Open Eyes and Hearts
When we look around us, we might imagine that the world is in state of spiritual decline and that we are so far from the state of Redemption. Despite all the negative phenomena of recent times we must realize that, on the contrary, the world has changed for the good.
No Separation
This week’s Parsha is unusual because of the way it begins. In all other parts of the Torah there is a separation between one Parsha and the one that follows. Either an entire line is left blank, or, at the very least, there is a blank space left between the end of one Parsha and the beginning of the next Parsha. This week’s Parsha, Vayechi begins immediately after the ending of last week’s parsha with no separation at all.
Rashi addresses this anomaly and explains that the reason this Parsha is “s’tumah”-closed” is to express the feelings of the Jewish people at that time that Jacob departed. ”The eyes and the hearts of the Jewish people were closed from the distress of the bondage” that followed Jacob’s passing.
A question has been raised by commentators. The bondage did not begin until the last of Joseph’s brothers died, decades after Jacob’s passing. Why then were their eyes and hearts closed upon the passing of Jacob?
Spiritual Bondage Began with the Passing of Jacob
One answer given is that while it is true that the physical bondage had not begun until much after the passing of Jacob, the spiritual bondage began immediately upon Jacob’s departure.
But, this answer needs to be clarified in light of an observation made by our Sages that the Torah does not use the word death with regard to Jacob. From this they derive that Jacob did not, in fact, really die. The Talmud explains that because his children were alive and continued in his way, Jacob himself was truly alive. How then can it be said that they were already experiencing a spiritual form of bondage and decline, when the legacy of Jacob continued?
The answer to this question is that though Jacob’s influence continued, his children viewed it as no more than just a legacy of a deceased person. To them, Jacob had departed and was not the same Jacob he was before. Sure, they still felt Jacob’s spirit, but they could not “see” him in the same vivid, realistic and palpable way that saw him before.
This represented the beginning of the spiritual bondage, because spiritual bondage does not occur overnight. It begins with but the most imperceptible decline.
Degradation Began With Jacob’s Arrival in Egypt
We can now also understand why the Torah alludes to the “closed eyes and hearts” at the beginning of this week’s Parsha, which begins with the words “and Jacob lived in the land of Egypt” rather than in a later verse where the Torah actually describes Jacob’s passing?
The spiritual degradation that the Children of Israel experienced actually began before Jacob’s passing. Notwithstanding the Torah’s emphasis that Jacob “lived” in Egypt — and that according to some commentators, these were his best and most vibrant years of his life — the appearance to his children was that he was on a lower spiritual level. He was no longer the same robust and spiritually powerful Jacob who wrestled with angels and prevailed.
Open Your Eyes and Hearts!
This then is what Rashi meant when he said that their “eyes and hearts” were closed. The meaning of “eyes” here is that they no longer saw Jacob and his spiritual inspiration the way that they saw it previously. This led to the fact that their hearts and feelings likewise waned and degenerated.
The lesson for our generation is that we must learn how to keep our eyes open.
When we look around us, we might imagine that the world is in state of spiritual decline and that we are so far from the state of Redemption. Despite all the negative phenomena of recent times we must realize that, on the contrary, the world has changed for the good.
It behooves us to “open our eyes” and to see the underlying reality that the thousands of years of collective positive efforts have left an indelible mark on the world. We must see and appreciate the many signs around us that point to the inevitable, that the world is soon to experience the ultimate realization of the promise and prophecy of the Torah, made in this week’s Parsha and in many other places — the coming of Moshiach.
By keeping our eyes “open” and seeing the good and holy in everything and viewing life optimistically, our hearts will likewise be open to expressing the love and yearning for a more G-dly world. That will mark the end of bondage and the beginning of Redemption.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayechi by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
