Likkutei Sichos Vol. 30 – Vayechi 3
1. At the conclusion of our parsha—which is also the conclusion of the Book of Bereishis—the Torah relates the passing of Yosef: “And Yosef said to his brothers, ‘I am dying, but G‑d will surely remember you and bring you up out of this land…’ And Yosef made them swear… ‘G‑d will surely remember you… and you shall bring up my bones from here.’ And Yosef died… and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.”
We need to understand: How does it fit that the Book of Bereishis ends with the passing of Yosef (to the extent that the very last words are “and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt”), in light of the well-known principle—even regarding the conclusions of all twenty-four books of Tanach—that we conclude with something good?
This is especially puzzling since, in any case, the passing of Yosef is mentioned later, at the beginning of Parshas Shemos: “And these are the names of the Children of Israel who came to Egypt… and Yosef died, and all his brothers, and that entire generation” (and this led to the enslavement in Egypt, as the narrative continues). If so, it would have been fitting to include the details about Yosef’s passing there, and to conclude Parshas Vayechi with something “good”—for example, “And Yosef lived one hundred and ten years, and Yosef saw Ephraim’s children… also the children of Machir… were born upon Yosef’s knees,” or something similar.
2. Another principle is stated regarding the conclusion of a book (of the Torah): “We immediately begin the new beginning after the completion,” and it is the custom of the Jewish people to connect the end of a tractate with its beginning. As has been explained many times, this is not merely for cleverness, G‑d forbid, but is a true matter, for there is indeed a common point between the beginning of every book (and tractate) and its conclusion, as it says in Sefer Yetzirah, “Their end is wedged in their beginning.”
Moreover: the commonality between the beginning and end of every book is in the essential point of the book, for, as is known, the essential point of any matter is hinted at in its beginning—like the head, which includes all the limbs—and in its conclusion, as in the saying, “Everything follows the conclusion.”
Accordingly, we must consider: What is the connection between the end of the Book of Bereishis and its beginning? How is the content of the entire Book of Bereishis [which is called “the Book of the Upright… this is the book of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, who were called upright”] hinted at in its beginning, “In the beginning G‑d created…,” and in its conclusion—the story of Yosef’s death, up to “and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt”?
3. It can be said that this will be understood by first explaining Rashi’s commentary on the verse “In the beginning G‑d created…”—“The Torah should have begun only from ‘This month shall be for you…’ What is the reason it opens with ‘In the beginning’? Because ‘He declared the power of His works to His people, to give them the inheritance of nations’—so that if the nations of the world say to Israel, ‘You are thieves, for you conquered the lands of the seven nations,’ they will say to them: ‘The entire earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whomever was upright in His eyes. By His will He gave it to them, and by His will He took it from them and gave it to us.’”
At first glance, according to the superficial understanding (that it is the claim of the nations of the world that causes the Torah to open with “In the beginning”), it is puzzling: How is it possible that because of the claim of the nations of the world there should be a change in the Torah, which was given to Israel—that instead of beginning with “This month shall be for you,” the Torah begins with “In the beginning G‑d created…”?
Furthermore: Even if we say that it is necessary to include in the Torah the response to the nations of the world, it would seem that this is not a reason to begin the Torah with this, especially since the order of the Torah is itself Torah (and therefore precise to the utmost).
It must therefore be that the claim and the response are not only to refute the nations of the world, but this also concerns the Jewish people themselves, and that is why the entire matter was included in the Torah (as the verse says, “He declared the power of His works to His people”).
Moreover, since the Torah begins with “In the beginning G‑d created…” so that the Jewish people will be able to answer the claim of the nations, it must be that the meaning is not merely that the Torah also deals with this, but that this is from the very beginnings, from the foundations of the Torah.
4. The explanation is as follows:
Even the nations of the world know that G‑d “chose us from among all the nations and gave us His Torah,” and it is precisely for this reason that they claim—“You are thieves, for you conquered the lands of the seven nations”:
According to the perspective of the nations of the world (and likewise from the standpoint of the yetzer hara—the “foreign god within you,” which is called “the nation” within the Jew), the Jewish people should not be connected with a (physical) land, and certainly not with a specific land. For the entire essence of the Jewish people, in their view, is the service of G‑d that is incumbent upon them always, at all times and in all places, and their being a nation is due to and through G‑d’s choosing them, the giving of the Torah, and so on.
Therefore, the conquest of the Land of Israel and its acquisition by the Jewish people, with the intent to settle there as a unique nation in a unique land, is, in their eyes, an act of “theft.” For such conduct is fitting for all other nations—among them, the gathering of many people together in a specific land is what makes them into a nation. But not for the Jewish people, the chosen nation whom G‑d has elevated above all other nations, languages, and lands.
The response to this is: “He declared the power of His works to His people, to give them the inheritance of nations.” The giving of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people is not like that of the other nations, lehavdil; rather, it is a part of their divine service—to reveal the “power of His works” of G‑d:
The ultimate purpose of the service of the Jewish people is to make for Him, blessed be He, a dwelling place in the lower realms specifically—that His holiness should rest specifically in the “earthiness” of this physical world (which is why the majority of the mitzvos of the Torah are practical mitzvos, so that through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos, holiness will be drawn down even into physical matters).
And so it is regarding the Jewish people as a whole: Since they are exalted and above all other nations and languages, it is specifically for this reason that they were given the Land of Israel, a physical land, on which many mitzvos of the Torah depend (to the extent that the main fulfillment of the mitzvos of the Torah is specifically in the Land of Israel, as the Ramban explains at length), because this is the very purpose of the Jewish people and the Torah—to “conquer” the “earthiness” of this world and make it a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He.
Therefore, the opening and beginning of the Torah is “In the beginning G‑d created…,” the creation of the world, because the foundation and principal intent of the Torah is—to conquer the world through it and make it a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He.
5. Based on this, we can resolve another precision in the language of the above Rashi—“So that if the nations of the world say to Israel, ‘You are thieves…’”—that is, this is the claim of the nations of the world in general. Seemingly, the claim against Israel is “that you conquered the lands of the seven nations”—so what business do the other sixty-three nations have to bring a complaint about the matter of the seven nations (the seven lands) that are not theirs?
According to the above, we can explain: Even though the claim of “You are thieves,” in its simple (physical) sense, pertains to the lands of the seven nations, the Land of Israel—nevertheless, the content of the claim (its reason and argument) applies to all lands, since this point—that the Torah’s purpose is to affect the earthiness and physicality of the world (as expressed in the giving of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people)—has an actual impact and extension regarding the Jewish people’s relationship to all lands.
The explanation:
It is well known that the ultimate purpose of the soul’s descent into the body and the life of the Jewish people in this world is—in the words of the Baal Shem Tov—“to cause His Name to dwell there, to publicize G‑dliness in that place,” and through this, they “conquer” the “place,” to make “there” a dwelling for Him, blessed be He.
That is: The mission of the Jewish people in the lands, in this world, is not only to stand firm in their service of G‑d through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos and not to be affected by any obstacles or hindrances, etc.—but also to transform the lands into places where G‑d’s holiness rests—“to cause His Name to dwell there.”
This is the meaning of the verse, “He declared the power of His works to His people, to give them the inheritance of nations”—that this is the work of the Jewish people, through fulfilling Torah and mitzvos in every place, to “conquer” the lands of the nations under the “ownership” of holiness—“to give them the inheritance of nations.”
6. For further clarification:
It is known from the seforim that the purpose of the soul’s descent (and especially in exile) is so that the Jewish people will refine the sparks of holiness that have fallen and are scattered throughout all corners of the earth. Therefore, “He scattered them among the nations,” so that each one will refine the sparks of holiness that are found in his place (for by using the objects of the world for the service of G‑d, he elevates the sparks of holiness found in those things to holiness).
However, if the purpose were only “the refinement of the sparks,” there would be no necessity for the person engaged in Torah and mitzvos to go himself to the place where the sparks of holiness are found. Even while remaining “in his place,” in the Holy Land (and in Jerusalem, the holy city), this goal could be achieved by serving G‑d with an immense increase in the light of holiness, similar to a great torch to which all sparks of light, even those far away, are drawn and gathered.
And so we find regarding King Shlomo—that when “Shlomo sat on the throne of G‑d,” he remained in his place, and from there he accomplished the refinement of the entire world. This is seen in the fact that the Queen of Sheba came from her place to Shlomo and brought him gifts, etc. (sparks of holiness).
And since the descent below is for the sake of an ascent (meaning, an ascent even relative to the state before the descent below)—it must be that through this descent, in the work of refinement, there is an achievement and a completeness even greater than the refinement of the sparks in the time of Shlomo.
It can be explained as follows: Through the descent below, and especially in exile—“one of you is exiled to Barbaria and one of you is exiled to Sarmatia,” and he serves G‑d there—not only do they extract the sparks of holiness that have been scattered throughout the world, but furthermore, the very place where the sparks of holiness are found (the entire world) is transformed to holiness. That is, the whole world becomes “the Land of Israel,” “to give them the inheritance of nations.”
This is also the meaning of the promise, “In the future, the Land of Israel will spread to all the lands”—for after the completion of “our deeds and our service throughout the time of exile,” when the entire world is conquered and transformed to holiness, the holiness of the Land of Israel will spread to all the lands—“to give them the inheritance of nations” in the literal sense, that the entire world will enter within the borders of Israel.
7. With this, we can also explain the hint in the content of the division between the books of Bereishis and Shemos:
The simple distinction between the book of Bereishis and the book of Shemos is: In Bereishis, the stories are about the lives of the Patriarchs (and the tribes, etc.), that is, the preparation for the creation of the Jewish people, etc.; whereas the book of Shemos is the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah, etc.
Seemingly, according to this, the book of Shemos should have begun with the story of the Exodus from Egypt, when the Jewish people were “born” (similar to Rashi’s words cited above, “The Torah should have begun only from ‘This month shall be for you’”). What, then, is the reason that the book of Shemos opens with the story of the exile in Egypt?
[And even according to the simple meaning, the break between the books appears to be in the middle of a topic, for the descent of Yaakov and his sons to Egypt is already told in the book of Bereishis (in Parshas Vayigash). It would therefore seem more fitting that the continuation of the story about the exile in Egypt (the hardship of the bondage, etc.) should also appear in that book, and that the following book should begin with a new subject—the redemption of Israel from Egypt.]
According to the above, we can say:
Just as the opening of the entire Torah with “In the beginning, G‑d created…” is because this is the ultimate purpose of the Torah—“to give them the inheritance of nations,” as explained above—so too in our case: The book of Shemos is indeed the story of the birth of the Jewish people and the giving of the Torah to them, but the “opening” of this story is not at the giving of the Torah, nor even at the story of the Exodus and redemption from Egypt, but specifically with the story of the “inheritance of nations” within it, the exile in Egypt, similar to the descent into the “straits” and limitations of the world in general.
For since the purpose of the Torah is the work of “to give them the inheritance of nations” (the refinement of the world)—therefore, even the preparation for the giving of the Torah was through work within the exile of Egypt, in such a way that the matters of Egypt entered into the domain of Israel (holiness) while they were still in Egypt, there—“and they emptied out Egypt,” “they made it like a trap with no grain… like a sea with no fish.”
Therefore, the beginning of the book is specifically about the exile in Egypt after the time of “And Yosef died, and all his brothers, and all that generation,” and not at the time of Yaakov’s descent into Egypt. For Yaakov’s descent into Egypt was not truly a matter of exile, since he dwelled in the land of Goshen, in the best part of the land, in a state of tranquility and peace, and so it was “as long as one of the tribes was alive.” Only after “And Yosef died, and all his brothers, and all that generation” did the enslavement and hardship begin—the main descent of the Egyptian exile.
8. According to this, we can understand the connection between the beginning and the end of the book of Bereishis and its content as “the book of the upright”:
The subject of the book of Bereishis (and in detail—up until “This month shall be for you”) in its simple sense, as Rashi explains, is “He declared the power of His works to His people,” meaning not the existence of the world for its own sake, but on the contrary, the power and dominion of G‑d over the world, which was given over to Israel (“He declared to His people”). At the beginning of Bereishis, it is told that “He created it,” and afterwards, how “He gave it to whomever was upright in His eyes; by His will He gave it to them (and by His will He took it from them and gave it to us).”
This empowerment was given to Israel through the Patriarchs, as is recounted many times in Bereishis about G‑d’s promise to each of the three Patriarchs regarding the giving of the land, until the conquest of the land by Israel in the days of Yehoshua was based on the inheritance of the land from the Patriarchs, as the halachic ruling is that the Land of Israel is an inheritance from our forefathers.
And so it is in the spiritual sense—the power given to Israel to rule over the materiality of this world and to conquer it for the domain of holiness is drawn to Israel through the Patriarchs, who are called “upright” (yesharim). The Patriarchs were far above the world, for “the Patriarchs are truly the chariot,” meaning “all their limbs were holy and separate from worldly matters, and they became a chariot only for the Divine will all their days,” and therefore the physicality of the world could not, G‑d forbid, dominate them.
This “dominion” over the world is inherited by every single Jew, as “children.” As is known regarding “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children”—the actions of the Patriarchs give the power for the service of the children. Even though the level of the Patriarchs’ service is far higher than that of the children, nevertheless, since they are fathers, all their qualities are inherited by their children after them forever.
9. However, in order for there to be a connection between the deeds of the fathers and the service of the children, there must be, within the deeds of the fathers themselves, something of the nature and example of the level of the children.
This is the reason why the conclusion of the book of Bereishis is about the descent of Yaakov and his sons to Egypt. Although for them this was not truly an exile, as mentioned above, since their stay in Egypt was in a state of tranquility and peace, nevertheless, especially relative to the level of Yaakov in the land of his father’s sojournings, this was a descent.
And with Yaakov, the dominion over Egypt was open and revealed, as it says, “And Yaakov blessed Pharaoh,” and as Rashi explains, he blessed him “that the Nile should rise at his approach… and from Yaakov’s blessing onward, Pharaoh would come to the Nile and it would rise to greet him and water the land”—it was openly visible to Pharaoh that the sustenance of Egypt depended on Yaakov’s blessing!
And likewise with Yosef—he was the ruler over Egypt, and “without you, no man shall lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
The spiritual state of Yaakov and Yosef, and so on, in Egypt is the empowerment that was given to their descendants after them as an inheritance, that even while in exile they would be able to rule over the exile.
10. And this is the “conclusion” of the book of Bereishis—how Yosef the righteous told and hinted to his brothers that, although here the “deeds of the fathers” end and the service of the children begins, which is connected with a descent into actual exile, nevertheless, “And G‑d will surely remember you and bring you up out of this land.” For the exile has no power, G‑d forbid, over Israel; on the contrary—the entire purpose of the exile is so that the Jewish people will rule over it, and through the descent into exile, the Jewish people are elevated to an even higher level—“and He will bring you up.”
It can be said that this is also the reason why Yosef was buried in Egypt—“and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt”—unlike Yaakov, who was buried specifically in the Land of Israel (“and you shall carry me out of Egypt, etc.”). For through this, the power was given to the Jewish people, while they are in Egypt, to be elevated above the exile and to rule over it, to the extent that through this they ascended from Egypt.
And so it will be for us, in this final exile, that “As in the days of your going out from the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders,” with the true and complete Redemption through our righteous Moshiach, speedily in our days, literally.
(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Vayechi, 5746)