Parshas Vayechi 5775
In this week’s parsha, Yaakov blesses each of his sons individually before he dies. Later (59:28), Yaakov gives a general blessing that, according to Rashi, makes each tribe’s bracha applicable to Klal Yisrael as a whole. Of particular relevance for us is the bracha of Yissachar, which stresses this tribe’s extraordinary toil in Torah study. “Yissachar, an agile donkey, rests between rows … He saw that rest was good and that the land was pleasant, so he put forth his shoulder to bear…” However, when we look at this brief bracha, we see what appears to be a contradiction.
As Rashi explains, when Yaakov describes Yissachar as a “donkey,” the intent is that just as a donkey is the archetypal beast of burden, always carrying a load, never sleeping, only lying down occasionally to rest, so too Yissachar was immersed in Torah study day-in and day-out. The theme is picked up later — “He put forth his shoulder to bear [the yoke].” Only the middle section seems to express the opposite: “He saw that menucha (rest) was good and that the land was pleasant.”
So what defines Yissachar? Is he a “donkey,” tirelessly bearing the yoke of Torah, or is he one who enjoys “rest” and seeks out “pleasant” pursuits?
Rashi addresses this question, explaining that “rest” means that Yissachar saw that his portion of Eretz Yisrael would yield produce without requiring great effort on his part. Meaning, Yissachar would be able to manage financially without his work taking too much time away from his learning.
When the verse goes on to say that he saw that “the land was pleasant,” the Seforno states that this too refers to the ease with which Yissachar will support himself from his estate. As we said earlier, this bracha extends to all of Klal Yisrael. All the “Yissachars” of Klal Yisrael will be able to toil in Torah because matters of livelihood will somehow “work out” for them without taking up too much of their time.
This bracha applies today as well, as it states in Pirkei Avos, that “whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah — the yoke of the government and the yoke of worldly affairs are removed from him” (Pirkei Avos 3:6). Meaning, to the extent that we resolve to dedicate our time and energy to Torah study, we will find that Hashem helps us to grow in this direction. One shouldn’t think that by devoting more time to learning, this will limit our earning power and create problems. Chazal are telling us that when one makes a sincere kabalas HaTorah, the opposite is the case.
The Medrash (Bereishis Rabba 98:12) seems to explain this bracha differently, translating the word “menucha” as referring to Torah itself. Now, the whole bracha from beginning to end focuses solely on Torah and not at all on Yissachar’s land and livelihood. This creates a different sort of contradiction. Yissachar bears the burden of Torah, yet he studies it amid restfulness and pleasantness. If Torah is depicted as the object of toil, how can it be pleasant and restful?
Rav David Cohen, one of the Roshei Yeshiva of Chevron, answers (based on the sefer, Maalos HaTorah, written by Harav Avraham, brother of the Vilna Gaon): Arriving at “menucha” means the satisfaction one feels upon achieving one’s tachlis in life. This is the menucha felt by a true Yissachar. Meaning, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 99b) states that the world was created for toil in Torah and he is doing it! He is fulfilling the purpose of the world. We see further in Nefesh Hachaim (4:6) that each word of Torah is a way of achieving deveikus to Hashem. Included within Yissachar’s bracha is that a Jew who toils in Torah feels that he has reached the pinnacle of what life can offer. This is the most elevated form of menucha. What the material world defines as restful — a vacation in a resort hotel, for example — offers only a veneer of restfulness. True rest comes from arriving at one’s purpose in life, which a person who toils in Torah accomplishes.
Yissachar’s bracha also expresses that a person can feel the “ne’imus” of Torah, which Rav Cohen explains refers to the sweetness of Torah study. When a person toils in Torah he can reach a state of enjoyment that is unparalleled by any material form of pleasure. Of course, at the beginning it might be hard for some of us to feel it, but when a person really applies himself in Torah to the fullest, the sweetness comes.
What we clearly see from Yissachar’s bracha is how much Hashem wants the Jewish People to be a nation that toils in Torah study. Those who engage in Torah are blessed with the ultimate menucha, a sense of tachlis in life that none other merit. He put sweetness into Torah study as well, further encouraging the Jewish People to take up Torah as their primary pursuit.
Rav Tzvi Weissfish notes about his rebbe, Harav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt”l, that in addition to his legendary hasmada was the enjoyment he found in learning. Whenever he learned, whatever the subject, even subjects that the majority of lomdim view as “dry,” Rav Elyashiv literally sang these sugyos with a nigun that bespoke his exceptional simcha in being able to engage in the dvar Hashem. Even his birchos HaTorah in the morning were a palpable display of love of Torah study.
People in Yerushalayim used to say that “if you want to see Gan Eden in this world, go see how Rav Elyashiv learns in the early hours of the morning, with his special nigun. These are the nigunim that go on in olam haba.” This nigun was recorded and many have been inspired by it.
May we be zoche to Yissachar’s bracha, to be osek b’Torah day and night!