5782

Chapter 47;v.29

כט וַיִּקְרְבוּ יְמֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל לָמוּת וַיִּקְרָא | לִבְנוֹ לְיוֹסֵף וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אִם־נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ שִׂים־נָא יָֽדְךָ תַּחַת יְרֵכִי וְעָשִׂיתָ עִמָּדִי חֶסֶד וֶֽאֱמֶת אַל־נָא תִקְבְּרֵנִי בְּמִצְרָֽיִם:

29. And the time drew nearer that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found grace in your sight, put, I beg you, your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I beg you, in Egypt

Usually, the day of death is referred to in the singular – “day” and not “the days of”, as in “I do not know the day of my death” (Genesis 27:2) and “until the day of his death” (Jeremiah 52:11). When Jacob became ill, though, and he could no longer engage in studying Torah and doing good deeds as he was accustomed, he considered those days to be “dead days”, as if he had already died!(Rabbi Menachem Hacohen,Torat Am)

5781

Chapter 45;v.14

וַיִּפֹּל עַל־צַוְּארֵי בִנְיָֽמִן־אָחִיו וַיֵּבְךְּ וּבִנְיָמִן בָּכָה עַל־צַוָּארָֽיו

And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

Rashi says that Joseph cried over the two Temples (in Nov and Givon) that would be built in the portion of Benjamin and ultimately be destroyed. Benjamin cried on Joseph’s neck for the tabernacle of Shilo that would be in Joseph’s future portion and would ultimately be destroyed.

At first glance, it would seem that Joseph should have wept about the tabernacle in Shilo that would be located in the area of his future inheritance, and Benjamin over the two Temples that were in his own portion! From this, Rabbi Yehezkel of Kozimir derived that a Jew should be troubled and weep over another’s misfortune more than his own. Even if one can accept suffering with love, he should not accept with love the suffering of others!