Parshat Vayechi

First we must go back a bit. Before they rediscovered Yoseph, how naive was Yakov? Did he think suspect that  the brothers had something to do with Yoseph's disappearance? Let us investigate the Torah like a Jewish Sherlock Holmes, and try to see if we can find the hidden answer to that question. Number one: When Jacob mourned all those years, the brothers tried to comfort him. Nowhere does it say that  the brothers cried at Yoseph, the big shot's so- called death. "Jacob his father wept"--the brothers didn't cry, and didn't mourn. Yakov must have wondered after awhile what was going on. He knew the brothers hated Yoseph, but still, shouldn't they be at least a little unhappy or sorrowful at the total  loss of their old nagging brother? It was certainly  a suspicious clue. 

Second of all, Yakov refuses to be comforted for Yoseph's loss.  Is that proper? Should a person mourn forever? Shouldn't a person move on with life after  a while? As a matter of fact, the Talmud says in tractate Moed Katan- whoever mourns too much for the deceased is really mourning for something else- not for the dead person. The only reason he probably mourned was that he suspected that the boy wasn't really dead at all. Our second piece of evidence. 

Third of all, when the brothers are telling Yakov what a mess they got themselves into in Egypt with the food distributor, who of course is really Yoseph, they tell Yakov that they told the man they had another brother at home and the "other brother is  not around" What does he mean that he's not around? Shouldn't they tell the Egyptian food man and certainly tell their father that Yoseph is dead? Isn't that the official story they would like their Dad to believe? Ah hah! We caught the brothers admitting to their own father that they know Yoseph isn't really dead. 

O. K. -we've begun to find strong evidence that Yakov was not so easily fooled about Yoseph's whereabouts. So maybe he suspected everything wasn't so kosher. But in the end, after the family got back together, did Yakov begin to ask questions or did he just turn a blind eye and pretend that now all was terrific, now all was great, forget about what happened . Whatever was, was. Or, did he say to Yoseph,  so how did you get there anyhow? What ever happened to you when I sent you to go check up on your brothers? Let us again turn an investigating eye to this matter. 

Well, if we look carefully at the blessings which Yakov gave to his sons, we may discover that Yakov drops little hints or clues  that he knew everything. He says about Simon and Levi- "with their anger they uprooted an ox."  What does that mean? Rashi says it means they tried to kill Yoseph who is compared to an ox by Moses  in his blessings. Jacob says Judah "rose up above murder"-- which murder did he rise above? Rashi says it means the murder of Joseph. Jacob says that Yoseph "rose above the arrows of those who hated him."  Who tried to shoot Yoseph? Rashi again solves the mystery and tells us that it was the brothers who tried to kill Yoseph. 

But there's a problem with this evidence. Yes, the blessings may indicate that deep down Yakov knew what happened, but  did he know consciously- even when he wasn't giving prophetic blessings? Now we come to our best clue yet, after Yakov dies, the brothers turn to Yoseph and say something remarkable They claim that  before Yakov died, he told them to tell Yoseph to forgive the brothers for "their sin" Ha ha! There we have it right from the brothers' mouth-  they say that Yakov knew full well that the brothers were responsible for this whole mess. So that's it, we've proven it!

Not so easy . Do we believe the brothers? Of course they claim that Yakov knew and was on their side. Anyone would say that to save his or her own neck. As a matter of fact, the Midrash says the brothers lied in order to keep the peace between the brothers. Yakov never would have thought that his favorite chip off the old block would try to kill all his father's own sons. Well, the truth is, we'll never really know if Jacob knew or not , but it sure seems that he did know what happened. 

Now we have another problem,: if Jacob knew Joseph was alive, why didn't he just pray to G-d to save his son and bring him back. If Yakov did pray that, why wasn't he answered? Perhaps the answer is that he did pray for Yoseph to come home , but didn't listen. Why not? because as long as Yakov was only concerned with one brother- that is Yoseph, G-d was not interested in his prayer. as soon as Yakov looses Shimon who was taken hostage by the Egyptian and has to give up Benjamin, and he prays for all three missing brothers and for all the brothers to return home safely-- then and only then does G-d listen. The gemarah, the Talmud says that someone who prays for something which he himself needs, he is answered first. (babba kama 92a ztade beis, beis). 

When our concern is for all Jews, when we're all united, then G-d listens. A rabbi in Israel named Rabbi Shternbruch writes that this explains something else, too. Why did Jacob say "gather and hear sons of Jacob" before he blessed them? Because even though they are all very different,  they must come together or else they will never be blessed. The Midrash says it wasn't easy- an angel had to come and unite them all before he could bless them. Rabbi Yonason Eibshitz, one of the greatest rabbis of his time a few hundred years ago asked a similar question  What does it mean that they should gather so that Jacob will tell them what will happen in the end of days? Do Jacob's blessings really tell us the future? Also, what’s the connection between gathering and the future? He said that since the Talmud  says that our whole history was ruined by needless hatred and since the Temple will be rebuilt through free and ungrudging love, that explains it all. If the brothers gather- if there is harmony between the Jewish family- then the temple will stand and the future will be bright. If we stand apart, then  the future  will be a sad one- it all depends on our concern and interest in one another. I hereby dedicate myself that I will always try to love all Jews and try to help not only myself but all Jews everywhere.  In that way I will really be helping myself and my people in the best way possible and the future will be bright for all of us.