Two Burials, One Path Through Jewish History
In Vayechi, the final Torah portion in the book of Genesis, we lose Jacob – the last surviving Patriarch – and his favored son, Joseph. These two deaths – and in particular, the instructions each man gives for his burial – illustrate the two central values that have kept the Jewish people intact for thousands of years.After giving each of his children a final blessing, Jacob – having spent his final years in Egypt, far from home – instructs his sons to bury me with my fathers in the cave… which Abraham bought (Gen. 49:29-30). Jacob asks to be buried with his ancestors, and moreover he explicitly invokes his family’s connection to that land – the Land of Israel – in explaining his choice of burial site. In doing so, Jacob sets the paradigm for every generation to follow: no matter where in the world Jews have roamed, we have always kept one eye toward Zion.
Not long after Jacob’s burial, Joseph too prepares to die, and he too gives directions for his burial. Joseph, however, makes a very different choice: in the final verses of Genesis, Joseph makes his brothers take an oath that when God eventually brings them out of Egypt and back to their homeland, you shall carry up my bones from here (Gen. 50:25). While his father was taken home to be buried in the company of generations past, Joseph’s body will remain in Egypt indefinitely, until every last Israelite returns home. Joseph, too, establishes a pattern for later generations to follow: throughout our history, the Jewish People have thrived when our various sub-groups have stood in solidarity with one another.
Two recent books examining Jewish history in the last half-century highlight the importance of these values. Joseph’s model – standing in solidarity with other Jews and working together to improve the overall Jewish outlook – comes to life in Gal Beckerman’s thrilling history of the Soviet Jewry movement, When They Come For Us, We’ll Be Gone. Equal parts adventure story and modern history, When They Come For Us shows how Jewish solidarity – whether in Latvia or Cleveland – gave otherwise unremarkable Jews the power to defy both of the world’s Superpowers and write their own chapter in the Jewish Saga.
Jacob’s ultimate commitment to the Land of Israel comes to life in Like Dreamers, the latest book by Yossi Klein Halevi, who visited Anshe Emet a few weeks ago. As many of us had the privilege of hearing directly from Yossi, the book tells the story of the Israeli paratroopers who fought to reunite Jerusalem in 1967 and the courses their lives took in the years that followed. One striking theme in the book is how both camps that developed after the Six Day War – the settlement movement and the peace movement – place Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel at the center of their arguments. Despite taking diametrically opposed viewpoints, these two groups still share a deep and almost overwhelming love for Israel.
I highly recommend both of these books, each of which offers a revolutionary new perspective on recent events in Jewish history. As you read them, I hope you will also take time to reflect on how you engage with each of the two Jewish values we learn from this week’s parshah – our connection to the Land of Israel and our solidarity with the collective Jewish People.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Abe Friedman
