He saw peace, that it was good, and the land, that it was pleasant; he bent his shoulders to bear and became a toiling serf.
The Ohr Hachaim explains that Yissachar saw the Heavenly peace and recognized its benefit.
He explains that all pleasures of this world only exist for the body’s benefit. A person’s body is an empty vessel demanding to be filled. When a person has eaten or drunk, he is filled, and suddenly, his appetite for food or drink disappears. The sweetness and pleasure of food, as great as they can be when a person is hungry, only exist as long as it is needed. After the need disappears, the pleasure goes along with it.
Nothing is as pleasurable as it seems when necessary. Even a good-looking human being is exactly the same inside as an ugly one. Beauty, pleasure, and enjoyment are all only temporary.
The importance, benefit, and enjoyment of peace, the Heavenly peace, is real. That is truly good, and that is impossible in this world.
When Yissachar understood this, he bent his shoulders to the yoke of serving Hashem.
