Yisro
Matan Torah- Mesorah
Rav Soloveitchik zt”l was discussing Yaakov Avinu, and he started with two
questions. One question is that the pesukim as well as the Midrash, emphasize the
term zaken regarding Yaakov. Yaakov was not so old, compared to Avraham and
Yitzchak. How come the Chumash emphasizes the idea of oldness by Yaakov more
than the other Avos?
Another question the Rav raised is the name of Bnei Yisrael. We take specifically
Yaakov’s name as our national name; we call ourselves Bnei Yisrael, and Beis
Yaakov. Why? Why Yaakov as opposed to Avraham or Yitzcahk? There is, of course,
an obvious answer to that question. If we were to call ourselves Bnei Avraham or
Bnei Yitzchak, it would not be accurate, because Bnei Avraham includes Yishmael,
and Bnei Yitzchak includes Eisav. So clearly, Bnei Yisrael or Beis Yaakov, are the
only names that fit. The Rav thought however that one could also develop deeper
answer to this. Why do we take Yaakov’s name as our name?
To answer these questions, the Rav said as follows. There was one way that Yaakov
Avinu surpassed Avraham and Yitzchak. Avraham and Yitzchak taught their children
Torah, the Mesorah. Yaakov, however, was the only one of the Avos to have a long,
complete, full, rebbe-talmid relationship with his grandchildren. Yaakov taught his
children, and Yaakov, as the Midrash emphasizes in Parsas Vayechi, became the
primary ba'al mesorah for Menashe and Ephraim as well. He sat and learned with his
grandchildren for 17 years, and he became their direct ba'al mesorah. His relationship
with Menashe and Ephraim is so powerful that Yaakov makes a startling declaration,
“K’reuven v’shimon yi’hyu li.” He makes them into his own children! He declares
they are like his own children and they receive two of the portions of Eretz Yisrael!
Yaakov took two of his grandchildren and converted them into his own children!
Halachically! In other words, the Rav explained, Yaakov Avinu experienced the
Mesorah fully not only with one generation but with two.
All of the Avos symbolize the Mesorah. However, the Rav explained that of all the
Avos, Yaakov symbolizes the Mesorah most powerfully. This might answer the two
questions raised above. Why does the Midrash emphasize that Yaakov is a zaken?
Because that is exactly the point -- even as an old man, Yaakov was experiencing the
Mesorah directly. He was already an old man. Often when one is an old man, it is
hard to connect to a much younger generation. He bridged the generation gap, and as
an old man, he was experiencing the Mesorah directly. He became the primary rebbe
of his grandchildren. There was a direct Mesorah, like father to son, from grandfather
to grandson. Maybe that is why there is an emphasis on Yaakov being old. We are
emphasizing that even as an old man he was an active, direct member of the Mesorah
at a very old age.
The Rav continued that this might be a very deep and beautiful pshat as to why we are
called Bnei Yisrael and Beis Yaakov. The simple answer, as we said above, is that
Bnei Avraham would include Yishmael and Bnei Yitzchak would include Eisav. But
a deeper pshat might be that Yaakov symbolizes the Mesorah, and the essence of
Yahadus is the Mesorah; therefore, our name as a nation is Bnei Yisrael, we are Bnei
HaMesorah. We chose the name of the Avos who most powerfully represents and
symbolizes the Mesorah. Yahadus is about Mesorah. We have a job to receive, accept,
learn and absorb our Mesorah from our parents and teachers. Then, we have to hold
onto it, guard it, and pass it on to the next generation. That is Judaism. Judaism is
about the Mesorah. Therefore, since Yaakov is the ultimate symbol of Mesorah,
Yaakov’s name becomes our name.
And finally, it is very striking that the name of the parsha that describes Yaakov’s
death is Vayechi- And Yaakov Lived. Whenever one thinks about Yaakov’s death, the
first word one thinks of is Vayechi. Even as he died, Yaakov continues to live on
through his descendants. That is Yaakov, and that is the Mesorah.
We received the Torah at Har Sinai several thousand years ago. It is our job to
maintain and guard our Mesorah until the Moshiach comes Bimhera B’yameinu
Amen.
Good Shabbos,
B. Ginsburg
This major part of this Dvar Torah can be found in the firt essay of a book called Reflections of the
Rav, vol. 2, in the first essay. I remember where I read this article for the first time. I was at my friend’s
house for Shabbos, sitting on the couch, reading this. I had never seen the book before, and I started
crying right there. Later, I found there is a recording of this Dvar Torah as well.
There are many examples where Yaakov is referred to as the zaken. In Breishis (43,2), Rashi quotes,
“Yehuda amar lahem, hamtinu l’zaken, ad she’tichcheh pas min habayis.” Later on in pasuk 27, Yosef
asks, “Avichem hazaken, is he still alive?” When the Rambam quotes the famous Gemara (Pesachim
56a), where Bnei Yaakov said “Shema Yisrael” and then Yaakov responded “Baruch shem…”, the
Rambam’s language is lashon, “Yisrael hazaken said this.” Also in Breishis Rabba (beginning of
Parsha 70) we find “va’yidor Yisrael, Yisrael saba,” again Yaakov is referred to as being old.
It is interesting that we find in the Pirkei D’Rebbe Eliezer, that “b’nei banim, harei heim k’banim.”
This posuk is the makor. The makor that is quoted is Yaakov’s comment that “Menashe v’Ephraim,
k’reuven v’shimon yi’hyu li.” See the Torah Shleimah perek 48, midrash 34.
The Midrash does say that Avraham learned with Yaakov and Eisav when they were young, until they
turned 13 or 15, that is true. However, if somebody would ask, who was Yaakov’s primary ba'al
mesorah, it was Yitzchok, not Avraham. Yitzchak was Yaakov’s primary rebbe.
Chazal tell us that Yaakov Avinu lo meis, Yaakov Avinu never dies. The Gemara asks, Yaakov never
dies? But we know he was embalmed and buried. The Gemara quotes a posuk that mentions children
and grandchildren, and says, mah zar’o bachayim, if one’s descendants are alive, then he is alive as
well. Of course Yaakov died physically, but since his kids and grandkids lived on with his ideals of
how to serve Hashem, it is as if he is still alive. Mah zar’o bayachim, af hu bachayim. That ma’amar
Chazal represents the Mesorah. It is striking that of all the Avos, we only find that ma’amar Chazal
regardng Yaakov. This is because the Torah has a different language by Yaakov than it does by
Yitzchak and Avraham. When the Torah describes the death of Yaakov the posuk does not say
“va’yamos” in the same way. The Torah has a different language, and therefore, Chazal develop this
idea that Yaakov never died. But why does the Torah use different language only by Yaakov?
What is the pshat that he never died? If his grandchildren are alive, if his children are alive and living
according to his ideals, then it is as if he is alive. Beautiful. How come we find this only by Yaakov
and not by the other Avos? Maybe because Yaakov symbolizes the Mesorah the most and therefore this
ma’amar Chazal of Mesorah you find by Yaakov more than the other Avos. The idea that Chazal say
Yaakov Avinu lo meis, that we do not find by Avraham and YItzchak, is discussed at length by the
meforshim on the Gemara and other meforshim. See the Torah Shleimah perek 49 footnote 408 for a
full discussion. He quotes there the Maharsha and others who say the reason why we find it by Yaakov
and not by the other Avos is because the ma’amar Chazal is just like “zar’oh bachayim, af hu
bachayim,” but the other Avos had descendants who were resha’im, so how could you say mah zar’oh
bachayim af hu bachayim?" They did not follow in the ideals of the father and the grandfather. That is
the pshat which the standard meforshim give. On top of that pshat I want to suggest based on what the
Rav is saying, that we find only by Yaakov “Yaakov Avinu lo meis,” because Yaakov represents the
Mesorah even more than the other Avos.
The background of the speech the Rav gave is as follows. He gave this speech at a Pidyon Haben in
1974. The father of the baby was in the Rav’s shiur. The baby’s grandfather had been in the Rav’s shiur
in the 40s. That is already exciting. And then the Rav described that the grandfather’s grandfather, the
baby’s great-great-grandfather, had sent the Rav a letter in the 1940’s. In the letter, he asked the Rav to
please keep an eye on his grandson and report on his progress. So the Rav had a 5-generation
connection to this baby. The baby was there. The father was in his shiur, the grandfather had been in
his shiur, and the great-great-grandfather had sent the Rav a letter 30 years ago saying please keep an
eye on his grandson, and report to him. The Rav said he was in a nostalgic mood and spoke about the
Mesorah. We have a wonderful, beautiful Mesorah. It has been around for a long time, and our job is to
guard it, and hold it, and maintain it, and then pass it on to the next generation. This is what Yahadus is
all about. This is Yaakov, and as we said, when you are in the Mesorah, you might die physically, but
you live on through your children and talmidim.
The Rav gave this Dvar Torah, and then the Rav said this idea that Yaakov Avinu bridged the
generation gap and was able to connect with his grandchildren, the Rav himself experience when he
was giving shiur. The Rav gave this speech at a Pidyon Haben in 1974, and he was 71 years old. Some
of his students in shiur were young enough to be his grandchildren. The Rav described how he felt
giving shiur as an old man, and passing on the Mesorah to a second and third generation. I am
including a transcription of that part of the Rav’s Dvar Torah.
As a matter of fact, I want to tell you, and please don't, don’t misinterpret my words, I am not
trying to brag or to boast, very far from it, but whatever I have said now is not just an idea. To
me it's an experience. Let me say that the secret of mispar ha'do'ros, of combining, uniting,
merging many generations into one community, where discrepancy of age disappears, where
years play no role, centuries have no significance. Where generations, I mean, can, so to say
communicate, commune with each other, I do experience every time I enter the classroom at the
yeshiva. And I've been a teacher for the last, how many years? (other people speaking) Oy vey,
I'm that old.
Whenever I enter the classroom which is crowded with boys, who could be as far as age is
concerned, my grandchildren. I enter the classroom as an old man, I am old- with a wrinkled
face and eyes reflecting fatigue and the sadness of old age. You have to be old in order to
experience that sadness. It's a very strange sadness; it's the melancholy of remembering things,
things which disappear, they don't exist. When I enter a classroom I sit down, and opposite me
are rows of boys, young boys with beaming eyes, beaming faces, clear eyes, radiating the joy of
being young.
Always when I enter, you know I enter in a very pessimistic mood, I always enter the class in
despair. And I ask myself, I mean, every time I enter the classroom- can there be a dialogue
between an old teacher and young students? Between a rebbe in his Indian summer and boys
enjoying the spring of their lives?
I start the shiur, I don't know what the conclusion will be. Whenever I start the shiur, the door
opens, another old man walks in and sits down. He is older than I am. All the talmidim call me
the Rav, he is older than the Rav. He is the great, the grandfather of the Rav; his name is Reb
Chaim Brisker. And without whom no shiur can be delivered nowadays. Then, the door opens
quietly again and another old man comes in, he is older than Reb Chaim, he lived in the 17 th
century. What’s his name? Shabsai Kohen- the famous Shach- who must be present when dinei
mamonos are being discussed; when we study Bava Metziah, Bava Kamah. And then, more
visitors show up. Some lived, some of the visitors lived in the 11 th century, some in the 12th
century, some in the 13th century, some lived in antiquity- Rebbe Akiva, Rashi, Rabbeinu Tam,
the Ra'avad, the Rashba, more and more come in, come in, come in. Of course, what do I do? I
introduce them to my pupils and the dialogue commences. The Rambam says something, the
Ra'avad disagrees; and sometimes he's very nasty. Very sharp, harsh language he uses against
the Rambam. A boy jumps up to defend the Rambam against the Ra'avad, and the boy is freshyou know how young boys are fresh- so the language he uses is improper, he uses improper
language. So, I correct him. And another jumps up with a new idea; the Rashba smiles gently. I
try to analyze what the young boy meant, another boy intervenes, we call upon the Rabbeinu
Tam to express his opinion, and suddenly a symposium of generations comes into existence.
Generations! Young boys- 22, 23, 24 years of age- there are boys who are just 18 years old in
my class. One generation. then my generation, then the generation of Reb Chaim Brisker, then
the generation of the Shach, then the generation of the Rashba, the Ramban, the generation of
the Rambam, the generation of Rashi, the generation of the Rabbeinu Tam, and then, I mean
there is no end! What about the Rav Hai Gaon? What about Rebbe Akiva, Rebbe Elazar, Rav
Yochanan ben Zakai? All generations somehow…
We all speak one language, “v'thi kol ha'aretz safah achas u'd'varim achadim.” We all chat, we
all laugh, we all enjoy the company, and we all pursue one goal; we all are committed to a
common vision, and we all operate in the same categories. There is mesorah collegiality,
friendship, comradeship between old and young, between antiquity middle-ages and modern
times, “v'hu ha'keitz.”
This unity of generations, this march of centuries, this conversation of generations, this dialogue
between antiquity and present will finally bring the redemption of the Jew.
Let me tell you that at the conclusion of three and sometimes four hours, I mean I have here a
witness, I emerge young and elated, younger than my pupils. They are tired, exhausted, some of
them yawn. I feel happy. I have, I have defeated age. I have defeated oldness; I emerge young,
less fatigued, less exhausted than my young pupils.
We belong to the same Mesorah community, where generations meet. Where hands, no matter
how wrinkled and parchment dry one hand is and how soft and wan the other hand is, shake,
unite, and in a community where the great dialogue continues. When I was looking at the baby
who was redeemed this evening, I don’t know whether he will be in my class, whether I will
live to have him. But someone will sit and teach the baby, and the baby is already a member if
the community, of the great Mesorah community. And I feel as if I, it is possible to establish
communication with this baby.