Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Yaakov asks Yosef to promise to bury him in מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה (me’arat ha-makhpelah, the cave of Makhpelah) back in the Land of Canaan. Later, he talks to Yosef again, and here is part of what he says:
וַאֲנִי בְּבֹאִי מִפַּדָּן מֵתָה עָלַי רָחֵל בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּעוֹד כִּבְרַת אֶרֶץ לָבֹא אֶפְרָתָה וָאֶקְבְּרֶהָ שָּׁם בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶפְרָת הִוא בֵּית לָחֶם׃
“When I was returning from Paddan, Rahel died on me in the Land of Canaan, along the way, some distance from Efrat. I buried her there on the road to Efrat—which is Beit Lehem.”
Why does Yaakov mention these details about where Rahel is buried?
Our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) seem to agree that Yaakov is trying to offer some reason for why he should be buried in me’arat ha-makhpelah, even though Rahel (Yosef’s mother) wasn’t. The parshanim disagree about what that reason might be.
אָמַר לוֹ כִּי מֵתָה בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן, וְלֹא נִקְבְּרָה בְּחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ, כַּאֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶה קְבוּרַת מִצְרַיִם לְיַעֲקֹב. וּמֵתָה בַּדֶּרֶךְ, בְּפֶתַע פִּתְאוֹם, וְלֹא יָכַל לְקָבְרָהּ שָׁם, כִּי אֵיךְ יַעֲזֹב אֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת מִקְנֵהוּ בַּדֶּרֶךְ וְיֵלֵךְ מְהֵרָה עִמָּהּ לִמְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה...
Yaakov mentioned that Rahel died in the Land of Canaan–she wasn’t buried outside the Land, which is what Yaakov wanted to avoid for himself. Yaakov also mentioned that she died along the way, suddenly, to explain that he couldn’t have just left the whole family and their flocks out there on the road to go bury Rahel in me’arat hamakhpelah…
- Are there particular words or phrases in our pasuk that Ramban might have noticed?
- Do you think Rahel would have agreed with this thinking? Would Yosef have been satisfied with this explanation? Why?
דַּע לְךָ שֶׁעַל פִּי הַדִּבּוּר קְבַרְתִּיהָ שָׁם, שֶׁתְּהֵא לְעֶזְרָה לְבָנֶיהָ כְּשֶׁיְּגַלֵּם נְבוּזַרְאֲדָן, וְהָיוּ עוֹבְרִים דֶּרֶךְ שָׁם, יָצְתַה רָחֵל עַל קִבְרָהּ וּבוֹכָה וּמְבַקֶּשֶׁת עֲלֵיהֶם רַחֲמִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: "קוֹל בְּרָמָה נִשְׁמָע... רָחֵל מְבַכָּה עַל בָּנֶיהָ" (ירמיהו לא:יד).
Yaakov was saying: Know that I buried her there by God’s command. She will help her children when Nevuzaradan sends them to Bavel. On their way to exile, they will pass by Rahel’s grave, and she will pray for them. This is based on a prophecy of Yirmiyahu (31:14): "A voice is heard in Ramah, it’s the sound of Rahel crying for her children.”
Rashi is also noticing clues in pesukim, but mostly not from our parashah! He’s looking at the book of Yirmiyahu, which is in a different part of תָּנָ"ךְ (Tanakh, the Bible). Can you tell which word in our pasuk Rashi is connecting to Yirmiyahu?
According to Rashi, Rahel was buried in Beit Lehem for a reason. She has an important mission there—to pray for the Jewish people after the destruction of the first בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ (Beit Ha-Mikdash, Holy Temple). What do you think we can learn from this?
Do you think Rahel would have agreed with this thinking? Would Yosef have been satisfied with this explanation? Why?
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