| And all his sons and all his daughters arose to console him, but he refused to be consoled, for he said, "Because I will descend on account of my son as a mourner to the grave"; and his father wept for him. | לה. וַיָּקֻמוּ כָל בָּנָיו וְכָל בְּנֹתָיו לְנַחֲמוֹ וַיְמָאֵן לְהִתְנַחֵם וַיֹּאמֶר כִּי אֵרֵד אֶל בְּנִי אָבֵל שְׁאֹלָה וַיֵּבְךְּ אֹתוֹ אָבִיו |
So why didn't Yaakov want to be comforted?? isn't that what the point of Shiva is all about? Rabbi Jonathan Sacks brings a Midrash that says- yes you can mourn and be comforted for someone who died- but Yaakov still believed that Yosef was still alive and wouldn't accept that he was dead. Therefore, he couldn't go through the normal process of mourning.
So why don't you think Yaakov accepted his children's comfort? Or why did he still have hope even when he had physical proof that Yosef was dead?
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ReplyDeleteRabbi Geller teaches that when Yaakov was mourning he was not only mourning for his lost son. Yaakov knew that his bloodline was special, and that his job (and the job of his children) was to create the Jewish people, which would consist of twelve tribes. But now, one of the sons was dead, and so Yaakov had failed his mission, because he could no longer create the twelve tribes. And so he felt a total loss, a loss of failure, and the loss could not be comforted. His loss was a loss of failure, he had failed his mission in life, he had failed the test God had given him, he would not be able to produce the twelve tribes expected of him, and therefore he could not be comforted.
ReplyDeleteYaakov refused to be comforted because he did not want to recognize that his son might be dead. But why did yaakov say he will mourn for yosef "to the grave"? Dont we have time boundaries for how long you are allowed to mourn? Sforno says that yaakov felt he was somewhat responsible for yosefs death. He sent yosef out with his brothers and when yosef was fulfilling these instructions, he was killed by an animal. Yaakov felt that this was his faoult and an example of his shortcomings. Therefore he wanted to continue mourning until he died.
ReplyDeleteSima Zand
ReplyDeleteHere is my comment in reply to "Vayeshev #5- Refusing to be Comforted":
According the Ramban, the avot never had experienced a child's death in the house because tzadikim are blessed. This is why Yaakov mourned for so long and refused to be comforted. Yaakov saw this as a strict punishment for him, especially because Yosef was his favorite son.
Why did Yaakov refuse to be comforted?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Chizkuni, he was troubled and felt guilty for sending Yosef in the first place. Therefore, he refused to be comforted because he was thinking about his sin(פשע) and felt that he had done something wrong.
R' Shmuel Herzfeld brings down that Yaakov was used to the act of deceit. He had tricked his own father into thinking that he was Esav, and dealt with the trickery of Lavan. He was so used to it that he was unable to see the difference between deceit and truth, and just didn't what to believe anymore. Instead of investigating into Yosef's death, he believed that the brothers were telling the truth, and instantly began mourning. He comforted because he had given up, believing that there is no truth, love, or justice in this world.
ReplyDeleteAriella Rand
ReplyDeleterashi says, that people can not accept consultation for someone alive. and Yaakov didn't think Yosef was dead, so he wasn't able to accept the consultation and mourning.
The Megaleh Amukos writes that in Yaakov's children's attempts to comfort him, used this very proof in arguing that his inability to move on from Yosef being killed held evidence that Yosef must still be alive and therefor not dead.
ReplyDelete