There’s an expression “to live with the times” and every week we are living with the Torah portion of the week.
This Shabbat we read about how Yaakov Avinu is about to leave the world while he is still living in Egypt. He gathers his sons together and he makes his beloved son Yosef swear — do not bury me in Egypt, but right away when I die, take me up ASAP to Hebron, to Maarat HaMachpela. Bring me back to the land of my soul. Bring me back to my forefathers. Bring me back to Avraham and Sarah my grandparents, to my parents Yitzchak and Rivka.
On the other hand we see Yosef before he leaves the world. He has a different request. He also wants to be buried in Israel, but he says, I’m going to wait. I’m going to stay back in Hutz LaAretz in Egypt. Only when the last Jew is taken out of Egypt and God remembers to take you out from the anguish and suffering of the bondage, only then bring me up to Eretz Yisrael.
It does make a difference where you’re buried and each one of the Tzadikim knew strategically they had to be exactly where they wanted to be buried.
Yaakov is the attribute of Tiferet, the ideal, the perfect combination of Abraham and Isaac. The perfection of beauty and splendor and of Torah. He wants to remind the Jewish people their place is only the land of Israel.
Joseph knows that his goal in life is to sustain the Jewish people, to maintain them, to be there as a support system, both economically and financially, but also as a place to come and pray during the 210 years of bondage under the Egypt rule.
And therefore this Shabbat, both Yaakov and Yosef leave the world, each one is buried the their proper place.
You have to remember to come to these places, to daven in these places, and to come to Hebron and to daven where our patriarch Yaakov is buried.
The Zohar writes, if we would only know how holy the burial place of Yaakov is. We kiss the earth, 400 parsot, miles and miles around where he is buried. We just want to roam in this very ground and earth.
Let us be privileged in the merit of our forefathers, their burial place, the chariots of the Divine Presence should be able to be a great salvation for the Jewish nation and the Jewish people, and we should be privileged to see Vayehi Yaakov, the Jewish nation should live on through the patriarch Jacob and see the Jewish nation. Am Yisrael Chai. Shabbat Shalom.
