In this week’s parsha, the Torah recounts the final years of Jacob’s life. The opening verse of the parsha is: “And Jacob lived (“Vayechi”) in the land of Egypt seventeen years.”
The fact that the Torah states the precise number of years that he lived in Egypt prompted the Ba’al Haturim (fifteenth century commentator devoted to finding deeper meaning in the text by use of the method of gematria-numerology) to make the following observation:
Vayechi Yaakov-And Jacob lived—Jacob’s entire life consisted of the number of years that represent the numerical value of the word Vayechi-And he lived, which is thirty-four. These thirty four years include the seventeen last years of his life that he spent with his son Joseph in Egypt as well as the seventeen years that he spent with Joseph from the time he was born until he was sold into captivity by his brothers. All his other years were punctuated with pain and sorrow, however, these two periods of seventeen years represented true life for Jacob.
It is also interesting that the number seventeen is numerically equivalent of the Hebrew word tov, which means good. This would suggest that each of the seventeen years were good, yet what accorded his life the status of true life (“Vayechi”) was the combined strength of the two periods of seventeen years that Jacob spent with Joseph—before he was sold and after he was reunited with him as the viceroy of Egypt.
One basic difference between these two periods is that in the first instance Joseph was the recipient of Jacob’s largesse while in the last seventeen years of Jacob’s life the tables were turned—Joseph was Jacob’s provider.
Since Jacob is regarded as the prototype of all of his descendants, it follows that we too can only experience true life when we can impart our beliefs and values to our offspring, who absorb everything we teach them—as Joseph did for the first seventeen years of his life—and then live to see how the child retains everything that he has learned, and is able to “regurgitate” it authentically, with some significant contributions and embellishments of his own. Indeed, as has been pointed out in earlier Torah messages, the very name Joseph means “may he increase” or “may he grow.”
Another approach to the two seventeen-year periods of good Jacob spent with Joseph can be appreciated by referring to a Talmudic discussion concerning the significance of the third day of creation where G-d declares twice “And it was good.” This, the Talmud states, symbolizes one who possesses dual goodness: “good to heaven” and “good to other creatures.”
There are those who feel a very close relationship with G-d; while others feel a sense of affinity and responsibility for others. Needless to say, any good one does in either of these two directions stands on its own, but falls short of its goal if it is not combined with the other.
It is not simply that two is better than one, but that each one of these areas of goodness contributes to and enhances the quality of the other.
When one thinks about G-d, it is crucial that they also think about the things that G-d holds dear to His “heart.” In the words of a great Chassidic Master, R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi, “One who loves G-d must also love those whom G-d loves.” If one loves G-d but does not love those whom He loves, their love of G-d is not as deep as when he loves the one whom G-d loves.
Conversely, when one is involved in the pursuit of helping others because one feels how the other possesses a Divine soul that shares a common G-dly origin and bond with one’s own soul, then the assistance one renders is infused with a part of that soul. And the infusion of this soul will make the relationship more complete, vibrant and enduring.
The first period of seventeen years that Jacob spent imparting his spiritual legacy to Joseph parallels the concept of “good to G-d.” The second period of seventeen years in which he was the beneficiary of Joseph’s beneficence represents the twin ideal of “good to creatures.” Combined the thirty four years—the numerical value of “Vayechi-and he lived”—gave Jacob, and all of his progeny, the dimension of life that transcends goodness.
Unlike the other Patriarchs, the Torah does not employ the word Vayamot-and he died for Jacob. This, the Talmud observes, is to teach us that Jacob, in truth, never died.
One way of understanding this statement is that true life—the combination of “good to G-d” and “good to creatures,” that was experienced by Jacob did not cease with his passing; it was bequeathed to his descendents, the Jewish people. Jacob’s ability to experience life in its fullest sense, the performance and experience of dual goodness, continues to this very day within the Jewish community.
And while exile conditions have occasionally weakened these two forms of goodness, this combination has remained a staple of Jewish existence to this very day, and it is one of the important factors in paving the way for the coming of Moshiach, the description of whom by the prophet Isaiah is a person who is imbued with a heightened sense of awareness of and reverence for G-d coupled with a keen sense of justice and kindness.