How Many Times Was Yaakov Buried?

Parshat Vaychi

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

It seems like a silly question. Obviously he was buried once – Me’arat HaMachpela. Right? 

Not so fast. We have a tradition that mourning doesn’t precede burial; it follows burial. Since there are two mourning periods following Yaakov’s death – one in Egypt and one at Goren Ha'Atad – perhaps Yaakov was buried in those places, albeit temporarily, before being brought to his next destination. 

How OLD are you? Or just how ARE you?

Parshat VaYigash 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

 I recall reading an article about centenarians, several of whom were asked “What is your secret to longevity?” 

One of them spoke about having a routine. One of them spoke of exercise and diet. One of them, fond of Dr. Pepper, said “Drink a Dr. Pepper a day!” I suppose if we had asked George Burns, he might have said, “Smoke cigars!” Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, who lived to 102 might have said, eat a minimal amount of food, and engage in Torah study as much as you can. 

Obviously there isn’t a “secret.” Some of it is genes. Certainly a healthy diet, having a routine which includes physical movement are all good ideas. Some people do everything right, and then an unexpected illness overtakes all the right moves a person seems to have made. Or a fall, or an injury. And so maybe much of it is “luck” or “the hand God gives you.” At the very least we should make the right effort and should be blessed with good health. 

 But always remember, everything is about context. In the first parsha in the Torah we read of all the people living to their 800s and 900s. Chanokh is the exception, who lived to be 365. You know what they said at his funeral? “Nebich, such a young man!” 

All of this begs a simple question. Pharaoh meets Yaakov Avinu for the first time, and he asks him כמה ימי שני חייך? Literal translation: How many are the days of the years of your life. Loose translation: How old are you? 

Hail Yosef, the Chief... Crier?

Parshat Miketz

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

Of all the people we meet in the Torah, Yosef is credited with crying the most times. In one form or another, he cries at least 8 times, and one of those times he is crying on each of his brothers (which might count as 10 additional cries). See 42:23-24, 43:30, 45:2-3, 45:14-15, 46:29, 50:1, 50:17. 

In Miketz he cries twice when seeing his brothers; first when he hears of how his brothers saw his disappearance and absence, and their remorse (or lack of it) over how that panned out, second when he initially sets his eyes on Binyamin. 

What Was Yosef Telling Yaakov?

Parshat Vayeshev

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

It’s a famous story. Yosef’s brothers didn’t like him. 

But why? Because of the coat? Because his father liked him more? Could they not see that Rachel had died, and Yaakov, traumatized, is turning to Yosef as the replacement for Yosef’s dead mother upon whom he could shower his love? 

It is most likely that what the brothers found most objectionable about Yosef is that he seems to be a snitch. He tells on them to their father. (37:2) What does he tell their father? The Torah does not say, but nonetheless there is much speculation in the world of Rabbinic Text and commentary. 

 Note that Rabbenu Bachaye distinguishes between one who is מביא דבה (brings accusations) and a מוציא דבה (brings out accusations) in that the former is telling truths, while the latter is making everything up and lying. The Torah describes that which Yosef is “telling” as מביא דבה – whatever he was saying was thus the truth. The questions we then have include – was there more context to whatever he was saying? What was his intention in telling over the דבה – was he looking to get them in trouble, or was he looking to help them? Was he in the right or in the wrong in being the tattletale? Is whatever he did considered tattling? 

Yaakov as a Fighter

Parshat Vayishlach 

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

The narratives of the forefathers depict Yitzchak as having a relatively unexciting life, while Avraham and Yaakov have many adventures. The Vilna Gaon noted that when Rivkah told Yaakov at the time she was instructing him to disguise himself to take the Brachos purportedly designated for Eisav, when she said עלי קללתך בני (Your curse is on me, my son), what she was hinting to was that the acronym עלי stands for all those who would be a source of suffering in Yaakov’s life, namely Eisav (ע), Lavan (ל), and Yosef (י). Eisav and Lavan will do what they do, while the suffering from Yosef will come on account of not knowing what has happened to him, when he is sold down to Egypt. 

While the parsha begins in the aftermath of Yaakov’s encounters with Lavan, it goes right into his encounters with Eisav’s clan. (The troubles with Yosef will begin in the next parsha, Vayeshev.) Before he meets Eisav directly, he has a struggle with a man in the nighttime. The man is often identified as an angel, though which angel is a debate, but most are of the view that it is Eisav’s guardian angel. 

Can Getting Into a Lull Improve One’s Marriage and Family? It Depends…

Parshat Vayetze 

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

After watching her sister give birth to 4 sons, presumably over a span of around 4 years, Rachel has had enough. She comes to Yaakov, jealous of her sister (30:1) and demands that he give her children. “Give me children, and if not, I am dead.” 

This is not the arguments of yesteryear – of Sarah realizing she is infertile, and offering her maid to Avraham so he can have the child he desires. And who knows what will otherwise come of her generosity and her sacrifice? Even after he DOES have Yishmael with Hagar, we don’t hear a sound from Sarah about herself until after the Bris Milah, which prompted some of the Rabbis to suggest it wasn’t as much infertility as much as Sarah was not going to have a child until such time as Avraham was circumcised. 

A Father's Love, a Mother's Love

Parshat Toldot

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The verse tells us that “Yitzchak loved Eisav because he ציד בפיו and Rivkah loves Yaakov.” [I purposely did not translate tzayid b’fiv because it has many possible meanings] Note that the love for Eisav is expressed in the past tense, while for Yaakov is expressed in the present tense. 

 Rashi’s explanation of their love being connected to the boys’ spiritual pursuits (or in Eisav’s case, his fake spiritual pursuits) is based on several Midrashim (Midrash Aggadah, Pesikta, etc.). The Shla’h notes that the love for Eisav seems to be of the contingent basis – it was attached to the things Eisav did for Yitzchak (trapping, cooking). We know from Pirkei Avos that a love which is “תלויה בדבר” (dependent on something) only lasts while that “something” is still present. If that “something” is gone, the love is gone. This is what Yitzchak seems to have had for Eisav, while Rivkah’s love for Yaakov seems to be contingent on nothing, so it is ever-present, if not ever-growing. [Midrashim, Chizkuni]