Taking Yosef's Bones

Parshat B'Shalach

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In this most dramatic of Torah portions, the opening pesukim (verses) read like storyboards of a film's opening sequence of images around the locale where it is set. The people turn from going straight along the Mediterranean coast towards the Red Sea. Moshe is arranging the transfer of Yosef's bones. They travel from Sukkos (first stop 12:37). We then see the people - during the day - being led by the Pillar of Clouds. In the dark of night, the Pillar of Fire provides the necessary light and protection.

The scene then switches to the back and forth scenes of Paroh in his court, back to the people at the Sea, to Paroh and his army approaching, to the people at the Sea.

            

The one image that seems out of place is Moshe taking (and therefore arranging for transfer of) the bones of Yosef. While the promise being fulfilled was not insignificant, it did get its press time at the end of Parshat Vaychi. Why does it need an entire verse here? Couldn't it just be in add-on to the previous verse – "They traveled around the wilderness towards the sea, they carried weapons with them, and they also brought Yosef's bones"?

To say that there is great depth to the carrying out of this task is to state the obvious. What the message might be ranges from the obvious to the creative, with the profound lying somewhere in between.

            

On the obvious level, a very old promise is being fulfilled.

            

The profound could echo the words of Rabbi Akiva when he told his colleagues at the end of Mesechet Makkot, "Now that I have seen the prophesy of Uriah be fulfilled, I know the prophesy of Zechariah will be fulfilled as well." If we see that Yosef's promise has been fulfilled, perhaps we can be assured that Zechariah's promise will be fulfilled as well, with the coming of the Ultimate Redemption.

            

Which leaves us with the creative.

            

Many Midrashim depict Moshe's seeking Yosef's bones in an admirable fashion as he did it at the same time the Israelites were draining Egyptof its wealth (see also here regarding taking the clothes). The verse in Mishlei (10:8), "The wise-hearted (man) accepts commandments" – or fulfills opportune mitzvot when they come along – is utilized to give Moshe the greatest amount of credit for pursuing the opportunity to fulfill the promise on behalf of those he represented, as they were pursuing the wealth they were to take with them out of Egypt.

            

Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch put it this way: "A person who dedicates himself to fulfill commandments, or to delve in Torah, will be rewarded ('skhar mitzvah') according to what is either lost or missed out in profits." This teaching is based in the Zohar on Parshat Terumah who emphasizes the greatness of a mitzvah that is fulfilled through one's money – either through a donation or through using one's time otherwise to do a mitzvah, that may prevent a financial gain from taking place.

            

Moshe's choice to find Yosef's bones specifically at the time when all the Israelites were engaged in material pursuits gave a strong indicator of his priorities, how mitzvah and fulfilling a promise were more important to him than gold and silver.

            

A few reminders are in order: 

Maybe we don't need to go back for a second and third helping at a Kiddush or smorgasbord. Not only to give others a chance to eat, but also to indicate that our focus is not solely on food.

            

When we go to shul, we are engaged in mitzvah. When we talk in shul or leave shul on shabbos to drink(in the middle of davening), we are like the Israelites pursuing gold and silver while those who are properly engaged in the services are like Moshe seeking Yosef's bones.

            

When we bring irreverence to an activity others respect, we are the Israelites to their Moshe.

            

When we don't respect and promote what Shabbos should and could be – a time of being in touch with the soul, the spirit and God – and instead ignore our children, engage in superficial, vacuous and sophomoric conversations, we are the Israelites pursuing what we think is gold and silver, while those who discuss the parsha, explore their commitment to halakha, and engage their children in conversation are those who are seeking Yosef's bones.

            

Moshe seeking Yosef's bones therefore becomes a metaphor for what a deep commitment to the past is, what a promise for the future can mean, and what it means to model dedication to a meaningful task.

            

The commitment to bringing Yosef's bones to their final resting place is the greatest lesson Moshe could teach the people in the hour they felt richest and greatest (see a related idea here). Commitment to our faith and our people makes for a much richer life than all the fleeting pursuits of gold and silver we can ever undertake in our lives.

Priorities: what life is all about.            

A Communal Priority

This was published by the Jewish Star

Parshat Re'eh

Who is the most desperate, destitute member of the Jewish society?

It’s a loaded question and there is no correct answer. Unless you specify from whose perspective. The pauper feels he is most destitute. Every collector who comes to my door thinks their story is the most important tale of woe. Maybe the person who needs life-saving surgery, or the one on the waiting list for an organ is most needy.

All of these are certainly important cases, and when possible, we ought to help in whatever way we can.

From the Torah’s perspective, there are a group of people who we are to keep in mind because, unlike those who come to our doors to collect — who are able to do something for themselves — there are those who can’t, thereby rendering them projects for the Jewish community to lovingly support.

Numerous times in our parsha we are given lists of who we should support. While some of those who we need to look out for are fairly obvious, the widow and orphan for example, the ones that round out the various lists are “your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the ‘ger’ (stranger? Proselyte?) and the Levite.” (See Devarim 12:12,18; 14:29; 16:11,14)

Specifically, the Levite seems to be the common denominator, and is often mentioned alone (12:19; 14:27; mentioned apart from the group in 14:29).

While caring for one’s children is an obvious priority for any parent, and the responsibility of caring for those who serve you — servants or slaves — is elementary to a compassionate Jew, why does the Levite get such special attention?

The simple answer is given in the Torah in numerous places. In the realm of inheritance and tribal property, the tribe of Levi were given cities, but were otherwise left out of the divisions of the rest of the nation. (see Bamidbar 18:23-24 Devarim 10:8-9; 12:12; 14:27; 18:2)

The Rambam (Maimonides) takes this a step further and provides us with an answer to our question with a contemporary twist.

At the end of the laws of Shmittah and Yovel (13:12-13), Rambam writes:

“Levi did not merit to inherit the land or the spoils of war because they were separated to do the service of G-d, to serve Him and to teach His straight ways, and his righteous laws to the masses, as it says ‘He will teach [G-d’s] laws to Jacob and His Torah to Israel.’ Thus they were removed from the ways of the world. They do not engage in battles, they do not inherit land, and they do not merit privileges through their own might. They are G-d’s army — and G-d personally gives them merits when He says ‘I am your portion and your inheritance.’”

“And it is not only the Levites. Rather, any man of the world who donates his spirit and understands of his own knowledge to separate himself and to stand before G-d, to serve Him and arrive at knowledge of G-d… and he removes from himself the burden of financial accountings, he has sanctified himself to be the holiest of holies and G-d becomes his portion forever. He will merit — in this world — to have stability and no worries, just as the Kohen and Levi have.”

The Levites were not kollel-leit. They didn’t choose to be Levites — they were born Levites, limited in the work they could do, and were mandated by G-d to be supported by the community. They were teachers, scholars, and role models.

In our day, in the absence of the Temple, these roles have been filled by our teachers and rabbis. These professions are often thankless jobs, in many cases filled by people who have chosen this life because of their desire to teach and help Jews advance their personal Jewish experiences.

The Levites made whatever effort G-d allowed them, and were singled out by G-d as a top priority of people needing support from the community.

There is a need to support those who sacrifice and dedicate themselves to the community. These are not the individuals who sit in a yeshiva all day; not the individuals who choose to “only learn” when they are by no means the “best and the brightest” destined to be great Torah leaders. If they do not dedicate their time and their Torah knowledge to share with others, they are not the contemporary Levites.

But those who make an impact, who are in the trenches with the general population, who sacrifice glory and wealth to help others get closer to G-d are worthy of being the beneficiaries of the words of Devarim 12:19: “Be careful, lest you leave behind the Levite all your days on your land.”