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Walk Through the Parsha by Rabbi David Walk
Community
Vayigash 5768
December 12, 2007
This past Shabbat I was in Cleveland, Ohio. This was my first visit to
the city on the shores Lake Erie, and I was amazed by the stretch of Green road
where I stayed. In consecutive large buildings were the Green Road Synagogue,
the Young Israel of Beachwood, the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, and the Chabad
of Greater Cleveland. It was remarkable to have these impressive edifices cheek
to jowl, and I didn't see a single fight. Knit kippot mingled well with black
hats. This stretch and the nearby massive JCC complex displayed an admirable
commitment to community planning and building. This phenomenon is inspiring and
is reminiscent of an incident in this week's Torah reading.
Ya'akov our patriarch is moving the clan down to Egypt for the
duration of the famine, or so he thought. He is clearly afraid for the future of
his family. God informs him, in a dream, that things will work out, and Joseph,
in his position of power, has given assurances, but Ya'akov still has qualms. In
arranging the infrastructure for this settlement in a strange new land, Yehudah
is sent ahead (Genesis 46:28) as guide and vanguard. This is significant for a
number of reasons. First of all, Ya'akov is confirming the leadership position
which Yehuda had attained in situation after situation. The last Lubavitcher
Rebbe pointed out that Yehuda was the perfect choice because he had shown the
ability to overcome the negative influences of society around him, therefore he
should establish the institutions which would support the Jewish settlement in
Egypt. What were these institutions?
Historically, the first Jewish organization set up when the Jews
entered a new area of settlement was a cemetery. It's a pretty sad commentary on
Jewish life that no Jewish organizations were arranged for until someone died.
Usually a mikveh was second and a synagogue third. It usually took a while
before schools were set up. Today we don't consider a community to be fit for
Jewish habitation until there's a kosher Pizza shop.
The great commentary Rashi (France, 1040-1105) used two
different ancient sources to give the two following explanations, "The
Targum (Onkelos translation, about 110 CE) explains the verse to mean to clear a
place for him (Ya'akov) and to show him how to settle in it. The Aggadic
interpretation of the verse is [that there should be teaching]: to establish for
him a house of study, from which teaching would emanate. [Midrash Tanchuma
Vayigash 11]." Rashi is letting us know that there are two ways to go in
interpreting our verse, either practical or spiritual. The most obvious approach
is that Yehudah went ahead to find housing, employment and other amenities of
life. Ya'akov trusted him to arrange for these physical needs. However, the word
that is used to describe Yehuda's activities in the verse is l'horot. This root
gives us the Hebrew words for parent and teacher, and is the same word as Torah.
For this reason Rashi quotes the Midrash that Ya'akov wouldn't move into an area
until the spiritual requirements had been arranged for, and that means a study
hall and a Yeshiva.
Rashi's sentiment is a positive one, but probably unrealistic. A
small (seventy individuals) group can't invest much into an educational
infrastructure before its physical needs are arranged for. The first need for
far-flung Jewish enclaves was usually wives. It was often single men who first
arrived in a new place, either by exile or search for livelihood. Genetic
testing has shown that these first Jewish settlers usually were men who married
locals, and the settlements grew from these beginnings.
The question for us in our generation is: what does the Jewish
community need to provide to ensure the continuity of our people? Rashi seems to
suggest two answers. First, the head of community must be concerned for the
physical necessities for each individual in the community. Next we are required
to provide for the Jewish education of every member of the community. Reb Aharon
Lichtenstein, the great Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion suggests one other
requirement for communities in the Diaspora. He explains that when Yehudah set
up the facilities for teaching and inspiring our children one element must be
incorporated into the mix, and that is imperfection. For Jewish continuity we
must constantly remind ourselves that we are in exile and lacking our homeland.
The mantra of "Next year in Jerusalem" must never leave our lips, and
we are required to recite, "May we merit to be in the rebuilt Jerusalem at
this time next year" with real meaning. The yearning for the land of Israel
must be maintained and emphasized. The alternative is to abandon our nation's
ultimate destiny. As much as we love and appreciate America we must never give
up our longing for home.
I'd like to add one more approach to the nature of Yehudah's
assignment, which should continue to inform our behavior. The Midrash Tanchuma
records that when Ya'akov sent Yehudah ahead "the ox and the lion who were
attacking each other yesterday are now at peace." Yehudah, of course, is
described as the lion in his blessings from Ya'akov (Ibid. 49:9), while Joseph
is referred to as the first born ox in the blessings of Moshe (Deuteronomy
33:17). According to the Midrash, Ya'akov was teaching his contentious sons the
most important community lesson. We must put aside our own issues and desires
for the sake of community development.
This brief episode is used by our Sages as an opportunity to
teach the importance of community and what elements are necessary for a
community to succeed. A lonely individual can't really sustain our faith in a
vacuum; we all need a support system of others working towards the same goal.
The community itself can't continue without individuals willing to relinquish
their desires for the betterment of the whole. Yehudah wasn't only the guide to
Goshen, he remains the beacon for successful community building. May we live up
to his example.
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