Parshas Vayigash
1. When Yosef HaTzaddik revealed himself to his brothers, he told them:1 "וישלחני אלקים לפניכם לשום לכם שארית בארץ ולהחיות לכם לפליטה גדולה ועתה לא אתם שלחתם אותי הנה כי האלקים וישימני וגו׳ ומושל בכל ארץ מצרים" ("G‑d sent me before you to make for you a remnant in the land and to sustain you for a great deliverance. And now, it was not you who sent me here, but G‑d, and He made me... and ruler over all the land of Egypt"). That is, it was not the brothers, but G‑d, who sent Yosef ahead to Egypt and made him there a ruler over all of Egypt, so that through him Yaakov and his children would be able to be fed and to remain whole during the years of famine. And immediately afterwards he instructed them to tell Yaakov: "שמני אלקים לאדון לכל מצרים" ("G‑d has made me lord over all of Egypt") — G‑d has made me a master over all of Egypt — and therefore: "רדה אלי אל תעמוד" ("Come down to me, do not tarry"), meaning that Yaakov and his family should not delay, but should immediately come down to him to Egypt.
From this it is understood that the descent of Yaakov and his sons into the exile of Egypt depended on the fact that Yosef was ruler and lord over all of Egypt. That is to say, Yosef did not merely relate how Divine Providence had brought it about that the sale of Yosef should be a cause for their coming to Egypt; he also hinted to them that because G‑d had made him a mighty ruler of Egypt, the "Come down, etc." could now take place — the intent of the exile of Egypt could now be carried out.
2. The explanation of this is simple:
When G‑d, at the Covenant Between the Parts, let our father Avraham know that his children would come into exile (in Egypt), He assured him:2 "ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול" ("And afterwards they will go out with great wealth") — that they would leave the exile with great riches. The meaning of this assurance is not merely a compensation for the suffering of "ועבדום וענו אותם" ("and they will enslave them and afflict them"); rather, even more: their going out from there "with great wealth" is the purpose and intent of their going into the exile of Egypt.
A proof of this: one of the reasons3 for the plague of darkness that G‑d brought upon the Egyptians was so that the Jews, during that darkness, could look around and find out where the precious vessels of the Egyptians were, and in this way the Jews would be able to carry out the instruction4 "וישאלו איש מאת רעהו ואשה מאת רעותה כלי כסף וכלי זהב" ("Let each man ask of his fellow, and each woman of her fellow, vessels of silver and vessels of gold") — that they should borrow the wealth of the Egyptians, so that the "And afterwards they will go out with great wealth" would be fulfilled — "שלא יאמר אותו צדיק" ("so that that tzaddik should not say"),5 i.e., so that our father Avraham should not say that G‑d fulfilled the "they will enslave them and afflict them" but did not fulfill the "and afterwards they will go out with great wealth."
Seemingly this is not understood: When one is in exile, and especially in so harsh and bitter an exile as the exile of Egypt was, a person would surely forgo this gain, as long as he could leave the exile right away. As the Gemara says,6 the Jews indeed argued (when G‑d told them, "Let them ask, etc."): "ולואי שנצא בעצמנו" ("If only we could go out ourselves") — if only we ourselves could leave Egypt. And the Gemara there brings a parable of a man locked up in prison, to whom people say: "Tomorrow you will be freed from prison and you will be given a lot of money." He answers them: "I beg you, take me out today, and I ask nothing more of you." So how is it that G‑d kept the Jews in exile for a certain additional time in order to fulfill the "they will go out with great wealth"? And the reason given in the Gemara, "so that that tzaddik should not say, etc.," is also not understood: surely our father Avraham, too, would have forgone the "great wealth," as long as his children could leave the exile as early as possible.
Therefore one must say that, were it not for the great wealth which the Jews took out of Egypt, the intent and purpose of their coming into the exile of Egypt would not have been accomplished, because the intent of the exile was — "and afterwards they will go out with great wealth."*6
And in order to carry out this intent of the exile of Egypt, Yosef first had to become ruler over all of Egypt, through which he had the ability to gather under his hand the wealth of all the lands — "וילקט יוסף את כל הכסף" ("And Yosef gathered up all the money") — all the silver and gold in the world7 — so that later the "and afterwards they will go out with great wealth" could be carried out.
3. The descent to Egypt was in order to refine and elevate into holiness the sparks of Egypt. Through their service throughout all the years of the exile they refined and sifted out the sparks of holiness, and when they left Egypt they raised these sparks up to their source, as it is written8 concerning the Exodus from Egypt: "וגם ערב רב עלה אתם" ("And also a mixed multitude went up with them") — meaning that they elevated the "rav" (רב, numerically 202), the two hundred and two sparks of holiness that had been found intermingled in Egypt.
And these sparks were found in the great wealth which the Jews took with them from Egypt. As the Baal Shem Tov explains9 the saying of our Sages10 "התורה חסה על ממונם של ישראל" ("The Torah is concerned for the money of Israel"), and that Yaakov was concerned for "פכים קטנים" ("small jugs"),11 that a Jew's possessions are very precious, because within the money of Israel there are sparks of holiness which the Jew must refine and raise up to holiness. Therefore there had to be the "ושאלה אשה משכנתה וגו׳" ("Each woman shall ask of her neighbor, etc."),12 in order to refine and elevate the sparks found in the "vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and garments."
4. The carrying out of this intent was also for the good of the Jewish people. That is why our father Avraham would demand that G‑d fulfill the "and afterwards they will go out with great wealth," even when this involved waiting — because this was the good of his children.
The explanation of this: The order of refining the sparks, and their connection to the souls of Israel, is so arranged that just as it has been determined for each spark through whom it will be refined, so it has been determined for each soul which sparks it will refine — for these sparks have a connection to that particular soul. As our Sages say:13 "אין אדם נוגע במוכן לחבירו" ("No person can touch what is prepared for his fellow") — a person cannot profit from what belongs to another.
And this is so in physical matters because it is so in spiritual matters (since, as said earlier, the spiritual gains — the sparks — are within the physical wealth): each soul has a task to refine certain sparks that belong to it by virtue of its very nature. As is explained in the Reshimah14 of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [the Previous Rebbe], G‑d, the Cause of all causes, arranges by Divine Providence that a Jew should come together with the sparks he must refine. And as long as he has not refined and elevated out of exile the spark that pertains to and is bound up with his soul, his soul is found there where the spark is — both are in exile.
Moreover: the refinement of the sparks pertains to, and is bound up with, even the very essence of his soul. And since "כל עצם בלתי מתחלק" ("every essence is indivisible") — an essence does not divide — as long as a part, even a small part, of his sparks is still in exile, then not only a part of the soul is in exile (together with that portion of the sparks), but the very essence of the soul as well. As the saying of the Baal Shem Tov:15 "העצם, כשאתה תופס במקצתו אתה תופס בכולו" ("The essence — when you grasp part of it, you grasp all of it").
Therefore, taking the "great wealth" out of Egypt also concerned the Jews' own good, because through sifting out and elevating the sparks of Egypt, their souls too were redeemed from the exile of Egypt.
In addition to this (and this is the main point): the ultimate perfection of a created being is, after all, to carry out the will of the Creator, and it is for this that it was created.16 So since the will of the Creator was that they should take with them all the sparks of holiness of Egypt, this was surely their greatest good; through this they attained their highest perfection.
5. What was said above about the exile of Egypt and the Exodus from Egypt is an instruction for us in this final exile, because the exile of Egypt is the root of all the exiles.17
The intent of exile is not only a punishment for sins and transgressions; rather, its intent and purpose is the refinement of the sparks. As Chassidus explains the saying of our Sages18 "לא הגלה הקב״ה את ישראל לבין האומות אלא כדי שיתוספו עליהם גרים" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, exiled Israel among the nations only so that converts would be added to them") — that the Jews were driven into exile only so that "converts" would be added: the sparks of holiness found in physical things. Therefore one must know that the service must be — "ושאלה אשה משכנתה ומגרת ביתה" ("Each woman shall ask of her neighbor and of the one who dwells in her house"). "Woman" refers to the soul.19 G‑d's instruction comes to her that not only must she herself leave the exile, but also "she shall ask of her neighbor and of the one who dwells in her house" — she must take with her the sparks of holiness found in the body and the animal soul, and in her portion of the world.
"Her neighbor" means the matters one encounters only occasionally (like a neighbor whom one does not meet constantly); "the one who dwells in her house" means the matters with which one is constantly together (like a person with whom one lives together in one house). The command, then, is that one must bring out of exile not only the sparks found in things with which one deals constantly ("the one who dwells in her house"), but also the sparks found in matters which one encounters only from time to time. (For when a person happens to meet someone or something, it is not, G‑d forbid, by chance, but by Divine Providence — "יש מנהיג לבירה" ("the palace has a master")20 — for from Above one is presented with all the things he must refine and elevate into holiness.) From them there should be made "vessels of silver and vessels of gold" — they should be added to, and included in, the service of love (silver) and awe (gold).
6. There are those who argue: "מה לי ולהגלות!" ("What have I to do with exile!") — What do I need to have to do with matters of exile? I forgive and forgo the great wealth, the elevation my soul will gain through the refinement of the sparks, as long as I need not toil in exile, in doubled and redoubled darkness, in physical and material matters; I would rather shut myself away in the four cubits of Torah and prayer.
They must know:
a) If they do not fully carry out the service incumbent upon them, their soul remains in exile. And their claim that they will lock themselves into the four cubits of Torah and prayer and have nothing to do with exile can be so only with regard to their revealed powers; but the essence of the soul is still in exile, together with the sparks it must refine. For the fact that the revealed powers are in holiness is no proof regarding the essence.21 And contemplating this, even with only a light contemplation, will move him to do the service of refinement that pertains to him, since "וכל אשר לאיש יתן בעד נפשו" ("All that a man has he will give for his soul")22 — everything a person has he will give up for his soul, and especially for its essence.
b) Even if he could leave the exile and attain very lofty levels without doing his task in the service of refinement — what good are all the elevations to him, and what sort of elevations are they, if he acts contrary to the Supreme Will, for "He and His will are one"!23
And this is the instruction of the exile and the Exodus from Egypt: the service must involve the world — refining the sparks that are in exile — "וינצלו את מצרים, כמצודה שאין בה דגן כמצולה שאין בה דגים" ("And they emptied Egypt, like a trap without grain, like a deep without fish")24 — and going together with them to greet our righteous Moshiach, below ten handbreadths, very soon indeed.
(From the sicha of Acharon shel Pesach 5721)
7. On the verse "ואת יהודה שלח לפניו אל יוסף להורות לפניו גשנה" ("And he sent Yehudah before him to Yosef, to show the way before him to Goshen"), Rashi says in the name of the Midrash:23 "לתקן לו בית תלמוד שמשם תצא הוראה" ("To set up for him a house of study from which instruction would go forth") — that Yaakov sent Yehudah ahead to Egypt in order to establish there a house of study, a yeshivah for learning Torah. We see from this that when a Jew must come to a new country, he must first of all see to it, even before he arrives there, that in that country there should be a place of Torah, because Torah is the entire existence and life of a Jew.
One must, however, understand:
Why did Yaakov need to send a special emissary, Yehudah, to Egypt to make a place of Torah there? Yosef was already there from before, so he could have set up the house of study through Yosef! Further, and more importantly: according to the saying of our Sages24 "מימיהן של אבותינו לא פרשה ישיבה מהם כו׳" ("From the days of our forefathers a yeshivah never departed from them...") — Avraham..., Yitzchak..., Yaakov... — presumably it was so with Yosef as well. And especially according to the interpretation of our Sages25 on the verse "כי בן זקנים הוא לו" ("for he was a son of his old age to him"), that Yaakov transmitted to Yosef all that he had learned. And on the verse26 "וירא את העגלות" ("And he saw the wagons"), [our Sages explain] that Yosef gave Yaakov a sign regarding the laws of the eglah arufah which Yaakov had studied with him. And Yosef's conduct was, after all, on such a lofty level that Yaakov said of it, "רב עוד יוסף בני חי" ("Enough! Yosef my son is still alive") — even according to the lofty understanding of our father Yaakov, Yosef was "alive,"27 to the point that this brought about "ותחי רוח יעקב אביהם — שרתה עליו שכינה" ("And the spirit of Yaakov their father revived — the Shechinah rested upon him"),28 that the Shechinah again rested upon Yaakov.
8. The difference between the level of Yosef and the levels of Yaakov and the tribes is known:29 Our father Yaakov (and likewise the Patriarchs Avraham and Yitzchak) and the tribes were separated from this world. That is why they chose to be "רועי צאן" ("shepherds of flocks") — they occupied themselves with pasturing sheep, so that, having as little as possible to do with the matters of this world, those matters would not disturb them in Torah and Divine service.
Yosef, by contrast, was not a shepherd from his youth on; also when he was sold as a slave in Egypt he was occupied with managing the affairs of Potiphar, as it is written:30 "ויבא הביתה לעשות מלאכתו" ("And he came into the house to do his work") — that Yosef came into the house to do his work — on which Targum Onkelos says: "למבדק בכתבי חושבנא" ("to examine the account books"); he kept the accounts, which in general is a great preoccupation. And especially later, when he became viceroy to the king and administered the entire kingdom of Egypt — to such an extent that31 "על פיך ישק כל עמי... ומבלעדיך לא ירים איש וגו׳" ("By your word shall all my people be ruled... and without you no man shall lift up, etc."), meaning that he oversaw everyone in the entire land — he was surely extremely occupied with the affairs of Egypt. And nevertheless this did not disturb him at all from standing, at that very time, in the ultimate attachment to G‑dliness.
This means that in Yosef there shone openly the level of G‑dliness that is higher than being a source for the worlds, a level with which the world has no relevance at all; consequently it is not applicable to say that the matters and preoccupations of the world could occupy him and confuse his attachment to G‑dliness. Although in the Patriarchs and the tribes, too, G‑dliness shone openly, this was the level of G‑dliness that is enclothed in the world; consequently it is understood that the world is, for that level, a "place" [i.e., a significant reality]. Therefore they were "shepherds of flocks," removed from worldly preoccupations, so that the affairs of the world should not be an obstacle to their constant bond and attachment with G‑d. But in Yosef there shone such a lofty level of G‑dliness, one that is higher than the world and affects it in a manner of "sovev" (encompassing); therefore he could be occupied with worldly preoccupations and at the same time they would not confuse him in his ultimate attachment to G‑dliness.
9. This loftiness of Yosef's level — that even while occupied "with the account books" and worldly preoccupations he was in ultimate attachment to G‑dliness — relates to the virtue of his soul. But with regard to Torah study — where the person who studies Torah must be united with the Torah32 — there must be "תורתו אומנתו" ("his Torah is his occupation"), meaning that his entire occupation should be in Torah alone. Therefore, when he is occupied apart from Torah with other things as well — even though they are in accordance with Torah, and even then he is a "chariot" for G‑dliness — the ultimate union of the person with Torah is lacking. Complete unification can exist only when "his Torah is his occupation" and he has nothing to do with any other things, even matters that are in accordance with Torah.33
As Abaye said,34 that when he had to do even a light task for his "mother" (the woman who raised him), it distracted him from his Torah study.
Even more, we find in the Laws of Torah Study of the Alter Rebbe:35 he distinguishes there between the manner of Torah study before marriage — and also the study during the two or three years after marriage, "בטרם יוליד בנים הרבה" ("before he fathers many children"), when he can study Torah without too many preoccupations — and the study later, when he already bears the yoke of livelihood, "ריחיים על צוארו" ("a millstone around his neck"). Although seemingly it could be that later too, when he must support his household, he would not be greatly preoccupied — for example, a very wealthy man who need not toil for a livelihood — nevertheless, since he still bears the yoke of supporting his household, through the yoke itself his study no longer has the virtue of his Torah study before marriage and immediately after it.
This is also the reason36 that the Levites — whose entire service was in the Beis HaMikdash and in teaching Torah — had no portion or inheritance in Eretz Yisrael. For if they had had to deal with side matters, with an inheritance, in whatever manner it might be, it would have disturbed the perfection of their service. So too now, after the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, and "אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא ד׳ אמות של הלכה בלבד" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, has in His world only the four cubits of halachah")37 — that G‑d is found in the four cubits of Torah study similar to [His presence] in the Beis HaMikdash — those who wish to perform the service of the Beis HaMikdash (the four cubits of halachah, which take the place of the Temple service) must likewise have no side matters besides Torah study; "their Torah" must be "their occupation." And in the words of the Rambam:36 "לוי.. הובדל לעבוד את ה׳ כו׳ לפיכך הובדלו מדרכי העולם כו׳ ולא שבט לוי בלבד אלא כל איש ואיש מכל באי העולם אשר נדבה רוחו כו׳" ("Levi... was set apart to serve G‑d... therefore they were set apart from the ways of the world... and not the tribe of Levi alone, but every single individual of all who come into the world whose spirit moves him...").
10. In light of all this, one will understand why Yaakov had to send Yehudah to establish a house of study in Egypt, and did not rely on Yosef's Torah study. True indeed, Yosef HaTzaddik was always united and attached in the ultimate manner with G‑d — but that is a loftiness pertaining to his soul. But with regard to Torah study, his various involvements as ruler over all the land of Egypt, "and Yosef gathered, etc." — as explained above at length — meant that his study could not be in the manner of the ultimate perfection of "his Torah is his occupation," as discussed earlier. Consequently, although Yosef himself, G‑d forbid, lacked nothing — nevertheless, for the sake of the world and its existence (since Torah is the first of the three pillars on which the world stands),38 Yaakov sent Yehudah (who was a shepherd, separated from the world) to set up in Egypt a yeshivah and house of study where those who study Torah should have nothing at all to do with other matters — however lofty they may be, even in the manner of a "chariot"39 — but their entire occupation should be Torah alone.
11. The Torah and its instructions are for every generation: Yeshivah students must know that their matter is Torah alone; they have no connection whatsoever to other things. And also the service of acts of kindness which is required for the sake of Torah study — as our Sages say:40 "כל האומר אין לי אלא תורה אפילו תורה אין לו" ("Whoever says 'I have only Torah' does not even have Torah"), meaning that Torah without acts of kindness is not enough — which is why the Rebbeim urged that yeshivah students too should occupy themselves with spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus in particular and spreading Judaism in general — this service of acts of kindness must, however, be in such a manner that it does not tear the students away from their union with Torah; on the contrary, it should be for the sake of their Torah being as it ought to be. And through Torah study in such a manner the world has, and will have, existence.
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Mikeitz 5722)
Notes
1) Bereishis 45:7–9.
2) Bereishis 15:13–14.
3) Rashi, Shemos 10:22. See also Shemos Rabbah 14:3.
4) Shemos 11:2.
5) Berachos 9a, end. Cited in Rashi, Shemos 11:2.
6) Ibid. 9b.
*6) See also below, Parshas Vayechi and Parshas Bo.
7) Bereishis 47:14. Pesachim 119a.
8) Shemos 12:38. Torah Or 60c.
9) See Or Torah of the Maggid, Remazei Torah, s.v. "HaTorah Chasah."
10) Rosh Hashanah 27a, and sources cited there.
11) Chullin 91a. Cited in Rashi, Bereishis 32:25.
12) Shemos 3:22.
13) Yoma 38b, beginning.
14) Likkut 32 (Likkutei Dibburim, vol. 4, p. 1192).
15) Cited in Hemshech 5666, at its end (p. 522).
16) On this at length, see the sicha of 13 Shevat 5711 (Likutei Sichos, vol. 2, p. 515).
17) See Vayikra Rabbah 13:5: "All the kingdoms are called by the name of Egypt, because..."
18) Pesachim 87b. Torah Or 6a.
19) Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 6 (22b).
20) Bereishis Rabbah, beginning of ch. 39.
21) See Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 50d; the maamar "Ashreinu" 5696 (printed in Sefer HaMaamarim — Kuntreisim, vol. 2, p. 732).
22) Iyov 2:4.
[The text of the first sicha (section 6) also has footnote markers 23 and 24, but the notes for them are missing from the OCR source. The notes numbered 23 and 24 below belong to the second sicha.]
23) Tanchuma, Vayigash 12. Yalkut Shimoni, remez 152.
24) Yoma 28b. And in Lekach Tov, Shemos 3:16: "Elders never ceased..." — bringing proof from Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov and Yosef.
25) Bereishis (37:3), and in Rashi and Bereishis Rabbah there.
26) Bereishis 45:27. Bereishis Rabbah 94:3. Zohar I, [OCR unclear]. Cited in Rashi there.
27) See Bereishis Rabbah there, and Chiddushei HaRadal there. Zohar I, 164a, and in many places.
28) Rashi, Bereishis (45:27), based on the Targum. Avos DeRabbi Nosson, end of ch. 30.
29) Torah Chaim, maamar "Ben Poras Yosef." Sefer HaMitzvos of the Tzemach Tzedek 81a. The maamar "U'Mikneh Rav" 5669.
30) Bereishis 39:11.
31) Bereishis 41:40; 41:44.
32) Tanya, ch. 5 and ch. 23.
33) Similarly, see also the sicha of Simchas Beis HaShoevah 5723 (printed in Likutei Sichos, vol. 4, p. 1160 ff.) regarding the advantage of the lulav — although it has only taste (Torah) — over the esrog, which has taste and fragrance (Torah and mitzvos), for the fragrance (the effort in mitzvos) diminishes the union with the taste.
34) Eruvin 65a.
35) Beginning of ch. 3.
36) Rambam, end of Hilchos Shemittah VeYovel.
37) Berachos 8a.
38) Avos 1:2.
39) See Tanya, ch. 23: thought and contemplation of words of Torah... speech in words of Torah... and not merely a "chariot."
40) Yevamos 109b. See also Sefer HaMaamarim 5708, p. 266, note 7.
Key Lesson
Exile is not only a punishment; its purpose is to refine and elevate the sparks of holiness hidden in the physical world, and a Jew's own soul is redeemed only together with the sparks entrusted to him, so he may not withdraw from the world. At the same time, Torah study itself requires total dedication — "his Torah is his occupation" — and the work of spreading Judaism and Chassidus must strengthen, never weaken, that union with Torah.