Musar su Genesi 35:44

Since the commission of even such a "shade of an impropriety" can harm the public image of someone perceived as a צדיק, Jacob had to be punished. Dinah was raped, i.e. became someone's sex partner without benefit of the holy state of matrimony. Her brothers described such relations as only being conducted with a harlot, i.e. that only harlots were sexually violated (34, 31). The episode in which Reuben is described as having slept with Bilhah (35, 22) is also perceived as an indirect result of the flaw in Jacob's piety discovered by the guardian angel of Esau.

In Genesis 44,17, Joseph said to his brothers: ואתם עלו לשלום אל אביכם, "As for you, go up in peace to your father." The word אתם, in that connection was used advisedly. Joseph meant that the brothers themselves could come to their Father in Heaven safely, i.e. they would not in this world suffer the execution as kidnappers who sell their prey. On a future occasion, however, their re-incarnates would have to pay for the crime with their lives. The Ten Martyrs mentioned were the ones who had to pay with their lives for that sin which had gone unpunished for so long. The allusion in the verse just quoted serves some Kabbalists as the reason why Reuben, who had not been a party to the sale of Joseph, was included among those who were executed for the crime. His sin had been of a different nature, namely the incident described in Genesis 35, 22, involving Bilhah. Reuben's own words provide us with a hint of this when he said after discovering that Joseph had been removed from the pit (37, 30): ואני, אנה אני בא, "Where can I go to?" Rabbi Abraham Saba in his Tzror Hamor comments on this that the letters in the words and אני and אנה are the respective first letters of א-ל נקמות י-ה-ו-ה נקמות הופיע, "G–d of retribution, Lord, G–d of retribution, appear!" (Psalms 94, 1) The reincarnations of Joseph and Benjamin were not among the Ten Martyrs described.

הסירו את אלהי הנכר . Man must make an effort to return to G–d wholeheartedly at all times, and to remove from his home all alien and forbidden objects, foods, etc. Anything that is displeasing in the eyes of G–d is called Avodah Zarah, a form of alien deity. We must keep our homes pure so as to conform with the Torah's command to the Jewish soldier: והיה מחניך קדוש, "ensure that your camp is holy" (Deut. 23, 15).

Verse 3, i.e. the words אף חובב עמים, require analysis. Rashi writes that the two words mean that G–d displayed this additional love for Israel by treating each tribe as a whole nation. He bases this on G–d's blessing of Jacob in Genesis 35,11 where He refers to the as yet unborn Benjamin as a "nation." Rashi's comment on this verse is generally understood to mean that the title "nation" bestowed on a mere tribe indicates special fondness for that tribe. I do not believe that this is what Rashi had in mind. I believe that Rashi referred to the words אף חובב as meaning "a different dimension of fondness." The word אף indicates something additional. We have evidence of this in the statement in Avot 3,14: חביבין ישראל שנקראו בנים למקום, followed by the words: חיבה יתירה נודעת להם שנקראו בנים למקום. "Israel are beloved of G–d for they are called 'children of G–d.' They enjoy an additional degree of fondness (by G–d) for they have been called 'children of G–d.'" The very repetition of the wording in these two statements in the Mishnah makes it plain that the author wanted to tell us that the "fondness," חיבה, described here is not of the ordinary variety. Rashi meant to convey the same idea, i.e. that the fondness displayed by G–d for Israel is not of the ordinary variety. The verse refrains from spelling out the nature of this different dimension of "fondness" G–d displays for the Jewish people. The example Rashi quoted is only an illustration of the fact that Israel the nation is referred to in the plural i.e. as עמים, instead of merely as עם. This is why Rashi quoted the example of the tribe of Benjamin itself as being called a nation. The additional dimension of G–d's fondness for Israel then is that the whole nation is called עמים (pl.), and not that a single tribe of it is called עם. Personally, I feel that these words allude to something else. Since the Torah has many facets I may be allowed to state my own view. I understand the word אף here as hinting to us that the words חובב עמים should be read as if they had been repeated, the message being that the Torah also alludes to the light which has been hidden and will only be revealed to the righteous in the future. Since it is going to be revealed to them exclusively, this represents an additional dimension of G–d's fondness for us because we cleave to G–d.

Such a man is himself considered as a tabernacle, a temple and an altar. This is as our sages said (Gen. Rabba 62:6): "'and G-d went up from him' (Gen.35:13) - the forefathers are the divine chariot". Likewise, they said: "the righteous are the divine chariot".

Balak and Bileam were both very clever and learned people who used their knowledge to evil purpose. They were both well aware of the close relationship that existed between Israel and its G–d. Balak was even wiser than Bileam. He was privy to the great chain of the dynasty of David and how it would eventually result in the Messiah's descent from David. He knew that this very strength of Israel was rooted in himself, i.e. עצום ממני, as we have outlined. The reason he was afraid was that he realized that purity can emerge from an impure source, that the good can have an evil source, in order that the מלאך רע would have to say אמן, as we have explained above. This is why his mind worked overtime to devise a plan to sever this close relationship between Israel and its G–d. He wanted to reverse the relationship. He thought that if he were to succeed all the deeds of valour that would be performed by David in the future would accrue to his own people instead of to Israel. This is why the paragraph starts by telling us "Balak son of Tzippor saw all that Israel had done to the Emorite." The three names by which Balak refers to Israel represent three distinct merits or advantages of Israel. He called them עם, because they were very numerous, since G–d had blessed them to become as "numerous as the stars in the sky" (Genesis 22,17). The description בני ישראל, implies an even closer relationship with G–d. When Balak referred to Israel as ישראל he described their highest level, the level that we hope to attain when we all qualify to be the elite. The word בני, "sons of," implies that we are only branches of something just as children are branches, offshoots of their parents. ישראל on the other hand is the trunk that these offshoots come from, the place in which the image of the original Israel, the fighter for G–d, our patriarch, is engraved, the throne of G–d Himself. That is the source from which all souls are "hewn" as from a quarry. As mentioned, Balak was well aware of the cosmic forces and the role Israel played in that constellation. In order to loosen the bond between Israel and G–d he wanted Bileam to curse them at the precise moment in time when G–d is "angry." The significance of a curse is to reinforce the voice of the accuser who brings Israel's iniquities to G–d's attention at that moment when G–d allows Himself to become angry, i.e. the רגע של זעם. Since Bileam was a יודע דעת עליון, privy to G–d's mind, he knew the right time and he also knew how to present an unfavorable picture of someone. He was the ideal man for this task. Balak had a vision of an imminent sin Israel would commit, as proved indeed the case when they sinned shortly thereafter by becoming seduced by the daughters of Moab. This is why he urged Bileam ועתה לך ארה לי, "curse them for me now," seeing that their punishment by G–d would follow almost immediately. Balak had seen the expression of G–d's closeness to Israel by the many miracles G–d had performed for that people. All this is reflected in the Torah's stating וירא בלק את כל אשר עשה ישראל לאמורי, "Balak saw all that Israel had done to the Emorite." He realised that only a people who enjoyed such a lofty spiritual status as indicated by the name ישראל, could have accomplished that feat. Although Balak had witnessed the defeat of the Emorite, seeing that he had been one of the princes of the Emorite, his people had not seen it, had only heard about it. Hence when describing the feelings of his people, the term used for Israel is simply "העם." Nonetheless, even the people of Moab were aware that there existed a special relationship between Israel and its G–d; hence ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל. When the Moabites discussed what to do with the elders of Midian who were not aware of the special relationship between G–d and Israel, they emphasized the numerical strength of the Jewish people by referring to them as קהל, meaning that every individual tribe qualified for the description עם, and that they were as described in Genesis 35,11, גוי וקהל גוים ממך יצאו, "a nation as well as a community of nations will come out of you." The expression קהל then emphasizes the twelve tribes that between them made up this nation.

There is a special reason why the Midrash chose Abigail to serve as an example of the merits that would be acquired by Jacob's descendants. I have found something on the subject in the writings of the Arizal The latter comments on Hoseah 12, 13: ויעבוד ישראל באשה, ובאשה שמר. "There Israel served for a wife; for a wife he had to guard (sheep). I have mentioned elsewhere that Abgail was the mystique or re-incarnation of Leah. I have explained that during the first union of man and wife, the male deposits a spiritual essence -רוח- within the womb of his wife, something which does not leave the body of his wife even at her death. The implications of this idea are elaborated on by the "Saba" in the Zohar on Parshat Mishpatim (Sullam edition page 34). We can see that in the case of Jacob, who deposited this spiritual essence in Rachel, he did experience the emergence of a Benjamin, whose birth the Torah described in the following words: ויהי בצאת נפשה כי מתה ותקרא שמו בנימין. "It happened when her soul left her, for she was about to die…she called his name Benjamin." [This is the version in the author's quote of the Arizal; I am aware of the true reading in the Torah. Ed.] The spiritual essence which Jacob had deposited within Rachel was called “נפשה,” and became Benjamin. The spirit Jacob had deposited within Leah during his first union with her, however, remained within her, and eventually became Abigail. [This is an explanation of the theory that nothing is ever lost in this world, and that semen that does not fertilize will eventually perform its allocated task. When you pursue this idea in the Zohar you will find that the levirate marriage is based on the brother of the deceased being able to access this residue of his deceased brother's spirit in the womb of the widow of his brother's wife. Ed.] The child emerging from this spiritual essence was expected to be a male. Since however, "Israel had served for a wife," he found afterwards that he had indeed guarded sheep for "a woman."

As long as the angel's prediction about G–d changing Jacob's name had not been fulfilled, Jacob still bore the marks of his nocturnal encounter with Samael on his body. Dinah's rape was the visible effect of the contact with impurity during the encounter in which Jacob's thigh joint was injured. One of his offspring, Dinah, became infected with טומאת מגע, impurity contracted due to contact with something impure, as a direct consequence of her father's physical contact with something impure. The Torah (34,2) describes the rapist as שכם בן חמור החוי. The word החוי is an allusion to the original serpent which is called חויא in Aramaic. We have explained earlier that this נחש, i.e. its power, is active within the ירך, reproductive organs of man, and that this is the connection with the prohibition of the גיד הנשה. Through Dinah's experience, and the incident with Reuben in Bilhah's tent described later in 35,22 (although our sages view Reuben's deed as symbolical rather than actual, Shabbat 55b), any lingering vestige of the serpent's pollution was drained from Jacob, and after that his "bed" could be described as totally pure, or שלימה, in the parlance of our sages. It was at this point that G–d Himself bestowed the name ישראל on Jacob and blessed him.

If we follow Rashi -who understands the words אלון בכות in 35,8, immediately before the report of G–d changing Jacob's name and blessing him, as a veiled hint that Rebeccah had died- it seems strange that Jacob would experience a Divine vision at a time when he was in mourning for his mother. We have a tradition that one does not experience prophetic visions except when in a state of joy (Midrash Hagadol Vayigash 45, 27).

The sin of not honoring his mother was greater than the sin of not honoring his father, since people would curse the belly of a woman such as Rebeccah who had produced an Esau. Nachmanides already pointed out that the Torah does mention the death of Deborah, Rebeccah's nursemaid, whereas it does not mention the death of Rebeccah herself; this was to prevent people from cursing the mother who had given birth to an Esau. Nachmanides believes that to report Rebeccah's death might have been in bad taste, seeing that her favorite son could not attend her funeral whereas her other son Esau hated her. Rebeccah's husband Isaac was blind at the time of her death and could not perform the last rites on her. It would have been insulting to Rebeccah's memory to have the Torah mention that she had to be buried by the local Hittites. Nachmanides claims to have found something along these lines in Devarim Rabbah on Parshat Ki Tetze. Rebeccah was buried at night in order to save her embarrassment because her next of kin did not bury her. This is why Jacob named the tree אלון בכות, (plural instead of בכיה, which would have suggested weeping only for the death of Deborah). [I have not found this Midrash where it is supposed to be. Rabbi Chavell attributes this statement to a Tanchuma. Ed.] In view of these commentaries, we must understand the vision Jacob had at that time as a visit by G–d to Jacob in his capacity as a mourner; G–d simply visited him to console him over the loss of his mother Rebeccah. Knowledge of the fact that Esau was the only one who attended Rebeccah's funeral would cause people to consider Rebeccah as a source of curses. The Torah's main purpose was certainly not to confer honour on Deborah. This is what the allusions in our verse are all about. Thus far Nachmanides. [Actually there is more in Nachmanides. Ed.]We thus find that though G–d's blessing of Jacob-Israel in 35,11 includes a very important prophecy, and accords Israel a hitherto unattainable level of spiritual achievement; conversely it also alludes to a penalty that he will incur as a result of the circumstances surrounding the death of his mother.

The sin of not honoring his mother was greater than the sin of not honoring his father, since people would curse the belly of a woman such as Rebeccah who had produced an Esau. Nachmanides already pointed out that the Torah does mention the death of Deborah, Rebeccah's nursemaid, whereas it does not mention the death of Rebeccah herself; this was to prevent people from cursing the mother who had given birth to an Esau. Nachmanides believes that to report Rebeccah's death might have been in bad taste, seeing that her favorite son could not attend her funeral whereas her other son Esau hated her. Rebeccah's husband Isaac was blind at the time of her death and could not perform the last rites on her. It would have been insulting to Rebeccah's memory to have the Torah mention that she had to be buried by the local Hittites. Nachmanides claims to have found something along these lines in Devarim Rabbah on Parshat Ki Tetze. Rebeccah was buried at night in order to save her embarrassment because her next of kin did not bury her. This is why Jacob named the tree אלון בכות, (plural instead of בכיה, which would have suggested weeping only for the death of Deborah). [I have not found this Midrash where it is supposed to be. Rabbi Chavell attributes this statement to a Tanchuma. Ed.] In view of these commentaries, we must understand the vision Jacob had at that time as a visit by G–d to Jacob in his capacity as a mourner; G–d simply visited him to console him over the loss of his mother Rebeccah. Knowledge of the fact that Esau was the only one who attended Rebeccah's funeral would cause people to consider Rebeccah as a source of curses. The Torah's main purpose was certainly not to confer honour on Deborah. This is what the allusions in our verse are all about. Thus far Nachmanides. [Actually there is more in Nachmanides. Ed.]We thus find that though G–d's blessing of Jacob-Israel in 35,11 includes a very important prophecy, and accords Israel a hitherto unattainable level of spiritual achievement; conversely it also alludes to a penalty that he will incur as a result of the circumstances surrounding the death of his mother.

When Rashi refers to Jacob as staying behind to retrieve פכים קטנים, he meant that Jacob was solitary as long as Benjamin had not been born. When G–d had told Jacob at Bet El in 35,11: "Be fruitful and multiply…and kings will come forth from your loins," He used the plural to indicate that He referred to King Saul and his son Ish Boshet who were both anointed from a cruse. David and Solomon were anointed from a horn. Due to our various and numerous sins, G–d גדע, "dehorned Israel in a display of burning anger" (Lamentations 2,3), until in the future the horn of G–d's anointed Messiah will again be raised.