by Rabbi Avi Billet
Yosef is sworn to bury Yaakov in the land of Canaan at the very beginning of the Torah portion. (47:29-30) After he blesses his sons and gives them his final messages, Yaakov instructs all of his sons to bury him in the Me’arat Hamachpela, the burial plot where his wife, parents and grandparents are buried. (49:29-32)
With the promise of Yosef, second in command of Egypt, that he’ll be buried in the family plot in Canaan, why does he feel the need to instruct his sons as well?
Ramban posits that Yaakov was concerned that Yosef would not be given permission to go due to his position.
As it turns out, after his father dies, Yosef seems unable to speak with Pharaoh directly, to get the permission needed to go. He appeals to “Beit Paroh” (the Household of Pharaoh), asking them to beseech the king, on account of the promise he made to his father.
Pharaoh’s response is telling; “Go up and bury your father, to fulfill that which he made you swear," he says, suggesting, as many note, that without the promise, it is questionable whether that permission would have been granted.
More simply, Ibn Ezra explains that he was merely commanding his sons to accompany Yosef. He doesn’t ask for any response from them and he doesn’t get any response from them. He essentially commands them, and then he dies.
Along similar lines, Or HaChaim says, “He didn’t want them to think that he only obligated Yosef alone to accompany him to burial, and so he commanded all of them to be involved. He didn’t need to have them swear, because they will all fulfill his word.”
These answers are satisfactory on one level, but when we consider the concern the brothers seemed to have for Yaakov when Binyamin was in trouble at the end of Parshat Miketz and in last week’s parsha, wouldn’t it seem obvious that they’d all want to go to their father’s funeral?
Clearly Yaakov was not convinced that they’d all want to go. Yosef may have needed an oath to grant him leave from his position, but what was tying the brothers to Egypt that Yaakov felt would hold them back from participating in his funeral were it not for his dying wish that they accompany his body on its final journey?
The brothers obviously had no political roles which prevented them from leaving. Were that the case, Yaakov would have had to make them swear as well. So what did it – what caused Yaakov to need to give his sons instructions to go?
The only things that have demonstrably changed since last week’s parsha are that the family has moved to Egypt (and all that comes with adjusting to a new location, culture, and society), Yosef has been reintroduced to the family life, Yaakov has started to play favorites again (see how he has claimed Ephraim and Menashe as replacements for Reuven and Shimon), and he has given his sons his last will and blessings.
Maybe they loved Egypt so much. On the other hand, maybe the uprooting, the favoring Yosef and his children, and the (in some cases) not-exactly blessings caused the old animosities to creep back into the family. We know Yaakov spent the first 17 years of Yosef’s life favoring Yosef, and now we see he spent the last 17 years of his own life favoring Yosef once again.
Maybe, in the heat of the final moments, between the blessings that may have been misunderstood (or understood all too well) along with the thought that “Our brothers will go. What’s the big deal if a couple of us stay behind?” – after all, it’s a long journey, a long time to leave the wives and children alone, and without Yosef’s protection – maybe some were feeling not so close to Yaakov. Maybe they felt, “I put in my time taking care of the old man. I’m done. I’ll sit shiva, but I won’t make the trek to Canaan.”
Yaakov was teaching his sons that a father is a father. And that no matter what you’re thinking, no matter what baggage you carry, no matter how much you like or don’t like your father’s final message – you still have to honor your father in his final journey.
Life has its challenges. Hopefully when it ends for the loved ones in our lives – after 120 years! – we will be able to put any negativity behind us, and embrace our responsibilities to care for the dead, and be there for their final journey*, wherever they are to be buried.
* (Personal health and financial circumstances notwithstanding, of course)
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