ואת יהודה שלח לפניו אל יוסף להורות לפניו גשנה
“He sent Yehudah ahead of him to Yosef, to prepare for him the way in Goshen” (Bereishis 46:28)
After a tumultuous roller-coaster of events, Yaakov’s sons returned to Canaan and informed him that his beloved son Yosef, who he had assumed was dead for 22 years, was alive and prospering in Mitzrayim. Astonished by the remarkable turn of events and despite his advanced age, Yaakov prepared himself and his family for the lengthy journey to Mitzrayim to be reunited with Yosef.
As they drew near to the section of Mitzrayim called Goshen, our pasuk tells us that Yaakov sent his son Yehuda ahead of him to prepare for him the way. Rashi explains that “preparing for him the way” refers to Yaakov’s instructions that Yehuda establish a house of study where he would be able to learn and teach Torah. Considering Yaakov’s age and all that he had recently experienced, did this need to be his highest priority? Shouldn’t he have first focused on getting reunited with Yosef and comfortably settling his family into their new homes?
The Shelah HaKadosh derives from Yaakov’s actions and priorities that wherever a person goes, he should first ensure that his spiritual needs are in place and afterward attend to his more mundane concerns. Although Yaakov had many important tasks to attend to on his momentous journey, the Torah records his focus on establishing a house of study prior to his arrival to show us his true priorities so that we may learn from them.
Rav Moshe Feinstein writes that the biggest mistake made by the early immigrants to America was that they were so focused on trying to make a living that they neglected to make time to set up schools to provide religious education to the next generation. As a result, thousands of Jewish children were not given an opportunity to be properly educated about their religious heritage.
Now that we understand the value of taking spiritual considerations into account when making life decisions, we can appreciate the following anecdote. The Stropkover Rebbe was once purchasing an apartment and narrowed the choices down to two. Each of them had various aesthetic and practical pros and cons, and it was difficult to decide which of them was superior. Ultimately, he chose the apartment that had exactly 26 steps (the numerical value of Hashem’s Name) ascending to it, as that would allow him to remember Hashem every time he entered or exited his home.
Although the level of spiritual sensitivity depicted in this story is clearly beyond us, its lesson is still relevant. We all make daily decisions concerning our families, our homes, and our jobs. As we evaluate our options, we should learn from Yaakov to view the world through a more spiritual lens and take that perspective into account when making our decisions. (R’ Ozer Alport)
