Pearls of Rashi – Parshas Vayechi II

Click here to download a printable PDF.

Near the end of this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, we are told the following[1]. “Yosef saw a third generation born to (his son) Ephraim. Also, the sons of Mochir who was the son of Menasheh were born ‘on Yosef’s knees.’”

What is the meaning of being born “on Yosef’s knees?” Rashi explains that “as Targum Onkelus translates the words – he (Yosef) raised them between his knees.”

In the Alter Rebbe’s[2] Shulchan Aruch[3], it says that the time of a baby boy’s Bris is the beginning of the entrance of his Divine soul into his body. Based on this, we can understand the explanation given by Targum Yonoson. He explains the meaning of “they were born on Yosef’s knees,” that after they were born, Yosef circumcised them. The fact that that the Bris was on Yosef’s knees means that it was their spiritual birth, i.e., the entrance of their G-dly soul.

This teaches us a great lesson according to both Rashi and Onkelus. One is obligated to teach the Torah to his children and his grandchildren. However, as far as great-grandchildren are concerned, as long as there are more qualified teachers than him, he has no obligation to teach them. Nevertheless, from both Rashi and Onkelus, we see that Yosef taught his great-grandchildren, “he raised them on his knees.” Although Yosef had no obligation to teach them the Torah, he did so. Yehudah had founded a full-time Yeshiva before the arrival of all of the Jews in Egypt. This may have qualified him as a greater scholar than Yosef. Furthermore, since Yosef governed all of Egypt (including his family), he had the law of one who is “occupied with the needs of the community.” This would exempt him from the obligation of teaching. Nevertheless, we see that according to Rashi’s commentary on the Torah, there is an obligation to teach one’s great-grandchildren.

From this, we can learn a great lesson. If one merits having great-grandchildren, he must teach them Torah. If he is not capable, he must support the Torah institution in which they study.

I wish one and all a good Shabbos!

Rabbi Shmuel Mendelsohn

Adapted from Likkutei Sichos Volume 20, Page 243-249

IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR FATHER
Mr. Sholom Moshe Hacohen
ben Reb Shlomo Meir Hacohen ע”ה Cohen
Passed away Shabbos Parshas Beshalach, 13 Shevat, 5779
May His Soul be bound in the Eternal Bond of Life
*
DEDICATED BY HIS SON-IN-LAW AND DAUGHTER
RABBI SHMUEL AND RIFKA שי’MENDELSOHN
* * *
לעילוי נשמת
ר’ שלום משה הכהן בן ר’ שלמה מאיר הכהן ע”ה כהן
נפטר ש”ק פ’ בשלח, י”ג שבט, ה’תשע”ט
ת. נ. צ. ב. ה.
*
יו”ל ע”י חתנו ובתו שיחיו
הרה”ת ר’ שמואל ורבקה שי’ מענדלסאהן

[1]. Our Parshah, Bereishis 50:23.

[2]. The Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman (1745 – 1812), was the founder of Chabad Lubavitch.

[3]. The Shulchan Aruch is the Code of Jewish Law. Despite the fact that a Shulchan Aruch existed prior to Rabbi Shneur Zalman, at the behest of his teacher, he wrote a more up-to-date version. Additionally, the Alter Rebbe writes the reasons behind each law.

Leave a Reply

Name and email address are required. Your email address will not be published.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <pre> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong> 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: