Parshas VaYechi – The Shechem of Yosef

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At the beginning of Parshas VaYechi, there are two encounters between Yakov and Yosef. In the first Yakov requests Yosef to bury him in the Mearas HaMachpelah. Later when Yosef hears that Yakov is on his deathbed, he brings his sons for a Beracha. At the end of that Beracha , Yakov then gives Yosef “a ‘Schechem’ that Yakov conquered from the Emori with his sword and bow”. Rashi says that this is a reward for making the effort to bury Yakov in Eretz Yisroel. (Why this gift is given here and not earlier when Yakov asks Yosef to bury him in the Mearas HaMachpelah, the Mefarshei Rashi deal with.)
The word Shechem has many meanings. The most obvious meaning is that it is referring to the city of Shechem, which Yakov had conquered. Rashi in his second explanation says that it is referring to the extra portion that Yosef received as the Bechor in place of Reuven. The Zohar learns that it is Yakov’s ability to see the Shechina, that he is giving to Yosef.
However, the Midrash and the Targum Yerushalmi say that it is referring to the clothes of Adam HaRishon that Yakov took from Eisav. The Emori is referring to Eisav, not the nation that lives in Canaan.
But there are some questions on this explanation. Where do we find that Eisav’s clothes were from Adam? How and when do they get to Yakov? And why is Eisav referred to here as an Emori? I would like to use the explanation of R’ Tzadok to clarify these questions .
First why not the Emori as the simple Pshat would seem?
The Mizrahi says that it cannot mean Emori, since Yakov never battled the Emori. Therefore, according to all the explanations of what Shechem is, they cannot be the actual Emori .
But why Eisav?
R’ Tzadok brings in the name of the Chozeh of Lublin that there is an inverse correlation between the seven nations of Canaan and the seven Sephirot. The Sephirot are seven attributes, which are the conduit through which HaShem connects to the world. But the seven nations are the opposite. They represent the idea of the Sephirot but in a way of rejection of HaShem rather than connection.
Emori is the third nation, after Canaanites and Hittites. It is parallel to the third Sefira, Tiferes. The proper way of understanding Tiferes is to act in a way that HaShem is proud of us, and through that, we connect to HaShem. As the Pasuk says , “Yisroel that I am glorified by My connection to you.” We express the same idea in the HaRachaman in Birchas HaMazon , “May the Merciful One be praised for all generations, and pride Himself in us forever and to all eternity and glorifies Himself in us forever and ever.”
Emori is the antithesis of Tiferes. They are glorified and proud, not that HaShem is proud of them. They are described as , “The Emori whose height is that of a cedar tree.” We find in numerous places in Chazal that the cedar tree is the symbol of conceit. Their pride is the haughtiness that the Gemarra describes that it does not leave room for HaShem in the world. It is not that HaShem is proud of them, but they are arrogant about their own existence.
In Bamidbar, Sichon is the king of the Emori. The Gemarra says that name is from the word ‘Sichah’ speech. He is haughty in his speech. That is the literal meaning of Emori from the word to speak.
Eisav is the same. He is also known for his misuse of speech. He covered up his true evil self by asking his father Yitzchok questions in Torah and the performance of Mitzvoth that seemed to paint him as a Tzadik. His speech seemed good, but that was not the way he acted. He acted in a way of arrogance, and through his words tried to make himself better than he was. He did not try to connect to HaShem through his speech, he just wanted to impress his father. That is the action of an Emori.
The Midrash says that in the time of Moshiach Eisav will come and clothe himself in the cloak of a Talmid Chochcom, sit next to Yakov and attempt to join Yakov in the era of Moshiach. This is the use of the Midah of Tiferes incorrectly, like the Emori. That is why Eisav is called here an Emori.
The Seforno says a similar idea without the overtones of the Sephirot . He says that one definition of Rasha is someone who says a lot but does little. This is learned from Ephron, who says that he will give Avrohom the Mearas HaMachpelah as a gift, but then takes a full price. Eisav is the same. He asks his father questions in Halacha, without keeping the Halacha.
If Eisav is the Emori, then what Yakov is giving Yosef must be something he got from Eisav. We see that Yakov wore the clothing of Eisav. The Midrash says Eisav’s clothes are the clothing of Adam. But where do we see that Yakov got the clothing?
The Targum Yerushalmi says that Avrohom got the clothes from Nimrod, then Yitzchok gave them to Eisav as the Bechor, and Yakov got these clothes along with the Brachos. (This is different than other Midrashim that learn that Eisav stole them from Nimrod.)
We can even see this in the way Chazal describe what took place.
When Yakov wears the clothes to serve Yitzchok and enters the room of Yitzchok, Yitzchok smells the aroma of his -Yakov’s- clothes. The Zohar asks , “But are they not the clothes of Eisav? Why are they called the clothes of Yakov?”
Even though the Zohar answers the question, R’ Tzadok uses a different Zohar to explain this . Chazal say that when Yakov wore those clothes, Yitzchok smells the beautiful scent of Gan Eden. The Zohar says that when Eisav wore the clothing there was no aroma of Gan Eden.
The clothes of Adam had the scent of Gan Eden. But only Yakov could bring that smell out. When Eisav wore them, that aroma was absent. It was obvious that only Yakov could wear these clothes correctly. The clothes became Yakov’s since the clothes showed that they do not belong to Eisav. The clothes themselves showed who their true owner was.
Why was Yakov able to bring out the smell of Gan Eden? Should not Adam be the only one who could wear these clothes and bring Gan Eden into the room? Based on the Gemarra which says that Yaakov was an impression of Adam, Yakov could also bring this aroma because was so similar to Adam.
So, we can now understand the Midrash. Since the Emori is Eisav, the Shechem that Yakov is giving Eisav must be what Yakov took from Eisav. And that is the clothes of Adam.
But now we can continue this idea further. It is not just here that Adam’s clothes are connected to Yosef. The theme of Adam’s clothes runs through many of the events of Yosef’s life.
The first unique connection of Yosef with clothes is when Yakov gives him the Kesones Pasim. The Megaleh Amukos writes that the Kesones Pasim that Yakov gives Yosef was also the clothing of Adam HaRishon. This idea is also mentioned by the Chidah in the name of the Sefer Korban Shabbos . (The author was Rav Betzalel the Rav of Slutzk from the mid-1600s.)
But first, we need to explain Adam’s clothes. Upon close examination, it turns out that Adam HaRishon had two kinds of clothing.
The first mention of clothes is only after the sin. It seems that clothing was only needed and given to Adam after the sin. Those clothes are described in the Pasuk as being made of leather.
But the Gemarra mentions a previous type of clothing . The Gemarra says that in the Torah of Rabbi Meir, the clothes are called clothes of light. (Meir also means something that lights up.) The words for light and leather in Hebrew are very similar. They are written almost the same, only the first letter changes. And they are homonyms. In the Torah of Rabbi Meir it is read as light. (This does not mean that Rabbi Meir had a different Torah. It means that he read in in the other manner, as it could be read, not written.)
But the clothes of light cannot be worn after the sin, since the post-sin clothes conceal. Therefore, Adam had two types of clothing. The clothes before the sin were to illuminate. And the clothing after the sin to cover over and conceal.
This difference is accentuated in the different words in Lashon HaKodesh for clothing. The word Beged is connected to the word traitorous . The word Levush is connected to the phrase ‘No embarrassment. ’ These are words for the clothes after the sin. The clothing after the sin was because Adam and Chava realized they were naked and were embarrassed. That came about because they sinned and were traitors to HaShem. To cover that up they received clothing.
But there is clothing from before the sin. That is the clothing of light of Rabbi Meir. The Gemarra says that Rav Yochanan called his clothing ‘That which gives me honor’. According to the text of the Sheiltos Rav Yochanan was speaking about his Shabbos clothes. Shabbos is a day that is a microcosm of Olam HaBa. The first article of clothing was in Gan Eden which is Olam HaBa. There Adam had clothes that gave honor by illuminating rather than concealing.
As we said earlier these clothes were owned by Nimrod, Avrohom, Yitzchok, and Eisav till Yakov finally got them. I would like to say that they are not actually two different articles of clothing. When Adam sinned, the clothing changed from illumination to darkness and concealment. And even after that, the clothing has different characteristics depending on who was wearing them. That is what the Zohar says that the aroma of Gan Eden depended on who was wearing them. The more a person is connected to Gan Eden, the more illuminating the clothing is.
The pre-sin clothes become Yakov’s since when he wore them, they had the scent of Gan Eden. Then they were the clothes of light, not concealing clothes of leather. The Gemarra says that the image of Yakov was a reflection of the image of Adam. Since Yakov was the image of Adam, he could wear those clothes.
Then Yakov gave them to Yosef. Yosef was Yakov’s Ben Zekunim. Rashi says that this means that Yosef’s form was like that of Yakov’s. Therefore, Yosef was the image of an image of Adam. That is why the clothes were also for Yosef. The Kesones Pasim were the clothes of Adam from before the sin that had the aroma of Gan Eden. And Yosef got them because he was the most connected to Adam.
When the brothers took the clothes from Yosef when they sold him, Yakov thought that the path to return to the clothes of Adam before the sin was lost. Yakov describes the ripped Kesones Pasim that a wild animal had consumed Yosef. Rashi says that this is a reference to Yosef’s temptation with the wife of Potiphar. If Yosef would have succumbed, then Yakov would have been correct. But Yosef did not give in. Yosef reveals himself to his brothers and father as the Yosef who has withstood all the temptations of Egypt. He can still wear the clothes of Adam from before the sin.
This is also the meaning of the clothes that Yosef leaves by the wife of Potiphar. She attempts to grab him by his clothes. Because Yosef was tempted, those are the clothes of after the sin. When Yosef overcomes this test, he leaves behind the clothes of sin. (This is especially true according to the opinion that he went to the house to succumb to the temptation.) What enables him to overcome this temptation is the vision of his father, which is the image of Adam. To deserve the clothes of Adam he must see a microcosm of Adam. Since he leaves the post-sin clothes behind, he deserves to once again receive from Yakov the clothes of light from before the sin. (This is not from R’ Tzadok, but an idea I am presenting.)
So, when Yakov is about to die, he returns the cloak to Yosef. (Obviously, this is in some way above the physical understanding since the cloak seemed to have been ripped and dipped in blood by the brothers.) Yosef has shown himself worthy to wear clothes that illuminate and perfume the world like Gan Eden.
At the end of history when Moshiach arrives, Eisav will make one last attempt to wear the clothes of Adam. As we saw the Midrash above, Eisav will put on the cloak of a Talmid Chochcom. He will once again try to disguise himself as a Tzadik and receive the reward of a Tzadik. He will attempt to get back the clothes of Adam. But Yakov is not fooled by the ruse, and says, “My brother, you cannot be like me.” You do not have a connection to these clothes at all.
(R’ Tzadok brings a Midrash that the clothes of Adam are the clothes of the Cohen Gadol and the clothes that are special for Shabbos. See here for a discussion about the connection with the clothes of the Cohen Gadol.)
R’ Tzadok connects Adam’s clothes before the sin to the Halacha of changing one’s clothes, especially for Shabbos . The Gemarra according to the text of the Sheiltos, the Gemarra says that the clothes Rav Yochanan described ‘that which gives him honor’ were the clothes he changed into for Shabbos. Even though our regular clothes are only a result of the sin, Shabbos clothes are honorable, an illumination from before the sin. Since Shabbos is like Olam HaBa, one can wear the clothes of Adam from before the sin.
In the Zohar, Talmidei Chochomim are in the realm of Shabbos all week long. They are called ‘citizens of Olam HaBa’. That is why in many places the Gemarra mentions that the clothes of the Talmidei Chochomim are to be special. That is because they are the clothes of Adam that illuminate the world. Those are the clothes that Yakov gives Yosef. And those are the clothes that Klal Yisroel will wear to greet the Moshiach .