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Sermon for Sidra Vayechi
December 2010
by Rabbi Geoffrey Hyman

If the final “testimony” of a person departing from this world is so highly regarded by his family, even more so the “words” uttered before death by a great leader. And so when Jacob in our Sidra gathers his family around him before his passing, his prophetic testimony addressed to his children and their descendants, is of even greater significance.

Jacob’s final testimony is referred to as “Birkat Yaakov” – “the Blessings of Jacob”. However, more than being blessings, they are prophetic pronouncements and even contain rebukes to some of his sons.

Some of his sons he compares to the characteristics of animals, Judah to a lion and he goes on to state: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah”. (49:8) – which is taken as an allusion that the tribe of Judah would be granted “Malchut” (kingship), as was fulfilled through his descendant David and his lineage.

The famous Biblical commentator Nachmanides, also known as the Ramban (Rabbi Mosheh Ben Nachman), elaborates on this and refers to the “Hasmoneans” of Chanukah fame – Mattitayhu and his sons.  They were Kohanim from the tribe of Levi who had rallied the people and led them in an uprising against the Syrian-Greek occupation of Eretz Yisrael after they had suffered under edicts of Antiochus. States the Ramban, they later sinned when Judah and his brothers, Mattityahu’s sons, assumed the role of kingship, as this was the position designated for the descendants of the tribe of Judah and thus they also neglected their ancestral position of being “Kohanim”. For this says the Ramban, they were punished, for they all perished in the subsequent wars and eventually even some of their descendants became Sadducees. All this says the Ramban happened because they usurped the “Kingship” preserved for the Tribe of Judah.

One can see from the designation of the Tribe of Levi as the spiritual leaders of the people, whilst the Tribe of Judah were to be the kings, that the Torah had wanted to make a demarcation between political leadership and spiritual leadership. The two roles do not seem to mix well! The downfall of the House of the Hasmoneans was very much an example of this.

Contemporary Israel harbours the same problem with dire effects. Perhaps an example of this is the storm that has arisen over the two hundred Rabbis in Israel who signed a statement warning Israelis not to sell properties to Arabs in Jewish neighbourhoods. When Rabbis who are the spiritual leaders, delve into politics this is the outcome! Obviously such a bigoted idea is totally abhorrent and alien to many of us and it’s reassuring to know that there has been an absolute condemnation from over 900 Rabbis worldwide!

May Hashem grant us all true wisdom! Amen.