VAYECHI 1996

In the Torah portion Vayechi we learn about Jacob's death.  We learn how before he died, he called his son, Joseph, and made him swear that he would not bury him in Egypt but would bury him in Israel, in the Emorasa Machpelach, which is now in Hebron.  He would be buried in the same site in which he buried Leah and the same site in which his mother and father, Yitzchak and Rivka, were buried and in which his grandparents, Abraham and Sarah, were buried and in which also, according to tradition, Adam and Eve were buried.  He wanted to make sure that he would be buried there.  He also blessed Joseph's two sons and he gave Joseph the double portion.  He also blessed all his children, and he gave them a blessing which was in accordance with their character.
We then learn how Joseph honors his father's request and he does bury him in Emorasa Machpelach, in the cave, which is still revered by Jews and is located in Hebron.  After the funeral it says that when "Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father after he buried his father, and the brothers of Joseph were afraid because their father died, and they said, 'Perhaps Joseph will hate us.  He will turn to us all the evil that we did to him,' and they commanded to Joseph saying, 'Your father commanded before his death saying, "So you shall say to Joseph, 'Please forgive the sin of your brothers and their sin that they did evil to you, and now, please, forgive the sin of the servants of the G-d of your father.'"  Joseph wept when he heard this.  It is the second time it says that he wept.  He first wept when he first revealed himself to them, and now he wept again.  He told them, "Don't be afraid, because am I in place of G-d? You thought bad but G-d thought it for good in order to do like this day a great saving."  Joseph continued by saying, "Don't be

afraid.  I will provide for you and your children," and he comforted them and he spoke on their heart.  Joseph knew that the brothers had wronged him, but he also knew that they had done Teshuva.  It was up to G-d to take care of his brothers, not up to him.  In fact, in Judaism we are not supposed to be judgmental.  There are very few offenses that we can actually punish people for, and those offenses really have to do with maintaining social order. Yes, there are many death penalties that are mentioned in the Torah, but they are only to show the severity of sins.  They were almost impossible to enforce because of all the procedural requirements.
We know that Joseph treated his brothers well, but we can see from this episode, which happened after they had already lived in Egypt for seventeen years, the brothers never knew Joseph.  They did not feel comfortable with Joseph.  The brothers could not relate to Joseph either positively or negatively.  He was just a person out there who had brilliance, but they could not trust him and could not be with them because he was not one of them.  Joseph had not communicated enough with them during these seventeen years to allow them to feel comfortable in his presence.
We know that in this Torah portion Yaacov tries mightily to give the leadership of the Jewish people to Joseph.  He had tried earlier to give the leadership of the Jewish people to Joseph. That was the reason he gave, according to many rabbis, Joseph the coat of many colors to show that that he was to be the leader of the Jewish people, and this is one of the reasons

why the brothers hated him.  Yaacov felt that Joseph had special qualities, that these qualities were essential for the furtherance of the Jewish community.  In fact, we know that throughout this Torah portion the name Yaacov and Yisroel are interchanged.  We know that the word Yisroel comes from the word Tzar, which means a person who is an officer, a person who is a leader.  It means someone who has contended with man and G-d and has triumphed.  Yaacov wanted to give that leadership to Joseph.  In fact, every time he speaks to Joseph in this Torah portion he uses the term Yisroel because he wanted Joseph so badly to be the leader of the Jewish people.  In fact, it says here, "And they were the days of Jacob 147 years, and they grew nearer the days of Yisroel to die, and he called to his son Joseph," because when he talked to Joseph he talked to him with the name Yisroel.  He wanted Joseph to be the Yisroel, the leader of his brothers.  He wanted him to have leadership of the community.   "And it was after these things and he said to Joseph, ?Behold, your father is sick,1 and he took his two sons with him, Menasha and Ephraim, and he told to Jacob and he said, 'Here is your son Joseph come before you and Yisroel strengthens himself/" because when he comes to speak to Joseph, he wants to speak as Yisroel because he wanted to give the leadership to Yosef.  The only exception to this rule is when Jacob said to Joseph, "G-d Almighty appeared to me in the land of Canaan and He blessed me."  That is when Jacob finally had to realize that he could not give Joseph the leadership of the Jewish people.  All he could give him was the double portion, because you know the firstborn in Jewish law gets a double portion.  If there are four brothers, then the property is divided into five and the oldest brother gets two-fifths.  It is not like in England, which has the right of primogenitor,

which meant that the first son got everything and the other sons got nothing.  He then took Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Menasha, and he made them into two tribes of Israel. Joseph got the right of the firstborn but he could not get the political leadership.  The political leadership, Yaacov knew, had to go to Yehuda, and when he blessed all of his children, he gave that political leadership to Judah.
Joseph was a brilliant man.  He was a good man.  After all, look at how he treated his brothers, but he was a distant man.  He did not communicate well with his brothers.  From the very beginning he could not communicate very well with his brothers.  He had communicated in his dreams not just the idea that he was going to be their leader, but also that times were changing, that they no longer could be shepherds.  After all, his dreams were about sheaves and binding sheaves in the field.  What did his brothers have to do with binding sheaves? They were shepherds, but he was telling them that it was time to make changes, that the changes had to come and were going to be drastic and that they had to prepare for them.  They were going to have to have different professions, and the brothers did not want to hear about it, but he did not communicate this well.  He did not meet with them.  He did not explain to them.  He just told them in a pontifical way about what was going to happen.  It seems that throughout the years in Egypt, he hardly communicated with them at all, otherwise, why would they be so afraid of him? Didn't they know what his true feelings were? Why were they afraid that after their father died he was going to take vengeance upon them?

When it comes to leadership, brilliance is not enough.  A clear vision is not enough.  You have to be able to communicate with the people, otherwise you will divide the people.  They will become frightened, especially when you change policies from one end of the spectrum to the other.  Today we are confronted with the fact that the Israeli army is going to pull out of Hebron, at least four-fifths of Hebron within this week.  This is a painful decision.  It is one, though, which is inevitable, because the previous government promised that to the American administration.  Israel is not a super power and cannot stand up to the pressure of the whole world.  Israel has to live in the world and trade with the world.  It has to be part of the world, but this is a hard decision to make.  We all know that in this Torah portion we learn how Yaacov was buried in Hebron.  The Emoras Machpelach shul will never be given up by this government and they could never give up this piece of land, because this belongs as the heart and soul of the Jewish people.  However, we all know that the reaction of this government and the reaction of the people to this government is totally different than that which happened under the Rabin administration.  Why is it so different? The difference is because Rabin had a vision of the future.  He probably was under terrible pressure, but he did not communicate with the people.  He called them names.  He said he was only interested in protecting the 95% of the people who lived within the Green Line and not the 5% who lived on the outside.  He did not try to communicate.  He refused to meet with the opposition.  He refused to talk with them.  He said they were only spinning their wheels and he had nothing to do with them.  He ignored completely any type of demonstrations.  He did not meet with people.  The people felt that they had no leader with whom to talk.  His
policies were completely divisive, not his policies, themselves, but the way he explained his policies.  He could have talked to the settlers and said they were wonderful people who brought Arafat to the table.  He could have made them great heroes.  Instead, when people were killed, he would not even visit their families.  He would say they were just sacrifices for peace.  Don't get me wrong.  Rabin was a great man.  He gave his life, literally, for the Jewish people, and, of course, figuratively, his whole life was devoted to service for the Jewish people.  He was a great, great man and he had a wonderful vision, but he could not communicate it to the people, at least to 60 or 80% of the people.  The current government is different.  They know that they are going to have to succumb to this pressure, and they are meeting with everyone.  Netanyahu met with the settlers, the Lubavitchers, the left, the right, with everybody.  People have to feel that they have a voice, that they can talk to you, that there is communication between them and you.  You may decide 100% the opposite of what they say, but at least they feel that they have had a say, that they are part of things and not being excluded, not being kicked out of the Jewish people but are part of the Jewish people. That is, of course, something that is very important.  The brothers never really knew whether they were part of Joseph's circle, whether Joseph's love really embraced them, and that, of course, is something very important.
Many times we have to implement policies which are distasteful and painful, but if we explain to the people, if we are there for the people, communicate with the people, then rest assured, we will maintain the unity of the Jewish people, and that is the most important thing

of all, because if the policies that you have enunciated are clear and right and good but they are not explained to the people, and the people are not given a chance to comment or feel that they are part of it, you will just divide the people and you will end up with a tragic situation like happened with Joseph and his brothers.  It is essential that the leaders communicate their ideals in a clear and concise way, but also in a way which allows other people to comment on them, which allows them to be a give and take, which allows people to feel that they are part of the decision, that their concerns are being considered.  It is very, very important that we do this.
I am reminded of the story they tell about a man who calls up his mother and says, "Mom, how are you doing?"  His mother says, "I am very weak."  The son gets alarmed and says, "Mom, what do you mean you are very, very weak? Why are you very, very weak?"  His mother said she had not eaten for 38 days.  Her son asked why she had not eaten for 38 days, and she replied, "Well, son, I didn’t want my mouth to be full of food when you called."  It is important that we communicate.  It is important that we are constantly in touch one with another.  If we do that, then we can rest assured that even when painful decisions have to be made, even decisions with which we disagree, it will not destroy the Jewish unity and will allow for the Jewish future to be brighter and brighter.  Let us all hope and pray that all of us will communicate one with the other so the Jewish future will be brighter and brighter and the Mashiach will come quickly in our day.  Amen.