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Orchard of Delights
Messianic era. Most importantly, Jacob foresees that the crowns of
leadership and scholarship will be combined and come to fruition in
Judah’s descendants. Based on this Rambam asserts, in his concise,
but highly influential treatment of the Messianic era, that for an
individual to be considered Mashiach, he must fulfill the following
conditions:
He must be a ruler from the house of David, immersed in the Torah
and its commandments like David and his ancestors. He must also
follow both the Written and the Oral Torah, lead all Jews back to the
Torah, strengthen the observance of its laws, and fight God’s battles.
If one fulfills these conditions, then we may assume that he is the
Mashiach. If he does this successfully and then rebuilds the Temple
on its original site and gathers all the dispersed Jews then we may be
certain that the is the Mashiach. (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim
[Laws of Kings] 11:4)
The root of the Hebrew word for “scholar” (mechokek) that Jacob
uses in blessing Judah has a number of other meanings: a Divine
decree that transcends human logic; a law; bosom or inside; and to
engrave. Not only will Mashiach teach the nation of Israel and the
entire world Torah, he will also expose a level of Torah wisdom and
mystic thought which is so deep and novel that it will be permanently
engraved in the bosoms, the hearts, of his listeners. This new level
of understanding is referred to in the Midrashic statement: “A new
Torah from Me will emerge” (Vayikra Rabbah 13:3). This “new”
Torah will actually be constructed from the very same letters as the
Torah we have at present, but our understanding of its profundity
will be so much infinitely deeper that it will be like a “new” Torah.
The multidimensional approach of reading the Torah according to
PaRDeS will finally be fully manifest and humanity will finally
experience the Torah as an Orchard of Delights.
The Hebrew words “a scholar among his descendants” can also be
vowellized slightly differently and read as “a scholar [who engraves his
teachings until] his feet will understand.” The word for habit or routine
in Hebrew (hergel) is akin to the word for foot (regel). Just as our feet
seem to work on autopilot taking us to where we need to go without our
considering every step, we too follow our daily routines without giving
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Vayigash
something I am. It is the all encompassing realization that at every
moment I am in touch with God.
Judah, at this moment of truth, when his and Benjamin’s fates
were on the line, directed his plea to both a human ruler and the
Creator of the universe. Joseph’s spontaneous decision to finally
reveal his identity to his brothers, as a result of this impassioned plea,
indicates the tremendous power of Judah’s words. As the Talmud
teaches, “Words which emanate from the heart – enter the heart”
(Berachot 6).
£The Mashiach Descended from Joseph –£The Mashiach Descended from Joseph –The Mashiach Descended from Joseph –
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The Mashiach Descended from David
The Mashiach Descended from David
The Mashiach Descended from David
Kabbalah and Chassidut endow Judah and Joseph’s meeting with
archetypal status. Judah is the classic ba’al teshuvah (penitent),
while Joseph is the epitome of the tzaddik; Judah is the prototype of
Mashiach ben David (Mashiach descended from David), while Joseph
represents Mashiach ben Yosef (Mashiach descended from Joseph).
According to tradition, Mashiach ben Yosef will pave the way for
Mashiach ben David and, according to many, he will even die in the
process. In their archetypal meeting though an amazing transference
occurs. At this climactic moment, each one adopts the quality of
his counterpart, which he finds deep within himself. Merging the
two qualities together, each one completely fulfills his own inner
potential.
As Judah approaches Joseph, he is literally at the end of his rope.
After the brothers followed Judah’s advice and sold Joseph, Judah
shamefacedly went into voluntary exile. As the Torah recounts,
Judah “descended from his brothers,” implying that his departure
was a descent in every sense of the word. Subsequently, after each of
his two oldest sons married Tamar, they died, and then he was forced
to publicly admit his mistake in not letting Tamar marry his youngest
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