Comentário sobre Gênesis 50:10

גרן האטד THE THRESHING FLOOR OF ATAD — It was so called because it was surrounded by a hedge of (אטדין) thorns (not because thorns were threshed there) Our Rabbis explained that it was so called in consequence of an incident that occurred there — that all the kings of Canaan and the princes of Ishmael came to wage war against them, but as soon as they saw Joseph’s crown hanging over Jacob’s coffin they all rose and hung their crowns on it and thus wreathed it with crowns like a threshing floor that is surrounded with a hedge of thorns (Sotah 13a).

ויעש לאביו אבל שבעת ימים, “he observed a seven days’ mourning period for his father.” According to Ibn Ezra this took effect as soon as they had buried Yaakov in Machpelah, in accordance with the tradition handed down by our sages. Some commentators believe that Joseph first returned to Egypt from the threshing ground of Atad, for when all the kings of the region had assembled there and had expressed fear that the Egyptians would use their presence as a pretext to invade and annex their lands, the elders of Egypt reassured them explaining that Joseph would return to Egypt immediately after the burial. (compare in part Sotah 13).

גרן האטד, “Goren ha-Atad.” “The threshing floor of thorns.” This obviously does not make any sense as no one requires a threshing floor for threshing thorns. We must assume that the place was called such, just as we find that there was a place called גורן כידון, “the threshing ground of a spear” (Chronicles I 13,9). This too does not make sense in terms of the purpose of that threshing floor. Perhaps that threshing floor was surrounded by a large number of spears seeing that David said to Goliath: “you are confronting me with the sword, the spear, and the lance” (Samuel I 17,45).

ויספדו שם מספד גדול וכבד מאד. There are 9 different kinds of eulogy. They are:מספד, נהי, צעקה,היליל, נידה, מרזח, קינים, הגה, והי. All these expressions are documented in Scripture. The expression מספד (as here) occurs in Kings I 13,30 ויספדו עליו הוא אחי, “they lamented over it, saying: “alas” my brother.” The word נהי meaning eulogy, appears in Jeremiah 9,18, whereas the expressions צעקה and היליל meaning different types of eulogy occur in Ezekiel 21,14. The expression נידה occurs in Jeremiah 48,17 also meaning eulogy. The word מרזח is used in this sense in Jeremiah 16,5, whereas קינים occurs in that sense Ezekiel 2,6. When the Torah here uses the expression מספד גדול, a great mourning, the meaning is that the various types of eulogies to which we have referred were all used on that occasion. Basically, the Torah teaches that nine different groups of people all participated in the funeral cortege for Yaakov and each made its particular contribution to eulogising and demonstrating their appreciation of the contribution this man had made to mankind, not only to his family. A eulogy is a register of the positive contributions made by the deceased during his lifetime. An example of such a eulogy are the words spoken about King Sha-ul and his son Yonathan by King David: in Samuel II 1,23: הנאהבים והנעימים בחייהם ובמותם לא נפרדו, “who were beloved and pleasant and even in death refused to be parted from Him.” A properly composed eulogy contains elements describing the personal relationship between the survivor and the deceased such as David saying of Yonathan in that same chapter: צר לי עליך אחי יהונתן, “my brother Yonathan you were most dear to me, your love was more wonderful to me, more than the love of women.” King David also taught us something about a eulogy even for people who not always saw eye to eye with the one eulogising him, i.e Avner, at one time almost David’s arch enemy. Nonetheless, in Samuel II 3,33 David proclaims: “Should Avner have died the death of a churl? Your hands were not bound, your feet were not put in fetters; but you fell as one falls before treacherous men!” These examples teach that when eulogising one has to list the good people did, their contributions to life generally, emphasising that with the death of the deceased the survivors have been deprived of those values the deceased stood for. The prophet Ezekiel was even instructed by G’d to eulogise the city of Tzor (Tyre), (Ezekiel 27,2-3) although the major part of that eulogy bemoaned the abuse made by those people of the gifts and luxuries they had enjoyed thanks to G’d’s largesse. The exploits of these people are extolled in spite of their not finding favour in the eyes of the Lord. In verse 27 of that eulogy the fact that all these people, G’d’s creatures, were swept away in the prime of their lives is bemoaned. [The prophet Ezekiel did not say “good riddance.” Ed.] In Moed Katan the Talmud elaborates on the eulogy over the passing of Rabbi Pedot, the speaker commencing with describing the very day on which the sage died as a day which is difficult for the entire Jewish people, as difficult as the day when the sun set on the land of Egypt. This was a reference to Amos 8,9 “Shall not the earth shake for this, and all that dwell in it mourn? Shall it not all rise like the Nile, etc., etc.? I will make the sun set at noon, I will darken the earth on a sunny day, I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into dirges.” The demise of the power of Egypt was, of course, no reason for the Jewish people to mourn, but it was a reason for all the nations who considered Egypt as their patron to do so. There is sort of a formula of how the president of the Sanhedrin has to be eulogised, [to ensure one is not guilty of being remiss in eulogising him sufficiently, a grave sin. Ed.] Part of the formula contains the words: “the finest spices have been buried in the earth (where they cannot give off their fragrance) a man who knew all about the most intricate parts of Torah law such as the various skin eczemas, etc. and ritual impurities connected with oholot, a man able to remove any doubts which bothered Torah scholars of lesser stature. Someone able to explain all manner of hidden depths contained in the Torah.” The mourner continued to liken the deceased to the most outstanding judges in Israel such as Othniel. [The above is an example of a eulogy worthy of the name. Ed.]

ספד. מספד dürfte verwandt sein mit :זבד ein zugemessenes Teil, צבט bei Ruth: ebenfalls zumessen, zuteilen, ebenso שות ,שבט ,שפת ,שפט ,שפד, Grundbedeutung: jemandem etwas ihm Gebührendes zuteilen, oder etwas in die gebührende Stelle setzen. Demgemäß ספר: jemandem nun, nachdem er von uns geschieden, diejenige Stellung in unserer Erinnerung geben, die ihm gebührt. Vor dem הספר kann niemand von einem Menschen sagen, welche Stellung er in der Erinnerung werde einzunehmen haben, er kann sich noch in allerletzter Zeit zum Guten oder Bösen ändern; nur im הספר kann er die bleibende Einreihung in das Register der Menschen bekommen.

ויעש לאביו אבל שבעת ימים, “he observed a seven day mourning period for his father.” Some commentators claim that the chieftains of Esau as well as the prince of the Yishmaelites and the sons or grandsons of Keturah assembled at that location to honour the memory of Yaakov. This was a new mourning. It was the custom that when a relative of the deceased arrived from afar to participate in the funeral, a new additional rite of mourning is observed and they weep anew over their loss.

There they eulogized. The Egyptians mourned his passing bitterly because with his arrival the famine abated and with his death it returned.

That is that the priests were commanded to become impure for the relatives that are mentioned in the Torah. Since, on account of Scripture preventing them from becoming impure, for their glory, yet allowing them to become impure for the relatives, they perhaps would think that the option is theirs - if they want to become impure, they become impure; and if they do not want, they do not become impure. [Hence] He made a decree upon them and made it obligatory upon them. And that is His, may He be exalted and may His name be blessed, saying, "for her he shall defile himself" (Leviticus 21:3) - that is to say, for his sister. And the language of the Sifra (Sifra, Emor, Section 2:12) is, "'For her he shall defile himself' - it is a commandment. If he does not want to become impure, we force him to become impure. And it happened with Yosef the priest, whose wife died on the eve of Pesach, and he did not wish to become impure for her, that the Sages pushed him and made him do so against his will." And this is actually the commandment of mourning - meaning that any Israelite is obligated to mourn for his relatives: That is, the six dead [relations about which he is] commanded. And to strengthen this obligation, He explained it with a priest, for whom impurity is prohibited - that he must become impure regardless - so that the law of mourning not be uprooted. And it has already been explained that the obligation of mourning is a positive commandment - however only on the first day, whereas the rest is rabbinic. And in the explanation, they said in Moed Katan (Moed Katan 14b), "He does not observe mourning on the festival. If the mourning is from before, the positive commandment of the many pushes off the positive commandment of an individual." Behold it has been made clear to you that the obligation of mourning is a positive commandment - however only on the first day, whereas the rest is rabbinic. And even a priest is obligated to observe mourning on the first day and become impure for his relatives - and understand this. And the regulations of this commandment have already been explained in Tractate Berakhot, in Ketuvot and in the Sifra, Parashat Emor. And women are not obligated in this, that one be obligated to become impure for one's relatives. For the one that is prohibited from becoming impure for others besides the relatives is also the one who is commanded to become impure for the relatives. Whereas women of the priestly order, who were not prohibited from becoming impure with a corpse - as will be explained in its place (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 166) - were likewise not commanded to become impure. But they do practice mourning and are permitted to become impure. And know this. (See Parashat Emor; Mishneh Torah, Mourning 1.)