  |
 |
|
 |
 |
|||
Parshat Vayechi 18 Tevet 5761, 13 January 2001 |
|||
 |
|||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Parshat Vayechi 18 Tevet 5761, 13 January 2001 |
|||
|
|||
|
|||
     |
|
|
|
Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Vayechi Genesis 47:28-50:26Efrat, Israel - "Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. For your salvation do I await, O Lord (Y-HVH)". (Genesis 49:16,17)Generally speaking, the Book of Genesis is identified with ELOHIM, the G-d of creation, beginning as it does with the words: "In the beginning, Elohim (G-d) created the heavens and the earth". The Book of Exodus is generally identified with Y-HVH, the G-d of history and redemption. Indeed, early on in the Book of Exodus, the text informs us in the name of the Divine: "I was revealed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by means of El Shaddai (the Almighty G-d - Creator), and by my name Y-HVH I was not known to them" (Exodus 6:3).Hence it is strange that within the context of Jacob's blessings to his sons, he suddenly and inexplicably interrupts his third person descriptions of each tribe and its future functions and turns to the Lord in a personal entreaty: "Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. For your salvation do I await, O Lord (Y-HVH - Genesis 49:16,17). In order to understand this illogical departure from the usual Genesis form and format, we must attempt to understand the Name Y-HVH. Y-HVH literally means He will bring about, effectuate - and it appears to be a third person future form of the verb "to be " or "to cause to be;" many of the Biblical commentaries actually read into this Divine Name the three tenses of past, present and future (hayah, hoveh, yihyeh). Apparently, therefore, the Lord Y-HVH is the G-d of history. Moreover, since the Book of Exodus tells the story of Israel's redemption from Egyptian enslavement, and since the Jews taught humanity the notion that history will ultimately climax in world peace and harmony, the Lord of history is also the Lord of redemption and love. The Book of Genesis starts with G-d's creation of the world, and then records the Divine election of Abraham, Sarah and their descendants - the creation of a family - imbued with the ideal of ethical monotheism and human morality. Abraham's grandson Jacob has twelve sons, each of whom representing a tribe which will together form the nation of Israel which forms the Book of Exodus. Thus the blessings of Jacob to each of the tribes, paving the way for nationhood, serve as the segue which opens the door of G-d's new name and conception. But it is specifically and only Dan's blessing which stands out from all the others, since it alone is linked with the new name of G-d: "Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, that bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward. I wait for your salvation, O G-d (Genesis 49:16-17). Why Dan? What's so special about him that he should be so honored? Quoting the Midrash, Rashi explains this verse in terms of a prophecy that alludes to the mighty Judge Samson from the tribe of Dan, who vanquished the Philistine enemy of Israel. The snake that bites the horse's heels is an analogy to what happened to a blinded Samson when he was led into the Philistine temple where he prayed for his strength to return one last time; his prayer was answered, his hair as well as his strength returned, he pushed the pagan temple pillars until the temple itself caved in and crushed to death everyone within - including Samson himself. Samson is therefore the snake which bites the horse's heels, causes the driver to fall over to his death, but is itself crushed when the horse too falls down on it. And, Rashi concludes, Jacob's prayer to G-d at the end of his blessing to Dan, "I wait for your salvation, O G-d!", is a prophecy of Samson's final prayer for vengeance against the Philistines: "... O Lord, G-d remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O G-d that I may be avenged upon the Philistines." (Rashi Genesis 49:18).I would add a crucial ingredient to the story of Samson. Jacob begins his blessing revealing what will occur "at the end of the days" (Genesis 49:1) - an eschatological, messianic prophecy. Now, Samson could well have become the redeemer of Israel. He had all the qualifications: a barren mother like all the matriarchs, a miraculous appearance of an angel, a commitment on the part of both parents for their son to become a life-long Nazarite dedicated to G-d, never touching wine or allowing his hair to be cut. The spirit of G-d gives him superhuman strength. But he had one weakness - women. Instead of choosing a Jewish woman, he chose a beautiful and scheming Philistine, ignoring his parents' will and G-d's law. In the end, Delilah's greed and Samson's susceptibility led the Judge and would-be Messiah to a place of no return - blindness, frailty and failure. In terms of Samson's life, there is one last moment of mixed triumph: he is led into the temple of Dagon, and succeeds in vanquishing the Philistines, but himself dies in the process. This seems to be a foreshadowing of every battle in Israel's future: even when you win, you lose, since so many great Jews are killed alongside the enemy. And so Jacob cries out: "For your salvation do I await, o Lord (Y-HVH). I am anxiously anticipating the culmination of history, the ultimate redemption, the final universal peace.To a great extent, Jacob's own life has been a search for Y-HVH, the G-d of salvation. When young Jacob flees Esau leaving his father's house and setting out into an unknown exile, he seems to be making a plea-bargain with G-d: "If G-d (Elohim) will be with me and guard me on this path, providing me with bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I shall return in peace to my father's house and my G-d will be for me a Lord (Y-HVH), then this stone. ..shall be a House of G-d and whatever You shall give me I shall tithe to You"(Genesis 28:20-22). But this is not a crass tit-for-tat bargain. Jacob has been rejected by his father, has dishonestly pretended to have been his brother; he is uncertain of his true identity and feels alienated from family and self. He is in desperate search of inner peace and personal salvation. And this is the true meaning of his most poignant prayer: please, G-d of creation, become my personal Lord of redemption and peace. And Jacob understands that salvation requires time, process, change; in order to effectuate this salvation, the Lord also requires Jacob's help, a partnership between the Divine and the human which takes into account familial and historical events and reactions. Hence he sets out on a difficult personal journey of self realization - and invokes Divine help. Jacob succeeds - and returns to his father's house in peace. And then he tragically loses his most beloved Joseph - from whom he is separated for 22 years. They finally meet in Egypt in a most poignant reunion about which the Torah says, "And he fell on his neck and wept.(46:29)." Who wept? Explains Rashi that it was Joseph who wept. Then what was Father Jacob doing? He was reciting the Shma, teach our Sages, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d the Lord is One." This verse is the watch-word of our faith. G-d, Elohim, the Master of Creation, will eventually be revealed as the Lord of redemption and peace in the fullness of history. This was the message the Almighty had revealed to Abraham, and Abraham had taught his son and grandson. The mission of Israel was to teach ethical monotheism to a world which would eventually accept it and live by it. But Jacob had become unsure of this Divine principle of faith. He had thought that his son Joseph would inherit the mantle of the first-born, the mission of the familial commitment to ethical monotheism. But then Joseph disappeared - and was thought to have been devoured by a wild beast. Tragedy after tragedy befell the hapless Jacob - his whole life seeming to be symbolized by a black bleak night of despair. And then - as in a flash -every thing became clear, the mist was lifted, the mystery was solved. Joseph was not only alive and well - he was the Grand Vizier of Egypt, the savior of the family, the teacher of Ethical monotheism to Pharaoh. Jacob must transmit one crucial message to Joseph, even if he were to live only for this one moment of seeing his beloved son: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One." Never relinquish your faith in ultimate redemption! Dan is the warrior tribe of Israel - and Israel's future will contain many wars, much persecution, numerous sacrifices of life and limb. But we must cooperate with G-d and contribute to our historical redemption. Judges like Samson must work on themselves to be worthy of the Divine agency. And we must never lose faith in the ultimate effectuation of the Divine promise. "For your salvation do I await, O Lord." Shabbat Shalom.
|
||
|
||||||
