And Yaakov lived in the Land of Mitzrayim seventeen years, and the years of the life of Yaakov were seven years and forty and one hundred years.
The Ohr Hachaim asks why did the Torah need to inform us that he live in the Land of Mitzrayim? What is added to the context of the story of the Parsha with these words?
Additionally, the Torah did not need to separate these years from the total. If the Torah would only have told us that he lived for 147 years, we would know that seventeen of them were in Mitzrayim. This is based on the possuk in last week’s Parsha, where Yaakov told Par’oh that he was 130 years old. When we know that he lived in Mitzrayim until his dying day, which was when he reached 147, we can deduct 130 from the total of 147 and arrive at the conclusion that he lived in Mitzrayim for seventeen years. Why was it necessary for the Torah to reckon them out for us?
The Ohr Hachaim explains that Yaakov never had a quiet moment in his life. As soon as he was born, his nemesis Esav was born too. When he escaped from his brother’s wrath, he was placed under the wrath of Lavan. Dinah’s abduction came next, and his favorite son was kidnapped, disappearing from his father’s table for many years. He never had a calm day in his life.
Until he arrived in Mitzrayim, that is. From the day he arrived in Mitzrayim, he had peace and he could live calmly. The Torah is telling us that these are the days of his life, not earlier.
The Torah then proceeds to tell us the entire sum of years of his life to show that the seventeen were the only one of those that actually had life. The others were the יְמֵי יַעֲקֹב שְנֵי חַיָּיו – the days of Yaakov in which he had life, but he cannot be called living.
The Ohr Hachaim then inverts this Pshat. He quotes Chazal as saying כל מי שסוף ימיו בטובה כאילו כל ימיו בטובה – anyone whose end of his days are good, it is to be considered as though all of his days are good.
Now, the possuk means, וַיְחִי יַעֲקֹב – and Yaakov lived a life of peace, שְבַע עֶשְרֵ ה שָּנָּה – seventeen years. With this we consider Yaakov’s entire life to have been good, and the possuk continues וַיְהִי יְמֵי יַעֲקֹב שְנֵי חַיָּיו – and the days of Yaakov were years of life. The Torah uses an expression of וַיְהִי which is usually an expression of pain. Even though his life was a life of pain, he still could consider his life well lived.
We still need to understand why the Torah changed the order of the years. When the Torah describes the years of Avraham, the Torah says that he lived one hundred years and seventy years, stating the largest number first. When the Torah describes how long Yitzchok lived, the Torah says one hundred years and eighty years. The same is true with Sarah, when the Torah says that she lived one hundred years and twenty years. With Yaakov, the Torah says seven years and forty years, with the lower number first.
Yaakov’s life was different because the last years of his life were the only peaceful ones.
הרה"ק רבי חיים זאנוויל בן רבי משה זצ"ל מריבניצא.
נערך ע"י: הרב יוסף שמלאשוילי שליט"א.
לרפואת: משה בן חנה בתוך שאר חולי עמו ישראל אמן!
גיליון זה להצלחת: שושנה תמר בת זוהרה, וכן יוסף בן שרה אמן!
וכן להצלח : אריה לייב בן אידל שיחי'!
וכן להצלח : נעכא העניא בת רבקה חנה וכן שמחה בן נעכא העניא אסתר בילא בת ברכה וכל משפחתה אמן!
הגיליון מוקדש: לע"נ כל הנרצחים, ולרפואת כל הפצועים, ולהשבת כל החטופים, ולהצלחת כל חיילי צה"ל שה' ישמור צאתם ובואם אמן, ועיטרם בעטרת ניצחון וידבר שונאנו תחתיהם אמן ואמן!!!
