The Necks of Binyamin

When Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, the Torah relates (Bereishit 45:14) that Yosef and Binyamin embrace and weep upon one another. But the specific language of the text here is idiosyncratic and elicits a famous response from Rashi, based on Bereishit Rabba (complete with an unusual editor’s note in Rashi). The Maharal in Gur Arye has a few more questions and observations on this Rashi.

Rashi says that Yosef cried on “the necks” – plural – of Binyamin to represent the two Batei HaMikdash that would be built and later destroyed in the territory of Binyamin. Binyamin, according to Rashi, cried on the neck of Yosef over the Mishkan in Shilo in the territory of Ephraim. Of course, the first very obvious question to arise from this midrash is why would Binyamin cry over the Mishkan when the Mishkan was not destroyed? David HaMelech moved the Aron and the focus of Israelite worship from Shilo to Yerushalayim. Indeed, the Maharal points out, the emphasis in the midrash, which is the basis of Rashi’s commentary, is not on destruction at all.

However, there were three catastrophic events precipitating the future exile of Israel. Two of these were, of course, the destruction of the First and Second Batei HaMikdash, but in between these was the exile of the northern kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel under the rulership of the descendants of Yosef. Indeed, this tension between the kingdoms of Israel and Judea (whose seats, respectively, were in Yerushalayim and in the vicinity of Shilo) provides the basis for our haftarah this week as well as much commentary on the opening passages of our parsha, and we have examined it in the past in this column.

The Maharal also makes some interesting observations about using the plural form for “the necks” of Binyamin. He cites Radak on the verse, that the neck itself is divided into two main parts (i.e., the esophagus and the windpipe), and that it is therefore appropriate to speak of it at any time in plural form. The Maharal expands on this, stating that from the neck and below, the entire body seems to split apart into halves, in a manner that is less apparent above the neck. In a very real sense that we can corroborate today with our knowledge of human anatomy, we can say that the division of the human body into two opposing halves proceeds from the neck down. This is especially interesting in light of traditional Jewish insights into the origins of the universe which posit a similar bifurcation at the original point of Creation once the temporal world becomes separated from the infinity of its Creator.

Thus, the Maharal seems to be implying an essential point about Israel as well that is consistent with the message of Yechezkel in our haftarah: Even as we become divided, and even if it is necessary for different communities within Israel to preserve their traditions and remain distinct, it is even more essential for us to always be connected at the highest, most essential level – that of our identity and consciousness. After all, Yehuda is the scion of Yisrael, and Yosef and Yehuda are above all brothers.

The Eish Kodesh in his sermon from the end of 1939 also notes that neither the verse nor the midrash explicitly mentions destruction. He connects the language of “necks” to the idea of a yoke placed upon the neck, saying that this corresponds to the acceptance by Israel of the yoke of the mitzvot. According to his reading, Yosef and Binyamin are crying for the abdication or disruption of this yoke that should lie upon the neck. The Eish Kodesh explains that even in times of tribulation and persecution – especially in such times – Israel remains faithful to the mitzvot and keeps this yoke upon our necks. However, there have been times when the struggles were so great that many among Israel abandoned their adherence to the mitzvot, and this is the saddest thing of all.

He also ties this in to another similar episode of crying into the neck – when Yosef is reunited with Yaakov. In that instance, we find that Yosef cries into the neck of Yaakov, but Yaakov doesn’t do the same as Binyamin did. Rashi there (Bereishit 46:29) reports that Yaakov was reciting the Shema. But why, the Eish Kodesh asks, is Yaakov saying Shema while Yosef cries, and why isn’t Yosef also saying Shema?

He answers in the name of his father, the Grodzhisker Rebbe, that Yaakov’s recitation of Shema was in response to the despair of Yosef. Yosef was crying because he understood that with Yaakov’s descent, the first exile – that of Mitzrayim – had begun. Yosef was wondering how the Children of Israel could possibly remain faithful to the mitzvot and keep the yoke around their necks when they were so far from Israel and when they would eventually, inevitably, become slaves to the Egyptians. Yaakov demonstrated to Yosef that even in the most desperate and dire of circumstances, the simple recitation of Shema with a pure heart can embody all the mitzvot of the Torah and the faith of a Jew in the face of destruction.