Commento su Esodo 13:19

השבע השביע HE HAD STRAITLY ADJURED — He had made them swear that they would make their children swear. But why did he not make his sons swear that they would take him to the land of Canaan immediately on his death, as Jacob had made his sons swear? Joseph said: I was a ruler in Egypt and I had sufficient power to do what my father desired; but my sons — the Egyptians will not permit them to do this. Consequently he made them swear that when they would be delivered and would go forth from there that they would take him up with them (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 13:19:8).

"And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him": this verse is juxtaposed to the previous verse "the jews ascended(Egypt) armed. because it states in the midrach Yalkut of this portion that the jews would journey in the desert with two arks, that of the ark of the Shechinah(the tablets of moses) and that of Joseph and the nations of the world would ask , what is the point of having this ark of joseph together with the ark of the coveneant and they would answer,"this one fulfilled what is in this one", for joseph fulfilled all the ten commandments etc.

ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו, seeing that he was now the leader of the nation it was up to him to make good on the oath Joseph

פקד יפקד אלוקים, "when G'd will surely remember you, etc." The reason the Torah repeats the word פקד is in order to emphasise the manner in which Moses kept faith with the promise made to Joseph by his brothers. The first time the word פקד simply means that G'd will certainly keep His promise to redeem the Israelites. This included only removal of the negative aspects of the Jews' exile. There was, however, also a positive aspect to the bondage, the one described in Genesis 15,14, namely that the Israelites would leave Egypt as wealthy people. According to Bechorot 5 not a single Israelite took less than ninety donkeys' loads of silver and gold out of Egypt. Joseph foresaw that the Israelites' preoccupation with loading the animals with all these valuables were a reason for their leaving his bones behind; this is why he made the brothers swear that even the preoccupation with their newly acquired wealth should not make them forget his bones at that time. In any event Moses was the only one who instead of loading his animals with valuables went in search of Joseph's remains and eventually loaded Joseph's bier on his donkey (compare Shemot Rabbah 20,19). At a later date G'd rewarded Moses by letting him keep the splinters of the precious stones from which he carved the second set of tablets.

ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו, “Moses took the earthly remains of Joseph with him.” Actually, the Torah should have written this verse already when reporting the very first move of the Israelites out of Ramses. (12,37) Why did the Torah report it as if belonging to the second day of the Israelites’ journeys? We may have to answer that whereas on the first day the Israelites took the remains of all the sons of Yaakov collectively, whereas only on the second day did they get around to separating Joseph’s coffin from those containing the remains of the other brothers.

ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף, “Moses took the remains of Joseph, etc.” While the Israelites were still preoccupied with material concerns such as demanding silver and gold from the Egyptians, Moses was preoccupied with nobler matters, needs of the soul, by performing the commandment of seeing to it that Joseph would eventually be interred in Eretz Yisrael. This was in accordance with Proverbs 10,8 quoted in Sotah 13, that “he whose heart is wise accepts commands.” Joseph had acquired the merit of having brought his father Yaakov to burial in Eretz Yisrael; as a result he received the distinction of having his own remains taken out of Egypt by someone greater than him, by Moses. In return for having performed this commandment Moses himself was interred by someone greater than he himself, by the Almighty personally, as we know from Deut. 34,6: “He (G’d) buried him in the valley, etc.” I have discussed this matter in connection with Joseph’s death (Genesis 50,28). We have also found a Bereshit Rabbah 87,10 that Moses needed to take Joseph with him as otherwise he could not have split the Sea of Reeds. This miracle occurred as a compensation for Joseph who at the time had fled from the presence of his master Potiphar’s wife, placing himself in a most embarrassing situation by leaving his garments inside the house (Genesis 39,12). The Torah describes his departure there as וינס ויצא החוצה, “he fled-and went outside.” We find the same word וינס applied to the motion of the Sea when G’d (Moses) parted it (Psalms 114,3 ) הים ראה וינס, “the Sea saw and fled.” What did the Sea see which made it retreat? “It saw the remains of Joseph.” We find another similarity of expression between what happened to the brothers and Joseph and to something which happened at the Sea. In Genesis 50,21 when Joseph tries to calm his brothers’ fears that now that Yaakov was dead he would revenge himself on them, וינחם אותם וידבר על לבם, “he comforted them and spoke to their heart.” A the splitting of the Sea we find the expression (Exodus 15,8) בלב ים, “in the heart of the Sea.”

Swear that they will make their children swear. [How does Rashi know this? The answer is:] It cannot be that [the repetitive השבע השביע is merely because] the Torah speaks as people do, [and the oath was for Yoseif’s generation alone]. For how is it possible that Yoseif’s generation would leave Egypt? They needed to be in Egypt for 400 years, or at least for 210! Furthermore, [if Yoseif’s oath was for that generation alone,] how would [we explain the word כי ? I.e., how would] the oath be the reason [for Moshe to take along Yoseif’s bones]? Perforce, “He made them swear that they will make their children swear.” This is preferable to Re”m’s explanation. (Nachalas Yaakov)

V. 19. Es dürfte zu erwägen sein, warum diese Tatsache hier und nicht oben bei dem ersten Aufbruch von Raamses berichtet worden. Soll es vielleicht den Gegensatz hervorheben? Sechsmalhunderttausend bewaffneten Männern wurde die Zuversicht nicht zugetraut, dass sie aus jedem zum Besitze des von Gott verheißenen Landes führenden Kampfe eben dieser Verheißung willen siegreich hervorgehen würden — und der wahre Jude, wie Josef, blickt selbst über seinen Tod hinaus mit Zuversicht auf die Erfüllung göttlicher Verheißungen hin und findet sich nicht getäuscht. Gott ist שומר אמונתו לישני עפר auch in diesem Sinne. So betrachtet, waren diese dem Zuge vorangetragenen Gebeine Josefs die lauteste Predigt an das um seines Kleinmuts willen in den Umweg durch die Wüste geführte Volk.

כי השבע השביע, the repetition of the words “he made swear repeatedly,” was that Joseph did not know which generation would experience the Exodus. Joseph had told his brothers that by committing them to this oath he was not asking them for a favour: they who had been instrumental in his being dragged to Egypt as a slave if they wanted to complete the act of repentance,must ensure that he would be brought to burial in the land of his forefathers from where he had been kidnapped. He had performed a mission on his father’s behalf when he came to Sh’chem (Genesis 37,14) and this is why he expected to be buried near there. This is where he was interred eventually, as we know from Joshua 24,32.

והעליתם את עצמתי מזה אתכם THEN YE SHALL BRING UP MY BONES AWAY HENCE WITH YOU — It was his brothers whom he made swear thus; consequently this tells us that they (the Israelites who left Egypt) must have brought up with them the bones of all Jacob’s sons (lit., the tribes) since it is said “with you” (with your own bones) (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 13:19:11).

Another point, because Moses saw that the lord blessed is he, was leading them towards the sea of reeds , and moses thought"lest the sea stop us, it will split in the merit of joseph" the reason we explained above in Parshat Vayeishev

השבע השביע את בני ישראל, any obligation undertaken communally must be honoured by the leader of that community when the time and opportunity presents itself to discharge that obligation.

Why did he not bind his sons by oath. . . Meaning: And then he would not need to make them swear to make their children swear. Rashi answers, “Yoseif said: ‘I was a ruler in Egypt. . .’” This, explains why Rashi asked his question on the verse rather than on his explanation of it. [It is because the repetitive השבע השביע clearly shows that Yoseif made them swear to make their children swear.] Furthermore, [this explains] why Rashi did not ask this question in Bereishis 50:25, where the oath itself is stated. [It is because Rashi’s question arises only due to the words השבע השביע ]. (Devek Tov)

מזה אתכם, "with you from this place." The word מזה does not mean "from here," i.e. that Joseph thought the brothers would have to locate his remains exactly in the place where he made them swear this oath. Joseph used the expression as the reason he asked the brothers to swear such an oath. He considered it as a small repayment of all the favours he had done for the brothers during their stay in Egypt. He went so far as to hint that taking his bones out of Egypt for burial in the Holy Land would compensate for the time when they had separated themselves from their brotherhood with him; the angel had told Joseph in Genesis 37,17 that the brothers נסעו מזה "had departed from זה" (the number 12, symbol for the 12 brothers, compare Bereshit Rabbah 84). Joseph used the words מזה אתכם to indicate that if the brothers would fulfil their oath he would consider them as having re-instated him in their midst. The sin they had committed against him at that time would then have been wiped out. In other words, Joseph would forgive the brothers posthumously, for simply swearing the oath.

Moshe took … with him. While the rest of Yisrael were collecting booty, Moshe was occupied with mitzvos. The phrase “with him” hints that Moshe disdained to take from the spoils because unlike the good deed of tending to the dead, it would not go “with him” to the next world. On account of this the Sages (Sotah 13a) apply to him the verse, “One who is wise in heart takes (i.e. acquires) mitzvos” (Mishlei 10:8). Moshe may have chosen this particular mitzvah to engage in at this time to remind B’nei Yisrael of the day of death so that they would be less enthralled by the plunder.

It was his brothers that he bound by this oath. . . [Rashi is saying that here,] “B’nei Yisrael” means Yaakov’s sons. And the meaning of “Elohim will surely remember you” is that He will remember your children, who are in your place. Otherwise, [if Yoseif was not speaking to his brothers,] why would it say אתכם ? Therefore Rashi explains that Yoseif bound his brothers by this oath, and אתכם is referring to his brothers’ bones. Thus, the verse means as follows: “Elohim will surely remember you,” i.e., “your children.” “You must carry up” is Yoseif’s command [to his brothers]: Make your children swear to carry my bones up with yours.