Jacob's Blessing: Framing Responsibility for a New World

I sat down with my 8-year old daughter, Adina, yesterday evening to help her study for a test on three chapters of the Book of Joshua, chapters 6-8. They are chapters that tell the story of the conquest of Israel through the border city of Jericho, the initial jubilation at its speedy fall, and then, the subsequent demise of no fewer than 36 Jews at the hands of the people of the Ai, near Beth-aven, east of Beth-el. When Joshuah implores God for guidance as to why so many Jews were killed, and the nation disgraced in the latter of the two battles, Hashem states that the Jewish people have desecrated God by stealing from the booty in the War of Jericho, and lo and behold, Achan, of the tribe of Judah had stolen a particulary enticing garment of Babylonian fashion, two hundred silver shekels and a bar of gold; when Achan is put to death by burning, Joshua tells him, “What calamity you have brought upon us! GOD will bring calamity upon you this day.” 

The word in Hebrew that is being translated here is "achartem," the very same word that Jacob uses when speaking to Shimon and Levi after they eradicated the people of Shechem: “You have brought calamity on me, making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my fighters are few in number, so that if they unite against me and attack me, I and my house will be destroyed." 

And, this very sentiment is reflected in Jacob's words to Shimon and Levi in the final Parsha of Vayehi: 

"Shimon and Levi are a pair;

Their weapons are tools of lawlessness.

Let not my person be included in their council,

Let not my being be counted in their assembly.

For when angry they slay a man,

And when pleased they maim an ox.

Cursed be their anger so fierce,

And their wrath so relentless.

I will divide them in Jacob,

Scatter them in Israel"

These words in many ways reverberate Reuben's failure to take responsibility: "Unstable as water, you shall excel no longer."

Judah, the forebearer of the tribe of Yehuda is the one who Jacob feels he can go all in on. Placing all of chips on him, Jacob says: 

"Judah is a lion’s whelp;

On prey, my son, have you grown.

He crouches, lies down like a lion,

Like a lioness - who dare rouse him?"

Interestingly enough, though the first halacha in the Shulchan Aruch is, "One should rouse one's self like a lion in the morning to do the service of one's God," the lion, in fact, is not an early riser. 

A dear friend of mine, Rabbi Yaniv Yagel, once told me that when he was in yeshiva he had a friend who wanted to understand the meaning of this halacha, so, after closing time in the zoo, he managed to evade security and spend the night there in the hopes of seeing the lion wake up at the break of dawn and roar a might roar, ready to instill fear and lord over the other animals from the jungle. The friend woke early, an hour before dawn, hoping to see the lion stir. An hour passed, another and another. At 11 AM the lion sheepishly opened its mouth, ever so feebly, yawned a docile yawn, and fell back asleep. 

The lion, like Jacob says, is an animal that crouches and waits for the right time to pounce. It is the master of the jungle, but  lies in wait - it is not impetuous like Reuven, indecent in act, uncalculating in measure; it bides its time. It strikes when it's ready, striking the jugular, afflicting the harm it needs to - but, unlike Shimon and Levi, no more than necessary. 

Interestingly, in addition to being nocturnal, using their night vision as a comparative advantage, lions also hunt best during storms, noise, rain and wind obfuscating the vision of their prey. 

Thus, in a new world, the frame of each and every tribe, and its precise role would need to be set precisely, and for Judah, Yehuda it was his leadership, and his ability to go out on another hunt, after a series of failures, that designated him for greatness. In Jacob's blessing for Judah, in which he states that "the staff (of kingship) shall not leave him," he focuses on Judah's growth, and maturity, stating in awe:  "On prey, my son, have you grown.""

This unique blessing for Judah is one that bespeaks the greatest challenge of leadership, the adaptability required in admitting mistakes, re-assessing, and taking on the next challenge, not seeing it as insurmountable because each and every error is fodder for greater growth, vision, and maturity.