​Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Our parasha begins with the dramatic encounter between Yehudah and Yosef: “Vayigash aluv--then Yehudah approached him [Yosef]...” These simple words conceal far more than they reveal. Yehudah is the spokesman for his family; Yosef is the second-in-command of Egypt, the most powerful nation in the world. As we know, this asymmetrical power dynamic undergoes a radical shift in succeeding millennia of Jewish history when Yehudah’s descendants, rather than Yosef’s, become the kings of Israel.
 
My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, notes that “Joseph wanted to be king, to combine political and economic power with spiritual leadership. He dreamt of sheaves and he also dreamt of stars.” In contrast, “Judah was not a dreamer. Yet, apparently there was something in his personality which commanded respect and obedience…And now Judah is in the forefront; he is the one who argues with Joseph…He was a very strong and powerful personality who radiated authority.” (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Vision and Leadership: Reflections on Joseph and Moses, David Shatz, Joel B. Wolowelsky, and Reuven Ziegler editors, page 40)
 
Why did Hashem choose Yehudah instead of Yosef to lead the Jewish people? In order to answer this question, the Rav analyzes the dual nature of the covenantal community (the Jewish people), and the differences that obtained between Leah and Rachel:

The covenantal community that God established with Abraham displayed two characteristic moral streaks, two tendencies which prima facie are contradictory and mutually exclusive. First, the covenantal community does not shrink from power…Without power one cannot be majestic and dignified. Majesty and dignity are not sinful, they are moral virtues.
 
The pursuit of power in the service of majesty and dignity is counterbalanced by the second constitutive element of the covenantal community, namely, sacrificial action:

…the covenantal community displays another trait as well: sacrificial action, the ability to give away and to renounce basic inalienable rights for the sake of a great vision, an ideal, or for the benefit of another human being or community…Covenantal man knows when to act like a warrior—majestic, dignified and proud—and when to part with everything he has. (Pages 41-42)
 
According to the Rav, these two essential qualities were exemplified by Leah and Rachel:

Leah and Rachel were not merely people. Leah was the personification of middat ha-gevurah, of dignity and majesty…She symbolized the strength of Jewish character and the unshakable will of the Jew throughout the ages and millennia. It is because of that persistence, that stubbornness and tenacity, that we still remain a living people after thirty-five hundred years of persecution and massacres. (Page 43)
 
In stark contrast, Rachel epitomized great sacrificial action:

Rachel is the opposite of Leah. She is the tragic heroine who lives for others and not for herself. She gave up her most precious possessions and her elementary rights in order to make it possible for others to find the happiness denied them…She helped her sister take Jacob away from herself. She brushed aside all her own hopes and cherished wishes because her sister was also entitled to the same happiness which Providence had showered upon her, but denied to her sister. (Page 44)
 
As is the Rav’s wont, Leah and Rachel are presented as archetypes. Within this conceptual construct, Leah is gevurah (power) and Rachel is tzimtzum (withdrawal) and sacrificial action. Moreover, each mother endows their respective sons (in this instance, Yehudah and Yosef) with their most powerful personality trait: “Leah represented gevurah, and Judah was a son of Leah. Judah’s personality radiated power, authority, and prestige…Judah is self-asserting, valiant, and fearless; he personifies dignity and majesty.” In contradistinction:

Joseph was the son of Rachel, to whom was assigned a mission to sacrifice, to retreat from positions won with blood and tears…He retreated many times, thus sacrificing himself, but his real sacrifice was the way he treated his brothers when they were at his mercy: “Be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here.” (Sefer Bereishit 45:5)  He was not the least bit vindictive.
 
How could Yosef, the second most powerful person of his time, nullify himself in such a manner before his brothers? As the Rav explains:

Only a son of Rachel could have done that. Only the son of Rachel, who had sacrificed her love for Leah’s sake, could down-grade his own self and offer friendship and kindness to his brothers who were responsible for all the misery and agony he had experienced. Joseph was the representative of hesed (kindness) and kedushah (holiness; page 45).
 
We are now ready to ask our question once again, “Why did Hashem choose Yehudah over Yosef to lead the Jewish people?” The Rav suggests this response:
​
Who then should be the king: the representative of gevurah or the representative of hesed and kedushah? The problem was submitted to the Almighty, and He decided in favor of gevurah. The king is the trustee and the leader of the people; he must possess all facets of gevurah: the ability to acquire, to defend, to possess and to protect. Sacrificial life is good as far as the individual is concerned. But the king cannot be a sacrificial type at the expense of the nation. (Page 45)
 
Based upon the Rav’s trenchant analysis, we may now better understand why Hashem chose the tribe of Yehudah for kingship and, ultimately, messianic leadership. Our kings must represent the highest aspects of gevurah if they are to lead and protect. Only Yehudah and his descendants could fulfill this role.
 
May the time come soon and in our days when we will witness the return of our nation’s kingship in the person of the Mashiach and the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
This week’s haftarah contains a famous verse: “…This is the word of Hashem to Zerubbabel, saying: ‘Lo b’chayil v’lo b’koach ki im b’ruchi amar Hashem Tzivakot—Not by force and not by physical strength, but by My spirit,’ says the L-rd of Hosts.” (Sefer Zechariah 4:6, this and all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)  In some ways, it is as cryptic as it is renowned, as there is little consensus among our classic meforshim as to the content of this prophecy and its point of reference. This is particularly the case, since the preceding verse states:

And [there were] two olive trees near it [that is, the golden Menorah]; one on the right of the bowl, and one on its left. So I [Zechariah] answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel who spoke with me answered, and he said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” (4:3-5)
 
Even a cursory reading of our passage leads to the conclusion that lo b’chayil v’lo b’koach ki im b’ruchi amar Hashem Tzivakot does not answer the angel’s question posed to Zechariah regarding the mashal of the two olive trees.
 
In his collection of responsa entitled, Beit Yitzchak, Rabbi Yitzchak Yehudah Shmelkis zatzal (1827-1905) suggests that the olive trees symbolize the two inclinations within humankind, the yetzer tov (the good inclination. to the right of the Menorah) and the yetzer harah (the evil inclination, to the left of the Menorah). Moreover, in his view, the malach was really asking Zechariah, “Do you know why the Holy One blessed be He created human beings and placed within them two possible approaches [to life]and two inclinations?” To this the angel answered:

“Lo b’chayil v’lo b’koach ki im b’ruchi amar Hashem Tzivakot”—for if the Holy One blessed be He had not created the evil inclination, humankind would have been forced to perform each of their actions and there never would have been a place or an opportunity for schar—reward based upon their righteous and just [behaviors]. This, then, is the meaning of lo b’chayil v’lo b’koach, regarding all of humankind’s actions [that would have been devoid of free choice], but rather, ki im b’ruchi amar Hashem Tzivakot”—that is, solely through the G-d-endowed spirit of habechirah hachafshite —free choice—will a person plan and implement their actions… (Responsa Yoreh Deah II, Petach HaBayit, translation, brackets and underlining my own
 
Rav Shmelkis’ analysis is an exegetical tour de force. In relatively few words, he places Zechariah’s nevuah squarely in the context of one of Judaism’s most fundamental theological principles, namely, bechirah chafshite, that is the basis for the doctrine of schar v’onesh—Reward and Punishment.
 
We must always remember that while bechirah chafshite has great power, it carries with it great responsibility. In other words, it is crucial to recognize that each of our free-willed choices affects not only ourselves, but in a very real way, the entire world. Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon gave powerful voice to this idea when he declared:

Since the world is judged after the majority of its deeds, and the individual is judged after the majority of his actions, if he does one mitzvah, he should rejoice, for he has tilted the scales of justice for himself and the entire world l’kaf zechut—toward the side of merit. [Unfortunately, however,] if he does one aveirah—sin, woe unto him, for he has tilted the scales of justice for both himself and the entire world to the side of guilt. (Talmud Bavli, Kiddushin 40b, translation my own)
 
With Hashem’s help may we ever be vigilant in our exercise of bechirah chafshite and recognize the power with which it is endowed. Moreover, may we ever be counted among those who bring the entire world l’kaf zechut. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom and Chanukah Sameach!
​
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.
 

Rabbi David Etengoff

​
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Parashat Vayeshev begins with the pasuk: “Ya’akov dwelt (vayeshev) in the land of his father’s sojournings (b’eretz megurei aviv), in the land of Canaan.” (Sefer Bereishit 37:1, this and all Tanach citations with my emendations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)  At first glance it seems unnecessary, since the Torah previously stated: “So Rachel died, and she was buried on the road to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem…And it came to pass when Yisrael dwelt in that land…” (Sefer Bereishit 35: 19 and 22)  If so, what is our parasha’s initial verse coming to add?

A 1974 Boston public lecture by my rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), helps us understand the singular import of this pasuk. He notes that “vayeshev” signifies the sense of permanent settlement: “This verse strongly emphasizes that it was Jacob’s intention at this point to attach himself to the Land of Israel.” Why was this the case? The next phrase, “b’eretz megurei aviv,” provides the answer: “The words b’eretz megurei aviv connote not merely a geographical location, but a love for the land that was both his father’s and his grandfather’s home.” (Chumash Mesoras HaRav, Sefer Bereishit 37:1, page 273) 

Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi (1075-1141) was one of the greatest exponents in Jewish history of Ahavat Tzion (Love of the Land of Israel). Little wonder, then, that his celebrated line of poetry, “libi b’mizrach v’anochi b’sof ma’arav—My heart is in the East, and I am at the edge of the West,” has come to epitomize his powerful affection for Eretz Yisrael. In so doing, he emulated the very same devotion for the land that was demonstrated by the Avot. In passage after passage of his classic sefer on Jewish thought, The Kuzari, he underscored the singular significance of Eretz Yisrael. Here is one telling example:

The Rabbi said: “Eretz Yisrael was established to rectify the entire world…Avraham himself was designated for cleaving to Divinity and for making a covenant with Hashem only after he was living in the land at the time of the Brit Bein HaBetarim (Covenant of the Pieces). How much more then, when discussing the entire chosen nation, were they worthy of being called the ‘Am Hashem Aleh—These are the People of Hashem’ (Sefer Yechezkel 36:20) only when they were living in the specially designated land called the ‘nachalat Hashem—the heritage of Hashem.’” (Sefer Shmuel I:26:19)  (The Kuzari, translation with my emendations, Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin, page 163, underlining my own)
 
May all of klal Yisrael soon be zocheh (merit) to once again live in nachalat Hashem as “Am Hashem Aleh.” As we wistfully say in the weekly Shemoneh Esrei: “Sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to gather our exiles and gather us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who gathers in the dispersed of His people Israel.” (Translation, The Complete ArtScroll Siddur, page 106)  V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
​
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

Rabbi David Etengoff


ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Our parasha contains one of the most dramatic moments in Tanach: the encounter of Ya’akov and Eisav. It begins with a well-known pasuk: “Ya’akov lifted his eyes and saw, and behold (vayisa Ya’akov ainav va’yare v’hena), Eisav was coming, and with him were four hundred men…” (Sefer Bereishit 33:1, this and all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach). This is not the first time we have encountered the phrase “vayisa ainav va’yare v’hena.” Regarding Avraham Avinu, the second pasuk of Parashat Vayera states: “Vayisa ainav va’yare v’hena three men were standing beside him, and he saw, and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he prostrated himself to the ground.” (18:2)  In addition, one of the concluding verses of the Akeidah reads: “Vayisa Avraham et ainav va’yare v’hena there was a ram, [and] after [that] it was caught in a tree by its horns…” (22:13)  Perhaps no better example of the midrashically-inspired phrase, “ma’aseh avot siman l’banim—the actions of the fathers foreshadow those of their children,” can be found in Tanach.  
 
Midrash Tanchuma (Warsaw, Parashat Vayeshev 6) suggests that in addition to the Avot looking up and seeing the scenes before them, this action raised them to a higher level: “atah motzai sh’hatzaddikim mitrommanin b’ayneihem—you find that the righteous ones were raised up through their eyes.” (Translation my own)  In my estimation, this higher level refers to the pursuit of the holy; by looking upward, the Avot were able to connect to Hashem in a new and powerful manner. As such, vayisa ainav va’yare foreshadows Dovid HaMelech’s stirring words in Tehillim 121, 1-2: “Easa ainei el heharim ma’ayin yavo ezri--I shall raise my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come? My help is from Hashem, the Maker of heaven and earth.” In his Commentary on Sefer Tehillim, the Rashbam (1085-1158) explains that the phrase, “to the mountains,” connotes “heavenward,” that is toward, “the Maker of heaven and earth.”
 
May we ever join the Avot, Dovid HaMelech, and countless other tzaddikim in casting our eyes heavenward, for there, and there alone, will we find true salvation. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
​
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

Rabbi David Etengoff


ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The name “Be’er Sheva” appears nine times in Sefer Bereishit and is found in the opening verse of our parasha: “And Ya’akov left Be’er Sheva and went to Haran.” (28:10) The nine-fold recurrence of Be’er Sheva suggests that it was a sacred place during the time of the Avot. Little wonder then that Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov each lived in Be’er Sheva at different points in their lives.
 
My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” to his students and disciples, expands upon Be’er Sheva’s singular significance in this manner: “Be’er Sheva was rooted in a wellspring of kedushah. It was a fulcrum for offerings to God and a conduit for the Divine Presence.” (This, and the following quotations, are from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Darosh Darash Yosef: Discourses of Rav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik on the Weekly Parashah,” Rabbi Avishai C. David, editor, pages 74-75) As such, this holy place was the center of pre-Sinatic Torah and prophecy, and the center of many of the beliefs and practices associated with Judaism until our present day.
 
Now that we are familiar with ancient Be’er Sheva’s striking spiritual standing, we can better understand why the first pasuk of our parasha emphasizes “Ya’akov left Be’er Sheva,” instead of simply stating, “and Ya’akov went to Haran,” as we find in an earlier pasuk: “And Ya’akov listened to his father and his mother, and he went to Padan Aram [that is, Haran].” (28:7)  As the Rav explains: “And Ya’akov left Be’er Sheva, denotes that Ya’akov was severed somehow from Be’er Sheva… uprooted by forces beyond his control, compelled to leave a place he loved… a place to which he had become bonded.” Moreover, “Ya’akov and Be’er Sheva had merged into one symbiotic entity, and now Ya’akov had to leave… and wander.”
 
What was the nature of the symbiotic relationship that obtained between Ya’akov and Be’er Sheva? In the Rav’s view:

Be’er Sheva… was the first home of the covenantal community, the center of spiritual life for the adherents of Abraham’s teaching. When Jacob left Be’er Sheva, he pulled away from this spiritual center. Perhaps he was frightened that if he left the home of his father and grandfather and the center of their teaching, he would also lose his role as leader and teacher of the covenantal community.
 
Clearly, as much as Ya’akov needed Be’er Sheva, Be’er Sheva needed Ya’akov. As the Rav states in a comment based on Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit (68:6): “…when Jacob left, Be’er Sheva lost its glory. Once Jacob had gone, Be’er Sheva resembled Mount Sinai when the shofar sounded, and the sanctity of the mount dissipated.” Therefore, according to Rav Soloveitchik, Ya’akov’s departure from Be’er Sheva had a two-fold effect: it created fear and anxiety in his psyche as to whether or not he would continue to be the “leader and teacher of the covenantal community,” and it diminished Be’er Sheva’s kedushah forevermore. Based upon Hashem’s chesed, however, its kedushah was not lost for all time, and instead “found its home in the place that Ya’akov encountered on his journey from Be’er Sheva: the holy city of Jerusalem.”

Armed with the Rav’s penetrating analysis, “and Ya’akov left Be’er Sheva” takes on new meaning, for Ya’akov did far more than physically leave Be’er Sheva, for without Ya’akov, Be’er Sheva became just one more place on the map of ancient Israel, ceasing to be the spiritual center of our people.

With Hashem’s help, may we be zocheh to witness the coming of Mashiach and the kedushah of the rebuilt Beit HaMikdash in Yerushalayim soon, and in our time. V’chane yihi ratzon.
​
Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.