Diplomacy and Yaakov’s Final Resting Place

 

R. Yaakov Bieler

Parshat VaYechi, 5766

 

Parshat VaYechi describes another of the dilemmas confronted by Yosef, the Jewish administrator of Egypt, whereby the conflicting demands of nation and family once again threaten to deepen the already existing tension between Pharoah and his second-in-command.[1]

 

Prior to Yaakov’s death, he makes quite clear first to his son Yosef, and then later to all of his offspring, the exact location of his intended burial site.   

 

Beraishit 47:29-31

And the days approached when it was time for Yaakov to die. And he called to his son Yosef, and he said to him: If I have found favor in your eyes, please place your hand under my thigh, and you will do with me kindness and truth. Please do not bury me in Egypt.

And I will lie down with my fathers, and you will carry me up from Egypt and bury me in their burial place. And he (Yosef) said: I will do in accordance with your words.

And he (Yaakov) said: Swear to me. And he swore to him, and Yisrael bowed at the head of his bed.

 

Beraishit 49:29-33

And he commanded them, and he said to them: And I will be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors, in the cave located in the field of Ephron, for an inherited burial place.

There they buried Avraham and Sara his wife, there they buried Yitzchak and Rivka his wife, and there I buried Leah.

The field and the cave within it acquired from the descendents of Cheit.

And Yaakov finished commanding his sons, and he gathered his feet to the bed, and he expired and he was gathered to his people.

 

In both instances, not only does Yaakov reiterate that he is to be buried in Canaan, but he even elicits an oath from Yosef as well as issues a command to the rest of his children to carry out his wishes. One would think that a dying father’s instructions would be followed precisely without his having to enunciate them in a technically legally binding fashion. Was Yaakov simply reflecting a lack of trust in his sons based upon his many disappointments over the years, or was there good reason for him to worry that his final resting place would end up being Egypt rather than the Ma’arat HaMachpeila in Chevron were he not to make every effort to prevent this from happening?

 

Many commentators understand Yaakov’s demanding from his sons a higher standard of legal commitment than mere verbal agreement to fulfill his final directive as reflecting his astute understanding of the pressures that will be brought to bear, particularly upon Yosef, to make Egypt Yaakov’s final resting place. Several sources reflect that the Egyptians fully intended to turn Yaakov’s eventual gravesite into an object of idolatry. RaShI on 47:29, based upon Beraishit Rabba 96:5 notes that Yaakov’s insistence not be buried in Egypt was for this very reason.[2]^,[3] Although the standard version of the Midrash offers a somewhat self-centered rationale for Yaakov’s concern—“…since just as those who worship idolatry will be punished, so too the objects of such worship, as in Shemot 12:12 ‘…and against all of the gods of Egypt I will Carry out judgments’…”—R. Menachem Kasher[4] cites an alternative version of the Midrashic text: “Another idea: Yaakov said: I don’t want the Egyptians to be mistaken concerning me…”, i.e., Yaakov did not want to be the cause of additional idolatry on the part of the Egyptians.[5] The Midrash provides an additional justification for Yaakov’s fears in this regard, expanding the issue from Yaakov’s personal concerns to one of respect for God and Judaism:

 

Mishnat Rabbi Eliezer, Parshat 19, p. 347 (Tora Shleima, p. 1730, #113)

Another idea: He was fearful that when the plagues would descend upon Egypt, lest they (the Egyptians) come and surround his grave (were it to be located in Egypt) in order to supplicate on their behalves.[6] If he accedes to their request and prays for them (that the plagues cease), he will be saving the enemies of HaShem. And if he does not, then a Profanation of God’s Name will result and they will say that there never was anything holy about Yaakov.[7]

 

In a less theological vein, RaMBaN on 47:31 suggests among various hypotheses, that Yaakov might have been concerned that Pharoah would consider it an insult to allow the father of his Viceroy to be buried in a country other than Egypt, and he would turn down the request. Would it not appear ungrateful and disrespectful on the part of Yaakov and his family to turn their backs on the land which had offered them refuge from the difficult years of famine, in order to return to their homeland for the burial of their patriarch? Meshech Chachma on 50:5 adds that having Yaakov, who like his son, seems to be so spiritual and prophetic, buried in Egypt would constitute a great honor and tribute to the Egyptian people. Perhaps the implied disrespect would at least initially not be tolerated by Pharoah, and unless his sons were given overwhelming motivation to resist Pharoah’s objections, they would end up not carrying out Yaakov’s wishes.

 

Another factor with regard to Pharoah’s potential resistance to permitting Yaakov to be buried in Canaan is raised by Chizkuni on 50:4 when the commentator notes that Pharoah’s concerns might not have focused as much on Yaakov as on Yosef, i.e., Egypt cannot afford to allow Yosef to leave even for a short period since his work is so crucial to Egypt’s continued success during difficult times, and, of even more concern, is the prospect that after Yaakov’s funeral in Canaan, Yosef may decide to remain there and never return to Egypt. In order to attempt to prevent Yosef’s possible abandonment of Egypt, Pharoah might simply insist that no one leave Egypt, and Yaakov would in the end have to be buried there. As it turns out, Yosef becomes a case in point, since he similarly expresses the wish to be buried in Canaan at the end of his life (50:25), but nevertheless is first buied in Egypt until the Redemption, as stated in Shemot 13:19 (see fn. 3). The only reason why Yaakov did not suffer a similar fate was because Yosef had some sort of leverage by which he could extract Pharoah’s consent to allow him to bury Yaakov in Canaan immediately following his death; apparently once Yosef dies, no one had comparable authority or influence with the King to arrange for Yosef’s burial in the Ma’arat HaMachpeila, until the Exodus from Egypt took place almost 200 years later. It is intriguing to wonder how Yosef was able to convince Pharoah to allow him to fulfill his father’s final wishes.

 

The Rabbis believe that the key to Yosef’s success with Pharoah in this regard lies with the oath that Yaakov made Yosef take regarding his father’s burial. Once Yaakov dies and the mourning period is concluded, Yosef immediately goes to Pharoah to apprise him of what Yaakov has made his son promise to do.

 

Beraishit 50:4-6

And the days of the crying for him (Yaakov) passed, and Yosef spoke to the house of Pharoah,[8] saying: If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak now in the ears of Pharoah saying:

My father caused me to swear saying: Behold I am dying. In the grave that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there bury me. And now I will please go up and I will bury my father and I will return.

And Pharoah said: Go up and bury your father as he caused you to swear.

 

Ohr HaChayim imagines Pharoah at first being quite chagrined by Yosef informing him of the commitment that he had made to his father. How dare Yosef attempt to force Pharoah into granting permission for him to leave Egypt, even for a short while? What right did Yosef have to make such a commitment without first consulting with his master? The commentator therefore understands Yosef’s message as an attempt to address such anticipated objections on the part of Pharoah. Yosef states that he didn’t have time to ask Pharoah’s permission since Yaakov extracted the oath while he was dying. NeTzIV adds that Yosef suggests in his message that agreeing to taking this oath was not a matter of choice, and that just as a master could force his servant to swear, as Avraham had insisted that Eliezer swear to him that he would not betroth a Canaanite woman for Yitzchak (24:2), so too could a father impose such an oath upon his son according to Jewish tradition. Meshech Chachma notes that Yosef carefully never discloses to Pharoah that he voluntarily agreed to carry out Yaakov’s wishes, independent of the oath (47:30 “…and he said: I will do in accordance with your words”) because this would make him appear to be traitorous to the people and nation that appointed him ruler and ungrateful for all of the good that has been extended to him. As to the reason for why Yosef was obligated to agree to taking the oath to his father, the commentator cites an aspect of the laws of oaths recorded by RaMBaM:

 

RaMBaM, Mishna Tora, Hilchot Shevuot 5:1,4

…Anyone who takes an oath regarding others that they will do such and such, or they will not do something, even if these others are one’s children or his wife, he is not considered obligated for having uttered an oath, for it is not in his power either to fulfill or to prevent, and he is punished with lashes (Rabbinic corporeal punishment) for it is not within his power to fulfill this oath and therefore he has given rise to a needless oath (see Shemot 23:1; Devarim 5:16).

What are we referring to? When he swears concerning something that is not in his control, e.g., if Reuven takes an oath that Shimon should not engage in business or that he should not eat meat, etc. But if Reuven swears that Shimon should not enter his (Reuven’s) house or that he should not benefit from his possessions, and Shimon violates the oath and enters Reuven’s house or benefits from his possessions without Reuven’s knowledge, Reuven is exempt because this violation took place under duress, and Shimon would be considered culpable since he transgressed something that had been prohibited to him to do, since this one took an oath concerning something that was within his control.

 

Meshech Chachma posits according to Ta’anit 5b that while ordinarily, once a person dies, his body no longer belongs to him since a dead person cannot “own” anything, nevertheless there is a Rabbinic tradition to the effect that Yaakov did not “die” in the normal sense of the term,[9] and consequently was in control of what would happen to his body and where it was to be interred.

 

But the most intriguing discussion concerning the power of the oath that Yosef tells Pharoah he took regarding the location of where his father is to be buried is cited by a number of commentators including RaShI on 50:6, and appears originally in Sota.

 

Sota 36b

R. Chiya bar Abba said in the name of R. Yochanan: At the moment when Pharoah said to Yosef (41:44) “And without you no one shall lift up his hand, etc.”, Pharoah’s magicians exclaimed: Will you set over us a slave whose master bought him for 20 pieces of silver? He replied to them: I discern in him royal attributes. They said to him: In that case, he must be acquainted with the 70 languages. Gavriel came and taught Yosef the 70 languages, but he could not learn them. Therefore Gavriel added to his name a letter from the Name of the Holy One Blessed Be He, and he learnt the languages, as it is said, (Tehillim 81:6) “He Appointed it in ‘Yehosef’ (Yosef’s name spelled with an additional “Heh”) for a testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt, where I (Yosef) heard a language that I knew not.” The next day, in whatever language Pharoah conversed with him, he answered him. But when Yosef spoke to him in Hebrew, he did not understand what he said. So he asked him to teach it to him. He taught it to him, but he could not learn it. Pharoah said to him: Swear to me that you will not reveal this, and he swore to him. When Yosef later said to him: My father made me take an oath saying…”, he responded to him: Go ask to be released from your oath. He replied to him: I will ask to be released from my oath concerning you. Therefore although it was displeasing to him, Pharoah said to him: Go up and bury your father in accordance with the oath that he made you swear.

 

According to this Aggada, had Yaakov not imposed an oath upon Yosef, Yosef would not have had any bargaining power with Pharoah. The Gemora suggests that not only was Yosef exceptionally competent for the role to which he had been appointed, but that he was a superior ruler compared even to Pharoah and potentially could have replaced him. Pharoah wins Yosef’s silence and tacit public support by giving in to his demands concerning Yaakov’s burial. Yosef faced the same “Catch-22” that is created when one is extremely successful. On the one hand, one’s supervisor is given credit for the success of his employee; on the other, the supervisor is threatened by the implications of that success. The Rabbinic passage suggests a powerful tension existing between Pharoah and his administrator, one that subsequent Pharoah’s were only too happy to overturn in the following generations when Yosef’s dominance receded from memory.

 

Once again we reflect upon the narrow tightrope that Yosef had to walk in his role as Egypt’s savior and his family’s protector. All of us in one form or another are confronted with multiple and conflicting loyalties in terms of our various roles, professions, personal relationships and responsibilities. May we prove as successful at juggling them all as was Yosef.

 

Shabbat Shalom.