Rashi in Parshat Toldot (Bereishit,
Toldot, 28:9) informs us that our Patriarch, Yaakov spent fourteen
years in the Yeshiva of Ever before he went to Choron, "�to Lavan,
the son of Betuel, the brother of Rivka." (see also Rashi Vayeitzei
28:11 that during the fourteen years Yaakov studied in the Yeshiva
of Ever, Yaakov never laid down to sleep. See also Talmud Megillah
17A)
After growing up in the house of his grandfather, Avraham and his
father Yitzchok and learning "their Torah", why was is necessary for
Yaakov to dedicate fourteen more years in the Yeshiva of Ever; why
was Ever's Torah different that that of Avraham and Yitzchok?
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"And Yisrael (Yaakov)
loved Yosef more than all his sons because he was "ben zekunim" - a
child of his old age� (Bereishit, Vayeishev 37:3). Rashi, quoting
Targum Onkelos, explains that "ben zakunim" means a wise son. All
that Yaakov learned from Shem and Ever, he transmitted to Yosef (see
also Ramban and Baal HaTurim).
Why did Yaakov teach the Torah of Shem and Ever only to Yosef? Why
not to all his sons? Why was Ever's Torah different that that of
Yaakov and Yitzchak (who was still alive at the time)?
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Let us analyze the environment in which Shem and later, Ever, lived.
Shem lived during the time of the Mabul, the Great Flood. People of
that generation were guilty of immortality and idolatry. They sinned
and were corrupt. Ever, Shem's great grandson, lived during the time
of the generation of the Tower of Babel and the Dispersion.
The Torah of Shem and Ever was acquired within an environment that
was estranged from morals, honesty and an appreciation of the
Creator. Living a G-d-fearing life in such an environment required
special and specific methods, including an understanding of how not
to be influenced by one's surroundings. The Torah of Shem and Ever,
therefore, was the Torah for generations - of how not to be affected
by one's circumstances, by one's surroundings - this Torah was
different than the Torah of Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov who lived
in quieter times, often separate and distinct from their neighbors
and their influence.
Now we can understand why Yaakov needed the Torah of Shem and Ever
before he went to the house of Lavan. Now we can understand how
Yaakov was able to say, "Im Lavan garti v'taryag mitzvot shamarti" -
with Lavan, the evil one, I have lived and still I kept all the
Mitzvot and I did not learn from his evil ways (Rashi on Bereishit,
VaYishlach 32:5). It was the Torah Yaakov learned in the Yeshiva of
Shem and Ever - that Torah that taught him how not to be affected by
his environment - that protected him, and those special and specific
methods were not part of Avraham and Yitchok's Torah.
Yosef, also, alone amongst his brothers, was taught the Torah of
Shem and Ever by Yaakov because Yaakov knew that Yosef would need
those special and specific methods (of Torah) so as not to be
influenced by the environs of Mitzrayim.
Perhaps that is the meaning of the Talmud's message, that Yosef
resisted the advances of Potiphar's wife upon seeing a vision of his
father, Yaakov (see Rashi, Bereishit, Vayeishev 39:11).
Yaakov was reminding Yosef that with the Torah of Shem and Ever he
knew how not to be influenced and affected by his surroundings, by
the environment he now finds himself in.
And with that special Torah of Shem and Ever we understand the
Medrash that says, "And Yisroel (Yaakov) said, how great, my son
Yosef still lives�� (Bereishit, VaYigash, 45:28) - How great are the
strengths of Yosef, that with all the trials and tribulations that
he went through, he still maintained his righteousness.
Questions for discussion:
(1) What happened to the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever? Why did it not
have continuity throughout the generations?
(2) Where else do we find the Jewish nation needed special �Torah�
education to better survive the galut?
