Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”LTo sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice! For comments and inquiries, email itistaught@gmail.comYaakov Blesses BinyaminYaakov now relates his last prophecy concerning his son, having to do with Binyamin:BinyaminYaakov says that Binyamin will be like a wolf who brings it's prey to it's lair before eating it. So too shall Binyamin be "grabbers", specifically of women/wives, as per the later incident in Shoftim 21:21 where the people who lived in the Binyamite city raped the concubine Levi brought into the city with him. This "grabbing" is also alluding to King Saul (descendant of Binyamin) who waged war against everyone around him.Yaakov says that Binyamin will devour spoils in the "morning" and distribute plunder in the "evening". The "morning" is a reference to King Saul, as he was the first king over Israel and he will devour and divide up its spoils. The "evening" refers to exile (i.e. darkness like evening) of Nevuchadnezzar and Yaakov says that even then, the tribe of Binyamin will distribute plunder, through Mordechai and Esther (descendants of Binyamin) distributing the plunder of Haman.Alternatively, this plunder is referring to the offerings of the Cohanim in the Beis HaMikdash. The Beis HaMikdash was located in the territory of Binyamin so Binyamin was in charge of distributing the offerings to the Cohanim.The text now says that here Yaakov concluded giving blessings to his sons. Although some of the prophecies were stated more obviously as overt "blessings", even the prophecies of rebuke (as with Reuven, Shimon and Levi) were all blessings as well. All of the sons were included in all of the blessings (as alluded to by the text saying that each one in accordance with his blessing did Yaakov "bless them" rather than the more seemingly obvious "bless him"), and in addition, Yaakov prophetically gave each son a blessing that was tailer made specifically to him.Yaakov then instructs the sons to bury him in the Meharat HaMachpela where his forefathers are buried. Yaakov details that this cave is to be found in the land of Canaan, facing Mamrei and is in the field of Ephron the Hittite which Avraham purchased along with the cave from Ephron.Yaakov lists all of the people that are buried in that cave: Avraham, Yitzchok, Sara, Rivkah and Leah (whom he buried).After giving these instructions, Yaakov draws his feet onto the bed and passes away and is brought to his people. Since Yaakov's entire life was completely spiritually oriented, Rashi quotes the gemara (Taanis 5b) in stating that "Yaakov didn't die". His body and soul were so intertwined during his life that in his soul leaving his body after life it was as if he was merely removing a garment of clothing.Yosef falls on his father's face crying, and kisses him. He then orders his servant physicians to embalm his father and they do so. The embalming took 40 days and then the Egyptians mourned Yaakov for 30 more days (70 days total). The Egyptians mourned Yaakov as they recognized that blessings came from him in that the famine subsided and the Nile had more water as soon as Yaakov arrived.Yosef approaches Pharaoh and says that he would like to fulfill his father's wish of burying him in the Meharat HaMachpelah and says that he will return to Egypt afterwards.Side note: fom this verse where Yosef quotes Yaakov as saying that he had "dug the cave for himself", Rashi understands that Yaakov had gathered all of the money he had accumulated from Lavan's house and gave it to Esav as payment to buy Esav's portion of the cave, so now it is entirely Yaakov's.Pharaoh says he will allow Yosef to fulfill the oath he made to his father in this regard. If not for the oath, Pharaoh would not have conceded, however Pharaoh was worried that if he would have insisted on Yosef violating his oath to his father, Yosef would have violated the oath he made with him, namely to keep it a secret that Pharaoh did not speak or understand Hebrew, whereas Yosef knew Hebrew in addition to 70 other languages.So Yosef sets off to bury his father and is joined by all of Pharaoh's servants, the elders of his household and of all of Egypt as well as Yosef's entire family, aside from the young children and cattle and flocks which stayed behind in Goshen. He does bring chariots and horsemen with him and the result was a pretty intimidating group.They reach Goren HaAtad* (literally "the threshing floor of the thorns") which is across the Jordan and Yosef delivers a very great and intense eulogy for his father and imposes a seven day mourning period.*Side note/back story to the name Goren HaAtad: ...
