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DECEMBER 9, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
From the Fire Parshas Vayigash
Listening By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
T
here are many surprising things about the reunion between Yosef and his brothers in this week’s parsha, which is one of the most dramatic episodes in all of Tanach. One of the fascinating aspects of the reunion is the meeting of Yosef and Binyomin when they finally meet after so many years. The pasuk says (Bereishis 45:14), “And [Yosef] fell on his brother Binyomin’s neck and he cried, and Binyomin cried on his neck.” Why does the pasuk focus on the fact that Yosef and Binyomin cried on each other’s necks specifically? Rashi explains that Yosef cried on Binyomin’s neck “for the two Temples which will be built in the portion [of Eretz Yisroel] belonging to Binyomin and which will ultimately be destroyed,” and that Binyomin cried on Yosef’s neck “for the Tabernacle in Shilo which will be in the portion [of Eretz Yisroel] belonging to Yosef and which will ultimately be destroyed.” It appears then that when the Torah compares the Beis Hamikdash to the neck, such that when it says that someone is crying on someone’s neck, it means that he is crying over the Beis Hamikdash. We see this in the pasuk in Shir Hashirim (4:4), “Your neck is like the tower of David built with turrets.” Chazal (Medrash Raba Shir Hashirim 4:11) explain that this pasuk compares the Beis Hamikdash to the tzavar, the neck. The most obvious reason why Chazal compare the Beis Hamikdash to the neck is that the neck connects the higher part of the person, the mind, with the lower parts of the person, the rest of the body. Similarly, the Beis Hamikdash connects the upper world to this world. We can, however,
offer an additional explanation. The Gemara in Yuma 12a says, “What was in Yehuda’s portion? The Temple Mount, the offices, and the courtyards [including the Mizbeach]. And what was in Binyomin’s portion? The Antechamber, the Holy, and the Holy of Holies.” Why did only Binyomin and Yehuda merit to have the Beis Hamikdash built in their portions of Eretz Yisroel? The most well-known reason is that given by the Medrash that Binyomin was the only one of the brothers who did not bow down to Eisav because he had not yet been born when Yaakov and his children met Eisav and bowed down to him. According to Reb Yerucham Levovitz, the Beis Hamikdash cannot be built with the attitude that we must bow to the desires of the nations of the world. There is another explanation as well. According to another Medrash (Yalkut Shimoni V’Zos Habracha Remez 957), “Why did Binyomin merit that the Divine Presence dwelt in his
portion [of Eretz Yisroel]? All of the brothers were involved in the sale of Yosef, but Binyomin was not involved in the sale of Yosef. The Holy One Blessed be He says: ‘I say to those who will build the Beis Hamikdash, is it not so that they will pray to me and I will fulfill their requests with mercy?! I will therefore not allow My Divine Presence to dwell in the portion of those who did not show mercy to their brother.’” ( See also Yalkut Shimoni Yisro Remez 284.) The Beis Hamikdash serves a dual function which can explain both the comparison of the Beis Hamikdash to the “neck” and why the Beis Hamikdash must be built in the portions of Binyomin and Yehuda. The neck has a dual function. As those who recently learned Chullin in Daf Yomi know, the two primary organs in the neck are the trachea and the esophagus. Just like the Beis Hamikdash, the trachea serves the below-to-above function by bringing a person’s words of prayer from within
himself to Hashem. And the esophagus serves the above-to-below function by bringing the food, Hashem’s blessing, into the person’s body. Similarly, the Beis Hamikdash serves as a medium from below-toabove, as the conduit through which our prayers ascend to Shamayim, the heavens. As the pasuk in Divrei Hayamim 2:6:32, says, “And they will come to this house [the Beis Hamikdash] to pray.” That is also why the Beis Hamikdash is called a “teil talpiyot” (Shir Hashirim 4:4), which literally means “built with turrets.” The Medrash (Yalkut Shimoni Melachim 1, Remez 184) explains that pasuk as follows: “[The Beis Hamikdash is called] banui l’talpiot, built of talpiot, because it is built on a mountain, teil, to which all mouths, piyos, turn in prayer.” The Beis Hamikdash also serves as the conduit through which Hashem responds to our requests with rachamim, mercy, from above-to-below. As the pasuk in Tehillim 133:3 says about the Beis Hamikdash: that the Har Hermon is compared to the Har Tzion [the place where the Beis Hamikdash is located] because it is the place where blessing and eternal life descends into the world. It is therefore compared to the neck, which also serves a below-to-above and above-tobelow function. The Gemara in Shabbos 151b teaches us that “anyone who has mercy on other people is shown mercy from heaven, and anyone who does not show mercy for others is not shown mercy from heaven.” In other words, when someone hears others’ cries and has mercy on them, Hashem hears his prayers and has mercy
