Weekly D'var

Haftorah from Ezekiel for Parashat Vayigash 
The Unity and Disunity of B’nai Yisroel
George Siegel

This sedra tells us of several events of Jacob’s family in Egypt. One significant event is the reunification of Jacob’s sons in Egypt. This was not simple. First, the 10 brothers who had 17 years earlier dumped Joseph into a pit and then sold him to traders to sell in Egypt  needed to unify among themselves, each acknowledging to himself and to his brothers his own guilt in the evil behavior toward Joseph and in their atrocious lie to their father Jacob. Secondly, it was necessary for Joseph to hear the brothers’ self -acknowledgements of their collective evil and regrets for their actions while believing their self-confessions were entirely unobservable. Thus, Joseph believed their sincerity and he, himself, was led to feel his own hurt resolved and a feeling of forgiveness toward his brothers. This made a reunion of Joseph with his brothers possible. 

Despite these wonderful self-confessions and loving forgiveness, a question not asked, so far as I know, is: how did the relationship between Joseph and Yehuda in particular get along. Recall that Joseph as a youngster, had dreams that he might have interpreted as prophesying his own rising to premiership among the brothers while, in fact, it was Yehuda who developed as the leader of his brothers and who was able to stand up against the unrecognized Joseph in his powerful position of second to the king of Egypt. 

Yehudah was blessed by Jacob to be the leader of all the tribes and to head the royal house. Joseph, on the other hand, was blessed as a “charming son” who rose to prominence despite hatred and jealousy and basically was a “crown among his brothers” as interpreted by R.Munk. But not the king as he might have expected from his dreams. 

Obviously, the unification of the brothers together with their tribes was necessary for the existence of B’nai Yisroel. Where would we have been if not for their unification? Perhaps we might not have been at all. Yet, one, not knowing the future, might perceive seeds of potential discord between Joseph and Yehuda and their transmission to descendants. 

That question is taken up in the haftorah that our sages chose for this sedra (from Ezekiel 37:15-28). For a little background, the tribes upon exiting from Egypt were united through their treks through the dessert, and the conquests of Canaan under leaderships of Joshua, kingships of David and Solomon from the tribe of Yehuda. However, after the kingship of Solomon, the B’nai Yisroel did in fact become quite disunited. 

How did this develop? This history is put together from sources in IKings chaps. 11, 12 and 14 and II Chronicles (Divrei Yamim). I like to go back to Jacob and his family in Egypt. Recall that Joseph brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to Jacob for Jacob’s blessing. Jacob blessed them placing his right hand on the younger son, Ephraim, and left hand on Manasseh. When Joseph sought to correct him, Jacob said at that time, (Breshit 48:19,20) “[Manasseh] too will become a people and he too will become great; yet his younger brother shall become greater than he and [fame] of his offsprings will fill the nations.” He blessed them both that day saying “By you shall Israel bless saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh’”—and he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 

[Parenthetically, we may ask what features did both these boys manifest that would impress Jacob so to declare them a blessing through the ages? Our sages say that despite the fact that the younger received the prime blessing, there was no strife between the two brothers and that although the two were born into and brought up in the rich environment of the Egyptian royalty class, the boys studied with Jacob; they did not assimilate but stuck to Jacob.]

Apparently, the tribe of Ephraim developed militarily as warriors. Saul and Joshua were both from Ephraim. There are disagreements about the exact character of Ephraim. Classical rabbinical literature describes Ephraim as modest and unselfish and that was Jacob’s vision in giving him precedence over Manasseh. Other also rabbinical texts claim that Ephraim was headstrong and a rebel. In the biblical (Book of Chronicles) account, the Israelite tribes were initially united in a single kingdom under David and then Solomon from the tribe of Yehuda. Later the tribes were divided into the northern and southern kingdoms by the jealousy of the Ephraim tribe over the increasing power of Yehuda. According to Book of Chronicles, Ephraim splintered from Yehuda and was denounced as forsaking God and portrayed as becoming highly irreligious. When the Ark of The Covenant containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments was removed from Shiloh, an important early city in the Israelite religion, which was in the territory of Ephraim, to Zion in Yehuda, the power of Ephraim was thusly reduced. 

The tribe of Ephraim was in the approximate center of the land adjacent to the north aspect of Yehuda while Benjamin was a very small territory squeezed between them. North of Ephraim extended an expansive Manasseh in which territory Shechem, another important early city among the forefathers, was located close to the border with Ephraim. Thus, the tribe Ephraim and the cities of Shilo and Shechem formed a center of power. As soon as Solomon died, the Ephraimite Jeroboam, who had been hiding in Egypt, came out and challenged Solomon’s son Rehoboam in Yehuda for Kingship of the whole kingdom. Apparently, there was considerable unrest among the populace because of Solomon’s very extravagant ways with respect to taxes and military requirements and all the wives and horses he accumulated. Rehoboam told Jeroboam to go back to Shechem which was in Manasseh territory and return in 3 days for an answer. Rehoboam sought counsel from his elders who advised him to tell the people he would lower their taxes and reduce the military obligations. Unfortunately, Rehoboam also sought advice from the young elements of the court and was advised exactly the opposite: that he ought to proclaim higher taxes and higher obligations and harsher disciplines. When Jeroboam returned after 3 days, Rehoboam announced his new plans as advised by the younger courtiers. The people of the ten northern tribes rejected Rehoboam and made   Jeroboam king in Shechem and established the kingdom of Northern Israel with its capital in Shechem. But Benjamin, full brother to Joseph and uncle to Ephraim, stuck to Yehudah. Jeroboam built altars for sacrifices and started making idols and going into idolatrous and “abhorrent” behaviors. God told Jeroboam that He would “rip the kingdom out of his hands” because he didn’t keep the ways of God as David had done faithfully. The ten tribes were ruled by Jeroboam’s descendants, had battles with Assyria coming from the north and eventually were conquered by Assyria. The B’nai Yisroel were taken into exile, assimilated and/or dissipated through Assyria about 723 BCE. These are the so-called “Ten Lost Tribes”, identified with Ephraim. About 150 years later, also for not following the ways of God as David had faithfully, Jeremiah tells us, Judea with Benjamin were attacked, conquered and exiled by Babylonia. Babylonia destroyed the First Temple about 587 BCE. 

It so happens that the prophet Ezekiel who lived from 622 to 570 BCE, spanning the wars with Babylonia, destruction of the First Temple and the taking of Judea/Benjamin into captivity. Ezekiel himself went into exile in Babylon. In Babylon exile, Ezekiel was prophesying the eventual return of Yehuda from exile and re-establishment of the single nation of Israel with a single king and removing from them all their contamination with idolatry and abhorrent behavior.

Which brings us finally to the haftorah from Ezekiel chapter 37 :15-28:” The word of God came to me saying: “Take a wooden tablet (or stick) and write upon it ‘For Judah and the Children of Israel, his comrades’; and take another wooden tablet (or stick) and write upon it ‘For Joseph, the wooden tablet of Ephraim, and all the Children of Israel, his comrades.’ And bring them close to yourself, one to the other, like a single wooden tablet, and they shall become one in your hand.“  Ezekiel says: “Thus says my Lord Hashem….I take the Children of Israel from among the nations to which they went, and I shall gather them from around and I shall bring them to their soil.” Thus, the prediction that the tribes identified with Ephraim, son of Joseph, will be joined to Yehuda to which the tribe of Benjamin, Joseph’s full brother, is attached and God will make them a “single nation in the land upon Israel’s hills,   ……and no longer divided into two kingdoms again.”

Perhaps this prophesy is in the process of being fulfilled with God’s help. 

Happy Chanukah.