The Torah relates, that (46:28-9)All the people of Yaakov’s household who came to Egypt’ were ‘seventy.’ Yaakov ‘sent Yehuda ahead of him to Yosef, להורות: to direct him to Goshen; and they arrived in the region of Goshen.’
Radak expounds the passage literally:’Yaakov sent Yehuda before him, to show him the way to Goshen, as Yosef had sent to him:(45:10)’And you shall settle in the land of Goshen - or its meaning is to direct that he should precede their entry into the city, and show them where to enter the city, or what they should do.’
Rashi brings the midrashic exposition:’Ahead of him’: Before he would arrive there:’’The aggadic interpretation of להורות: is that there should be teaching: to establish for him a house of study, from which teaching should emanate.’
Rav David Pardo - on this Rashi - elucidates:’Rashi needed this aggadic interpretation, as, if it was to be understood in its literal sense, it should have said להראות: ‘to show’ - as the Torah chose the word להורות - from the language of instruction - the midrashic exposition was indicated.
‘The reason that Yaakov felt it necessary to prepare such a place before he arrived there - on the face of it, this could have been done after his arrival there - especially as we don’t find that he made such preparations in other places - would appear to be, because, in this instance, Hashem had said to him:’I will descend with you, to Egypt’
‘Yaakov therefore feared, that, as the whole of the land of Egypt was replete with idolatry, perhaps, when he entered that place of impurity, the Shechina would depart from him.
‘He therefore sought to preclude this concern, by sending Yehuda to prepare a place of sanctuary for the Shechina, so that - on his arrival there - he could say: ’Arise Hashem, to Your rest.’’
Rav Zalman Sorozkin - who expounds the need that Yaakov saw, to prepare before his descent, into Egypt, adds:’True, we don’t find that he made similar preparations, in his many earlier travels, but , in none of them, did Hashem tell him: ’I will descend with you, to Egypt’.
‘Out of his concern for the honor of Hashem - that He would enter an impure land, without having there a place of purity in the midst of the impurity, he preceded, to send Yehuda to establish a place of learning, for instruction, as we know that Hashem loves the places where halakha is learned, above all the places of our dwelling.
‘The four amot of halakha, that he would establish for the honor of Hashem, was intended to be a place for - as it were - the Shechina to reside within the impurity of Egypt.’
Rav Matityahu Salomon adds: Rashi(Acharei Mot 18:3) commented, that:’The Egyptians were the most venal of all nations’, and the Torah there adjured Bnei Israel from following in their practices.
‘We can therefore perhaps say that Yaakov Avinu did not want his sons and grandsons to enter the impurity of Egypt, without some precautions to uproot some of the influence of that impurity.
‘To this end, he sent Yehuda before him, to teach - not merely to erect a house of study: but that he should sit and teach Torah there, before Yaakov and his sons arrived there - as they would then enter an aura of greater purity, and would not - heaven forfend - be influenced by the rising and penetrating impurity, and would be sweetened by the scent of the holy Torah of Yehuda, and the taste of the eternal life it instills in us.’
Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler, on Rashi’s aggadic commentary, expounds:’The intention of Yaakov - in sending Yehuda to establish a house of instruction - was, ‘that the yeshivot that are dedicated solely to talmud torah, are what determine the shape and format apt for the nation of Israel.
For that reason, there was a need to establish them even before Yaakov and his sons reached the land of Egypt - as the first thing is what determines the nature of a place.
‘Though clearly all of the efforts of the holy tribes were in talmud torah - as had been the way of the Avot - what determines the purpose, is that the place be completely devoted only to Torah - a house of Learning.
‘The root of the building of yeshivot - even in the exile in Egypt - we can learn from the action of Yaakov, when he descended to Egypt - as the Midrash asks rhetorically: From where did the boards for the Sanctuary, come? Answer: Yaakov planted them at the time that he descended to Egypt, saying to his sons: ‘You are destined to be redeemed from here, and Hashem is going to say to you, when He redeems you: Make Me a Sanctuary - therefore, now stand and plant trees, so that planks will be ready .
‘Immediately, they did as their father, Yaakov, said to them, and planted saplings.
‘From here, we learn that, to establIsh a place of Torah and sanctity, we are obligated to be concerned already at the very beginning, that its foundations are made in holiness and purity.
‘This we learn from the saplings that Yaakov planted.’
Rav David Hofstedter postulates that, we learn from Yaakov sending Yehuda ahead of his descent to Egypt, to erect a בית ועד : ‘a house of assembly”, as the Midrash describes it, ‘that it had two purposes - as the Midrash continues:’a place of instruction of the Torah, AND a place where the tribes would be able to themselves study Torah.
‘Here we ask: The men who would be learning Torah there, were but a small number- why, then, did Yaakov see a need to send Yehuda to prepare a place for so few, to learn Torah?
‘Further, if there was indeed a need for such a place, could its establishment not wait, till the tribes arrived in Egypt?
‘More puzzling: Yosef was already in Egypt - and its viceroy - could he not have made the preparation, as part of his preparatory work, for the arrival of his father and brothers, in Egypt - did we not learn that Yaakov imparted the greater part of the Torah he learned, in the Torah academies of Shem and Eber - to Yosef?
‘The answer would appear to be, that in sending Yehuda, Yaakov’s concern was not only for those who were descending with him - but rather, to establish a communal place and a place of Torah, imbued with the strength of his Torah, and the Torah of his forefathers - with the full power of their spiritual force and traditions, forces and influence that would serve future generations throughout their long exile in Egypt.
‘This is why, Yaakov commanded the erection of this place - because talmud Torah is the basis for the existence of the Jewish nation, and this is why it is the way of Israel in galut, to prepare places to serve Hashem and His Torah, for the future- though at that time, it might appear that there is no need for then.
‘This is the lofty message that Yaakov wanted to impart and leave as a legacy to his sons, even before they descended to galut.
‘As the erection of this place of Torah was not for that generation alone - but for the future generations, no less - Yaakov wanted that it be erected with all the purest and right intentions - solely for the sake of heaven, as only that would guarantee that it fulfilled its purpose.
‘Sending Yehuda specially to Goshen - on this mission - and, as he was the house of royalty, served to teach all the supreme value that guides and defines our people - the holy Torah.’
Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl posits:’Yaakov Avinu well knew Yosef’s greatness in Torah, as it was to him - and not any of his brothers - that he taught the Torah he himself had learned from Shem and Eber.
‘Why then, did he not entrust Yosef with the role of heading the place of Torah, he decided to establish in Egypt - but sent Yehuda on his mission?
‘Perhaps the answer might be found - not in our Parasha - but from an examination of the descendants of Yosef, we find a very slight leaning, to prefer the affairs off state over the study of Torah.
‘This may have been concealed from ordinary sight - only Yaakov, with his prophetic vision, divined it.
‘We find this when we study closely the characters of Yosef’s two sons: Ephraim and Menashe.
‘Menashe was more involved in the affairs of state, being constantly by the side of Yosef, the viceroy, and taking a very close interest in his sphere.
‘Ephraim was, on the other hand, fully engrossed in learning Torah from Yaakov, in the land of Goshen - it was therefore he who, when Yaakov was taken ill, who came to inform Yosef, of this.
‘This is clear, also, in the blessings of Yaakov, who - unlike Yosef, who gave precedence to the affairs of state - placed his hand on the head of Ephraim, the Torah scholar, and not on Menashe, the ‘statesman’ - over-riding Yosef’s protestations.
‘The generations inherit - as a rule - the characters of their predecessors, and - in fact - slight leanings are magnified in them.
‘This’ concludes Rav Nebenzahl, ‘was what led Yaakov to pass over giving Yosef the role of heading the Torah academy, and - instead - giving it to Yehuda, the pre-destined King, who - as we read in Parashat Shoftim, was always guided by, and never separated from the holy Torah.’
Rav Pinchas Friedman, who enriches our souls, with his commentary, adds a parting gem as to why, Yehuda, and not Yosef, was charged by Yaakov, to establish the house of Torah study.
The Rav lays down:’The Shem miShmuel posits that Yosef and Yehuda are the roots of two different ways, of serving Hashem.
‘Yosef served Hashem בהסתר ובהצנע :’out of sight, and in humility’, whereas Yehuda served Hashem openly and in public.
‘He founded this on the Gemara (Sotah 10:):’Yosef, who sanctified the Name of Heaven in private, was rewarded by one letter of Hashem’s Name ה' - being added to his name, to be called (Ps’ 81:4): יהוסף; Yehuda, who sanctified Hashem’s Name in public, merited by being called by the Name of Hashem’ - all four letters of Hashem’s appellation being found in his name: יקוק.
‘Yosef, in this regard, followed in the ways of his mother, Rachel, who ‘adopted’ silence - to keep quiet - so as not to embarrass her sister, Leah.
‘Further, in the merit that he was able to abstain, and resist the advances of Potiphera’s wife, all of Bnei Israel remained in their modest righteousness, in the merit of which the sea rended itself, on their exodus.
‘Yehuda sanctified Hashem’s Name in public, as we read when he publicly confessed that he - and not Tamar - was at fault.
‘Despite the two of them - Yosef and Yehuda - adopting two different paths, in their way of serving Hashem, their two eays can be seen - not as contradicting and clashing one the other - as complementing and completing one the other.
‘The Arugat HaBosem elucidates - according to the well-known edict - that we need to serve Hashem בהצנע לכת in humility - the reason being, as we learn in the holy tomes, that when we serve Hashem openly, we leave an opening for the yetser ha’ra to cause pride and unworthy thoughts to enter our minds - and service.
‘When one acts privately, solely for the sake of Heaven, this is far less likely to occur.
‘At the same time, we are required to serve Hashem openly, as we are required to say out prayers, to fulfill:’Bless all flesh His Name, from now and to ever’- to fulfill the injunction: (Ps’ 145:21)’The praise of Hashem, my mouth shall utter’.
‘How can we both serve Hashem also openly, how can we avoid thoughts which are not ‘for the name of Heaven’?
‘Answers the Arugat haBosem: in the first stage of our service of Hashem, we should take care to do so in private, ‘without any external thoughts’ - only then, when we are sufficiently firm in his service - without any thoughts of honor or the like - are we able to serve Hashem Hashem in public, as well, and to overcome any improper thoughts.
‘Now, let us reconcile both these ways of the holy brothers - Yosef and Yehuda - the way of Yosef who sanctified the Name of Hashem in private, AND the way of Yehuda who sanctified it, in public.
‘They together complement the complete way to serve Hashem.
‘This is why we read: ’And Yehuda he sent before him to instruct, to Yosef, to Goshen’, which Rashi expounded, in the name of the Midrash, as: ’To instruct before him’: ’to establish for him a house of learning, from whence instruction would emerge’.
‘This, because Yaakov saw that Hashem preceded sending Yosef, to set the way of modestly serving Hashem, for all of Israel - and, only after this, to send Yehuda to him - whose way of serving Hashem, was in public - , so that the people would serve Hashem in public, as well.’
לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.