Parshat Vayechi  15 Tevet 5762, 29 December 2001

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - The midrash calls Jacob our father the “most special of the Patriachs” (hab’khir sheb’avot). Why does he, more than Abraham and Isaac, merit this unique appellation? And, indeed, it is Jacob-Israel who has the great distinction of parenting the twelve tribes, and it is after his name Israel that the Jewish people as well as the Jewish homeland, the nation of Israel and the land of Israel, are called. What outstanding characteristic of Jacob, apparently lacking in the personalities of Abraham and Isaac, is responsible for his singular place even among the patriarchs?

We can begin to answer this question by querying another curiosity which disturbs us throughout the Joseph stories: Why doesn’t Joseph contact his old father, especially during the later years of his Egyptian sojourn as Grand Vizier? Certainly he could have - and should have - at least sent a messenger informing his loving, doting and certainly worried father that he was alive and well, and asking after the patriarch’s welfare? The response to this query, suggested in a fascinating article by Rav Yoel Bin Nun, is that Joseph may very well have believed that Jacob had been involved in his banishment from his ancestral home and sale into Egypt. After all, logically reasoned the first- born of Rachel, Jacob was a wealthy, prominent and respected leader who enjoyed many contacts throughout the Middle East. Why had his father not come to look for him, not rescued him from his Egyptian servitude? And when he remembered his father’s public repudiation of his Egypt oriented and cosmos oriented dreams (After all, the Bible records: “ And his father rebuked him, saying to him, ‘What is this dream which you have dreamt? Shall I and your mother and your brothers bow down to the earth before you’ ”- (Genesis 37:10) - and when he thought of how both Esau and Yishmael had been outcast first-born sons by their respective fathers before him, he most probably came to the difficult conclusion that Jacob had joined in the conspiracy with his brothers to exclude him from the Abrahamic heritage and remove him from the scene by selling him to Egypt.

Now we the Biblical readers know very well that Joseph’s probable hypothesis could not have been farther from the truth. So why didn’t father Jacob attempt to rescue Joseph? Perhaps it was because he actually believed the brother’s claim that Joseph had been torn by a wild beast; but if we bear in mind that, even after his heartfelt meeting with Joseph after 22 years of separation, Jacob never confronted his sons to question them as to what really took place in Dotan, another scenario seems far more likely: Jacob suspected some degree of foul play on the part of his jealous sons, but opted to remain silent until the anticipated time when all of his children would stand united and together. In effect, Jacob allowed the sibling rivalry to play itself out without confronting his sons because from his perspective, nothing could be allowed to stand in the way of family unity. He had ultimate faith that his sons would all stand together someday; despite his verbal admonition, he believed in Joseph’s dreams: “His brothers were jealous of him (because of his dreams), but his father guarded (and anxiously anticipated) the matter” (Genesis 37:11).

Jacob’s commitment to family unity is also evidenced in his treatment of Reuven, his and Leah’s eldest son. Despite the heinous crime committed by Reuven - at the very least, he interfered with his father’s personal life by moving his father’s bed from Bilhah’s tent to Leah’s tent after the death of Rachel - Jacob again chose to remain silent, so that “the sons of Jacob remained twelve” (Genesis 35:22).

Yes, Jacob believed in family unity - but not in family uniformity. He understood, and apparently respected, the unique characteristics of each of his sons, and endeavored to utilize these various differences to create the combined strength of the nation Israel. Hence Shimon and Levi may be castigated for their zealous anger, but they remain the parents of the priests of the Temple and educators of the children; if indeed they are to be “separated within Jacob and scattered within Israel,” it is because a concentration of zealots in one place is liable to wreak havoc whereas a sprinkling of Jewish pride and righteous indignation - a little bit of Shimon and Levi dwelling amongst all of the various tribes - is a crucial ingredient for the confirmation of our future and the development of Jewish leadership (Genesis 49:7). Zevulun is the master merchant and Yessakhar the diligent Torah scholar, Dan the super warrior and Naftali the swift messenger. Yosef reflects economic success, lush agriculture, and technological acumen whereas Yehudah is the charismatic leader whose spiritual message will bring ethical monotheism to the world at large.

Jacob stands alone after his father and grandfather as the one patriarch who rejected none of his children, who united all twelve together as the tribes of Israel. At the same time he understands that his goal is not to cook up a melting pot - not even a melting pot of cholent - but rather to blend and synthesize a magnificent symphony, in which each plays his own individual instrument as best as he can but understands the need to fashion and incorporate his music to harmonize with the other players. The Jacob-Israel who bestows the blessings emerges as the virtuoso orchestra leader who succeeds in producing harmonious music by everyone working in concert. “Such a symphony of Israel” - unity without uniformity - is the outstanding creation of Jacob and is the most necessary condition for redemption.

Shabbat Shalom.

Return to Ohr Torah Stone