Q&A: Jacob and Joseph’s Meeting
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Jacob and Joseph’s Meeting
Question
In the Torah portion of Vayigash it says that Joseph embraced and kissed Jacob, his soul was with him, but Jacob did not. Everyone explains that the time for reciting the Shema had arrived and he recited the Shema. But how did Jacob know about the Shema? And even more so, about its proper time?
Answer
Jacob did not know about the Shema, and certainly not about its proper time. This is an anachronistic midrash.
The intent is the love of God that appears in the Shema.
This is indeed an anachronism, but an anachronism that expresses what really was there (according to the midrash’s understanding).