is exploited by his uncle, his mother’s brother.

In a burst of frustration Ya’akov tells Lavan a synopsis of the treatment he has received:

“Twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats never lost their young, and I have never eaten from the rams of your flock.  I never brought you an animal that had been attacked – I bore that loss myself; you made me make it good whether it was stolen by day or by night.  I lived as follows: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, when sleep was snatched from my eyes.

I have been in your house for these twenty years: I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your sheep; and you changed my wages ten times.

If it were not for the God of my father, the God of Avraham, and the Fear of Yitchak, (Who) was with me, you would have sent me away now empty (handed.)  God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and last night He reprimanded you.”

(ibid 31:38-42)

[I must make one note on this: Lavan answers. “And Lavan answered and said to Ya’akov, ‘The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that you see is mine; and my daughters what can I do to them today, or to their children whom they have borne?” (ibid. v. 43.)

In other words he completely denies all of Ya’akov’s claims.  Yet, inside, he knows that Ya’akov is correct, he reacts in a similar fashion to many manipulators, who exude weakness, yet still behave as strong, powerful individuals.  Therefore, after Lavan’s lecture, he makes a Ya’akov a ‘generous’ offer, an offer that only he truly requires: “Now, therefore, come let us make a covenant, you and me; and let it serve as testimony between me and you,” (ibid. v. 44.)]

After twenty difficult years, Ya’akov returns to the land of his father’s sojourn.  However he still must endure two years of battles with the local inhabitants of the land.  And then he achieves tranquility and quiet.

As we will recall, at the ‘Brit ben ha-Betarim,’ (‘The Covenant between the parts,’) Avraham was told the destiny and historical saga his children would have to undergo on their way to becoming a nation:

“And He said to Avraham, ‘Know for a certainty that your seed will be a foreigner in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them for four hundred years;  And also that nation, whom they will serve, I will judge; and afterward they shall come out with great wealth.  And you will go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried in good old age.  And the fourth generation shall return here; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

(Bereshit 15:13-16)

Ya’akov, returning from the house of Lavan, sees in himself and his family the fulfillment of the Brit bein ha-Betarim.  He is the seed of Avraham, and he himself experienced being “a foreigner in a land that is not theirs” and Lavan tormented and even afflicted him, as we saw in Ya’akov’s own words above.

One may claim, however, that the affliction was intended to last for four-hundred years, and now Ya’akov returns from Lavan’s house after only twenty years.  We may answer this by reflecting on the four-hundred year period that Yisrael was supposedly in servitude in Egypt, for this is not a precise sum of the years spent in Egypt, for Bnei Yisrael were only in Egypt for two-hundred and ten years.  Various answers were offered by our Sages, yet at the basis of this issue is the understanding that the ‘exact total’ of the years of affliction – despite having been stated in prophecy to Avraham – are not absolute, for God may certainly overturn or reduce a previously rendered sentence or judgment.

In any event, returning to our discussion, Ya’akov sees the revelation of God to Avraham as a prophecy of what had occurred – and what was yet to occur – to him.  And now he had left his uncle Lavan “with great wealth.”

[God’s assurance that “And also that nation, whom they will serve, I will judge” parallels Ya’akov’s statement that: “If it were not for the God of my father, the God of Avraham, and the Fear of Yitchak, (Who) was with me, you would have sent me away now empty (handed.)  God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and last night He reprimanded you.”]

As far as Ya’akov was concerned, then, the entire Brit bein ha-Betarim had been fulfilled.  This is the essence of his desire to “live in tranquility.”

Yet now the “fury of Yosef” pounces on him.  What is this “fury of Yosef?”

If we carefully consider the development of events, we will see that precisely that which occurred to Ya’akov, occurs to Yosef.

[Rashi already noted this when he states: “And the homiletic Midrash expounds: the verse ascribes the lineage of Ya’akov to Yosef for a number of reasons: Firstly, for Ya’akov only served Lavan for Rachel; and (also) for Yosef’s countenance was similar to his; and everything that occurred to Ya’akov occurred to Yosef; this one was hated, and this one was hated; this one – his brother desired to kill him, and this one – his brothers desired to kill him.”  (Rashi, Bereshit 37:2)]

Ya’akov, setting out on his way away from his home, to Galut – Exile – has a dream:

“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder was set firm on the earth, and the top of it reached the heavens; and behold the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”

(Bereshit 28:12)

The essence of this dream deals with the connection of the earth to the heavens, for this is the quintessence of Ya’akov’s responsibility and mission.  Ya’akov understands that the place that he lies upon is the “House of God” and the “Gate of Heaven” (ibid. v. 17.)  It is here that the world will be set to rest when the Eternal House will be built.  It is here that the pinnacle of spirituality will become fused with earthly foundations.

Just as his father before him, so too Yosef dreams, however he has two dreams.

In his first dream Yosef sees:

“And we were binding sheaves in the field, and then my sheaf arose, standing upright; and, behold, your sheaves gathered around (my sheaf), and they bowed to my sheaf.”

(ibid. 37:7)

In this dream Yosef sees the earth, the field and the ground.  He and his brothers do not explicitly appear in the dream – they are represented by their sheaves.

Then Yosef dreams a second dream:

“And he said, ‘I have dreamed another dream; and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars are bowing down to me.’”

(ibid. v. 9)

The second dream is a dream with the heavens as its backdrop.  In this dream Yosef sees his brothers and his family represented by celestial beings (the sun, the moon, and stars,) yet he sees himself explicitly, without any symbolic representation.  The celestial beings in his dream bow down to him, the human being ‘Yosef,’ who remains without any depiction.

Both dreams of Yosef are in fact one – they are the dream of Ya’akov, the aspiration to join heaven with earth.

With Yosef, the dream assumes a twofold nature, for the unified brotherhood that Ya’akov requests of Yosef to attain for his household has a twofold nature.  It is both of spiritual, heavenly content (hinted at by the second dream,) which then will eventuate in economic, existential success, (hinted at by the dream of the sheaves.)

[It is important to note that Yosef’s approach is that of unifying the dreams.  In other words, when Pharaoh dreams the two dreams regarding the seven healthy cows and the seven emaciated cows, and then the additional dream about the seven full ears of wheat and the seven withered ears, Yosef tells him: “Pharaoh’s dream is one.”

And even before the chief butler and chief baker have their dreams, Yosef understands that he is in fact faced with only one dream.]

Now let us further elaborate this issue.

Ya’akov presents Yosef with a mission:

“And Yisrael said to Yosef, ‘Your brothers are feeding the flock in Shechem, go, and I will send you to them.’

And he said to him, ‘Here am I.’

‘And he said to him, Go, I beg you, and enquire as to the wellbeing of your brothers, and the wellbeing of the flocks; and bring me word. So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.”

(ibid. 37:13,14)

Ya’akov, when he asks his son, Yosef, whether he is willing to embark on a mission of love and brotherhood directed at those who most despise him, just as he, Ya’akov went to Lavan’s house, the nature of which we described above, in order to fulfill his father’s charge – Yosef answers: “Here am I!”

Then Ya’akov describes the double nature of Yosef’s shlichut.  At the start he must seek out the wellbeing of his brothers, and then afterwards he must establish the wellbeing of the sheep.  In other words, he must seek out brotherhood on the internal plain, while maintaining responsibility of the external-economic plain.  This is in fact the content of Yosef’s two dreams, the dream of the sheaves of wheat relates to the economic welfare that Yosef will be responsible for, and the dream of the sun and the moon which speaks of the internal bond between the various segments of Ya’akov’s household, with Yosef holding the pivotal role.  Indeed, the very first word that Yosef utters when he is encountered upon is “My brothers.”

“And a man found him, and, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, saying, ‘What do you seek?’  And he said, ‘It is my brothers I seek; tell me, I beg you, where are they feeding their flocks?”

(ibid. v. 15,16)

And then the man answers:

“And the man said, ‘They have departed from here, (“mi’zeh” – literally “from this,”) for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dotan.’’ And Yosef went after his brothers, and he found them in Dotan.”

(ibid. v. 15,16)

Regarding the strange term “mi’zeh” Rashi comments:

“They moved themselves (away) from brotherhood.”

(Rashi, ibid.)

The tranquility that Ya’akov seeks is precisely that brotherhood, that internal stability.

[It is fascinating that the very first word that Ya’akov utters after his dream of the ladder is also “my brothers,” and then, too, the response he receives is chilling against the backdrop of the search for brotherhood.  Ya’akov says: “My brothers, where are you from?” (ibid. 29:4.)  He calls them “my brothers,” yet they answer him rather laconically, “We are from Charan,” (ibid.)  The verse does not describe any reference to Ya’akov in their response, the verse simply states their terse answer, without even stating “They said to him” – indicating the distance and  alienation toward Ya’akov.  Ya’akov continues: “And he said to them, ‘Do you know Lavan, the son of Nachor?’” (ibid. v. 5.)  Once again a curt response: “And they said: ‘We know him,’” (ibid.)  However the dialogue does not end here: “And he said to them, ‘Is he well?’ (ibid. v. 6.)   Once again the verse describes the reference “to them” when Ya’akov addresses them, which highlights the lack of reference to Ya’akov in each of their responses to him.  Now they respond: “And they said, ‘He is well; and, behold, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep,’” (ibid.)  Even their reference to Rachel seems more an opportunity to end the conversation with an annoying foreigner who demonstrate ill-placed emotions (“my brothers”) than an attempt to assist him.]

One may live in peace, yet be lacking brotherhood, unity and harmony.  He may still lack the internal strength and valor that binds all those who are at peace with one another, binding those brothers into one heart.  Thus, it is not Esav and Lavan who hinder the salvation, but rather us, ourselves.

Specifically now, when Ya’akov has triumphed arduous struggles with men and angels, particularly now, when his hold on the land is strong and stable, specifically now when he controls vast territories and expanded boundaries – Yosef must seek the internal bond that will grant the external reality its content.

After his encounter with the man, Yosef begins to appreciate how difficult his mission really is. The man tells Yosef: Forget about brotherhood unity, your brothers have traveled away from it, your goal is unobtainable.  However, despite this, Yosef continues onward with devotion and literally self sacrifice in his search for the brotherhood and unity of Ya’akov’s house.

And then:

“And they saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.”

(Bereshit 37:18)

The verse does not offer a report of a group of brothers observing their brother, nor of Yosef’s brothers observing his approach, but rather “They saw him” – the verse offers no qualifier as to the identity of Yosef.  To the brothers, Yosef is simply an individual approaching in the distance – they certainly do not consider him ‘their brother.’

[Indeed, the brothers’ reaction to Yosef is akin to the reaction of the non-Jewish shepherds who encounter Ya’akov, which we discussed above.  This emphasizes the great divide between the brothers and the terrible crisis of disunity that Ya’akov’s house experiences.]

They see him “from a distance,” they do not want him to approach them, for if he is to come too close they may indeed recognize him as their blood relative and brother…

And it is at this point that the dangerous predicament in Ya’akov’s house eventuates into a brutal plan:

“And they said one to another, ‘Here comes the man of dreams.  And now let us kill him, and throw him into one of the pits, and we will say that some evil beast has devoured him; then let us see what will become of his dreams.’”

(ibid. v. 19,20)

Once again we observe their alienated and impersonal attitude towards their brother whom they do not refer to by his name, but rather by a scornful description: “the man of dreams.”

It is at this point that Reuven interjects:

“And Reuven heard (this,) and he saved him from their hands; and he said, ‘We will not kill a soul.’  And Reuven said to them: ‘Do not spill blood, cast him into this pit that is in the desert, and do not send a hand against him.’

(Reuven acted in this manner) in order that he might rescue him from their hands, to return him to his father.”

(ibid. v. 21,22)

Even he who wishes to save Yosef does not do so out of concern for his brother, Yosef.  Reuven, too, does not employ any expressions of brotherhood when referring to Yosef.

And then:

“And then, when Yosef came to his brothers - they stripped Yosef of his coat, the long colorful coat that he was wearing.”

(ibid. v. 23)

Yosef approaches his brothers, yet they pounce on him as their enemy, and the unity and brotherhood move further into the dark abyss:

“And they took him, and they threw him into the pit; and the pit was empty, without any water in it.”

(ibid. 24)

And then, as if out of nowhere a caravan of Ishmaelites appears:

“And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gil’ad, their camels bearing gum, balsam and resin, traveling to transport it down to Egypt.”

(ibid. 25)

When we are divided, when we are crumbling from within, our enemies’ hidden sensors discern our weakness.  They are more than happy to assist in driving the brotherly unity further into the abyss of hatred and division.

Years later, Yosef will burst into tears when his brothers gather together, in whispered consultation and acknowledge:

“We are truly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he beseeched us, and we would not hear; therefore this misfortune has come upon us.”

(Bereshit 42:21)

For then Yosef reacts:

“And he turned himself away from them, and he wept.”

(ibid v. 24)

This, then, is the essence of these incidents – Ya’akov’s shlichut to build a home continues with Yosef’s shlichut to bring his brothers together in that home.  From Yosef’s ordeals we have ascertained that we have the might to confront Lavan and Esav, and even if we are left limping after our encounter this is only after the angel, an opposing spiritual force, acknowledges our blessing, our uniqueness and our mission.

However when the internal might of the household founded on the stable foundations of love and brotherhood is undermined – then the danger is at its greatest.

Aside from being days of miracles and resurrection, days characterized by the utmost devotion and sacrifice – the days of Channuka also contain a share of anguish when we consider the great sacrifices that allowed Yisrael to stand strong for its Torah, its faith, and its sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael which collapsed over the internal conflicts that increased toward the end of the Hasmonean Period.  The internal hatred intensified and spread like a malignant tumor, until the national ‘body’ was no longer able to withstand the attack of the lethal illness.  [Cf. the shiur for Parashat Miketz, 5764, “Choni the Me’agel and the Chashmona’im.”]

Then the kingdom that was built upon independence and sovereignty falls as a ripe fruit into the imperialistic Roman Empire’s mouth.  (At the conclusion of period of the Second Temple.)

Yosef’s shlichut from his father will continue and continue.  Ultimately he will find his brothers, and they will find him, in the deeper sense of the word.

However this shlichut will not end with his death.

At the end of his life when he takes leave of his brothers, he tells them:

“And Yosef said to his brothers, “I will die; and God will surely remember you, and He will take you out of this land to the land which He swore to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya’akov.’ And Yosef made Bnei Yisrael take an oath, saying, ‘(When) God will surely remember you, and you will carry up my bones from here, (mi’zeh.)’”

(ibid. 50:24,25)

Yosef’s final word that he utters will be “mi’zeh,” for following this verse the Torah states:

“And Yosef died, at one hundred and ten years of age; and they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.”

(ibid. 26)

The very same “mi’zeh” that his brothers traveled away from, that brotherhood – that the man who Yosef encountered defined as completely out of his reach – became possible after his brothers indicated the full measure of their devotion and brotherly kinship.  Then Yosef can declare: “I am Yosef your brother,” (ibid 45:3.)

However this shlichut does not cease.  Yosef speaks to his brothers in the verse we quoted, but afterwards he makes all of Bnei Yisrael take an oath.  Yosef in fact make all the coming generations – including us – enter into an oath to continue the pursuit of “zeh.”  “Zeh” – which has as its gematriya twelve, (zayin – 7, hey – 5,) which hints at the twelve Tribes of Yisrael, as the Zohar writes. 

If we are to search for God’s remembering His people, if we are to search for salvation and redemption – we must recall that everything is related to that selfsame “zeh.”  All the harm that our enemies can bring on us is nothing in comparison to the death blows that we affect against ourselves.

This is the shlichut that will complete Ya’akov’s shlichut  to build a household.  If it were not for the second shlichut of brotherhood, of internal strength, the House of Ya’akov would be grand on the outside, yet crumbling within.

I would like to conclude with the words of the Ari, who wrote that prior to prayer one must accept upon himself the positive commandment of “Love your neighbor as yourself,” (Vayikra 19:18,) by saying:

“I love each and every one of Yisrael as (I love) my own soul and being, and I hereby appoint my mouth to offer thanks before the King of kings, God.”

(Sha’ar ha-Kavanot, Birchot ha-Shachar, 2)

This text that the Ari formulated is quoted in all of the Halachik literature, from the east to the west, in the Mishnah Berurah, in the Ben Ish Chai, in the Tanya, and in many other works.

The power to pray is the capability of fusing heaven with earth, something which can only be possible if one sees his fellow close up, if one understands that there is a point of eternity that connects all of us, making us sons and daughters of God.  The Ari’s concept, that applies in every generation, is even more applicable in our age, when Yisrael has returned to its land and great historical universal processes are being set in motion by the Planner of History – processes which defy all of natural reality occur again and again.

“Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people, and for the cities of our God,” (Shemuel II 10:12,) in love and brotherhood, in peace and companionship.

Translated by Sholem Hurwitz.

Copyright Keren Yishai/Rav M. Elon