Shemos 5631 First Ma'amar

“וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַבָּאִים מִצְרָיְמָה אֵת יַעֲקֹב ... /These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Ya’akov …” (Shmos 1:1)  The Sfas Emes explains the significance of the word שְׁמוֹת/names.  He also explains why the Torah tells us that they came to Egypt with Ya’akov.

In Koheles (7:1) we find, “טוֹב שֵׁם מִשֶּׁמֶן טוֹב .../A (good) name is better than good oil …”  The Midrash[1] on this pasuk says that Chanania and Misha’el represent people with a good name.  They were thrown into a fiery furnace and were saved.  Nadav and Avihu represent good oil since as priests they were anointed with the special anointing oil.  They were killed by burning.  A good name is clearly better than good oil.  Why is this so?  What is the significant difference between Chanania and Misha’el on the one hand and Nadav and Avihu on the other?

The Midrash is teaching us that good oil alludes to someone who, like Nadav and Avihu, receives his great stature from Heaven.  He did not work for it.  He did not earn it.  Nadav and Avihu were born into the priesthood.  A good name, on the other hand, is the result of hard work.  A person’s good reputation can be measured by how far it has traveled.  The greater his good reputation, the farther his name has traveled, the harder he worked to achieve it.  The Midrash is teaching that a person’s received greatness will not save him but a person’s earned greatness will save him.

The children of Israel were not on the level of our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov.  Our forefathers were above nature.  They saw God in everything.  The physical world presented no barrier to them.  Last week, in the first ma’amar on parshas VaYechi, the Sfas Emes explained why the Torah uses the word, וַיְחִי/He lived, referring to Ya’akov’s stay in Egypt rather than the more usual וַיֵּשֶׁב/He dwelt, or וַיְהִי/He was.  The Torah is stressing that Ya’akov “lived” in the ultimate sense of being attached to the Source of all life.

Ya’akov taught his children that even though they were not on his level, they could see God in everything, too, even if they could not experience it, by working on their faith.  The key is to believe that God is in everything regardless of how things appear to be.  Through hard work the Godly light within all of Creation became revealed to them.  In this sense, their mission (and ours as well) was to reveal and spread the Godly enlightenment specifically within nature.  

Egypt was one of the most immoral places on Earth.  A lot of hard work indeed was required to come to the realization that the physical reality of their surroundings was simply a screen masking the light of God.  This is the deeper meaning of the “backbreaking work” that was required of the children of Israel in Egypt.  Their revelation of God, was something that they earned through hard work. 

The word שְׁמוֹת/names in the first pasuk of our parsha represents this hard work since it suggests the good name that results from hard work.  The Torah makes a point of telling us, at the very beginning of their descent to Egypt, that through their hard work the children of Ya’akov reached a level of seeing the Godliness in the physical.  This is why the Torah tells us that they came to Egypt with Ya’akov.  They descended to Egypt attached to the spiritual level represented by Ya’akov.  In fact, the pasuk can be understood as telling us that their names (representing their reputation – their external relationship with the world around them) went down to Egypt whereas their essence stayed attached to Ya’akov.  

This is the meaning of the Midrash which says, “God said, ‘The names of the tribes are more beloved to me than the anointing oil used to anoint priests and kings.” (Koheles R. 7:1:2)  Their names represented their personal accomplishments.  God loves personal achievement.  

In our current exile as well, we have the ability, through faith, to reveal the hidden Godliness in everything around us.  The prophet Zechariah, referring to the redemption from this exile, said, “... בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה ה' אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד/…On that day God will be One and His Name will be One.” (Zechariah 14:9)  The Zohar explains the significance of God being one and His name being one.[2]  God’s oneness is not affected by exile.  Nothing affects God.  However, in the exile His oneness is hidden.  

God’s name is a way of describing God’s influence in the world.  His name being one refers to His revelation.  When will His name be one?  When will His oneness be revealed?  When our belief that God is hidden in everything including the exile is complete, He will be revealed.  May we merit it speedily!

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[1]Koheles R. 7:1:1

[2]Zohar 2:134a

VaYechi 5631 First Ma'amar

 “וַיְחִי יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם .../Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt ...” (Breishis 47:28) The Sfas Emes addresses two difficulties.  Firstly, וַיְחִי/He lived, is a strange choice of words.  Usually when the Torah relates that someone lived in a specific place, it uses the word וַיֵשֶׁב/He dwelt or וַיָגָר/He lived[1].  The Chiddushei HaRim suggests that, וַיְהִי/He was, would have been more appropriate than וַיְחִי/He lived.

Secondly, in a sefer Torah, there is always a blank space between two parshas.  VaYechi is the only parsha in the entire Torah which begins directly following the last word of the previous parsha with no break whatsoever.  This is referred to as a closed parsha.  Why is this?

Ya’akov Avinu is associated with the attribute of אֱמֶת/truth.  The prophet Micha (7:20) tells us, “תִּתֵּן אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב/Give truth to Ya’akov.”  A person who lives with truth realizes that the physical world is a façade which hides an awareness of God.  Because of this Ya’akov Avinu felt God’s presence everywhere even in decadent Egypt.  For Ya’akov Avinu, there was no exile.  Conventionally we think of exile as meaning an expulsion from one’s native land.  We lived in Egyptian exile because we were not in our homeland.  The deeper meaning of exile, though, is an exile from God’s presence.  It is easy to be acutely aware of God’s presence in the Land of Israel, much less so in decadent Egypt.  In truth, though, God is everywhere equally.  For one who can see past the physical façade and realize this, there is no real exile. 

Egyptian society was pagan and immoral.  It was very difficult to see God in Egypt.  By using the word וַיְחִי/He lived, the Torah is telling us that even in decadent Egypt, Ya’akov “lived.”  Living means to attach to the Source of all life.  Chazal[2] tell us that wicked people are considered dead even during their lives.  This is because they have separated from God, the Source of life.  For the wicked, God is hidden.  He is not a part of their lives.  They do not feel His presence.  Ya’akov “lived” even in Egypt.  On the level of אֱמֶת/truth, it did not matter that he was in Egypt.  God gives life to the immoral Egyptians, too.  For Ya’akov, He was revealed even in Egypt.  This is why the parsha starts with, “וַיְחִי יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם .../Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt ...” instead of the more usual וַיֵשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב/Yaakov dwelt.

But why is the parsha closed?  Rashi[3] quotes Chazal[4] who tell us that Ya’akov wanted to reveal the end of days to his children.  The end of days is a time when all exile comes to an end and God is revealed.  The exile is a temporary screen behind which God hides Himself.  Behind the screen of the exile and giving life to it (and to everything else) is the eternal Source of life.  Ya’akov wanted to convey to his children that God is there even in Egypt.    He wanted it to be clear to them, as it was clear to him, that God is everywhere, even in the exile.  He wanted them to see, feel and experience God’s presence in Egypt just as he did.  If Ya’akov had taught this to his children, though, they would have reached Ya’akov’s level of אֱמֶת/truth.  God would have been revealed to them and there would have been no exile.  Chazal[5] in fact tell us that the bondage in Egypt only began after Ya’akov passed on.  The exile, though, was a necessary part of the Divine plan.  So, although Ya’akov “lived,” the parsha was closed.  He was not permitted to pass it on to his children.

However, Chazal tell us that Ya’akov was permitted to teach them that even if they could not see past the external screen of immoral and corrupt Egyptian civilization and experience God, they could still believe that God was there[6].  Belief that God was there when the reality of their surroundings was the immoral and pagan Egyptian culture required a lot of hard work.  But, through אֱמוּנָה/belief, they would be able to see the אֱמֶת/truth – God is in the exile as well.

Believing that God is the source of all power in the world enables us to see Him in the world.  The stronger our belief, the more God is revealed.  Working to reach this high level of אֱמוּנָה/belief enables us to find Godly enlightenment even where God is concealed.

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[1]In English the difference between וַיְחִי/He lived and וַיָגָר/He lived, is not felt.  However, in Hebrew, the former refers to the length of one’s life while the latter refers to the place in which he lived.  Clearly, when the Torah wants to tell us that Ya’akov lived in Egypt, וַיָגָר would be more appropriate than וַיְחִי, hence the question.

[2] Brachos 18b

[3] Breishis 47:28, viz. VaYechi

[4] Breishis R. 96:1

[5] Ibid.

[6]Zohar 1:234b