Chasidut zu Bereschit 47:41

According to Jewish mystics, Joseph was the paradigm of virtue and righteousness, the personification of tzaddik yesod olam, a man of such holiness that his merit sustains the entire world. Joseph was also Jacob’s favorite son, and they shared a special relationship.³²See Gen. 30:25 and Rashi’s comment on that verse; Gen. 37:2 and the respective Rashi; also Gen. 37:11, 37:35, 45:27-28. When Jacob lay dying he called Joseph and requested burial in the Land of Israel. Although Joseph promised that he would ensure his father’s interment in Israel (Gen. 47:30), Jacob was not satisfied and demanded that an oath be sworn in God’s name: “And he [Jacob] said ‘Swear to me’ and he [Joseph] swore to him, and Israel [another name for Jacob] bowed back toward the head of the bed” (Gen. 47:31).

According to Jewish mystics, Joseph was the paradigm of virtue and righteousness, the personification of tzaddik yesod olam, a man of such holiness that his merit sustains the entire world. Joseph was also Jacob’s favorite son, and they shared a special relationship.³²See Gen. 30:25 and Rashi’s comment on that verse; Gen. 37:2 and the respective Rashi; also Gen. 37:11, 37:35, 45:27-28. When Jacob lay dying he called Joseph and requested burial in the Land of Israel. Although Joseph promised that he would ensure his father’s interment in Israel (Gen. 47:30), Jacob was not satisfied and demanded that an oath be sworn in God’s name: “And he [Jacob] said ‘Swear to me’ and he [Joseph] swore to him, and Israel [another name for Jacob] bowed back toward the head of the bed” (Gen. 47:31).

Concerning the question of Nachmanides that it is surprising that ‎Joseph’s prediction of seven years of famine was not fulfilled, and ‎that therefore his reputation as an interpreter of dreams must ‎have suffered, it appears that Joseph had covered this eventuality ‎by saying: (41,28) ‎אשר האלוקים עושה הראה לפרעה‎, “what G’d is ‎about to do He had shown Pharaoh.” This left it open to G’d to ‎forego the unpleasant part of Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s ‎dream. G’d’s decrees, (negative ones) are definitive unless a ‎‎tzaddik intervenes and asks Him to cancel or to “soften” ‎them. On the other hand, the tzaddik has no power to ‎cancel or “soften” a decree by G’d which is manifestly beneficial ‎for the people concerned. When we read in 47,7 that Joseph ‎introduced his aged father Yaakov to Pharaoh, the Torah ‎describes this with the words: ‎ויעמידהו לפני פרעה‎, “he made him ‎stand (not bow) before Pharaoh.” This was a hint that his father ‎had the power to affect G’d’s negative decrees which his son had ‎predicted. In other words, although G’d had taken him, and ‎through him, Pharaoh, into His confidence, Yaakov, Joseph’s ‎father took precedence over both Joseph and Pharaoh in his ‎intimacy which G’d.‎

‎[I have decided to omit the balance of this lengthy ‎paragraph as, in my opinion it does not add anything to what the ‎author has previously written about at length. Ed.]‎.

Genesis 47,19. “and provide us with seed so that we ‎may live and not die.” See Rashi’s commentary on ‎this verse who explains that since the arrival of Yaakov in Egypt ‎and his blessing, the people had begun to sow seed again ‎although the famine had been predicted to last for seven years. ‎Compare also the answer to the question of Nachmanides how ‎Yaakov was able to annul an interpretation given by his son of ‎Pharaoh’s dream according to which the famine would last for ‎seven years. After all, Joseph had spoken in the name of G’d when ‎he had told Pharaoh: ‎את האלוקים עושה הגיד לפרעה‎, “G’d has ‎revealed to Pharaoh that which He is about to do.” (Genesis 41,28) ‎Joseph had implied that no tzaddik could interfere with this ‎decree of G’d, although the Talmud in Moed Katan 16 told ‎us of the ability of the tzaddik through his prayer to bring ‎about a cancellation of harmful decrees. We must answer that ‎what Joseph had told Pharaoh at that time concerned the existing ‎circumstances, when there was no tzaddik in Egypt whose ‎prayer could influence G’d to rescind part or all of His decree. ‎With the arrival of Joseph’s father in Egypt, circumstances had ‎changed, as there now was a tzaddik of sufficient caliber to ‎bring about a cessation of this decree. This is why Joseph could ‎hand out seed and this was not a waste.‎

‎‎Genesis 47,23. “here is seed for you to sow the land; ‎and you shall give one fifth (of the harvest) to Pharaoh ‎whereas the other four fifths are for you to feed your ‎families.” A glance at Rashi’s commentary on verse ‎‎45,6 that there would be five more years of no ploughing and no ‎harvesting, poses a problem. As soon as Yaakov had arrived the ‎people had noticed an improvement in the condition of the soil, ‎so that they began using some of the seed they had, and sowed it ‎instead of using it for food as instructed. (45,5) The Egyptians ‎prepared themselves to eat the seed that they had been keeping ‎in reserve until better times would make planting more ‎propitious. Since they had violated Joseph’s instructions, he had ‎decreed that any harvest from such seed would wither and be ‎useless; this is why the Egyptians accused Joseph of decreeing to ‎let them die. This also explains why Joseph did not need to ‎appoint overseers to ensure that the Egyptians who gathered in ‎an unauthorized harvest had delivered one fifth of it to Pharaoh ‎for storage. In the third year Joseph did not decree such a curse ‎on any crop grown, stipulating that their efforts would be ‎successful only if they would deliver one fifth of their crops to ‎Pharaoh. Anyone shortchanging Pharaoh would stand to lose his ‎entire harvest.. This enables us to understand Rashi. Joseph’s ‎prediction of seven consecutive years of famine was based on the ‎people trying to grow food without Joseph’s blessing. (verse 19) ‎Even after Yaakov’s arrival, the decree of another five years of ‎famine would be cancelled only if Joseph withdrew his decree ‎against planting.

‎‎Genesis 47,23. “here is seed for you to sow the land; ‎and you shall give one fifth (of the harvest) to Pharaoh ‎whereas the other four fifths are for you to feed your ‎families.” A glance at Rashi’s commentary on verse ‎‎45,6 that there would be five more years of no ploughing and no ‎harvesting, poses a problem. As soon as Yaakov had arrived the ‎people had noticed an improvement in the condition of the soil, ‎so that they began using some of the seed they had, and sowed it ‎instead of using it for food as instructed. (45,5) The Egyptians ‎prepared themselves to eat the seed that they had been keeping ‎in reserve until better times would make planting more ‎propitious. Since they had violated Joseph’s instructions, he had ‎decreed that any harvest from such seed would wither and be ‎useless; this is why the Egyptians accused Joseph of decreeing to ‎let them die. This also explains why Joseph did not need to ‎appoint overseers to ensure that the Egyptians who gathered in ‎an unauthorized harvest had delivered one fifth of it to Pharaoh ‎for storage. In the third year Joseph did not decree such a curse ‎on any crop grown, stipulating that their efforts would be ‎successful only if they would deliver one fifth of their crops to ‎Pharaoh. Anyone shortchanging Pharaoh would stand to lose his ‎entire harvest.. This enables us to understand Rashi. Joseph’s ‎prediction of seven consecutive years of famine was based on the ‎people trying to grow food without Joseph’s blessing. (verse 19) ‎Even after Yaakov’s arrival, the decree of another five years of ‎famine would be cancelled only if Joseph withdrew his decree ‎against planting.

Going back to the Talmud Pessachim 54, which we ‎quoted at the beginning of this subject of the creation of the ‎‎“light/fire, which is the subject of the benediction recited at the ‎end of the Sabbath, in the first chapter of the Talmud ‎‎B’rachot, folio 10 the question is raised why King David in ‎psalms 103-104 uses the expression ‎ברכי נפשי ‏‎ no fewer than five ‎times. The answer given is that David refers both to G’d and to ‎man’s soul. David sees a comparison between G’d and our soul, ‎G’d filling the whole universe and the soul permeating the entire ‎human body. G’d sees all without being seen, and the soul ‎similarly sees without being seen by a human eye. G’d provides ‎nourishment for all His creatures, and the soul provides spiritual ‎nourishment for the whole body. G’d is ritually pure, and the soul ‎remains ritually pure. G’d’s domain is in the innermost holy place, ‎and the soul’s abode is also in the innermost part of the body. ‎David appeals to G’d Who possesses these five attributes to bless ‎his soul that also possesses five comparable attributes. At the ‎same time we have a saying in the Zohar III 73 that just as ‎the Torah is supernatural and contains revealed and hidden ‎aspects, so it contains both hidden and revealed names of the ‎Lord. The four hidden aspects of G’d are that G’d sees while ‎Himself invisible, He provides nourishment, (though unseen); G’d ‎resides in the innermost part of the celestial regions is another ‎one of His hidden aspects. His is pure and incapable of becoming ‎impure; one of His hidden features is His ability to feed the ‎universe without His requiring nourishment Himself. However, ‎the fact that He fills the entire universe is the visible aspect of ‎G’d. When Joseph spoke about the four parts out of five that ‎would belong to the Egyptian farmer to use for himself and his ‎family, this was an allusion to the four hidden aspects of G’d, ‎whereas the fifth part that would be given to Pharaoh was an ‎allusion to the visible part of G’d. It is possible that on occasion ‎this fifth aspect of G’d becomes revealed as the letter ‎ה‎=5 is the ‎last letter in the tetragram, the holiest of G’d’s names. It is ‎accepted in kabbalistic circles that the last letter in the tetragram ‎alludes to G’d when He manifests Himself.‎

Genesis 47,27 “Israel (not Yaakov), settled in the land ‎of Goshen,” [here the name Israel, for the first time, ‎refers to the Jewish people, in its infancy, Ed.] “They ‎acquired holdings in it and became fruitful and multiplied ‎greatly.” It is an accepted principle that when a ‎‎tzaddik (for whatever reason) is forced to reside among ‎pagans, some of the cultural values of the people surrounding ‎him confuse him, and when it comes to the stage that he ‎entertains love for the forbidden or awe of the idols worshipped ‎by the people surrounding him, some “tzaddikim” become ‎totally corrupted, whereas others succeed in utilizing alien ‎philosophies and turn them to good use through sublimating ‎them in their service of the One and Only true G’d. The reason ‎that the latter type of tzaddik is able to do this, is that he ‎says to himself that if cultural values that are evidently vain and ‎ultimately useless, have attracted so much love and esteem by ‎their supporters, how much more love and esteem must he, the ‎‎tzaddik, bring to the service of the true and everlasting G’d! ‎When the Torah writes in our paragraph that the Israelites ‎‎“adopted” i.e. were taken captive, ‎ויאחזו‎, by the prevailing ‎cultural values of the Egyptians, the meaning is that they were ‎able to sublimate these values and yet remain Yisrael at the ‎same time.