Jacob is not willing to shuffle off this mortal coil before ensuring that the pieces of the
puzzle can be put together, that the ability to cope with the harsh facts of reality can be
joined with the theoretical knowledge of the spiritual man, so that a bridge can be created
from the theoretical realm to the real one. Jacob is well aware of the dangers inherent in
spirituality divorced from physical reality, of a distinct spiritual world, a world held
captive by the easily impressed imagination lacking direction, roots and a backbone;
spirituality lacking consistent concrete logic.
Mental gymnastics treat the spiritual as if it
was a form of matter; playing with it in a series of arbitrary and
whimsical ways, exhibiting a variety of biases and
misrepresentations solely dependant upon the way the wind happens to
be blowing; theory's entanglement is both predictable and
unavoidable for it is an entanglement characteristic of the
Humanities (in Hebrew, the 'science' of the spirit) which
temporarily isolated itself from the world cutting itself off from
the dictates of tangible reality, from common sense which stems from
a combination of the spiritual and the real, from the measure of
probability
which stems from and is nurtured by the senses, from their
surroundings and the qualitative principles absorbed by them.
Describing the path of reality -- paved with
the absurd; divorced from man, the supernal dimension, and the divine qualities
-- is unnecessary. For every attempt to supply an ordered
methodological explanation for the phenomena of existential reality
stemming from within the system, as the Social "Sciences" attempt to
do, fails and becomes tangled up within itself. A man who chooses to
take the "tangible and certain" path finds himself suffused with
fears, haunted by real and imagined dangers stemming from his
inability to find a method for integrating himself into the
independent reality divorced from man and devoid of the supernal
dimension; and this without even considering the troubling ongoing
discord between the supernal dimension, the human dimension and
material reality. A battle of principled opposites
which throw themselves at man from every
possible direction until he falls into the abyss of depression and loathes his life.
Jacob cannot depart
from this world until he reveals to his sons the unificatory
formula, the mystery of how to achieve a balance between these
conflicting forces. "Gather that I may tell you what will happen to
you at the end of days"(Gen 49:1). He wished to reveal to them the
kets
– (literally, the end) the date when Israel's exile will end and the Messiah
will come, but the path to prophecy was closed to him. The time for a perfect balance, the
purpose of creation, had not yet arrived.
The present is of ultimate concern. As long as the process of achieving balance in the
present has not commenced, there is no future. The perfect ending has not been reached.
Neither has the era of halakha (Jewish law) been reached yet. Only Jacob and Joseph
knew the secret of the halakha which would soon be given to whomever wished on
Mount Sinai. Just as Joseph alone knew Jacob's secret regarding the ending of the days.
As the Baal HaTurim, in citing the midrash, has written: "that he made them swear that
they would not try to force the ending [i.e. the coming of the Messiah]. Only Joseph
knew when the end of days was for Jacob revealed this to him."
When
Joseph's brothers came to him after their father's death requesting
his forgiveness, Joseph responded in a conciliatory tone and
reminded them of the three tracks. Then suddenly Joseph changed his
tack and reminded them of their evil intentions: "You intended to do
me harm! G-d intended it for good"(Gen 50:20). Why did Joseph
introduce a discordant accusatory tone into his conciliatory
message? The Rashbam interprets this verse in accord with the
divine plan's supernal track
: "HaKadosh Baruch
Hu caused you to do this, and you did not act criminally against me, for HaKadosh
Baruch intended this for your benefit".
The saintly Or HaHaim chooses to emphasize the halakhic track:
For this is similar to the case where an individual intends to give his companion a
cup of poison to drink (literally, a cup of death), and instead he gives him wine;
he bears no liability whatsoever. And so, they [the brothers] are exempted and
exonerated by heavenly jurisprudence as well!
For the halakha determines reality, not the
opposite. The Or HaHaim, in truth, is not disputing the
interpretations of the Rashbam or of the Seforno; rather, he is
explaining them. Since the halakha determines reality, it abrogates
the original individual intent and the macrocosmic dimension and
endows the brothers' actions with new meaning, transferring the
emphasis from individual intent to the macrocosmic
dimension
. From
the macrocosmic perspective their premeditated evil intentions are interpreted anew,
softened, and their behavior is deemed accidental.
However, viewing the world through the prism of
the macrocosmic dimension introduces a serious complication: the
macrocosmic prism abrogates the power normally granted to the track
containing the axis of free choice and divine providence, for it
delimits the decisive influence of the present to its place in the
process of reaching the divine's plans final outcome. In so doing,
it weakens, and, perhaps, even nullifies individual intent, as its
relates to the complex weave of crucial meanings attributed to free
choice and divine providence which play such a central role in the
present. Apparently, this concern caused Jacob to hide the prophecy
concerning the end of days, the future, from the brothers, for
fealty to the macrocosmic divine plan had already occupied a central
role in Joseph's sale. Man must not become used to focusing his
hopes upon the macrocosmic picture, ignoring the present which is
the only situation truly subject to man, upon which he can exert his
direct influence. Jacob rose and described the character of each of
his sons and explained how their distinct qualities would integrate
into one unit in the present. Focusing upon the
present provides a surer path to reaching the longed for ending than
knowledge of when that ending is to come.
However, let's talk about joy! Jacob merited meeting Joseph
again. He reacted by exclaiming: "I can die now"(Gen 46:30). His
life has just begun anew; he should have expressed joy, yearning for
a perfect life - not for a perfect death. The Or HaHaim writes:
And you will find that the happy species (Israel) will find worry, sadness and
baseness despicable … and in this be sure to learn the reason, for every place
where he is referred to as Jacob, this is a sign that in that place a sad sorrowful
event will occur….
According to the Or
HaHaim's commentary, Jacob was the prince of sorrow until he was
deemed worthy of receiving an extra soul, under the credo "Shabbat
rest." However, as long as he was named Jacob; he did not merit
happiness, for happiness or joy is the experience of sensing
the quality of existence, the quality governing the
delimiting mechanism of existence. Joy as the sensation
of existential quality is created by the divine worshipper's sense
of control and ownership over the world. Joy accompanies the acts of
creativity and revelation, the
ability to create a new qualitative dimension free from oppressive
existence bound by time and space
. Dancing out of happiness
expresses the ability the ability to transcend matter and its limitations.
Jacob's form of divine worship forced him, against his will, to relate to matter, and,
therefore he had difficulty finding joy. Jacob's strength expressed itself in his ability to
look within – at the interior - with a piercing probing gaze, reaching all the way to the
divine presence hidden in the depths of Creation; quality buried under layers of matter
and mechanistic rules. Jacob was the first divine worshipper to pierce the covered depths
of divine being.
Jacob – house. Interiority. Joy is the product of revealing divine quality. It does not
ascend from the depths as long as the world is stewing in conflict. Jacob teaches his sons
the secret of unity. From this point in history and on, the lone individual cannot attain
perfection in the same manner as the patriarchs did. For G-d's tribes and their progeny,
their dynasties, divine worship has metamorphosed, descended to a level where every
Jew, no matter where he may be, can attain it. The achievements, fruits of the cooperation
among individuals possessing different unique attributes, who when gathered together
create the whole.
Jacob orders his sons to begin coordinating their efforts and cooperating with each other,
norms which in the future would arise from the manifestation of the unique traits
characterizing each and every one. The unification crucial for redemption of Joseph, who
will be split into Ephraim and Menasheh, will occur when these two tribes unite
becoming one tree. Therefore, Jacob crossed his hands to teach about the dangers and
warn the boys against taking parallel tracks. The encounter between the tracks is the
encounter that creates perfection and wholeness.
A timeless anecdote about a Jew who dwelt in the Garden of Eden and visited Gehinnom
(Hell) also teaches this message: Upon arriving in Gehinnom, the Jew found, to his
surprise, human beings sitting around banquet tables loaded with every form of delicacy
just as in the Garden of Eden; however, here they were writhing with the pains of hunger.
Why are they not eating their fill, he wondered. Open looking more closely he realized
that they could not bend their elbows in order to get the food into their mouths. They
could transfer the food from the serving dishes to their plates and they could lift the food
from their plates; however, they could not manage to get it into their mouths. The visitor
from the Garden of Eden suggested that each individual feed the person sitting next to
him. Their response: To empathize with one's neighbor? Absolutely not. Let me die with
the Philistines (cf. Judges 17:30). Better that both you and I starve than I feed another.
Upon hearing this, the guest was finally convinced of the evil dwelling in the hearts of
those who dwell in Gehinnom.
Jacob established the principles of joining
together and mutual
cooperation. Without
mutual reciprocity the world cannot continue to exist. Every individual must share his
authentic uniqueness with the other. The world is built by kindness (Psalms 89:3). The
son of David (the Messiah) will not come until the souls have dispensed with the bodies,
until the spirit is freed from its enslavement to matter. This is Joseph's secret and his aim.
The Messiah, descended from Joseph, dies; he leaves this world after accomplishing his
goal. From that point and on, the Messiah, descended from David, arrives and rules over
a world that has been brought to perfection.
Translated by
Rabbi Meshulam Gotlieb
www.MGtransEd.com
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