Shabbat Parashat Vayigash 5783

Parashat Hashavua: “Jealousy Is as Harmful as the Grave”

The midrash (Shir Hashirim Rabba 8:6) connects the pasuk from our title (Shir Hashirim 8:6) to Yosef and his brothers. Chazal also warn that jealousy forces a person out of the world (Avot 4:21).

  The painful results of the jealousy in Yaakov’s family, as are described in Vayeishev and Miketz, are alleviated by means of a remedy to heal the problem in Yayigash. This is captured by the episode of Yosef, before revealing his identity to his brothers, saying: “Remove all people from before me” (Bereishit 45:1). This special expression comes up in another place in Tanach, when Amnon, the son of David, who wanted to be alone with his half-sister, Tamar, said “Remove all people from before me” (Shmuel II, 13:9).

These occurrences teach us a few things. 1. That which happened in Yaakov’s family and was finally fixed shows how dangerous jealousy can be. The practical advice not to show favoritism among children is a powerful one. If not for the greatness of Yosef, the future of Bnei Yisrael, as a nation as much as a family, would have been in grave danger. The fact that Yosef was able to call out, “I am Yosef your brother” (Bereishit 45:4) was in many ways a miracle, one that we cannot rely upon.

2. The jealousy within the family of Yishai, who was also a tzaddik (see Shabbat 55b; Bava Batra 17a) caused people to act in a way that was not in their nature. The three older sons did not forgive David, the seventh child, for receiving the throne instead of them. This fact finds expression in the harsh words of Eliav, when he met David, on the day that David killed Goliat the Plishti. More than a thousand years later, in the time of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi and his disciple Rabbi Chiya, there was great tension between the two. One was a descendant of King David and the other was a descendant of Shima, one of the older children of Yishai.   

3. The jealousy between the sons of David forced them out of the world as well as a large part of their (potential) progeny. Amnon, the oldest of the first wife, saw himself as the heir apparent but hurt his half-sister Tamar horribly. As a result, he became unable to have his own children (Shmuel II, 13:1-17; see Rashi ad loc. 15). Tamar suffered doubly, not only from the difficult moment but from the fact that she remained alone for the rest of her life (ibid. 20).

Jealousy does not lead to good places. Adopting a positive outlook toward others teaches individuals and the public to embrace positive directions in general. Let us learn such lessons in all elements of our lives.

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