Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Genesis 37:35/אור החיים על בראשית ל״ז:ל״ה
אוַיָּקוּמוּ כָל בָּנָיו וְגוֹ׳. לֹא הוּזְכַּר כָּאן דִּבְרֵי נֶחָמָה.
1 ויקומו כל בניו…לנחמו, "All his sons arose in order to comfort him, etc." The Torah is silent about the nature of these words of comfort that were offered to Jacob.
בוְנִרְאֶה שֶׁכַּוָּנַת הַכָּתוּב הִיא, כִּי כְּשֶׁרָאוּ בָּנָיו כָּל כָּךְ אֲבֵלוּת וְשַׂק בְּמָתְנָיו יָמִים רַבִּים, אָמְרוּ: ״זֶה יַעֲשֵׂהוּ אָדָם שֶׁמֵּת לוֹ בְּנוֹ יְחִידוֹ, אוֹ אֲפִלּוּ אֵינוֹ יְחִידוֹ אִם הָיוּ לוֹ בָּנִים מוּעָטִים יַקְפִּיד עַל חֶסְרוֹן מֵהַמּוּעָט״. לָזֶה נִתְחַכְּמוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת דָּבָר שֶׁבְּאֶמְצָעוּתוֹ יִתְנַחֵם מֵעַצְמוֹ, וְהוּא שֶׁנִּתְקַבְּצוּ יַחַד כָּל בָּנָיו, אַחַד עָשָׂר בָּנִים וְאַחַד עָשָׂר בָּנוֹת וּבְנֵיהֶם וּבְנוֹתֵיהֶם רַבִּים הֵם, וְהָלְכוּ וְעָמְדוּ אֶצְלוֹ וּתְהִי זֹאת נֶחָמָתוֹ. כִּי מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ כָּל כָּךְ בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת אֵין רָאוּי לוֹ לְהִצְטַעֵר כָּל כָּךְ עַל בֵּן קָטָן אִם נֶעְדַּר מִן הַבָּנִים, וְהוּא אָמְרוֹ וַיָּקוּמוּ כָל בָּנָיו וְכָל בְּנוֹתָיו יַחַד, וְקִימָה זוֹ שֶׁל כֻּלָּן יַחַד הִיא לְנַחֲמוֹ כְּשֶׁיִּרְאֶה כִּי רַבּוּ בָּנָיו וּבְנוֹתָיו. וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן לֹא הוֹעִיל לוֹ דָּבָר זֶה וַיְמָאֵן לְהִתְנַחֵם, וַיֹּאמֶר הַטַּעַם ״כִּי אֵרֵד אֶל בְּנִי״, פֵּרוּשׁ בְּגֶדֶר שֶׁאֵין לִי אֶלָּא הוּא מְיֻחָד, כִּי אֵין כְּדַי בְּכָל בָּנָיו וּבְנוֹתָיו לְהִתְנַחֵם עָלָיו כִּי אֲהֵבוֹ מִכָּל אֶחָיו לַטַּעַם הַיָּדוּעַ בְּדִבְרֵי הַזֹּהַר (חלק א׳ קפ:).
2Perhaps the Torah wishes to stress that the comfort was not expressed in words but in the demonstration of how many sons and daughters Jacob had left. They had first observed their father rend his garments, wear sackcloth and carry on mourning for an inordinately long period. This would have been appropriate if Jacob had lost an only son, or even one of relatively few children. Since Jacob had many children, he should have remembered what he had left instead of only harping on what he had lost. His children brought this to Jacob's attention without uttering a word by surrounding him with their combined presence. This was supposed to provide some comfort. Jacob, however, refused to accept comfort, saying that the reason he would mourn Joseph until his own death was that Joseph was one of a kind and there was no substitute for him. The Zohar (volume 1, page 180) goes into greater detail about the mutual affinity of the souls of Jacob and Joseph, etc.
געוֹד יִרְצֶה בְּאָמְרוֹ וַיְמָאֵן וְגוֹ׳ כִּי אֵרֵד וְגוֹ׳, פֵּרוּשׁ: הֲגַם שֶׁרָאָה שֶׁמֵּאֵן הִנָּחֵם, לֹא לָמַד מִזֶּה שֶׁיּוֹסֵף חַי וְאֵין מְקַבְּלִין תַּנְחוּמִין עַל הַחַי, כִּי אָמַר טַעַם מְנִיעוּת הַנֶּחָמָה לְצַד טַעַם ״כִּי אֵרֵד אֶל בְּנִי״. וְאָמְרוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה סִימָן הָיָה מָסוּר בְּיָדוֹ וְכוּ׳ עַד כָּאן:
3The Torah also hints that Jacob did not view his inability to console himself as a sign that Joseph was not dead though we have a rule that one is unable to console oneself when the person mourned is not actually dead. The reason Jacob could not accept comfort was that he viewed himself as condemned to descend to שאול, to purgatory, because of a tradition (compare Rashi quoting a Tanchuma on ויגש) he had that as long as none of his children would die during his lifetime he could rest assured that he himself would not descend to purgatory.
דוַיֵּבְךְּ אוֹתוֹ. פֵּרוּשׁ, כְּשֶׁאָמַר דְּבָרָיו חָזַר לִבְכּוֹת עָלָיו. וְדִקְדֵּק לוֹמַר אָבִיו לִשְׁלוֹל כָּל בָּנָיו וְכָל וְגוֹ׳ שֶׁלֹּא בָּכוּ בְּהַזְכָּרָתוֹ כִּי אִם אָבִיו. וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה אָמְרוּ (בראשית רבה פד:כא) שֶׁהוּא יִצְחָק אָבִיו שֶׁל יַעֲקֹב וְהוּא דְּרָשׁ.
4ויבך אותו, He wept for him. When Jacob explained why he could not respond to manifestations of condolences he had to start weeping again. The Torah stresses the word אביו, his father, in order to make a distinction between himself and all his children. The only person who broke out weeping when Joseph's name was mentioned was his father. Bereshit Rabbah 84,21 considers the word אביו, his father, as a reference to Isaac, Jacob's father.