Ode Yosef Chai!
Submitted by admin on Fri, 2006-01-20 13:38.
Ode Yosef Chai! by Rav Binyamin Zeev Kahane z"l, his last dvar
Torah
When friends of Binyamin Zeev Kahane arrived at the scene of the
terrorist attack, they found the following blood
stained parsha commentary, in
Hebrew, already prepared for this coming Shabbat's parsha - Vayigash.
In this parsha, not only does
Binyamin Kahane stray into more
"mystical"
messianic concepts, unlike his standard commentary, but he delves into
the
very same
topic of his late father's last Torah class in the yeshiva
before he was assassinated, in 1990.
In Binyamin Kahane's prophetic
commentary notice the following
sentence:
"Ode Yosef Chai! Who more than we can testify to the estrangement
and
mistreatment of those who attempt to bring the complete redemption.
Yet,
just as Rashi explains that Yosef "recognized" his
brothers, behaving
brotherly towards them; so, too, does Mashiach ben Yosef and his
followers, those who carry on the task of bringing
the redemption to
the
Jewish People - so, too, are they willing to endure personal suffering
for
Israel's salvation, all out of
a burning Ahavat Yisrael."
Parashat Vayigash - Who Recognizes Yosef? Binyamin Kahane's last
parasha
In Parashat Vayigash the drama and tension between Yosef and his
brothers
reaches its climax. And then Yosef blows
everything wide open,
revealing
himself to his startled brothers: "I am Yosef". Afterwards, the
brothers
rush off to their father
to break the news: "Ode Yosef Chai", Yosef is
still alive.
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the parasha's dealing
with
Yosef, we must pay attention to the fact that what lies at the center
of
this three parasha drama between Yosef and his brothers
is the fact
that
on one side stands Yosef who knows that his brothers stand before him,
while on the other side are the brothers who
do not know that they
stand
before Yosef. This is summed up in the verse in Parashat Mikez: "And
Yosef
recognized his brothers,
but they did not recognize him."
What is Meant by "Recognize"
According to the simple
understanding, the commentators explain that
the
brothers did not recognize Yosef because at the time they sold him, he
was
young
and without a beard, and now he had a beard. On the other hand,
Yosef recognized his brothers because at the time he was sold,
they
already had beards.
Rashi digs deeper, explaining that the difference between the two sides
was not merely recognition of
external appearances. When Yosef
encountered his brothers on the fateful day in Shchem, they did not
"recognize" him; that is, they did
not act brotherly towards him and
sold
him to the Ishmaelites. But when the brothers were at Yosef's mercy, he
"recognized" them; he
acted brotherly towards them and did not take
revenge for all the pain that they caused him.
In these days,
after Yosef's tomb has been sold to the Ishmaelites, we
must focus on this point, and to shed light on the present situation
where
Yosef once again is not recognized.
Mashiach Ben Yosef and His Role
In the Torah,
when speaking of the redemption, Mashiach ben Yosef and
the
concept of "Od Yosef Chai," play a central role. According to
tradition,
before Mashiach ben David's arrival, Mashiach ben Yosef will fight
God's
wars in the age of redemption preceding
Mashiach ben David.
The Atchalta DeGeula, the stage before the conclusion of redemption
when
all surviving nations accept
Heaven's yoke, is the period of Mashiach
ben
Yosef. The Gra (the Gaon R. Eliayahu of Vilna), in his work Kol HaTor,
calls Mashiach
ben Yosef the "Mashiach De'Atchalta", the "Inaugural
Messiah". The Gra explains that Mashiach ben David and Mashiach ben
Yosef
live
and endure in every single generation, functioning in their
role..."
Mashiach ben Yosef is involved in the whole physical side of
the
redemption, the actual return to Zion, and the fighting of God's wars,
while the role of Mashiach ben David is to complete the
spiritual
redemption. If the Jews do not merit the redemption in a particular
generation, the roles of the Messiahs are passed down to
someone else
in
the next generation.
Estranged From and Conspired Against
We will now return to
the central verse we mentioned, bringing the
words
of the Gra in Kol Ha Tor. " 'Yosef recognized his brothers but they did
not
recognize him'. This is one of Yosef's attributes. Not just in his
generation, but in every generation, Mashiach ben Yosef recognizes
his
brothers and they do not recognize him. It is an act of Satan which
conceals Mashiach ben Yosef's attributes, such that the Jews
unfortunately
do not recognize his footsteps, and in fact scoff at them...If not for
this, our troubles would already be over. If
Israel 'recognized Yosef',
Mashiach ben Yosef's footsteps comprising the ingathering of the
exiles,
etc., we would already be
completely redeemed". (Ch.2, Part 1:39)
Is it even necessary to expound upon our alienation from "Yosef" today?
And now the Gra comes
and teaches us that it is this very estrangement,
ridicule and opposition to Mashiach ben Yosef and his role - the role
of
reviving
the land, ingathering of the exiles, the conquest of the land
and the war against the "erev rav" - this is the reason why the
complete
redemption is being delayed!
Not only is there estrangement from Yosef, but a conspiring against
him,
as it is
written on Yosef: "And they conspired against him to slay
him".
Yosef's brothers see Yosef and his dreams as a threat to them. "What?!
You
are going to lead the process of redemption? You, the youngest amongst
us?" They decide that he constitutes a danger and must be
killed.
Ode Yosef Chai! Who more than we can testify to the estrangement and
mistreatment of those who attempt to bring the
complete redemption.
Yet,
just as Rashi explains that Yosef "recognized" his brothers, behaving
brotherly towards them; so, too, does
Mashiach ben Yosef and his
followers, those who carry on the task of bringing the redemption to
the
Jewish People - so, too, are they
willing to endure personal suffering
for
Israel's salvation, all out of a burning Ahavat Yisrael. The Gra
teaches
us that only
against a few, the erev rav, must we fight a war to the
bitter end. ("The erev rav is our greatest enemy...Hence, the war
against
the
erev rav is the hardest and most bitter, and we must gird ourselves
with our last strength towards this end. Whoever does not actively
take
part in the war against the erev rav automatically becomes a partner to
its impurity, and whoever he is, he is better off not having
been
born..
(Ch.2, part 2:2)
But the masses that still do not recognize Yosef, attaching little or
no importance to his
activities (partly due to the erev rav and its
propaganda) - we must "recognize" them. In the words of the Ohr
HaChaiim, (who, by the
way, was alluded to by the Gra as a spark of Mashiach ben
Yosef), on our verse: "He looked at them as one looks at brothers, and
he
behaved brotherly towards them"!
These days are critical ones. The war that broke out this past Rosh
Hashana centered on
Shchem and Kever Yosef during the first few days.
Afterwards, Yosef's tomb was abandoned and sold to the Ishamaelites
like discarded
baggage. Our answer must be the opposite: We must cling on to
all those tasks of Mashiach ben Yosef - the conquering of the land and
the
war against the goyim and the erev rav. We needn't worry about being
popular or palatable in the eyes of those who are not willing to
recognize Yosef. By so doing, those who are willing to recognize Yosef will see
and understand that "Ode Yosef
Chai".
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