Lesson 6

Lesson 6

Study in the Land 2010-2011

Jacob in Shechem

• Did the brothers do the right thing?

According to Jacob…

• 30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: 'Ye have troubled me, to make me odious unto the inhabitants of the land, even unto the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and, I being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and smite me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.' 31 And they said: 'Should one deal with our sister as with a harlot?' {P}

According to God…

• 1 And God said unto Jacob: 'Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there; and make there an altar unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou didst flee from the face of Esau thy brother.

• 5 And they journeyed; and a terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan--the same is Beth-el--he and all the people that were with him. 7 And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el, because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

And another Promise…

• 12 and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.' 13 And God went up from him in the place where He spoke with him. 14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He spoke with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el.

Where was Rachel buried?

; יט• , ָר�ֵח�ל �ָמ�ת ת� ֶא�ְפ�ָר�ת�ה ַו � ְּב��ֶד�ָר�ְך �ָּק��ְּב�ָר ת� ה�ַוֶא, ַול�ֵח�ם , כ.  ְּב��ית ��ְּב�ה ֵּצ ָמ ֲע�ָּק�ְּב י ��ְּב �ֵּצ י ַו

, - -- ָר�ֵח�ל- ָּק�ְּב�ָרת ��ְּב�ת ֵּצ ָמ ה�ַוֶא ָּק�ְּב�ָר�ת�ה� ֲעל�ַו�ם- הי , כא.  ֲעֶד ; , ֶא�ה�ל�ה ��ט י ַו ִיְׂש��ָר�ֶא�ל ��ַּס�ע י ַו

- ֲע�ֶד�ָר �ל �ֶד ְג ל�ָמ� , כב.  ָמ�ה�ל�ֶא�ה ִיְׂש��ָר�ֶא�ל ��ן ְּב��ְׂש&�ֹּכ �ה�י י ַו - , ְּב��ל�ה�ה ֶא�ת �ְּב ��ְׂש&�ֹּכ י ַו �ְּב�ן ָר�ֶאַו � ��ל�ְך י ַו הה�ַוֶא ְּב��ֶא�ָר�ץ

, ִיְׂש��ָר�ֶא�ל ��ְׂש&�ָמע י ַו ֶא�ְּב�יַו �יל�ְג�ְׂש& ;  ְפ�

Geographically speaking…

• 13 And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them.' And he said to him: 'Here am I.' 14 And he said to him: 'Go now, see whether it is well with thy brethren, and well with the flock; and bring me back word.' So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

• 17 And the man said: 'They are departed hence; for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.' And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

• 12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.

• 15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying: 'What seekest thou?' 16 And he said: 'I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock.' 17 And the man said: 'They are departed hence; for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.' And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

� טו• ��ָמ�ֵּצ�ֶא�הַו י ; ֶא�יְׂש& ַו ְּב�ְׂש���ֶד�ה, ת�ֲע�ה ��ה �ה�ֵּנ ַו� ��ְׂש&�ֶא�ל�הַו י -ה�ֶא�יְׂש& ַו , �ְּבָּק��ְׂש& ת� ָמה טז.  ל�ֶאָמ�ָר

, - ; - ל�י, ��ֶא ֵּנ ��יֶד�ה הְג ָמ�ְּבָּק��ְׂש& ֶא�ֵּנ�ֹּכ�י ֶאֵחי ֶא�ת ��ֶאָמ�ָר י ַוָר�ֲע�ים ה�ם , יז.  ֶא�יְפ�ה � עַו �ַּס� ֵּנ ה�ֶא�יְׂש& ��ֶאָמ�ָר י ַו

; , --� ��ל�ְך י ַו �ה �ֵּנ ��ת�י ֶד �ל�ֹּכ�ה ֵּנ ֶא�ָמ�ָר�ים �י ְׂש&�ָמֲע�ת� ��י ֹּכ ��ה ֶּז ָמ� , ְּב��ֶד�ת�ן ��ָמ�ֵּצ�ֶא�ם י ַו ֶא�ֵח�יַו ֶאֵחָר .  יַו�ַּס�ף

• The Torah has NO extra words. Ever.

• always refers to someone important ,ֶאיְׂש

• One person can change the destiny of an entire people.

• Examples?

• Yael

• Yehudit (Judith)

• Menasseh (king)

• Reuben

• Arafat

• Mordechai

What’s the Joseph Story about?

• Some folks dream of the wonders they'll doBefore their time on this planet is throughSome just don't have anything plannedThey hide their hopes and their heads in the sandNow I don't say who is wrong, who is rightBut if by chance you are here for the nightThen all I need is an hour or twoTo tell the tale of a dreamer like you We all dream a lot - some are lucky, some are notBut if you think it, want it, dream it, then it's realYou are what you feel

But all that I say can be told another wayIn the story of a boy whose dream came true

• TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

• Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

• And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.        15 I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

What about today?

• It’s up to us.

• God intervenes, sometimes.

• Sometimes, He waits for us to make the first move.

• Sometimes, it’s about the big picture.

Last Points…

• Jacob “blesses” his children

• Or does he?

• Are they blessings or statements of fact?

Reuven

• 3 Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the first-fruits of my strength; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. 4 Unstable as water, have not thou the excellency; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it--he went up to my couch.

• 6 Let Reuben live, and not die in that his men become few.

Shimon• 5 Simeon and Levi are

brethren; weapons of violence their kinship. 6 Let my soul not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united; for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they houghed oxen. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel; I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. {P}

• Shimon gets swallowed up by Judah

Levi

• 8 And of Levi he said: Thy Thummim and Thy Urim be with Thy holy one, whom Thou didst prove at Massah, with whom Thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

• 10 They shall teach Jacob Thine ordinances, and Israel Thy law; they shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt-offering upon Thine altar. 11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; smite through the loins of them that rise up against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

• 8 Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father's sons shall bow down before thee. 9 Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? 10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, as long as men come to Shiloh; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be. 11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washeth his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes; 12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. {P}

• {S} 7 And this for Judah, and he said: Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him in unto his people; his hands shall contend for him, and Thou shalt be a help against his adversaries. {P}

Zubulun

• 13 Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea, and he shall be a shore for ships, and his flank shall be upon Zidon.

• 18 And of Zebulun he said: Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out, and, Issachar, in thy tents. 19 They shall call peoples unto the mountain; there shall they offer sacrifices of righteousness; for they shall suck the abundance of the seas, and the hidden treasures of the sand.

What is a blessing?

• Advice

• Statement of Destiny

• Encouragement

• Acknowledgement that we’re right

• Warning

12 It is not in heaven, • On that day R. Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument,3  but they

did not accept them. Said he to them: 'If the halachah agrees with me, let this carob-tree prove it!' Thereupon the carob-tree was torn a hundred cubits out of its place — others affirm, four hundred cubits. 'No proof can be brought from a carob-tree,' they retorted. Again he said to them: 'If the halachah agrees with me, let the stream of water prove it!' Whereupon the stream of water flowed backwards — 'No proof can be brought from a stream of water,' they rejoined. Again he urged: 'If the halachah agrees with me, let the walls of the schoolhouse prove it,' whereupon the walls inclined to fall. But R. Joshua rebuked them, saying: 'When scholars are engaged in a halachic dispute, what have ye to interfere?' Hence they did not fall, in honour of R. Joshua, nor did they resume the upright, in honour of R. Eliezer; and they are still standing thus inclined. Again he said to them: 'If the halachah agrees with me, let it be proved from Heaven!' Whereupon a Heavenly Voice cried out: 'Why do ye dispute with R. Eliezer, seeing that in all matters the halachah agrees with him!' But R. Joshua arose and exclaimed: 'It is not in heaven.'4  What did he mean by this? — Said R. Jeremiah: That the Torah had already been given at Mount Sinai; we pay no attention to a Heavenly Voice, because Thou hast long since written in the Torah at Mount Sinai, After the majority must one incline.5

Next time…

• Joshua enters Israel

• These blessings transform a group of people into a nation

• The desert miracles go away

• We take control of our destiny