KNOW YOUR PLACE

By Rabbi Joshua (Therapeutically known as the Hopper) Hoffman

Yaakov, close to death, gathers his sons together and declares that he will tell them what will happen in the end of days, which, according to the Ramban, means in the time of Moshiach. However, he then goes on to give blessings to his sons without mentioning anything about that future time. Rashi explains, based on a Midrash, that originally Yaakov wanted to reveal the end of days but the divine presence departed from him and he no longer had this information. Instead he blessed his sons.

We need to understand two things about this Midrash. First, why was Yaakov’s knowledge of the end of days taken away from him? Second, how did the blessings that Yaakov gave his sons take the place of revealing the final end?

There is a Midrash, cited by the Shalal Rav to parshas Vayeishev, which says that had Reuven known that the Torah would record that he saved Yosef from his brothers, he would have carried him on his shoulders back to his father. Similarly, says the Midrash, had Aharon known that the Torah would record that he greeted Moshe when he arrived back in Egypt with a happy heart, he would have gone out to greet him with dances and drums. Finally, the Midrash says, had Boaz known that Megillas Rus would record that he gave six measures of barley to Rus, he would have given her much more than that. One may ask, if so, why, indeed were they not informed prophetically of the importance of their actions.

I believe the answer is, because all three events were steps in the process of redemption, and when it comes to redemption the events are determined by G-d. Deliberate human intervention can impede the process. For example, had Reuven actually carried Yosef back to his father, he would not have gone down to Egypt. Had Aharon made a great celebration when Moshe arrived back in Egypt, perhaps the Israelite slaves would have rejected them as their leaders, for rejoicing while they were suffering. Had Boaz given Rus a massive amount of barley, perhaps she would have been embarrassed to accept it or become suspicious of his motives. Only G-d can orchestrate the exact direction of redemption, since only he knows the flow of all the events. The Rabbis tell us that the redemption comes “behesech hada’as,” when we remove our attention from it. Only G-d can know all the elements involved in the process and bring them to their desired conclusion. Human tampering is counterproductive.

With our explanation of this Midrash in mind, we can explain why Yaakov was not permitted to reveal the time of Moshiach. Although he may have wished to reveal that time in order to provide hope for his children, the possibility existed that armed with this knowledge, some future generation would try to intervene in the events and force the redemption, and this would actually impede the process. Instead, Yakov gave blessings to his sons, informing them of the specific roles each one would play within the Jewish collective as it moved toward the final days. This was the charge that he gave to each of them to make their unique contributions to the proper development of the Jewish people to serve as G-d’s representatives in this world.