Pots and Peace – Vayechi
וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב אֶל בָּנָיו וַיֹּאמֶר הֵאָסְפוּ וְאַגִּידָה לָכֶם אֵת אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא אֶתְכֶם בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים. הִקָּבְצוּ וְשִׁמְעוּ בְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב וְשִׁמְעוּ אֶל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲבִיכֶם (בראשית מט, א-ב).
Before he died, Yaakov blessed his twelve sons, but this was not just a last will and testament, it was a prophetic vision relating to אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, the era of Mashiach. The Ba'al HaTurim on the second passuk (above) brings hints to this – "וְשִׁמְעוּ בְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב וְשִׁמְעוּ" in gematria is "הוּא בִּיקֵּשׁ לְגַלּוֹת הַקֵּץ". Also "וְשִׁמְעוּ אֶל יִשְׂרָאֵל" (with the כּוֹלֵל) in gematria is "זֶהוּ קִצּוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ".
In addition to the hints brought by the Ba'al HaTurim, there are others. "הֵאָסְפוּ וְאַגִּידָה לָכֶם אֵת אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא אֶתְכֶם בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים" in gematria is "וְגָר זְאֵב עִם כֶּבֶשׂ וְנָמֵר עִם גְּדִי יִרְבָּץ וְעֵגֶל וּכְפִיר וּמְרִיא יַחְדָּו וְנַעַר קָטֹן נֹהֵג בָּם", the famous prophecy of Yishayahu (11,6) referring to the era of peace that will prevail in the era of Mashiach. "בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים" in gematria is "אֶלֶף הַשִּׁשִּׁי".
In a previous shiur (Ki Tisa 2025) I discussed the methodology of Torat HaRemez and how the strength/validity of a hint is dependent on its "heat signature", the sheer number of related hints in a passuk. These psukkim have a high heat signature related to the era of Mashiach.
The Gemara (Pesachim 56a) quotes Reish Lakish saying that just prior to revealing this prophecy to them, the Shechina departed from Yaakov. Yaakov was perturbed by this and asked his sons "Perhaps there is some פְּסוּל amongst my sons that caused the Shechina to depart, like Avraham gave birth to Yishmael and Yitzchak gave birth to Eisav?"
The twelve sons responded שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱ-לקֵינוּ ה' אֶחָד, just like you have only One in your heart, so too do we only have One in our hearts. Yaakov, relieved to hear this, responded בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד. The Ba'al HaTurim also brings a hint to this in the second passuk above, the word שִׁמְעוּ can also be read שְׁמַע ו', referring to שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱ-לקֵינוּ ה' אֶחָד which has six words.
In this shiur I would like to explore an aspect regarding the era of Mashiach that is related to Yaakov's blessings to his twelve sons, who were to subsequently become the Twelve Tribes that make up Am Yisrael. The source of this idea is the Sfat Emet (ויגש, תרמ"ה) who focuses on just two tribes - Yosef and Yehuda – although it applies equally to all twelve. We will begin by bringing the original principle of the Sfat Emet and then extrapolate that to current events and hopefully obtain a deeper insight into the times we are living in, which are undoubtedly אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים.
The Sfat Emet says that certainly the dispute between Yosef and his brothers was a מַחְלֹקֶת לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, of the type referred to in the Mishna (Avot 5, 17), and not some personal vendetta related to ego.
Yaakov embodied the entire Torah, the absolute truth, as it says in the passuk תִּתֵּן אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב חֶסֶד לְאַבְרָהָם אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ מִימֵי קֶדֶם (מיכה ז, כ). Yaakov passed this Torah on to the Thirteen Tribes (if you consider Yosef two tribes – Ephraim and Menashe). This "composite" Torah in one person (Yaakov) was disseminated/distributed into thirteen distinct people, each reflecting one of the י"ג מִדּוֹת שֶׁהַתּוֹרָה נִדְרֶשֶׁת בָּהֶם which, all together, make up the composite whole.
Every morning, before Pesukei DeZimra, we recite the י"ג מִדּוֹת, the thirteen methodologies which are used to interpret the Torah (ספרא, ברייתא דרבי ישמעאל), which include (amongst others) קַּל וָחֹמֶר, גְּזֵרָה שָׁוָה, כְּלָל וּפְרָט, etc. Each of the tribes inherited their own מִדָּה in the Torah, their unique way of interpreting the Torah and serving HKB"H.
The Sfat Emet goes on to focus specifically on Yosef and Yehuda.
The Torah is compared to fire, as it says כֹה דְבָרִי כָּאֵשׁ נְאֻם ה' (ירמיהו כג, כט). The Torah is also compared to water, as it says הוֹי כָּל צָמֵא לְכוּ לַמַּיִם (ישעיהו נה, א).
Yosef is compared to fire, as it says וּבֵית יוֹסֵף לֶהָבָה (עובדיה א, יח). The attribute of fire is that it is always ascending. In terms of personality, it reflects וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ בְּדַרְכֵי ה', a heat of the spirit in the service of HKB"H, a positive enthusiasm, הִתְלַהֲבוּת, from the lashon of לֶהָבָה. To be viceroy of Egypt, the de facto leader of the greatest superpower of the era, requires passion, drive, charisma, authority and fire!
Yehuda, on the other hand, is compared to water. The attribute of water is that it is always descending, seeking out the lowest place. In terms of personality, it reflects submission, admission and humility before HKB"H. The name יְהוּדָה reflects these character traits, meaning both thanks הוֹדָיָה and confession וִדּוּי. Yehuda publicly admitted his error in the case of Tamar. To be a king requires integrity and willingness to take responsibility for one's actions.
Fire and water do not mix well. Either the fire evaporates the water or the water douses the fire. The Gemara (Brachot 56b) says that someone who sees a (cooking) pot in a dream, it symbolizes שָׁלוֹם. A pot makes peace between fire and water. By acting as a barrier between the two diametric opposites, the pot brings out the best of both. You fill the pot with water, place it over the fire and cook the food in the pot.
Cooking in a pot embodies a symbiotic combination of the powers of both fire and water. The water provides sauce to the dish being cooked, making it juicy and tasty and the fire provides the heat which allows for the chemical reactions of cooking to take place (gelatinization, protein denaturation, caramelization, etc.).
Heaven works according to the same model. There are different angels, each with different, unique מִדּוֹת and abilities. Michael is the angel of water while Gavriel is the angel of fire. HKB"H provides the context where these can all coexist in peace עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו (איוב כה, ב).
This, according to the Sfat Emet, is the model of the Twelve Tribes. Not that one force cancels the other out, but that they work together in a context that brings out the best of each of the energies, working together in symbiosis with a common goal, which is שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱ-לקֵינוּ ה' אֶחָד.
This is the incredible insight of the Sfat Emet, who says that this is not only relevant for the י"ב שְׁבָטִים, but also for the forces that exist within each and every one of us. Instead of trying to cancel out the various energies that exist within us, we need to give each of them the correct context, בְּשִׂמְחָה וּבְהַכְנָעָה וּבְהִתְחַזְּקוּת, knowing when and where to use each one and in which measure, to achieve perfection.
How does one define the context? The answer lies in the mashal of the pot, above. When you have a potpourri of forces and energies, which are often potentially conflicting, diametric opposites of one another – the only way to make peace between them and bring out the best in all of them, is to place barriers, מְחִצּוֹת, between them.
The Midrash (שמות רבה כד, א; מדרש שוחר טוב תהילים סו) describes how Am Yisrael crossed over Yam Suf. It was not random and everyone mixed in with everyone else. Instead, the sea split into twelve "lanes", one for each tribe. R' Bachyei (שמות יד, כא) says that walls of water separated each lane, which were transparent like glass, so that one tribe could see the other tribes alongside them.
Similarly, Am Yisrael in the Midbar camped and travelled according to the different tribes. The configuration order of this encampment was originally determined according to how the twelve sons carried Yaakov's body back for burial in Eretz Yisrael in this week's parsha. If we think of each tribe as a different energy or force, these correspond with similar deeper, Kabbalistic concepts of the different energies in the world, like the Ten Sfirot.
The Midrash (במדבר רבה, חקת יט, כו) describes the Well of Miriam in the Midbar and how water was distributed, a separate river extending from the Well to each tribe, delineating the tribes. The rivers were so wide that in order to have a conversation with a member of another tribe, you needed to cross the river with a boat.
Each tribe had its own נָשִׂיא, its own camp and later, its own inheritance in Eretz Yisrael. Intermarriage of the tribes was frowned upon, we see in the episode with the daughters of Tzlofchad, where Moshe ruled that they must marry only members of their tribe לַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֵיהֶם תִּהְיֶינָה לְנָשִׁים אַךְ לְמִשְׁפַּחַת מַטֵּה אֲבִיהֶם תִּהְיֶינָה לְנָשִׁים (במדבר לו, ו).
Each tribe "did their own thing" and did not encroach on the "territory" or "function" of the other tribes. You didn't have members of the Tribe of Gad trying to compete with Zevulun by becoming sailors and engaging in trade. You didn't have members of Zevulun trying to compete with Shimon by becoming Sofrei Stam and trying to corner the mezuzah market. You didn't have members of Dan trying to compete with Zevulun by establishing fish farms, trying to grow tuna fish (Megilla 6a - טָרִית).
This is the model of the "context", the framework, within which all these dichotomous energies and forces can coexist peacefully – מְחִיצוֹת שֶׁל מַיִם. We will discuss this further later on in the shiur.
The first time an attempt was made to interfere with this framework ended in disaster, when the brothers sold Yosef. Instead of trying to establish a framework for symbiosis, they tried to cancel one another out. Only twenty-two years later, after much suffering and introspection, when Yosef reconciled with his brothers, was the groundwork laid for this framework.
The next time someone tried to interfere with it, was Korach. Korach was a kind of "founding father" of the modern Woke movement. Korach said כִּי כָל הָעֵדָה כֻּלָּם קְדֹשִׁים וּבְתוֹכָם ה' (במדבר טז, ג) – we are all equal. You don't need Kohanim, Leviim and Yisraelim, different strata in society, we are all the same! While you are at it, you don't need leaders either … if we are all holy and all the same. It sounded so progressive, so liberal, such a lofty ideal, that it attracted a following. However, just as with Korach, the current Woke movement is not interested in authentic liberalism, progress or lofty ideals at all, but rather in personal agendas and power.
Periodically throughout our history in Eretz Yisrael we had similar dysfunction, like Am Yisrael splitting into two kingdoms (Yisrael, Yehuda) after the death of Shlomo HaMelech. The Kingdom of Yisrael comprised ten of the tribes (Reuven, Shimon, Yissachar, Zevulun, Dan, Naftali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim, Menashe) and the Kingdom of Yehuda comprised of the remaining three (Yehuda, Binyamin and most of Levi). Following the destruction of the Kingdom of Yisrael by אַשּׁוּר in 772 BCE, the Ten Tribes of the Kingdom of Yisrael were exiled and lost to history (we call them the "lost tribes"). During the period of Bayit Sheini, most of Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael were descended from the latter three tribes (Yehuda, Binyamin and most of Levi).
Another incident was with יַנַּאי הַמֶּלֶךְ from the family of the Chashmonaim Kohanim, who encroached on the function of the Tribe of Yehuda by seizing the monarchy. This led to civil war and massive bloodshed within Am Yisrael.
In the Mishna (Sanhedrin 10, 3) and the Gemara (Sanhedrin 110b) there is a machloket whether the lost Ten Tribes will return in the time of Mashiach or not. R' Akiva says not, R' Eliezer says they will. The Rambam (הלכות מלכים יא, א) is posek according to R' Eliezer and says that that all the exiles will return.
With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the massive return of exiles from all corners of the globe, in all likelihood in Eretz Yisrael today we have representation of more than just the three tribes of the Kingdom of Yehuda (Yehuda, Binyamin and Levi). For example, some Kurdish Jews claim they are descended from Asher and Naftali, the Beta Yisrael from Ethiopia claim they are descended from Dan and the Bnei Menashe from India claim that they are descended from … Menashe. Nobody can verify how many tribes currently comprise Am Yisrael.
Despite the fact that genetically we may not be able to determine the Twelve Tribes today, there is another layer to it beyond genetics. A layer that exists within the neshama that inexorably and subliminally pulls each of us in a specific direction – the same spiritual forces and energies that existed in the Twelve Tribes, exist today in Am Yisrael.
Regardless of how many tribes make up Am Yisrael today, we are currently in a state of dysfunction regarding the Twelve Tribes. We are reliving the same debacle as with Yosef and his brothers, with one "tribe" trying to "cancel" the other, instead of trying to establish the required framework that allows them all to fulfil their function symbiotically. The Ashkenazim trying to "cancel" the Sefardim, the Charedim trying to "cancel" the Chilonim, the Chilonim trying to "cancel" all religious Jews – Charedi and Dati Leumi, the Charedim trying to "cancel" the Misroochnikim, one faction in Yeshivat Ponevezh trying to "cancel" the other faction, etc. etc.
The problem is that everyone is claiming that "this is a מַחְלֹקֶת לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם", it is about the "truth", about the "future of Am Yisrael" and the "Torah". And, as the Mishna (Avot 5, 17) says about this type of machloket, סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם - it will keep going on and on and will never end (that was בְּדֶרֶךְ צַחוּת and not what the Mishna really means). When it is something personal, there is a way to resolve a conflict, to come to a compromise. However, when we are talking about G-d, the Torah, Am Yisrael … – who is ever going to compromise on such momentous issues?
The first insight into solving the problem is to establish מְחִצּוֹת between each sector and not to try mix the sectors. Trying to create a "melting pot" for Am Yisrael is not the way of the Torah. Am Yisrael, according to the Torah, are twelve distinct and separate lanes, energies, forces. Trying to make soldiers out of all the Charedim and bochurei yeshiva out of all the Chilonim can never work. Each sector has to retain their unique derech in avodat HKB"H. Trying to deprive them of that, is weakening something in Am Yisrael.
What kind of מְחִצּוֹת am I talking about? The same מְחִצּוֹת that HKB"H created when we crossed Yam Suf - walls of water. The "water" in question here is the Torah - as we said above, the Torah is compared to fire and water. To create peace, you need "walls of Torah that resemble water", not fire. What we have now are walls of fire and everyone can see the disastrous result of that. The attribute of water is submission, admission and humility.
The מְחִצָּה is a wall of unwavering steadfastness in our derech. Admission and acceptance that our מִדָּה, derech in the service of HKB"H is legitimate and essential. Not allowing others to derail us from our derech. The מְחִצָּה has to also embody humility, that although we recognize that our derech is legitimate and essential, it is not the only derech. The "walls of water" have to be transparent like glass, so that we can see the other מִדּוֹת alongside us, that we are not living in our own bubble. An understanding that just as we do not appreciate it when others try to cancel us, we should not try to cancel others.
Am Yisrael, the Twelve Tribes are like the י"ג מִדּוֹת of the Torah. How ludicrous it would be for the קַּל וָחֹמֶר to say to the גְּזֵרָה שָׁוָה "Anything that someone learns from the Torah using a גְּזֵרָה שָׁוָה is not valid. The only way to learn from the Torah is using me, the קַּל וָחֹמֶר!" Or for the כְּלָל to say to the פְּרָט "You have no place here among us!" Or for the גְּזֵרָה שָׁוָה to say to the קַּל וָחֹמֶר "You are old fashioned, outdated and irrelevant. Nobody uses you anymore!" To learn the complete Torah, all thirteen מִדּוֹת are necessary.
They are not all necessary in every instance. In a certain instance we will use one of them and in another instance a different one. Certain circumstances require soldiers, others require talmidei chachamim, farmers, tradesmen, craftsmen, artisans, lawyers, politicians, physicians, teachers, etc. Each of the Twelve Tribes complete the mosaic that is Am Yisrael, each focusing on their unique derech and purpose, with steadfastness and humility, symbiotically with the other eleven partners … all with one common goal – to serve HKB"H.
In the era of Mashiach, the אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, there will actually be two Mashiachs, not one. To achieve the Geulah requires both.
The first is Mashiach ben Yosef, the power of fire. On the one hand Yosef is וַיְהִי יוֹסֵף יְפֵה תֹאַר וִיפֵה מַרְאֶה. Everyone who encounters him cannot help but be captivated by his spiritual beauty. He endears himself to all, he is the kind of person that everyone instantly likes and gets on with, that everyone is willing to entrust their entire household, organization … kingdom to. On the other hand, Yosef is fire, the nemesis of evil in the world. To eradicate evil requires strength, power and resolution. The task of Mashiach ben Yosef will be to achieve world peace by eradicating evil. According to the Gemara (Sukka 52a) Mashiach ben Yosef will perish after his task has been accomplished.
Once you have peace, the Geulah can then commence. The first Beit HaMikdash could not have been built until Shlomo became king. During his reign peace ensued, peace within Am Yisrael and peace between Am Yisrael and the nations (the latter can only follow the former). So too, the Geulah cannot commence until there is peace. When peace reigns the third Beit HaMikdash can be built by Mashiach ben David, the power of water, the Torah. The world and its inhabitants will continue to exist according to the laws of the Torah for all eternity.
This is what HKB"H promised us in אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים and we are now in that era, the tail end of the אֶלֶף הַשִּׁשִּׁי. HKB"H always keeps His promises. We can help things move along a little quicker if we all become a little "potty about peace!" Not a fantasy version of peace you see in Hollywood movies, but real peace, like that described in the Torah עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו הוּא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵֽינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
