Jacob’s
Tellings
07-07-12
This week’s Parashat of Balak gave us
the perfect entry into the study of the “blessings” Jacob gives his 12
sons. Responding to the request of the
king of Moav, Balak, the Canaanite prophet Balaam seeks to curse the
Israelites. But the words from his mouth can only bless them. Looking out over their encampment from the
top of a hill in Moav, he says the words that have become part of the Hebrew
liturgy every morning and Erev Shabbat: “Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov, mishk’notecha
Yisrael” (How goodly are your tents,
Jacob, your sacred dwellings, Israel).
Taking from this core Hebrew understanding that both the earthly and
spiritual are in constant coexistence in everything, we began our study of the spiritual
vision our patriarch, Jacob, told to each of his sons, the spiritual legacy of the
12 Tribes. We begin with the blessings to Ephraim and Menashe, the sons of Joseph, as their blessing comes before the actual sons of Jacob.
Genesis 48:14: “Israel
extended his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head.”
The text reads like a ritual being
played out, like a formal induction ceremony.
“Who are these boys?” – surely Jacob knows his 2 grandsons, Menashe the
first born of Joseph, and his younger brother Ephraim. It is as if he is formally requesting their
presentation, which Joseph then does. Or
an alternate teaching: the boys appeared to their grandfather in this scene
dressed in their clothing of Egyptian princes, while he knew them to be Hebrews
who had studied with him as they grew.
The conflict between the Egyptian and the Hebrew in them plays out in
the subsequent order of their blessing.
Joseph presents them with the first-born Menashe positioned to receive
the blessing of the first-born from his father’s right hand. This reflects the tradition in Egypt, and
other cultures of the area, that the first-born gets the goodies. This was generally true in Hebrew culture as
well. But Jacob shows that there is more
to it than that within the Hebrews, who will place God’s will and prophetic
recognition of the inherent spiritual mission a person carries over and above
birth order when it comes to handing down the blessings from father, or in this
case grandfather, to son. Thus, in
direct contradiction to Joseph’s intent, Jacob crosses his arms to place his
right hand on the younger brother Ephraim’s head, thus bestowing him with the
greater blessing. Ephraim thereby joins
other younger brothers who were given the task of carrying the Hebrew spiritual
traditions forward in place of their older, first born brothers. This list includes Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph
himself, the father of this boy Ephraim.
So, it is as if Jacob has to reteach this tradition to his son Joseph,
who in his years of assimilation into Egyptian culture, seems to have forgotten
his roots. Finally, in crossing his arms
to bless the boys, Jacob makes the sign of Raphael, the angel of healing,
perhaps finally healing the rift that was caused by the heinous treatment of
Joseph by his brothers, and elevating both Ephraim and Menashe to an equal
share of blessing as their eleven uncles.
Genesis 49:1: “Assemble
yourselves and I will tell you what will befall you in the End of Days.”
These are generally referred to as
Jacob’s blessings, but as we will next see, some read more like curses. It is telling that the Hebrew word Jacob
himself uses is not “blessing” (Ah’varech – I will bless), but “telling”
(Ah’gidah – I will tell). Thus what
follows is not so much a blessing, but a prophetic telling, a transfer from
Jacob of what he sees in store for the generations that will flow from each
son. This is perhaps comparable to the
concept of a darshon in the Hindu tradition, in which the holy teacher
transmits prophetic knowledge to the disciple.
These “tellings” from Jacob, born from his deep understanding of the
character of each of his sons, will thus resonate for generations as qualities
of the tribe that will flow from each son.
Genesis 49:4:
“Reuven . . . impetuous, like water, you cannot be foremost . . . “
Reuven, as the first born, was in line
to receive the major portion of his father’s blessing. But he messed it up when he displayed a
character trait unbecoming of a leader of peoples. This is identified as his impetuosity,
displayed in the episode where he slept with his father’s wife Bilhah (some
commentators offer a less than R-rated account of this affair, suggesting only
that he otherwise disrespected his father’s marriage to Bilhah, the handmaiden
of Rachel, and fourth wife of Jacob). So
despite his strength, vigor, and rank, Reuben is demoted, and we learn that a
Hebrew leader must always be balanced and consider the consequences of his/her
actions, rather than rush forward like fast-flowing water that causes great
destruction in its wake. Of note, Reuven
is also noted in other teachings as demonstrating the ability to show true
repentence and integrity, most notably in his attempts to save Joseph from
death at the hands of his brothers. So
he maintains a notable place of pride and respect in the tribal lineage,
despite having lost the birthright of leadership.
Genesis 49:7 “Shimon & Levi . . . I will separate
them within Jacob, disperse them in Israel.”
These 2 brothers are described together
as strong, but angry, and capable of doing great wrong and great harm. This refers to the destruction of Shechem in revenge
for their sister Dinah’s rape by the prince of that town. We can be imagine them as being 2 angry and
dangerous brothers, one (Levi) following the other into all kinds of
trouble. For this, they need to be
separated, as if being told by their scolding parent to go to their rooms for a
time out.
Jacob says "I will separate them ("A'chalkaym")
within Jacob, and disperse them (A'phitzaym) within Yisrael. There must be a
nuanced difference between the 2 Hebrew verbs used here. It seems that
one refers to Jacob, thus more physical reality, meaning their portion (chalak
refers to portioning), their territory will be scattered out amongst the other
tribes, that neither tribe will be given intact territory to settle. We
suspect that the other verb, (Patzah) refers to the dispersement of their
spiritual missions (Yisrael referring more to the spiritual realm). Thus,
the Levites were dispersed territorially, with cities of refuge within the
territories of the other tribes, and their spiritual mission was to serve as
the spiritual caretakers of the tabernacle and temple for the sake of all the
tribes. The tribe of Shimon was
similarly dispersed within the tribal territory of Judah, without an intact
territory of its own, though his spiritual mission and its reason for dispersal
seems less clear. What was Levi’s
saving grace, that despite his participation in the slaughter at Shechem, his
descendants are given such a critical spiritual role amongst the Nation?
Genesis 49:9: “A lion is Judah . . . the scepter shall
not depart . . . he will launder his robe in the blood of grapes . . . red eyed from wine and white toothed from
milk”
After the first 3 “negative” tellings,
the commentators tell us the other brothers were trembling with fear over what
Jacob would say of them. Judah was next,
and clearly received blessing. Judah would
be a warrior tribe, a leader of his people.
The tribe would give us kings, and ultimately the Moshiach would come
from his tribe. The qualities of a
Hebrew king are noted in metaphor -
drenched in spiritual insight (“red-eyed from wine”) but solid, fully
connected, and nourished by the earthly (“white toothed from milk”). We as a people take our name from him. In the book of Esther, Mordechai is referred
to as a Yehudi (a Judah-ite) though he was of the tribe of Benjamin, and to
this day we call ourselves Yehudim (Jews). There
are verses in Jacob’s blessing of Judah that that seem Rumi-like in their
imagery, describing the flowing of abundant wine, the spiritual nectar. We can imagine David twirling at the gates of
Jerusalem like a whirling Dervish, drunk on the “wine” of connection to the
Divine flow.
Why did Judah warrant such blessing? It is said that, though imperfect, Judah was a
man of great integrity who fully owned his faults and admitted his errors. This is most clearly demonstrated in the
stories describing his interaction with his daughter-in-law Tamar, and his
integrity in protecting his father in his dealings with the Viceroy of Egypt,
not knowing he was his long-lost brother Joseph.
We will continue next time with the
remaining “tellings” related to Jacob’s other sons.
Next
Gathering: Saturday, August 4
Location: TBD
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