GENESIS XLIV:18-XLVII:27

THE PATRIARCHS KNEW THE TORAH

Esav (Esau) “sells” the birthright to his brother Yaakov (Jacob) for a bowl of lentils; the Bible relates in an enigmatic episode. Shouldn’t Yaakov have shared his meal with a brother who was returning from the countryside tired and hungry? It may be that Yaakov wanted to play the role of the priesthood within the family, a position held by the firstborn. But in a time before the Torah, what were the functions of that priesthood? 

Our weekly text relates that Yaakov sent Yehuda lehorot lefanavto point the way to Goshen, which in turn is interpreted by the Ḥakhamim as Yehudah’s (Judah) mission to establish a yeshiva (house of study) in Goshen. The word lehorot can mean to show the way, but it can also be translated as “to teach” in the sense of education. For Patriarch Yaakov (Jacob), the descent into Egypt could only be conceived if continuity was at the same time assured. 

It should not be forgotten that the events recorded in the sacred text have the specific purpose of serving as an example for future generations. On the one hand, we have Yaakov, the Yoshev Ohalim, a young man of the home, a nomenclature that according to the Chachamim is a reference to his predilection for study in the yeshiva of Shem and Ever. At the same time we see that his twin brother Esau has a totally different character. His interest and preference is the countryside and hunting butnot study and reflection. 

In the case of the patriarch Avraham (Abraham), the Ḥakhamim(sages) questioned why he served his visitors meat and butter, knowing that the Torah objects to the mixing of these ingredients. The answer is that they ate the butter first, a fact that Halacha (the law) finds unobjectionable. The above forces us to consider the anachronism of referring to a yeshiva and the Torah in a time before the revelation at Mount Sinai. How can it be explained that Yaakov studied for several years in the yeshivaof Shem and Ever before taking refuge in the home of his uncle Lavan, when he was fleeing from the fury of his brother Esav? 

What was the content of these teachings? What does it mean that the patriarchs observed all the precepts of the Torah? The first word of the Torah, Bereshit, presents a philological problem commented on by Rashi. One of the solutions suggests that the word Beresheet should be interpreted “with reshit” and what is reshit if not the Torah. In other words, God used a “plan of action” for the creation of the universe, the laws contained in the Torah. So the ethical ingredient was present from the beginning, because the Torah is prior to creation. 

By considering that the principles of the Torah express an absolute truth, it follows that its norms do not respond to a parameter of time. His Mitzvot are relevant and valid in the present, they were in the immemorial past, and they will be in the future. What is a Mitzvah if not the expression of God’s will? Didn’t Adam and Noaḥ, Avraham, Yitzḥak, and Yaakovconverse directly with God and therefore know what Mitzvahis? According to the Midrash, when Esau returned from the hunt, Yaakov was eating lentils because he was mourning the death of Avraham. An avel (person in a state of mourning) eats lentils because its round shape symbolizes continuity, postulating that death is life in another world. 

Indeed, the Ḥakhamim say that God wanted to avoid the anguish that the “sale” of the birthright to the elderly patriarch would cause and therefore he died before this event. In the episode cited, in addition to meat and butter, Avraham served his guests crushed bread because it was Pesaḥ (Passover), and on that holiday they do not eat bread but matzah. 

Rambam and others maintain that the Torah was not bestowed in an environment of spiritual emptiness. At every moment in human history there were people who possessed great sensitivity, who understood that there are immutable ethical imperatives, absolute moral norms that are an integral part of creation.

A different view suggests that God’s dialogue with the first generations since Adam included specific instruction about human behavior. Accordingly, Adam received 6 Mitzvot and by adding the seventh instruction to “not eat meat without first sacrificing the animal,” we identify the 7 Mitzvot of the Benei Noaḥ, the descendants of Noaḥ. 

Apparently, 7 Mitzvot proved insufficient and the Creator had to add additional instructions to ensure that Humanity would not deviate from the proper course. To this end, he chose the Hebrew people as a beacon that was to illuminate the path appropriate for mankind. It is clear that even the Hebrew people could periodically neglect their mission. However, each failure could produce the spiritual strengthening of that people to fulfill their mission among the nations. Therefore, in order to constitute itself as a nation, it had to go through Egyptian slavery. Perhaps the diaspora of the last 2 millennia served the same purpose.

Why are the patriarchs the effective fathers of the Hebrew people? Because God communicated to them the entirety of the content of the Torah. He even revealed to them the historical episodes that will occur in the future whose purpose was edifying, such as the concept of human freedom represented by the events that led to the celebration of Passover.

For Patriarch Yaakov, exile in Egypt could be conceived as a temporary solution to the famine in the region only if, at the same time, there was the possibility of Torah study, and for this reason he sent Yehudah to create the yeshiva, an institution that would guarantee the continuity of the teaching of Judaism. Because without Torah, there is no future for the Jewish people.