Parshas Vayigash
1. On the verse "ויגש אליו יהודה" ("Then Yehudah approached him"), our Sages say1 that in this hagashah (drawing near) to Yosef, Yehudah was ready for anything, even for war.
Why did Yehudah stand up so forcefully for Binyamin? The verse goes on to say: "כי עבדך ערב את הנער" ("For your servant became surety for the lad"). That is why he was ready even for war.
Seemingly, how could it have been right for Yehudah to wage war against Yosef, when Yehudah and his brothers were a small number, while Yosef was the ruler who had all of Egypt under him?
True, Yehudah was a mighty man, but Yosef and his sons were even mightier, as the Midrash2 relates: when Yehudah and his brothers stamped their feet so that all of Egypt shook, Yosef too displayed such might, until Yehudah said, "זה גבור ממני" ("This one is mightier than I"). So how could it have been right for him to wage war against them?
The reason, however, is this: since Yehudah had taken upon himself the responsibility for Binyamin — "For your servant became surety for the lad" — that he would deliver him back to Yaakov, then, regardless of the fact that all the remaining brothers would be left, he was nevertheless prepared to give up his life even for the sake of one Jewish child, because he had taken the responsibility upon himself.
2. And this is a directive and a moral lesson for every father and mother, upon whom the A-lmighty has placed the responsibility for each and every one of their children: they must be ready to give up their lives even for one child, so that there should not happen to him what must not happen to a Jewish child.
And through this mesirus nefesh for "חינוך הבנים והבנות על טהרת הקודש" ("educating sons and daughters in holy purity"), one arrives at the conclusion of the sidra: "ויפרו" ("and they were fruitful"), (and further) "וירבו" ("and multiplied"), (until) "מאד" ("exceedingly").
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Vayigash, 5701)
3. On the verse "ואת יהודה שלח גו' להורות לפניו גשנה" ("And he sent Yehudah … to prepare before him in Goshen"), Rashi cites in the name of the Midrash: "לתקן לו בית תלמוד שמשם תצא הוראה" ("to establish for him a house of study, from which instruction would go forth").
When the A-lmighty told Yaakov to go down to Egypt, Yaakov first made sure — "before him" — that there would be yeshivos there. Although the A-lmighty had assured him that He would go along with him, "אנכי ארד עמך מצרימה ואנכי אעלך גם עלה" ("I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up"), nevertheless Yaakov took the trouble to prepare yeshivos beforehand, and only then did he go there together with the A-lmighty — because yeshivos are the foundation and the very existence of the Jewish people.
And the yeshivos that Yaakov our father founded existed the entire time the Jews were in Egypt, as our Sages3 say: "מימיהן של אבותינו לא פרשה ישיבה מהם, היו במצרים ישיבה עמהם, שנאמר לך ואספת את זקני ישראל" ("From the days of our forefathers, the yeshiva never departed from them: when they were in Egypt, the yeshiva was with them, as it says,4 'Go and gather the elders of Israel'").
In all times and in all places where Jews have been, even in the exile of Egypt, which was a very hard exile for them, there were yeshivos where people sat and studied Torah, because, as said earlier, yeshivos are the very existence of the Jewish people.
4. The exile of Egypt was the hardest of all the exiles, even harder than the present exile, for several reasons:
a) The exile of Egypt was before the Giving of the Torah. Although Torah was studied then too, as can be seen from many statements of our Sages, including this very statement, "From the days of our forefathers, the yeshiva never departed from them," nevertheless, since the Torah they studied was by their own power — then however high a created being may reach, it reaches only up to the root of created beings, but not higher.5
b) The exile of Egypt was the first exile of the Jewish people, and consequently it was very hard for them to bear. As we see, when a misfortune befalls someone, may G‑d spare us, the first time it is very hard to bear; but when the same misfortune befalls him once again, may G‑d spare us, it is no longer so hard, for he is already "used to it."
c) In Egypt all the Jews were together. In the later exiles, "צדקה עשה הקב"ה בישראל שפזרן לבין האומות" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, did a kindness with Israel by scattering them among the nations"),6 so that Jews are found in various places; thus when Jews are tormented in one place, they can meanwhile catch their breath in another place, and also help the Jews who find themselves in the difficult situation. In Egypt, by contrast, all the Jews were in one place and under one government.
d) Egypt was a very harsh land, such that not even a single slave7 could escape from there — and here, "ששים רבוא לבד נשים וטף" (six hundred thousand, besides women and children) had to go out of Egypt.
Nevertheless, despite all these hardships, "the yeshiva never departed from them." There were always yeshivos in which people sat and studied Torah.
5. It has already been discussed many times that the Torah is not, Heaven forbid, a history book; rather, every matter and every story, even every letter of the Torah, is a directive for every time and place.
There are those who argue that now is not a time for yeshivos; in such a difficult situation a Talmud Torah is also enough; and if there are to be yeshivos after all, they need not be yeshivos like those of old, and so on.
To this, the directive from the exile of Egypt is: there, in Egypt, the situation was far harder than now, and nevertheless they made no calculations and studied Torah. Moreover, not only did they make no calculations about the difficult state of the exile, they also made no calculations about how far the Torah reaches — whether only to the root of created beings or higher. Now, then, when the exile is much easier than it was then, and the study of Torah is much loftier than it was then, one certainly must not make any calculations, and there must be yeshivos.
6. The same applies to supporting yeshivos. There are those who argue that right now things are tight for them — tight in the head and tight in the pocket — and that once they have eaten, drunk, and slept their fill, and their pocket becomes roomier, then they will give to the yeshiva; they will even practice mesirus nefesh and send their own children to yeshiva too, until the age of thirteen. To such a person one must say: Egypt was a far harder exile. They did not even have their own kash — straw — and they had to go around a foreign land searching for straw, while the taskmasters stood over their heads and shoulders with the whip. And nevertheless — their own straw, indeed, they did not have; but yeshivos they did support.
7. In the Gemara8 there is a question as to which is worse to pass by — a street of harlots or an idol. Seemingly, this needs to be understood: passing by harlots is understandably harmful because of seeing, for seeing, even without thought, arouses, as is known;9 but what harm is there in passing by an idol? The reason of seeing does not apply there, for what will he see other than wood and stones? The explanation, however, is: every thing affects the air around it as well, and in a place where there is impurity, the air there also carries a drawing-forth of impurity, and the air can affect the person.10
In connection with what am I saying this?
The air of the street — that now is not a time for yeshivos — has affected some of the yeshiva students as well.
There are students who argue that it is hard for them to study as one should, because they must first provide themselves with a livelihood. He cannot study calmly, because it already weighs on his mind: with what will he support the children the A-lmighty will give him, after he reaches the time of shidduchim, and people get busy with it, and he finds his match, and there will be the tena'im, and then the wedding, and then children will be born at a good and auspicious hour? He also worries about what he will leave them after a hundred and twenty years. And so he already goes out into the street — at any rate, his power of deep concentration goes away — and thinks about the "purpose" of making a living.
Where does such a feeling come to yeshiva students? From the air of the street, as mentioned above. For although my father-in-law, the Rebbe, said that the ice (in America) has already begun to stir, there is nevertheless a difference and a distance between ice that "has begun to stir" and its seething and boiling with "הוי' אלקיך אש אוכלה הוא" ("The L‑rd your G‑d is a consuming fire").11 Moreover, remnants from earlier times still remain, and this type of student catches from those earlier remnants.
8. There is indeed a plea in their favor, that this comes from the atmosphere of the environment, as mentioned; but still, it ought not to be so. And on this too there is a directive from what was said above.
In Egypt, besides its being a very hard exile, as mentioned, they were so severely oppressed that they did not even entertain a thought about leaving the exile. When Moshe Rabbeinu announced the tidings of the redemption, "ולא שמעו אל משה מקוצר רוח ומעבודה קשה" ("they did not listen to Moshe, because of shortness of breath and hard labor").12 And nevertheless, even before Moshe came and said "פקדתי" ("I have remembered"), they did not think calculations of what the "purpose" would be; rather, they sat in yeshivos and studied. All the more so now, it must not enter one's head "what will be the purpose"; one must sit and study without thinking any calculations.
Especially since the work now is much easier than it was then. As is known,13 of the 288 sparks that fell, 202 sparks were refined in the exile of Egypt, as it is written, "וגם ערב רב עלו אתם" ("And also a mixed multitude [rav = 202] went up with them"), and there remained no more than 86 sparks, the numerical value of "Elokim." And of those 86 sparks themselves, Jews over the course of time, with sweat and with blood, refined a great many, and there remain only "small jugs" that still need to be refined.
Consequently, the work is much lighter, because: a) only a minority remains to be refined; b) there is the assistance of the sparks that have already been refined.
(From the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Shemos, 5713)
9. It is stated in the writings of the Arizal14 that through "הא לכם זרע" ("Here is seed for you") — in which there is also an allusion that Yosef compelled them to circumcise themselves — vitality was added to Egypt, i.e., to the kelipos, which is the matter of the exile of Egypt. And in "הא לחמא עניא" ("This is the bread of affliction") the redemption is also alluded to.
This is also the reason that the Arizal's version of the passage "Ha lachma anya" reads hei with a tzeirei, and not ha with a kamatz. (The difference between ha with a kamatz and hei with a tzeirei is also in the meaning: ha (with a kamatz) lachma anya etc. is translated, "This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt"; while hei (with a tzeirei) lachma anya etc. means, "Take for yourselves15 the bread of affliction.")
10. In order to understand how "Ha lachma anya" is a safeguard and a rectification for "Here is seed for you," one must first explain the matter of the damage — the harm — that resulted from Yosef's saying "Here is seed for you."
Seemingly, it is not understood why the "Here is seed for you" that Yosef said to the Egyptians was not good. According to reason, it ought to follow that Yosef's conduct in general, in saying "Here is seed for you," not only should not have brought about any deficiency, but on the contrary, an advantage. Besides the fact that with "ואת העם העביר" ("And as for the people, he transferred them") — moving the Egyptians from one place to another — he removed the shame from his brothers, so that they would not be called golim (exiles),16 it is also known that the spiritual aspect of Yosef is "צדיק יסוד עולם" ("The righteous one is the foundation of the world"),17 and all his deeds were bestowals of G‑dliness. So surely this is the desired intent — to spread and bestow G‑dliness to everyone, even to Egypt?
The point, however, is this:
Yosef did this on his own initiative. Therefore, although he did indeed bring about in the Egyptians a drawing near to holiness, since he did it on his own initiative, it brought an increase of vitality — life — into the kelipos, because the Egyptians, on their part, were not at all fit for it. This is what brought about the intensity of the exile of Egypt, which is the meaning of "Ha lachma anya etc. in the land of Egypt": Yosef's saying "Here is seed for you" was a cause of the intensity of the exile of Egypt.
We find something similar with Moshe Rabbeinu: by taking along the eirev rav (mixed multitude) on his own initiative, he brought about the sin of the Golden Calf. As the A-lmighty told him,18 "שחת עמך אשר העלית גו'" ("Your people whom you brought up … have become corrupt") — whom you brought up.19
11. My father-in-law, the Rebbe, writes in many of his letters, and it is also found in various maamarim, that from everything one learns, the main thing is to draw from it a practical conclusion in avodah.
The foregoing matter, as it relates to avodah, is this:
We constantly demand that people draw everyone close, without considering who he may be. But one must always remember not to retreat oneself, and the drawing-near by which one draws the other close must be without any compromises, Heaven forbid, in Torah and mitzvos.
And in line with the well-known saying: when someone is drowning, may the Merciful One spare us, one must rescue him — but one must be careful not to drown oneself, Heaven forbid.
And as was once discussed20 regarding the explanation of the Mishnah,21 "הוה מתלמידיו של אהרן כו' אוהב את הבריות ומקרבן לתורה" ("Be of the disciples of Aharon … loving the creatures and bringing them close to Torah"), there are two directives in this: a) one must draw close everyone, even "creatures" (i.e., those who have no other merit than the fact that the A-lmighty created them); b) the manner of doing so must be "bringing them close to Torah" — not adapting the Torah to the spirit of the creatures, Heaven forbid, but on the contrary, bringing the creatures close to Torah — a complete Torah, without any compromises. The same applies to Jewish customs, for "מנהגי ישראל תורה" ("the customs of Israel are Torah").22
12. What is relevant in practice:
There are those who argue: when I can bring a Jew close to Yiddishkeit, why should I go making calculations? I will bend a little regarding the mechitzah in a shul and the like; meanwhile, many more Jews will come to shul, and they will grow closer to Yiddishkeit.
And it is further argued: in an environment of Torah-observant Jews, one must indeed be meticulous even about the tip of a yud; but when one finds oneself in a place where there is opposition to Torah and mitzvos, then one must bend on the "secondary" in order to safeguard the essential.
To what can this be compared? To someone who says that at home, in peacetime, he will go about armed — for although it is indeed peacetime, it is nevertheless safer when he goes armed; but when he goes out to war, he will go unarmed, because: first, so that he not be recognized as an enemy; second, so that he can move more easily when he needs to. Obviously, this is utter and absolute foolishness.
13. At a certain gathering of rabbis years ago, someone said that when one uses water for drinking, it makes a difference whether the water is good or not; but when one needs to put out a fire, it makes no difference what kind of water it is. My father-in-law, the Rebbe, answered him: That is only when it is certain that it is water, and the only question is whether it is clean water or not. But when it is not water at all, but rather kerosene — oil — then not only can one not put out the fire with it, but on the contrary, the fire will grow even stronger, even though kerosene is also a liquid.
So too regarding the matter mentioned above: by changing even one Jewish custom, not only can one not effect any good upon the environment, but quite the opposite.
As is found in the Gemara23 regarding the forgiveness and atonement of Yom Kippur: even according to the view that the essence of the day atones without teshuvah, and even for sins committed on Yom Kippur itself — nevertheless, for sins committed on Yom Kippur that are bound up with the prohibitions of Yom Kippur itself, Yom Kippur does not atone, because "אין קטיגור נעשה סניגור" ("a prosecutor cannot become a defender").24
14. And as for the argument: what does it matter if one bends a hair's breadth, since through this one will gain the essential?
To this there are two answers: [The source text ends here; the remainder of this Sicha is missing from the OCR.]
Notes
1) Bereishis Rabbah 93:6.
2) Ibid. 93:7.
3) Yoma 28b.
4) Shemos 3:16.
5) See above, p. 40 ff.
6) Pesachim 87b.
7) Mechilta. Rashi on the Torah, Shemos 18:9.
8) Avodah Zarah 17a.
9) Mishnah Zavim, ch. 2, mishnah 2. See also Kuntres HaAvodah, ch. 2.
10) On the effect of the air, see also Hayom Yom, 11 Teves; Kovetz Lubavitch, first year, issue 4, p. 63 (Igros [Kodesh of the Previous Rebbe], vol. 1, p. 235 ff.).
11) Devarim 4:24.
12) Shemos 6:9.
13) Torah Or 60c.
14) Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar Chag HaMatzos, ch. 6. Siddur of the Arizal, in the Haggadah.
15) In Midrash Lekach Tov on Vayigash 47:23: "הא לכם" is an expression of "הליכי" ("take").
16) Chullin 60b.
17) Mishlei 10:25.
18) Shemos 32:7.
19) Shemos Rabbah 42:6. Zohar II, 45b.
20) See also Likkutei Sichos, vol. 2, pp. 315–16.
21) Avos 1:12.
22) See Yerushalmi Pesachim 4:1, and Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 45.
23) [Note text missing from the source OCR.]
24) [Note text missing from the source OCR.]
Key Lesson
Just as Yehudah risked everything for one child he had taken responsibility for, and Yaakov secured yeshivos before going down to Egypt, every parent and every Jew must give themselves fully to Torah education without making "calculations" about hard times. And in drawing others close to Yiddishkeit, one must bring them to the Torah as it is, never bending the Torah or Jewish custom to fit the environment.