Parashat Vayigash
Saturday December 23,2023
Commentary in Torah Or by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Translated and Commentary by Rabbi Gedalia Potash and William Schecter, MD
This text has neither been edited nor approved by Rabbi Potash
Brief Summary: We are in the middle of the story of Joseph. Joesph, the Viceroy of Egypt, tells his brothers to return to the Land of Canaan and bring their father but their youngest brother, Benjamin, must remain with him. Yehuda pleads with Joseph saying that if they return without Joseph, their father Jacob will die of a broken heart. Joseph is overwhelmed, asks all his associates to leave the room, and then reveals to his brothers that he is in fact their brother Joseph and that it was G-d’s plan for him to be sold in slavery to prepare for the famine. The brothers return with fine clothes, food, and wagons to transport Joseph and the 70 souls of his household to Egypt where they are settled and prosper in the Land of Goshen. Joseph acquires land and livestock from the people of Egypt in exchange for food enriching the Pharoah and making him the uncontested ruler of Egypt.
The Elter Rebbe’s Commentary:
The Elter Rebbe gives an amazing summary of the Kabbalistic view of the world in this week’s commentary. He starts off his remarks by quoting the first Pasuk of this week’s Parashah when Judah approaches his brother Joseph, the Viceroy of Egypt: “Judah then approached (Joseph) and said ‘Please my lord, let me, your servant speak a word…….” (Genesis 44:18). Remember the lowly supplicant Judah approaching his powerful brother Joseph. We will return to this relationship at the end of the commentary. The Elter Rebbe suddenly goes off on a comparison between the MIshkan (the Tabernacle in the desert which was the temporary dwelling place for G-d as they moved from place to place which eventually was placed in Shiloh located in the hill country of Samaria) with the Beit HaMIkdash (the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the territory of Judea).
The Mishkan, says the Elter Rebbe, is built of cedar wood and the roof consists of layers of animal skins, goat, ram and tachashim. Tachashim is a word the definition of which is unclear. It may refer to an animal found in the sea but no one knows for sure.
The Beit HaMIkdash (the Holy Temple) on the other hand is built of stone and dust. Only the arch beams of the roof of the Beit Hamikdash were composed of cedar wood.
In other words, the main building material of the MIshkan was cedar wood, the floor was dust and the ceiling was composed of animal skins. In contrast, the Beit Hamikdash was composed primarily of stone and dust (mortar). Even the roof was composed of stone. Only the cedar arches were made of wood and these were secondary to the main component of the Beit Hamikdash—stone.
So, what is the point? Why is the Elter Rebbe talking about the component parts of the Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdash in his commentary about a discussion between Judah and his brother? He explains.
The world, he says, is composed of 4 components: the Inanimate ( דומם), Vegetation (צומח ), Animals (חי) and humans (מדבר). There is a hierarchical order in terms of spirituality with the human beings on the top, followed by animals, vegetation and the inanimate (dirt, stone). This hierarchical order, says the Elter Rebbe, reflects the order of the flowing down (השתלשלות ) of Divine Light. Even though the inanimate is at the bottom of the pecking order, without the land, there would be no vegetation. Without the vegetation there would be no animal life and without animal life there would be no humans. So, one could say that the Inanimate has the highest value because all other forms of life are dependent upon the Inanimate.
To illustrate this reversal of order, the Elter Rebbe quotes a disagreement in the Talmud between two Tannaim. (A Tanna -teacher- refers to the Rabbis quoted in the Mishnah-a part of the Talmud compiled in approximately the year 250 CE). One Tanna quotes the first Pasuk of the Torah: “In the beginning, G-d created the Heavens and the Earth” (Genesis 1:1) which implies that the Heavens were created before the Earth. Another Tanna stated that the creation of the Earth preceded the creation of the Heavens and quoted Genesis 2:4-5) to support his opinion: “on the day that G-d created the Earth and the Heavens” implying that the creation of the Earth preceded the creation of the Heavens.
How does the Elter Rebbe resolve this paradox? He uses the Kabbalistic principle of סוף מעשה מחשבה תחילה (Sof Ma’aseh, Machshavah Techilah) which means “Thought first, Action at the End” In other words, before an action is performed it must be conceived and planned in the brain. For example, if one is building a house, one designs it , builds the frame, etc . At the end the final touches on the house are made. At the end of the project, the house may look bit different than it was perceived by an observer during construction.
How does this relate to the quotations from Genesis and the hierarchy of Inanimate to Human? The Earth, says the Elter Rebbe, was first conceived in thought, but the Heavens were made first. One could consider the Heavens to be the frame of the House and the Earth the completed structure. The earth, says the Elter Rebbe, has the strength from which the vegetation grows, so too animal life and human life draw strength from vegetation. The earth therefore preceded the Heavens in Thought as it was the product that was conceived.
Having discussed the hierarchy of Inanimate to Human and the Heavens vs. the Earth, the Elter Rebbe now returns to the comparison between the Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdash. The Mishkan, the portable Tabernacle used in the desert, was not the end point for the Dwelling Place of G-d, but rather a temporary structure that preceded the construction of the Beit HaMikdash in Jerusalem. Therefore, it was constructed in the manner of the השתלשלות—the flowing down of Divine Energy during creation of the world. The roof was composed of animal skins (Animal Life), the sides of the Mishkan were composed of cedar wood planks (vegetation) and the floor of the Mishkan was the earth—dust in the Elter Rebbe’s jargon. This Mishkan therefore mirrors the hierarchy of Animal above Vegetation above Inanimate, which itself mirrors the hierarchy of Creation—the Heavens before the Earth.
On the other hand, the Beit HaMIkdash was the permanent Dwelling for G-d on earth. To support this contention, the Elter Rebbe quotes Psalm 132:14: ““This is my resting-place for all time;
here I will dwell, for I desire it.” The Beit HaMikdash, says the Elter Rebbe is a kind of world to come. Because the Beit HaMikdash is to resemble the world to come after the arrival of the Messiah when there will be no greed, jealousy or arrogance, the Beit HaMikdash was constructed primarily of stone and earth, Inanimate objects which are not subject to change like vegetation, animal or human life. Why? Because the earth has the attribute of ביטול (Bitul). Bitul is an interesting Kabbalistic concept. It can mean humility, subjugation, or loss of self. For example, if a candle is held up next to the sun, the light of the candle experiences Bitul, it loses its separate identity and is incorporated into the light of the sun. So, the earth, because of its quality of Bitul, is closer to G-d’s Thought during the process of Creation.
What does all this have to do with the initial quotation regarding the conversation between Judah and Joseph. Kabbalistically, says the Elter Rebbe, Judah represents the Beit HaMikdash, because the Beit HaMikdash is located in Jerusalem in the territory of Judea. Judah is the supplicant, the one who receives food and sustenance from his brother Joseph. The Beit HaMikdash, constructed of inanimate unchanging stone, represents humility, Bitul. The Mishkan, which was placed in Shiloh, located in the territory of Ephraim, represents flow from above to below, condescension, haughtiness, etc. Recall that there was no tribe of Joseph. Rather his progeny was split into the tribes of his sons: Ephraim and Menasseh. In the beginning, Joseph (represented by the Mishkan located in the territory of Ephraim) has the upper hand. However, ultimately, the Beit HaMikdash representing humility and Bitul, remained the focal point of Jewish observance until its destruction in the year 70 CE. Action in the end preceded by Thought in the beginning.
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