Latest / Rabbi Benjy's Shiur / Midrash Raba Vayechi 2
Transcript
- 0:00Parishat Vayiki Madrid Rubber sheet #2 This sheet will only
- 0:04make sense if you listened to yesterday where we posed a
- 0:07number of questions to try and make sense of the fact that the
- 0:10Torah portion of Vayiki does not begin like in a like every other
- 0:14parishat with a gap of a few letters of nine letters or so
- 0:18after the end of the previous one.
- 0:20But it's it begins immediately in the middle of a column and
- 0:23the different reasons for that. So the second and third reason
- 0:28that the end was closed or his he was closed in with goodness.
- 0:32That makes sense because they the idea of satum of being
- 0:36closed links in with that comment.
- 0:38According to Rashi on the pasuk, the same applies to the first
- 0:41reason. The suffering caused their eyes
- 0:44and hearts to close. There is the illusion based
- 0:48merely on a similarity of words. Surely there must be some deeper
- 0:52understanding going on in this midrashic comments.
- 0:54Sounds the clear come that the fact that no blank space is
- 0:58found in the text means that the concluding verse of the previous
- 1:02passage and the opening verse of the this of our parish this week
- 1:06should be read and understood together.
- 1:09Therein lies a challenge. Do we even remember what we read
- 1:13the previous week? And you know, this comment could
- 1:16have been made much Early on in the Torah, the end of Parishat
- 1:19Noah, for example, we get introduced to Avraham, then his
- 1:23story really kicks off. But many will come to shore
- 1:25having totally forgotten that we met Avraham in the previous
- 1:29parishat, in the mufti of Parishat Noah.
- 1:32And so it behoves us well to perhaps sometimes look at the
- 1:35beginning of the new Sedra just by reminding ourselves of the
- 1:38end of the previous. Often Rashi will do that.
- 1:41He will look for the meaning of the juxtaposition between
- 1:45various passages, and he finds a lesson in that.
- 1:49So what does the cliacal say? The two verses read as follows
- 1:53by Ayesha of Utreal, Barrett's Mitzrayim, Barrett's Goshen.
- 1:56And Yakov lived in the land of Mitzrim, the land of Goshen, and
- 2:00they acquired property via Kazuba.
- 2:02They got property, very Jewish via fruit, via Urbuma, and they
- 2:06were fruitful and they multiplied and things were good.
- 2:09And that's the end of Vaiguash, full stop of the end of that
- 2:12verse. And then continuing by Yacoba as
- 2:14Mr. I'm Shivaya Srisana. He lived in the land of Egypt
- 2:17for 17 years. And how old he was when at that
- 2:21particular junction in the story.
- 2:24According to the Madrish's first reason, the conjunction of the
- 2:27Tupasaki makes sense as follows. The children of Israel settled
- 2:30comfortably in Gotham and they were prosperous.
- 2:33But that state of affairs continued only as long as Vaiki
- 2:37Yaakov. As Yaakov was a was a life, he
- 2:42lived there for 17 years. This implies that after Yaakov's
- 2:45demise, the situation changed and it changed for the worst.
- 2:49No longer did they live comfortably and with prosperity.
- 2:53That all came to an end because servitude was imposed on them.
- 2:57So the first reason of the Madras says that the
- 2:59juxtaposition of the two verses teachers, when Yaakov died, the
- 3:03servitude began. The third reason that Yaakov's
- 3:08troubles had come to an end. It's a similar way.
- 3:11They were then departure by Yigars for Yaakov Zuba.
- 3:14They got property by Yerfu, by Yerbu.
- 3:17Everything was wonderful and then it all came to that.
- 3:21He was closed in for those last 17 years.
- 3:25Before that time, his life had been beset by continuous trials
- 3:29and tribulations. And Yaakov, remember last week's
- 3:32para Chase has the para. You know, I look so old because
- 3:34my life has been really awful. Only now, at the end of his
- 3:37life, the last 17 years, did he now have that serenity that had
- 3:42eluded him throughout his lifetime.
- 3:46You can see a hint in the Pasuk Vayi Yaakov.
- 3:49Yaakov was truly alive in the land of Egypt for 17 years and
- 3:52you could argue that his previous life wasn't really
- 3:55living or definitely not worth living because of all the
- 3:58difficulties he went through. What was the second reason The
- 4:02end was concealed from Yaakov? He was prevented from revealing
- 4:05the end of exile and and redemption.
- 4:09So the last one is fascinating. We have very interesting, we
- 4:12have Vataki Ruach, Yaakov Avihem, The spirit of Yaakov,
- 4:16their father was revived, paralleled with Vayahi Yaakov.
- 4:21Yaakov lived. Once Yaakov went down to
- 4:23Mitzrayim, it was no longer the Ruach, the spirit was no longer
- 4:27alive. It was only Yaakov's physicality
- 4:30that was alive. And that implies that the the
- 4:33ability to reveal the end was closed in from him.
- 4:37Absolutely fascinating. Next time around tomorrow,
- 4:41please God, we will dive into the next part of the pasuk by
- 4:45Krovui amaze Trala much that Yakos days approached and would
- 4:49understand why this phraseology is rather unusual.
- 4:53Have a wonderful day.