Finally, let us note the words Judah employs to persuade his father Jacob that he can send Benjamin with him. “I will guarantee him; from my hand, you can demand him. If I do not bring him to you and stand him up before you, I will have sinned against you forever.” Unlike Reuben, he begins by articulating definitely the necessary action and does it in unwavering terms. “I will guarantee him.” Unlike Reuben, he does not make a completely impractical condition that Jacob may kill his sons; rather he states, “I will have sinned against you forever.” These are words of a born leader.
Of course, Judah must learn from his errors and grow to become a deeper and finer human being, which he does. Years later, when Joseph's younger brother Benjamin is about to be taken as a slave, Judah offers himself instead. “And now if I come to your servant, my father, and the lad [Benjamin] is not with us, and his soul is so bound up with his soul, when he will see that the lad is gone, he will die. And your servants will have brought down the hoariness of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave. Because your servant [Judah] took responsibility for the lad [Benjamin] from my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him to you, then I will have sinned to my father, for all time.’ Now, please let your servant [Judah] remain in the place of the lad as a servant to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers...”
Twenty-two years earlier, the same Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother [Joseph] and cover his blood? Let's sell him to the Arabs and not harm him with our own hands.” Now, when Joseph's younger brother Benjamin is about to be taken as a slave, Judah offers himself instead. A metamorphosis has occurred. Judah is a changed man.
Reuben too learns from his errors, making amends, and discovering greater horizons of truth. But at the end of the equation, Reuben is a great, moral spirit; Judah is a king. The difference? Reuben sees his spiritual work as the epicenter of his universe; Judah knows that the bottom line of life is not who you are, but how your decisions and behavior affect the fate of other people. For Reuben, even at his highest moments, the zenith of life consists of man's confrontation with his own tension and darkness. Judah, in contrast, even at his lowest moments, knows that life in its ultimate expression is about touching and embracing the pulse of the other.
And that is what it means to be a leader.
(This essay is based on an address by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, presented on Shabbas Parshas Vayechi 5730, December 27, 1969 [25]).
[1] Genesis chapter 49.
[2] Rashi to Genesis 49:3-4.
[3] Midrash Tanchumah (Buber edition) Vayeizei 13; Agadas Bereishis section 48. Cf. Rashi to Genesis 35:23; 29:32. This does not contradict Chronicles 1 5:1, see Rashi ibid. and Likkutei Sichos vol. 15 p. 444 and references noted there. Other sources are of the opinion that Reuben also forfeited his firstborn status, see Midrash Rabah Bereishis 98:4; 99:6; Tanchumah Vayechi 9; Targum Einkelus, Targum Yonason and Targum Yonoson Ben Uzeiel to Genesis 49:3-4; Agads Bereishis section 82.
[4] Midrash Rabah Bereishis 98:4.
[5] Rachel died when Jacob was approximately 100 years old (see Seder Hadoros year 2008 for the exact calculations). At this point, Jacob was 147 years of age.
[6] Genesis 35:19-22.
[7] Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, or Rashi, was the outstanding Biblical commentator of the Middle Ages. He was born in Troyes, France, and lived from 1040 to 1105, surfing the massacres of the First Crusade through Europe. His impact on Jewish scholarship and learning remains singularly unique. 11th-century French Jewish sage, is considered the greatest biblical commentator.
[8] Talmud Shabbas 55b.
[9] Genesis 30: 14-16.
[10] See The Lifting Torah (by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan) in footnote to Genesis 30:14 for a detailed commentary and references on the subject.
[11] Genesis 29:32.
[12] Genesis 49: 9-10.
[13] Talmud Chagigah 13b.
[14] See Rambam Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:1; Hilchos Melcahim 1:7-8. Cf. Ramban's fascinating commentary to Genesis ibid.
[15] Rambam Hilchos Melachim 11:4.
[16] See Midrash Rabah Bereishis 98:6.
[17] Rashi to Genesis ibid. from Midrash Rabah Bereishis 98:7.
[18] Genesis 37:21-22.
[19] Ibid. 26:27.
[20] Ibid. 29-33.
[21] Ibid. 29, from Midrash Rabah ibid. 84:19.
[22] Genesis chapter 38.
[23] See Ramban to Genesis ibid. 38:8.
[24] Talmud Soteh 10b; quoted in Rashi to Genesis 38: 25.
[25] Published in Sichos Kodesh 5730 vol. 1 pp. 322-332; Likkutei Sichos vol. 15 pp. 439-446. A number of the ideas and rendition of biblical narratives presented in this essay were culled from Covenant and Conversation, Vayigash 5763 and Vayeishev 5764, by the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (www.chiefrabbi.com).
