Bones, Burial and Blessing: Vayechi

Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch on Gen. 48:7:1

מתה עלי, es war ein Verhängnis, das über mich gekommen. It was a blow of fate that came upon me.

In den letzten Tagen seines Lebens tritt ihm ganz besonders das Bild der Frau ins Gedächtnis, die er am innigsten geliebt, die das eigentliche Weib seiner Wahl gewesen, die ihn am frühesten verlassen und die ihrem ganzen Geschicke nach Gefahr lief, für die späteren Nationalerinnerungen in den Hintergrund zu treten. Wenn einmal die Söhne Israels in späteren Zeiten das Grab ihrer Stammeltern aufsuchen, werden sie Abraham und Sara, Jizchak und Rebekka, Jakob und Lea finden, aber Rahel, Josefs Mutter, war es nicht einmal im Tode vergönnt, ihren Platz in der gemeinsamen Ruhestätte der Stammeseltern zu erhalten. Und nur zwei Stämme — ganz gleich den früher Mägde gewesenen Müttern Bilha und Silpa — nennen sie ihre Mutter. So würde gerade das Weib seines Herzens, das er sich als die eigentliche Mutter seines künftigen Volkes gedacht, aus dem Herzen der Nation verschwinden. Daher war es Jakobs Herzensbedürfnis, Josef, Rahels Erstgeborenen, zum Erstgeborenen seines Stammvolkes zu erheben, ihm durch Bestimmung seiner Söhne zum Doppelstamm die nationale Erstgeburt zu erteilen und damit zugleich Rahels Gedächtnis wenigstens in einem Stamme mehr als Bilhas und Silpas fortleben zu lassen.

In the final days of [Ya'akov's] life, he recalls particularly the woman he loved the mot deeply, who alone was the wife of his choice, whom he had lost earliest of all and whose fate was such that her memory was in danger of losing it proper place in the collective memory of the nation. When, in times to come, the people Israel will visit the tomb of their ancestors, they will find there Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivkah, Ya'akov and Leah. But not even in death was it given to Rachel, Yosef's mother, to take her rightful place in the joint resting place of the patriarchs. And, as with the former maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah, only two tribes will call her their mother. Thus, precisely the wife nearest to Ya'akov's heart, whom he had visualized as the principle mother of his future nation-- precisely she might vanish from the hearts of that nation.

For this reason it was the deep desire of Ya'akov's heart to elevate Yosef, Rachel's firstborn son, to the status of firstborn of his nation, to confer upon him the national birthrightm by making his sons into two tribes. Thus Rachel's memory would live on through at least one more trive than the tribes of Bilhah and Zilpah.

Sotah 13a

It states further in the mishna: Who, to us, had a greater burial than Joseph, as it was none other than Moses who involved himself in transporting his coffin. The Sages taught in the Tosefta (4:6–7): Come and see how beloved mitzvot are to Moses our teacher. As, at the time of the Exodus, all the Jewish people were involved in taking the plunder from Egypt, and he was involved in the performance of mitzvot, as it is stated: “The wise in heart will take mitzvot” (Proverbs 10:8). The Gemara asks: And from where did Moses our teacher know where Joseph was buried? The Sages said: Serah, the daughter of Asher, remained from that generation that initially descended to Egypt with Jacob. Moses went to her and said to her: Do you know anything about where Joseph is buried? She said to him: The Egyptians fashioned a metal casket for him and set it in the Nile [Nilus] River as an augury so that its water would be blessed. Moses went and stood on the bank of the Nile. He said to Joseph: Joseph, Joseph, the time has arrived about which the Holy One, Blessed be He, took an oath saying that I, i.e., God, will redeem you. And the time for fulfillment of the oath that you administered to the Jewish people that they will bury you in Eretz Yisrael has arrived. If you show yourself, it is good, but if not, we are clear from your oath. Immediately, the casket of Joseph floated to the top of the water. And do not wonder how iron can float, as it is written in the verses describing how Elisha was able to cause iron to float: “But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water; and he cried, and said: Alas, my master! For it was borrowed. And the man of God said: Where did it fall? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in there, and the iron floated up” (II Kings 6:5–6). And are these matters not inferred a fortiori: And just as Elisha, who was a mere student of Elijah, and Elijah was a mere student of Moses, as Elijah studied the Torah of Moses, was able to cause the iron to float before him, all the more so would it float before Moses our teacher himself. The Gemara now presents a different version of where Joseph was buried. Rabbi Natan says: Joseph was buried in the crypt [kabbarnit] of kings. Moses went and stood by the crypt of kings and said: Joseph, the time has arrived about which the Holy One, Blessed be He, took an oath saying that: I will redeem you. And the time for fulfillment of the oath that you administered to the Jewish people that they will bury you in Eretz Yisrael has arrived. If you show yourself, it is good, but if not, we are clear from your oath. At that moment, the casket of Joseph shook among the caskets. Moses took it and brought it over to himself. And all those years that the Jewish people were in the wilderness, these two arks, one a casket of a dead man, Joseph, and one the Ark of the Divine Presence, i.e., the Ark of the Covenant, were traveling together, and passersby would say: What is the nature of these two arks? They said to them: One is of a dead person and one is of the Divine Presence. The passersby would ask: And in what way is it the manner of a dead person to travel with the Divine Presence? They said in response:

13b

This one, i.e., the deceased Joseph, fulfilled all that is written in this. Therefore, it is fitting that the two arks should lie side by side. The Gemara asks: And if Moses had not dealt with the burial of Joseph, would the Jewish people not have dealt with it? But isn’t it written that after Moses died: “And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem” (Joshua 24:32), which indicates that the Jewish people completed the burial of Joseph? And furthermore, if the Jewish people had not dealt with Joseph’s burial, would his children not have dealt with it? But isn’t it written in that same verse: “And they became the inheritance of the children of Joseph,” as Joseph was buried in Shechem, which was then given to his descendants? Therefore, the question arises: Why did Joseph’s descendants initially leave the task of his burial to the Jewish people and Moses? The Gemara answers: They said: Leave Joseph for others. It is more of an honor for Joseph to be buried by the many than by the few, and therefore it is better that the Jewish people be involved in the burial. And furthermore, they said: Leave Joseph for others. It is more of an honor for Joseph to be buried by one of the great men like Moses than by lesser ones like us. In the aforementioned verse it states: “And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in the parcel of ground that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money” (Joshua 24:32). The Gemara asks: What is different about Shechem that they specifically chose to bury Joseph there? Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says that the Jewish people said: His brothers kidnapped him from Shechem (see Genesis 37:12–28), and to Shechem we should return his lost body. The Gemara comments: The verses contradict each other, as it is written: “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him” (Exodus 13:19), and it is written elsewhere: “And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt” (Joshua 24:32). Who in fact took Joseph’s bones? Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: Anyone who performs a matter but does not complete it, and then another comes and completes it, the verse ascribes credit to the one who completed it as if he had actually performed the entire act. Due to the fact that the children of Israel completed Joseph’s burial, the Torah ascribes them credit as if they had performed the entire act. Rabbi Elazar says with regard to one who initiates performance of a mitzva but does not complete it when capable of doing so: He is also demoted [moridin] from his position of greatness, as it is written: “And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down [vayyered] from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah” (Genesis 38:1).