Written by: Nathan Light
This week marks the conclusion of the book of Genesis, the first of five books of the Torah. In brief, the parshah speaks of the final words that our forefather Jacob shares with his children and grand-children before his death, and it describes what occurs after his death, and the death of Joseph.
Normally, between weekly portions the Torah includes a paragraph break between the last sentence of the previous week’s portion and the first sentence of the present week’s portion. However, this week is an exception and begins the portion in the middle of the same line that last week’s portion ended. So, why is this a “sealed” (and not open, i.e. no paragraph break) parshah?
Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1040 – 1105, famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentaries on the Torah) offers two answers; the first is as follows:
“Once Jacob died the eyes and hearts of his descendants were “sealed” due to the suffering of the enslavement, for the Egyptians began to enslave them.”
According to this translation of Rashi, it would imply that immediately following the death of Jacob the Jews were put into slavery by the Egyptians. However, the Torah explicitly states [Exodus: 1: 6-7] that the enslavement only occurred after all of Jacob’s children died! So, what was Rashi really saying!?
Rabbi Uziel Milevsky (an exceptional Torah scholar who passed away about 15 years ago) explained that Rashi’s intention wasn’t that the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people became sealed due to the hardships of the subjugation, rather that they became sealed to the hardships of the subjugation. Meaning: Once Jacob died and consequently ceased influencing his children, they began to enjoy life in exile and eventually succumbed to the spiritual enslavement brought upon them by the Egyptians.
As mentioned above, Rashi also offered a second answer to why the paragraph is sealed:
“Jacob wished to reveal the end to his sons, but it was “sealed” off from him.”
This means that Jacob, through divine knowledge, wanted to tell his sons when the ultimate end of all Jewish exiles would occur, but was somehow prevented (“closed off”) from telling it over to them.
One may suggest that the two answers given by Rashi are not coincidental, but that they are deliberately placed together and linked to one another.
As explained in Answer#2, Jacob wanted to reveal the “end of days” to his offspring but it was “sealed off” from him. But why!? What caused it to be sealed off from him? This is where Answer#1 steps in: It is because the children of Israel “sealed” their eyes and hearts to the Egyptian immorality and chose to immerse themselves in spiritual exile that they were refused to receive the revelation of when our final redemption would occur.
The longing for the “end of days” that was crucial for its arrival, would inevitably diminish from within the children of Israel during their stay in Egypt, and this would ultimately prevent its coming altogether. Therefore, we learn that the first prerequisite in bringing the final redemption is to actually want it to come!
We often express our wishes that Mashiach (the Messiah) should come speedily in our days, but do we really mean it!? This final redemption will bring about an end to all our strife and put a stop to all the ongoing wars amongst mankind, and it will usher in a universal recognition of the Jewish people as a light unto the universe. Of course we want peace, nevertheless we must ask ourselves: Are we truly willing to give up our material pursuits and take upon ourselves all the necessary responsibilities in our devotion to God in order to serve as a model unto all the nations of the world? May we be blessed to make it our priority to ask ourselves this question everyday of our lives, and eventually honestly come to the right answer.
Good Shabbos
NZL
taken from : Tzipiyah.com
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