Vayechi: 5785 - Our father Yaakov asks Yosef, "Please do not bury me in Egypt", and only after Yosef promises, "I will do as you say", does Yaakov ask him to swear to it. Why? Rabbi…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:01 Speaker 2 I’ll get back to you. One of Rashi’s well-known comments on Parshas Vayechi is that Vayechi is a “closed parsha.” What does that mean? There are several explanations. One is that Yaakov wanted to reveal when the end would come, but it was concealed from him. Another is that the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people were closed by the hardship of their enslavement. There’s also a straightforward explanation. What is a closed parsha? It means there’s no space in the Torah scroll—no space between Parshas Vayigash and Parshas Vayechi. They run straight into each other. So he says they’re like one continuous passage. How does Parshas Vayigash end? It says, “They were fruitful and multiplied greatly.” Then: “And Yaakov lived.” It’s one continuous thought. Because they were fruitful and multiplied greatly, Yaakov lived! Every day he had a wedding. Every day he had a bar mitzvah. Every day he had a bris. Of course, who would make a wedding or a celebration and not invite their grandfather Yaakov? So every day he had a simcha to attend. That’s “And Yaakov lived.” And in Jerusalem, when there’s a simcha, you wear a shtreimel. So they would add in Jerusalem that he didn’t take off his shtreimel all week, because every day—every day—he had a simcha. Later, Yaakov asks Yosef, “Please do not bury me in Egypt. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” He asks him not to bury him in Egypt, even temporarily. Yosef tells him, “I will do as you say.” He promises him. After he says, “I will do as you say,” Yaakov tells him, “Swear to me”—swear. Why does he say “Swear to me” specifically after Yosef has said, “I will do as you say”? And Yosef swears to him. Only then does Yaakov seem to relax, knowing that Yosef will certainly do it. Why does he say, “Swear to me”? And specifically after Yosef says, “I will do as you say”? The answer is—

02:27 Speaker 2 Yaakov asks Yosef to show him “kindness and truth.” What does that mean? The Gemara says that kindness shown to the dead is true kindness. When a person does something for a friend, he expects something in return, or at least a thank-you. But when he does a kindness for someone who has passed away, he doesn’t expect repayment. He doesn’t hope to get anything back. That’s why it’s called true kindness. That’s what Yaakov asked of Yosef. And Yosef tells him, “I will do as you say.” What does “I will do as you say” mean? One explanation is: “I’ll do the same as you.” Yosef, too, would ask his brothers and make them swear to bring him out of Egypt. If so, Yosef is getting something in return here. It isn’t true kindness. It isn’t entirely for the sake of Heaven; when something is done for the sake of Heaven, a person cannot change his mind. But here, it’s as though Yosef is getting something in return: he will ask that they, too, bring him out of Egypt afterward. That’s why Yaakov specifically asked him to swear, because then he could not change his mind. So only after that did he ask, “Swear to me,” and Yosef swore to him. There’s another explanation the Rebbe gives for why Yaakov specifically made him swear. The Rebbe explains that, from Yosef’s perspective, he might have left Yaakov in Egypt, because Yaakov would help the Jewish people through the difficult exile. So Yaakov made him swear, and once he had sworn, he had no choice: he had to bring him out of Egypt. May we hear good news, and good Shabbos.