Embrace

3 Teves 5782

“They told [Jacob] all the words of Joseph … and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father was revived” (Bereishis 45:27)

Jacob at first did not believe the brothers when they told him Joseph was still alive. When, however, he saw the “wagons” (agalot) that Joseph had sent, he knew they really were from Joseph, because they hinted at the last topic Joseph and he had studied together, the laws of the “eglah arufah.”

“The principle behind the law of eglah arufah is that a person is responsible also for what occurs outside of his domain—outside of the areas where he is fully in control. When a murdered traveler is found ‘out in the field,’ the elders of the nearest city must go out there and bring the eglah arufah to atone for the crime, although it occurred outside of their jurisdiction; for it was nevertheless their responsibility to send the traveler off with adequate provision and protection.

This is the deeper significance of the message which Joseph sent to Jacob. Father, he was saying, I have not forgotten the law of eglah arufah. I have been exiled from the sacred environment of your home, but I have not allowed my soul to travel to the spiritual no-man’s-land of Egypt without provision; I have not abandoned it to a spiritual death with the justification that ’this is outside of my element; I have no way of dealing with this.’” (Lubavitcher Rebbe)

“There is no difference in the degree of his closeness and attachment to the king whether he embraces him when the king is wearing one robe or many robes, since the king’s body is in them.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 4)

No matter how cloaked G-d is in material robes, it is still G-d. No matter how deep in golus we go, it is not outside of our control to connect to Him. The words of Torah are still “pure.” They still contain within them the essence of Hashem, not a mere ray, but his very being, for “Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one and the same.”

“The way of God is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.” (Tehillim 18:31)

All we have to do is delve into Torah. When we study Torah with the appropriate sincerity, we do not just merit to embrace some of His wisdom, but we are also “embraced,” enveloped and encompassed by, G-d’s wisdom that the Torah contains.