Not Knowing is Life’s Challenge

Anyone who has taken a look in a Sefer Torah is aware that there is no punctuation and, for the most part, only spaces between words. New paragraphs are generally marked in one of two ways; a new paragraph can begin on a new line (patukha – open) or on the same line with a number of spaces separating it from the previous paragraph (setuma – closed). Parshat Vayehi is exceptional in this regard in that there is no separation between its beginning and the previous paragraph. Those familiar with rabbinic interpretation will recognize this unusual phenomenon as an interpretive opportunity and, indeed, so it is.

The parasha opens summing up Yaakov’s final days:

And Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen… (Genesis 47:27)

Nothing unusual here except that the parasha could have begun one sentence earlier where there was a break, instead, it begins mid-paragraph. This rarity prompted a number of midrashic interpretation, one of which I bring here:

Why is it (this parashah) [more] closed (setuma) [than all of the parshiyot in the Torah]? It is because Yaakov sought to reveal the End, and it was prevented (nistam) from him. (Bereishit Rabbah 96:1, Theodore-Albeck ed. p. 1192)

The midrash seeks to derive from the fact that this parasha is closed the idea that God sealed off prophecy of future events from Yaakov. What exactly is the intent of this midrash when it refers to the “End”? Is it a reference to the end of Egyptian bondage or to the end of time? The former seems reasonable but most later versions of this midrash take it to refer to the end of time. The significance of knowledge of the end of time is much deeper than just advanced knowledge of a date. It is to know all there is to know – to have total discernment – omniscience – divine knowledge. Is it any wonder that this sort of “prophetic” knowledge should be closed off from man?

[Incidentally, another midrashic tradition exists, where Yaakov is concerned that this knowledge was perhaps kept from him because of the possible religious disloyalty of his children. His shocked children responded by reciting the Shma and its response: Barukh Shem kavod… in order to prove their religious loyalty. (See Bereishit Rabbah – Shita Hadasha, T-A edition pp. 1199-2000; Tanhuma Buber Vayehi 8; Pesahim 56a)]

Still, the conclusion reached by the midrash seems to contradict a human virtue cited by the Mishnah:

He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the right way to which a man should cleave? Rabbi Eliezer said, a good eye; Rabbi Yehoshua said, a good companion; Rabbi Yose said, a good neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said: foresight (haroeh et hanolad). Rabbi Elazar said, a good heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included. (Mishnah Avot 2:13)

The quality of foresight or literally “one who sees that which will be”, cited by Rabbi Shimon, allows a person to prepare for the future. Isn’t that exactly what Yaakov would have liked to have provide for his children? So why would God want to deny this knowledge or wisdom to Yaakov’s children?

I think the answer to this question is readily discernable from this Mishnah. Yaakov wanted God to do all the work for his descendants. He wanted them to be “gifted” with the “knowledge”. But such a gift would ultimately not be such a gift! It would leave nothing to be strived for; nothing to accomplish. On the other hand, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai was looking for qualities which human being had to worked for and develop. And for Rabbi Shimon, the greatest virtues that a person could develop are insight and discernment. The development of these qualities is one of the great God-given challenges and adventures. What would life be without them?