In this week's parsha, in פרק מז, פסוק כט Yaakov asks Yosef to make sure that he will not bury his father in מצרים. The pasuk says:
״וַיִּקְרְבוּ יְמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לָמוּת וַיִּקְרָא | לִבְנוֹ לְיוֹסֵף וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אִם נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ שִׂים נָא יָדְךָ תַּחַת יְרֵכִי וְעָשִׂיתָ עִמָּדִי חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת אַל נָא תִקְבְּרֵנִי בְּמִצְרָיִם״
When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have now found favor in your eyes, now place your hand beneath my thigh, and you shall deal with me with loving kindness and truth; do not bury me now in Egypt.
Why does יעקב care where he is buried? After all, isn't it really his physical body that will buried in Egypt since the important part of his body, his שכינה, will go up to ה׳? Rashi provides three reasons for why Yaakov asked this of Yosef:
1) the soil is destined to become lice which will crawl under his body.
2) those who die and are buried outside of ארץ ישראל will not be resurrected except with the pain of rolling through underground passages.
3) he didn't want the מצריים to deify him.
3) he didn't want the מצריים to deify him.
Q: What are other reasons for why Yaakov cared so much about not being buried in מצרים?
Since the famine ended when yaakov arrived in Egypt, he was regarded as a national hero and as such should be buried in that country which he had helped so much. Yaakov did not want to be buried in Egypt because he did not want the Egyptians to turn him into a god who they worshipped. Additionally, Yaakov wanted to make clear that a Jew retains his identity even after he dies and therefore he wanted all to understand that he was primarily a Jew and not an Egyptian.
ReplyDelete- Rabbi Hoffman
Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch notes the parallel between Avraham and Yaakov here. Both make a swear with the hand on the thigh. When Avraham has Eliezer do it, he is making the promise that his son marry Jewish to continue their religion. Here too, Yaakov has Yosef promise to not be buried in Egypt because he wants his family to continue outside of Egypt. Yaakov had lived seventeen years with his family in Egypt. He noticed what a powerful influence the "being gripped by the land" (47:27) was beginning to have on his descendents.This is also why he did not express this wish as Jacob, from his individual personal standpoint, but as "Israel" as bearer of the national mission, as a warning of the national future of his children. Both are saving the future of the nation.
ReplyDeleteArielle Samuel- Rav Shmuel Bloom says that Yaakov does not want to be buried in Egypt because he does not want to make Egypt his new home.
ReplyDeleteThe pasuk states "And it came to pass after these things that it was told to Yosef, Behold your Father is ill." "these things" were Ya'akov burial instructions, with the implication that only after "these things" did Ya'akov fall ill. the Tosefos Berachah wonders why Ya'akov would issue his burial instructions before he became ill? The tosefos Berachah suggests that Ya'akov may have already been ill at this time. The Shulchan Aruch adds that one is not required to fulfill a vow made by an ill person because that vow is coinsidered to have been made under duress only to set the patients mind at ease. Ya'akov was concerened that if Yosef knew of his illness he would not take his vow seriously. Rabbi yehoshua Leib Diskin asks why did Ya'akov ask his in a form of request instead of invoicing his authority and commanding him? He answers that if Ya'akov commanded then Yosef would not have been considered to choose the mitzvah of honoring one's parents.
ReplyDeleteShabbat Shalom!
rashi gives three possible reason for why he wouldn't want to be buried in egypt:
ReplyDelete1-the land of egypts ground was about to be plagued with lice
2-at the time of resurrection anyone buried outside of isreal will suffer
3-so egyptions wouldn't make him into an idol
Rabbi Avraham Gordimer explains that the reason Yaakov commands his sons to bring him to be buried in Eretz Yisroel is for their own sake. By telling them to bury him there, their descendants in future generations would recall the hardship of Yaakov’s sons traveling all the way to Me’aras Ha-Machpelah (despite its seeming impossibility) as something essential to their well being. Eretz Yisroel is the place where they had to yearn to be, they couldn't just see it as a practical place of safety after being liberated from Mitzrayim.
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ReplyDeleteRav Chaim Bauer explains that Yaakov wanted to be buried near his ancestors because visitors who come to his burial site will see this family chain all together and recognize how Hashem enabled them to live and love together. They would be inspired by G-d alone and that was Yaakov's hope. If he were independently buried, the focus would be on him, rather than on G-d. As for the point of him wanting to be buried in Eretz Yisroel, he thought the visitor(s)' minds would go more directly to G-d's intervention there as opposed to in Egypt. He was so humble that even after his death he refused to be recognized and instead put the spotlight on Hashem.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Yaakov make Yosef swear that he would bury him in Israel? Was the word of Yosef not enough? Ramban suggests, maybe Yaakov would not just take his word for it and made him swear because he was afraid that Paroah would not let Yosef outside of Egypt to bury him, and instead just send his brothers. Once they made the oath it would be improper for Paraoh to make Yosef break the oath, so he would be able to go.
ReplyDeleteAn answer rashi gives is that a person who is buried outside of Israel will not come back to life when it is time for everyone to come back alive. He doesn't wish to spend eternity in Egypt
ReplyDeleteAriella rand
DeleteR' Shimshon Refael Hirch brings down that Yaakov saw his sons settling and becoming comfortable in Egypt. He knew that this was not the right place for them, and hoped that insisting his body be buried elsewhere would be enough motivation for them to leave.
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