On the Nature of Jacob’s Testament to His Sons
From the Wilderness, a Gift – 5764
A substantial part of the Vayechi portion is devoted to Jacob's testament to his sons. This testament is divided into several parts: at the outset Jacob instructs Joseph to bury him in the Land of Israel. He then instructs Joseph regarding his sons Manasseh and Ephraim, and counts them as part of the tribes. He then blesses Joseph's sons. Finally, he calls all his other sons and speaks with them one after the other. This part is already known as Jacob's blessing to his sons, but in fact from the wording of Jacob our patriarch himself (49:1) it emerges that he defines these words as a prophecy of what will happen to them at the end of days.
It may be that this is what the Talmud in Pesahim 56a means when it says that Jacob sought to reveal to his sons the end of days, and the Divine Presence departed from him. So too Rashi here seems to understand, adding (on v. 1) that because of this Jacob said things other than what he had wanted to say. If so, it appears that Jacob indeed wanted to inform them of the end of days, but in the end he told them other things.
However, if we examine Jacob's words, we find that their character is nonetheless prophetic. It is quite clear that many prophecies are embedded in them. The Sages elaborate at length in explaining what Jacob meant in many details of his words. How is this phenomenon compatible with the assertion that the Divine Presence departed from him?
The author of Torah Temimah explains that the Divine Presence departed from him only with respect to the end of days, while prophecy regarding other matters still remained with him. Yet this is not what the expression 'the Divine Presence departed from him' seems to imply. If that were indeed the intention, Scripture should have said that the end of days was concealed from him, not that the Divine Presence departed from him. Ostensibly, the meaning of this expression is that the very spirit of prophecy was taken from him altogether.
It is therefore more plausible to say that since the Divine Presence departed from him, Jacob was not in fact prophesying to his sons what would happen to them at the end of days. Rather, he delineates the basic contours of their personalities and traits, on the basis of his familiarity with them in the present. In some of the verses this is very striking (Simeon and Levi are brothers…), and in others somewhat less so. From such familiarity in the present one can also draw many conclusions about the future. The basic character traits of the tribes will find expression as their course unfolds, and even more so among their descendants. Thus the words of Jacob our patriarch do have a prophetic character, but this is not prophecy in the full sense.
If our argument is correct, then we have here another kind of prophecy. This is a prophecy rooted in seeing the present, not in foreseeing the future. Such prophecy does not require the inspiration of the Divine Presence in the sense found in a prophet, but rather great wisdom.
A clear example of this appears in the next portion. When Moses our teacher leaves Pharaoh's palace to see how his brothers are faring, he sees an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man. Of this the Torah says: 'He turned this way and that, and saw that there was no man, and he struck down the Egyptian…'. And well known are the words of the Sages, cited by Rashi ad loc., that Moses saw that no one destined to convert would emerge from him.
This is a very difficult passage in many respects. But there is one simple question to which we must attend: ostensibly, Moses our teacher foresaw the future and saw prophetically that no one destined to convert would emerge from him, and as a result killed him. But if Moses is in fact about to kill the Egyptian, then anyone who looks into the future will certainly discover that no one will emerge from him who converts. After all, he is being put to death now by Moses our teacher; how, then, could a descendant of his emerge in the future and convert?
It seems quite clear that Moses's act of perception was not concerned with the actual future, but with a kind of virtual future. In fact, Moses our teacher contemplated the present carefully, and that was enough for him to see that from this Egyptian, in his current state, nothing good could emerge. He therefore decided to kill him. Here too, this is a profound perception of the present situation (and from it, of the potential future), not a perception of what will actually occur.
The Shelah, in the introduction to his book, in the 'Beit HaBehirah' section, explains the entire concept of prophecy in this way. In his view, prophecy is the perception of what is going to happen if nothing unforeseen occurs (that is, if human free choice does not alter the future that is to unfold). Yet it is entirely possible for a different human choice to lead to the non-fulfillment of prophecies.[1]
The perception of the end of days is an act that apparently does require the Divine Presence. For this, contemplation of the present, however profound, is not enough. Such perception can apparently be achieved only through the prophetic power in its accepted sense (not prophecy in the Shelah's sense). Therefore, the departure of the Divine Presence does not allow Jacob to reveal the end. But the ability to contemplate the present deeply depends on wisdom and not on prophecy, and therefore it is possible even in a state in which the Divine Presence has departed. Defining and discerning the traits of the tribes is an act of wisdom, not of prophecy.
This also explains what is stated in Sotah 9b regarding Samson:
Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said: What is the meaning of that which is written, "And the spirit of the Lord began to stir him"? The prophecy of our patriarch Jacob faltered, as it is written: "Dan shall be a serpent by the roadside." Rabbi Hama bar Hanina said: What is the meaning of the verse 'And the spirit of the Lord began to stir him'? The prophecy of Jacob our patriarch took effect, as it is written: 'Dan shall be a serpent by the way.'
At first glance, we see from here that the spirit of prophecy did indeed rest upon Jacob our patriarch, contrary to what seems implied at the beginning of the portion. Yet it seems that the intent here is as we said above. This is not prophecy in its usual sense, but in the sense to which we pointed above. Presumably this is also how all the midrashim of the Sages about the prophecies of Jacob our patriarch in our portion should be understood. For example, several midrashim explain Jacob's words to his son Dan as a prophecy about Samson. Presumably Jacob does not actually see Samson himself. From Dan's character in the present, as Jacob defines and discerns it, emerges the conduct of his descendant Samson. And perhaps one may say more than this: in his blessing, Jacob not only defines Dan's character but also, to a certain extent, determines it.
In fact, this is probably the kind of faculty that the Sages call divine inspiration, which is one degree lower than prophecy (as is well known, once prophecy ceased, all that remained to us was divine inspiration, which is a form of prophetic wisdom, but not prophecy). Those endowed with divine inspiration can attend to their surroundings, or to the person standing before them, and understand from the visible picture the deeper strata of reality. It is a kind of analysis and profound understanding of reality in the present, which reveals much about the future.
It seems that divine inspiration is also connected to the ability to hear a bat kol (a heavenly echo). The Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbat 6:9, deals with defining the concept of bat kol. Contrary to the accepted understanding, the Talmud there brings examples that are not a kind of listening to voices that emerge from heaven and explode on mountaintops, but rather a deep listening to our ordinary surroundings. In other words: this is an aspect of the capacity for profound perception of what surrounds us, from which one can learn about the depths behind it.
The Jerusalem Talmud there discusses when one may follow a bat kol, and when this counts as sorcery and divination, and its language is:
Rabbi Eleazar said: We follow the hearing of a heavenly voice. What is the reason? "And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying: This is the way; walk in it." Rabbi Elazar said: One may follow the hearing of a bat kol. What is the reason? 'And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying: This is the way; walk in it.'
Afterward, the Jerusalem Talmud brings a case whose purpose is apparently to illustrate the meaning of permitted reliance on hearing a bat kol. Rabbi Elazar went to a place called Puniya, and a Roman official arrived, lifted him from his place, and sat in his place. Rabbi Elazar immediately thought to himself why, of all people, the official had moved him, and decided not to leave that place until he saw how it ended. Indeed, he saw that there had been a snake in his place, and now it emerged and killed the Roman. He applied to him the verse And I will give a man in your stead ('I gave a man in your stead').
Another case that appears there in the passage is that Rabbi Yohanan and Reish Lakish wanted to go down to Babylonia to ask Samuel about doubts they had. They decided to follow a bat kol, and immediately afterward they passed by a children's study-house and heard them studying the verse in the book of Samuel And Samuel died ('and Samuel died'). They therefore decided not to go down to Babylonia, and indeed it turned out that Samuel had died. See there in the passage for many more cases.
All these cases take place long after the destruction of the Second Temple, that is, long after the end of the age of prophecy. Hearing a bat kol does not require prophecy. It is the ability to learn from the external picture what is hidden behind it. Usually the goal is to understand what the Holy One, blessed be He, is conveying to us through that external picture. The whole world carries messages for each of us. We must listen to it and understand what the Holy One, blessed be He, wants from us (of course, not by means of divination. This is a special art of those endowed with divine inspiration, who listen to bat kol).
Some have interpreted the term 'bat kol' itself in this way. It is a kind of echo, or a product that is not literally a voice. Something that emerges from inwardness, something like a daughter of the voice itself. By listening to it one can learn about the voice that generated it (the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He). This is apparently what Rashi wrote in Kings, on God's revelation to Elijah: I heard that there is a voice emerging from the silence ('I heard: there is a voice emerging from the silence').
It seems that human beings as well can be interpreted and deciphered in this way. Through the external picture, one who is endowed with this form of attentiveness can see the depths of the person standing before him. Like Moses our teacher, Jacob our patriarch was endowed with this faculty of attentiveness. He sees the inner being of his sons through their deeds and through their outward form.
No wonder that although the Divine Presence was taken from him, and therefore prophecy was not possible for him, he nevertheless succeeded in seeing the future with great clarity. One who knows how to contemplate the present probably does not really need prophecy in order to foresee the future.
Of this the Sages already said: A sage is superior to a prophet ('A sage is preferable to a prophet').
[1] It would seem that there is a difference between fundamental historical processes, where the Holy One, blessed be He, governs the world Himself and does not allow every individual to alter them through his choice, and local processes, which are entrusted to our free choice.