A Thought On Parshas VaYigash
A Thought On Parshas VaYigash
"...ki toavas MItzrayim kol ro'eh tzon..."
"...for all sheep herders are abominable to the Egyptians..." (46:34)
The Torah describes how the clan of Yaakov, his sons and their families, were permitted residence in Goshen, the Province of Priests. This was apparently territory which was consecrated -terra sancta - and the priests of the land lived there, away from the populace. On the one hand, it seems honorable towards the family of Yaakov that they were allowed to reside along with the "holy men" of that pagan country. Moreover, in our later history, we know that the Levites of our nation remained in Goshen during the bondage which the other tribes endured as slaves.
Yet, this honor seems to be diluted by the words of our verse. The verse suggests that the Egyptians despised us. They regarded us as abominable, since we tended flocks of sheep, and "all shepherds are an abomination to the Egyptians." Were we regarded like priests, or like pariahs? Furthermore, we see from other passages in the Torah that the Egyptians revered sheep as deities. (Ibn Ezra, the great medieval Spanish scholar, actually compares this to how Hindus regard the cow as sacred). How could a shepherd be abominable if he took care of gods? Surely a god caretaker would be regarded as a person with a sacred mission. What does our verse mean, then, that shepherds were abominable? Holy cow!
The Bechor Shor addresses this, wrestling with some of the classic interpretations of this verse. He does not accept them. Rather, he suggests that the Torah uses the word to'aeva - abonimation - here, as a mockery. There are times when the Torah, or the sages, will refer to something by its opposite, frequently in wanting to denigrate its perceived or assumed importance. Here too, the Bechor Shor writes, the verse means that in reality, as we know, the Egyptians worshipped the sheep and regarded shepherds as holy men. The family of Yaakov tended sheep, which made them holy men too. This is why the were allowed to live in Goshen among their priests. That territory was consecrated, and just as priests lived there, sheep roamed there too. Just as sheep roamed there, shepherds resided there as well.
The use of the word toaeva is a negative reference to how the Egyptians viewed the sheep kept by our ancestors. They believed them to be holy animals, but the Torah is not going to endorse that idolatrous fallacy. So, the verse should be read as "the Egyptians had an abominable belief in the sanctity of sheep, which is why they sent our shepherds to live in their sanctified territory." As the card on the old Monopoly game said, "Bank error in your favor." This mistaken view, the Egyptian error ("from the Bank of the Nile") was in our favor, in that it allowed our early people to stake a claim in Goshen, far from the madding crowd and free to preserve our faith and practices.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...ki toavas MItzrayim kol ro'eh tzon..."
"...for all sheep herders are abominable to the Egyptians..." (46:34)
The Torah describes how the clan of Yaakov, his sons and their families, were permitted residence in Goshen, the Province of Priests. This was apparently territory which was consecrated -terra sancta - and the priests of the land lived there, away from the populace. On the one hand, it seems honorable towards the family of Yaakov that they were allowed to reside along with the "holy men" of that pagan country. Moreover, in our later history, we know that the Levites of our nation remained in Goshen during the bondage which the other tribes endured as slaves.
Yet, this honor seems to be diluted by the words of our verse. The verse suggests that the Egyptians despised us. They regarded us as abominable, since we tended flocks of sheep, and "all shepherds are an abomination to the Egyptians." Were we regarded like priests, or like pariahs? Furthermore, we see from other passages in the Torah that the Egyptians revered sheep as deities. (Ibn Ezra, the great medieval Spanish scholar, actually compares this to how Hindus regard the cow as sacred). How could a shepherd be abominable if he took care of gods? Surely a god caretaker would be regarded as a person with a sacred mission. What does our verse mean, then, that shepherds were abominable? Holy cow!
The Bechor Shor addresses this, wrestling with some of the classic interpretations of this verse. He does not accept them. Rather, he suggests that the Torah uses the word to'aeva - abonimation - here, as a mockery. There are times when the Torah, or the sages, will refer to something by its opposite, frequently in wanting to denigrate its perceived or assumed importance. Here too, the Bechor Shor writes, the verse means that in reality, as we know, the Egyptians worshipped the sheep and regarded shepherds as holy men. The family of Yaakov tended sheep, which made them holy men too. This is why the were allowed to live in Goshen among their priests. That territory was consecrated, and just as priests lived there, sheep roamed there too. Just as sheep roamed there, shepherds resided there as well.
The use of the word toaeva is a negative reference to how the Egyptians viewed the sheep kept by our ancestors. They believed them to be holy animals, but the Torah is not going to endorse that idolatrous fallacy. So, the verse should be read as "the Egyptians had an abominable belief in the sanctity of sheep, which is why they sent our shepherds to live in their sanctified territory." As the card on the old Monopoly game said, "Bank error in your favor." This mistaken view, the Egyptian error ("from the Bank of the Nile") was in our favor, in that it allowed our early people to stake a claim in Goshen, far from the madding crowd and free to preserve our faith and practices.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 8:04 PM
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