MESSIANIC BEAUTY AND HARMONY

LAST WILL AND CRITICISM?

As Yaakov lay “dying,” he gathered all of his sons to his bedside and blessed them. In truth, three of his sons, Reuven, Shimon and Levi, were actually censured for their temperament. Rueven was criticized for his impulsiveness and Shimon and Levi for their anger.

In his critical remarks to Shimon and Levi, Yaakov stated:

Into their design, may my soul not enter! With their congregation, do not unite, O my honor!

What did Yaakov have in mind with these cryptic words?

Rashi explains that the phrase, “Into their design, may my soul not enter” refers to a future incident in the days of Moshe. Zimri, a descendant and leader of the tribe of Shimon, consorted with a Midianite princess and brought calamity to his tribe and to the Jewish people. Yaakov requested that his name not be mentioned with regard to that matter, thus it was stated, “Zimri son of Salu, leader of a father’s house of Simeonites.” It did not write “son of Yaakov.”

Similarly, Rashi explains that in the phrase, “With their congregation, do not unite, O my honor!” Yaakov was alluding to Korach’s rebellion against Moshe. Korach’s genealogy is described thus: “Korach son of Yitzhar son of Kehos, son of Levi” It does not say, “son of Yaakov.”

THE QUESTIONS

Several questions come to mind:

First, why did Yaakov feel compelled to criticize his sons at precisely the moment when he gathered them to give his blessings? True, in the end, Rashi states, he included all of his sons in all his blessings. One might further observe that by reprimanding them for their imperfections, Yaakov attempted to remove whatever blockages there may have been for his sons to be receptive to his blessings. However, the question still remains, why did he wait for the last moments of his life to remove their imperfections?

Second, why was he so concerned with tracing their names back to him? Would anyone have imputed to him the sins of his descendants?

Third, why was he only concerned with the sins of these two tribes? They were not the only ones to sin.

Fourth, these two sinners can indeed, indirectly, be traced back to Yaakov, inasmuch as they are traced back to Shimon and Levi, respectively. Doesn’t everyone know that Shimon and Levi were sons of Yaakov?

KINDNESS AND JUDGMENT: DOUBLE-EDGED SWORDS

The key to answering these questions is to first address another question: Why was Yaakov more concerned about having his name somehow associated with the sins of his progenies than were Avraham and Yitzchak? Yishmoel is frequently mentioned as the son of Avraham notwithstanding his deviation from Avraham’s way of life. Eisav was even more corrupt and yet Yitzchak allowed Eisav to be identified with him. Why was Yaakov so sensitive about his reprehensible descendants that he chose to distance himself from them in his parting moments from them?

The answer lies in the spiritual differences between Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.

Chassidic thought explains that Avraham was the personification of the Divine attribute of chesed-kindness and love. Yitzchak, on the other hand, was the embodiment of the trait of g’vura-strength, which incorporates awe, judgment and discipline. These traits manifested themselves in the way Avraham and Yitzchak served G-d and the way they dealt with others. Avraham served G-d with love; Yitzchak with awe; Avraham spread his light outward; Yitzchak turned inward and introspective. Avraham showered hospitality and love; Yitzchak demanded high standards.

Yaakov epitomized the attribute of tiferes-beauty or harmony, itself the synthesis of chesed and g’vura. Yaakov inherited his father’s and grandfather’s traits of chesed and g’vura and transformed them into a piece of art of many colors. Indeed, Chassidic thought explains that when you combine kindness with judgment the result is rachamim-compassion another trait associated with tiferes. The reason why it is called beauty is precisely that it is a blend of two distinct colors. It takes many colors to produce a truly exquisitely piece of art. The most beautiful music is produced through a symphony.

THE AWESOME
POWER OF TIFERES

When we delve more deeply into these three attributes, chesed, g’vura and tiferes we discover that there is far more power inherent in Yaakov’s trait of tiferes. Chesed and g’vura turn out to be double-edged swords while tiferes is pure and pristine.

Chesed and love, Avraham’s attributes, and likewise Yitzchak’s attribute of g’vura, while positive and holy when they were manifested through Avraham and Yitzchak, can actually be the source of negativity as they emerge from their source.

To cite a few examples:

Exaggerated kindness to a child or student can often lead to an atmosphere of permissiveness. Giving alcohol to an alcoholic who pleads for it may outwardly come across as an act of kindness but it is just as negative an act as assaulting that person.

The emotion of love, which motivates acts of kindness, can also lead to immoral behavior.

Indeed, the Talmud states that incest is referred to in the Torah as chesed. This is explained in the Talmud by referring to Cain and Abel’s incestuous marriage to their twin sisters through which they populated the world; an act ultimately forbidden and regarded as deeply immoral and a heinous crime. Hence, the Talmud says, we can understand what the Psalmist means when he stated “The world was created with chesed!”

Chesed is, therefore, necessarily situational. There are times when it is considered to be one of the most exalted and cherished aspects of the human personality and at other times it can mark the nadir of depravity.

The same is true for the attribute of g’vura with which Yitzchak is identified. Harshness and judgment are great when attenuated and capable of refining the one who is being disciplined. But unmoderated it can also lead to anger and unmitigated violence.

Thus, our Sages underscore that Yishmoel departed from Avraham and Eisav departed from Yitzchak. Yishmoel personified the chesed and love of Avraham but in its degenerate form and Eisav was an extension of Yitzchak’s g’vura as he sank into violence. While they inherited their fathers’ characteristics of chesed and g’vura, respectively, they channeled them into the realm of evil.

Yaakov’s trait of tiferes, by contrast, could not degenerate into evil. When a trait is so nuanced and balanced it leaves no room for degeneration. G’vura limits the excessive potential of chesed and, conversely, chesed suppresses the explosive potential of g’vura. Tiferes is thus an incorruptible trait. Nothing truly evil or untoward can come out of tiferes. While evil can be committed by people notwithstanding their relationship to a tiferes personality it is not because of the tiferes personality but in spite of that person.

Thus the difference between the evil people who descended from Avraham and Yitzchak and those evil people who emerged from Yaakov is that in the former case it was their traits of chesed and g’vura that went awry whereas in the latter instance, it was because they strayed from the tiferes ideals of Yaakov.

“YAAKOV DID NOT DIE!”

We can now understand the statement in the Talmud that Yaakov did not actually die. What this means on a spiritual level is that while the traits of chesed and g’vura can experience degradation and degeneration—death in the conceptual sense—Yaakov’s trait of tiferes always remains intact.

This also explains the association made by the Torah of Yaakov with truth. Truth in its truest form is the integrity and durability of a thought, deed or concept. Yaakov personified this consistency and indeed found immortality.

We can now resolve all of the questions raised above.

The reason Yaakov was so concerned with his progeny’s evil conduct that he did not want his name associated with them is that he wanted to demonstrate that fidelity to the well balanced trait of tiferes does not lead to that evil behavior. Avraham and Yitzchak, by contrast, could not make that case, because, as explained above, their traits can become the double-edged swords that lead to immorality and violence.

That people would know that he was their ancestor did not trouble Yaakov. What troubled him is that people would conflate their sins with Yaakov’s impeccable ideal of tiferes, as if tiferes was just as vulnerable to distortion as the other traits.

We can now also understand why he was only concerned with the sins of these two tribes. The sins of Shimon dealt with immorality, the trait of chesed going awry, while the sin of Korach, who was associated with division and conflict was a manifestation of errant g’vura. Yaakov wanted it to be crystal clear that their deviations had nothing to do with tiferes.

PREPARATION FOR REDEMPTION

We can now also understand why he waited until the last moment to criticize his sons.

The Torah tells us that Yaakov’s gathering of his sons was related to the future coming of Moshiach. All of the symptoms of exile, which brought physical and spiritual death and destruction to the world, stem from the corruption of chesed and g’vura. This is reflected in the twin threats to our existence of persecution and the enticement of assimilation. These are dramatic examples of how chesed and g’vura have descended so low. The spiritual powers of Avraham and Yitzchak have been perverted into tools of destruction.

Yaakov wanted to demonstrate that, at precisely the moment they thought he was about to die, in truth he was going to live on; there would be no deterioration or devolution of his power of synthesis. Instead, it will lead to Redemption. He therefore emphasized that the negative behavior that emerged from these sons were aberrations and not related to him. Yaakov’s message to his sons and to us all is that his approach would lead to Redemption and the negation of death in all of its forms.

This analysis sheds light on the Rebbe’s instruction to us to study Torah as a way of preparing ourselves for the Final Redemption; it is because Torah is tiferes, the synthesis of chesed and g’vura. The Rebbe added particular emphasis on study of the Torah subjects of Moshiach and Redemption. By studying these subjects, we unleash the powerful truth of tiferes. With this power we condition ourselves and the entire world to live a Moshiach-oriented life, one of total balance between chesed and g’vura, and thereby hasten the Final Redemption.