Ten Minutes of Torah

with

Rabbi Chaim Weiner

 

 

Vayeshev – 5767

 

 

בראשית לז:א-ב

 

וַיֵּשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵי אָבִיו בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן:

אֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף בֶּן שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן ...

 

 

Genesis 37: 1-2

 

Now Jacob was settled [lit. sat] in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.

 

This, then, is the line of Jacob: At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers …

 

 

 

 

Rashi

There is another Midrash concerning this. And he sat – Jacob wished to sit in peace and tranquillity. Immediately the grief of Joseph struck him. When the righteous wish to sit in tranquillity the Holy One says to them – is the reward you are to receive in the World to Come so insufficient, that you also seek tranquillity in this world?

 

 

 

QUESTIONS

 

  1. What problem in the verse is Rashi Addressing?
  2. Why did Jacob think that he deserved tranquillity?
  3. What is the idea behind this Midrash?

 

 

 

 

 


 

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONS:

 

 

  1. What type of commentary is this?

 

This type of commentary is called ‘allegory’ – each event in the story is understood to be a symbol of something that is going to happen in the future. Ramban interprets most of the book of Genesis as an allegory. He says that everything that happened to our forefathers is a sign of what will occur to the Jewish people in the future.

 

  1. If this interpretation is correct, explain why this vision comes between Jacob preparing for his encounter with Esau and the actual meeting?

 

The message in the vision is a message of reassurance and hope. God is assuring Jacob that come what may, he will prevail. This prepares him for his meeting with Esau.

 

  1. Is Ramban’s explanation of verse 33:18 the simple explanation of this verse?

 

No, this is not the simple explanation. The simple explanation is the one given by Rashbam – who says that ‘Shalem’ is the name of a place. The Midrash reads into the name of the place the idea that Jacob was whole [the Hebrew word Shalem means - ‘whole’] when he came there.

 

 

 

 

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Ten Minutes of Torah was prepared by Rabbi Chaim Weiner, based on the methods of Prof. Nechama Leibowitz. Rabbi Weiner studied and corresponded with Prof. Leibowitz for several years.

 

 

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