By Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation
This week’s parsha deals with the reunion of Yosef and his brothers. Its haftarah, from Sefer Yechezkel, speaks of the ultimate future reunion between the tribe of Yosef and the others. How did this happen?
Shlomo Hamelech had been granted wisdom by Hashem, more than any other person who ever lived. He therefore relied on his own judgment. To create alliances with other nations, perhaps to influence them away from idolatry, he married many foreign princesses. This backfired when, in his old age, Shlomo could no longer keep a careful eye on his wives’ behavior, and they returned to the avodah zara of their youth, right there in the palace.
The navi Achiya Hashiloni told Shlomo that he would be severely punished for this grave error. Upon his death, the kingdom would be split into two. Ten tribes would secede to form their own kingdom; only two would remain with the Davidic dynasty.
The kingdom of Yisrael, the Ten Tribes, lasted 240 years. Its first king, Yeravam ben Nevat, instituted a national idol. Thus we lost five-sixths of the nation, who were eventually forcibly exiled to an unknown location.
Originally, the two kingdoms were supposed to be separated for only 36 years, corresponding to the length of Shlomo’s marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh. When those 36 years were up, the king of Yehuda was Asa, one of its best. He was attacked by an alliance of Aram and Yisrael. Had he gone to war, he would have defeated the Ten Tribes, as well as rid the land of the threat of Aram. The two countries would have been reunited.
But Asa lost his nerve, and missed his chance. Instead, he bribed the king of Aram to break his alliance with Yisrael, for which he was later rebuked by a navi. The opportunity for reunion was lost, never to return—a lost chance to alter the destiny of the Jewish people.
From both of these kings, we learn how vital it is to listen to the advice of others, to avoid becoming overconfident in the rightness of our plans.
