Taking Yosef Along: Remembering the Tzaddik's Holiness

1“And Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him.”¹ Notice the words “with him”: what do they mean here? Chazal have expounded them,² but “there is still more to say on God's behalf.”³ The Gemara applies the verse “The wise of heart takes mitzvos” to Moshe Rabbeinu: all of Israel was busy with the spoils of Egypt, while Moshe busied himself with a mitzvah, bringing the bones of Yosef out of Egypt.⁴ But why does this earn Moshe the title “wise”? Would it not have been more fitting to call him “a tzaddik,” one who cherishes mitzvos?

2aWe can explain it this way. Yosef, as is well known, was complete in the attribute of Yesod, the sefirah called “foundation”: “the tzaddik is the foundation of the world.”⁵ He shone the light of his holiness on the whole world, as the verse hints: “And Yosef was the ruler over all the land; he was the provider to all the people of the land.”⁶ But after Yosef passed from the world, people no longer received of his light and holiness, since they no longer heard words of reproof from him about matters of holiness. Moshe Rabbeinu, in his wisdom, understood this. He was afraid that Israel would not remember the power of Yosef's holiness, all the more so because they were leaving Egypt to come straight to Eretz Yisrael. There each of them would sit “under his vine and under his fig tree,”⁷ and then “the Torah, what will become of it?”⁸ Who, then, would bestow Torah and holiness on Israel and instill them in the nation?

2bSo Moshe acted wisely and took the bones of Yosef with him. Seeing them, the people would remember how Yosef had kept the Torah in holiness, and all of them would learn from him. As Chazal said, all the years that Israel was in the wilderness, two arks traveled side by side, one the coffin of a dead man and the other the Ark of the Shechinah. Passersby would ask, “What is the nature of these two arks? … Is it the way of a dead man to travel with the Shechinah?” And they were told: “This one fulfilled everything that is written in that one.”⁹

2cThat is why Moshe Rabbeinu is called “wise,” of all titles, for busying himself with the bones of Yosef. He knew that as time went on Bnei Yisrael would forget Yosef HaTzaddik, who had made himself holy in the attribute of “the tzaddik is the foundation of the world.” They would say that they now had a new leader, Moshe Rabbeinu, and no longer needed what Yosef HaTzaddik had bestowed on them. So Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him, to remind them to keep receiving from Yosef HaTzaddik and to remember his holiness and his self-restraint. Now the words “with him” fit well. With Yosef “with him,” they would keep in mind that besides what they now received from Moshe Rabbeinu, they must remember Yosef's righteousness and his ways, and walk by his light.

3aWhat does this mean for us in practice? There is no need to describe the great holiness and self-restraint of my holy father and teacher, zt"l, who during his lifetime shared his great light with us. Seven years have now gone by since his passing. The number seven, we know, holds holiness, as with holy Shabbos, the Shemittah year and the Yovel,¹⁰ and so now there is the power to attain the holiness of the tzaddik. A sacred duty rests on us to reflect on his ways and to fulfill what he asked and demanded of us during his lifetime.

3bAs everyone knows, he constantly preached modesty. So I ask all those who were bound to my holy father to increase modesty in the home, within the family, so that there be no “breach and outcry,” Heaven forbid, among us.¹¹ [And so may the beginning of that passage be fulfilled in us: “For our sons are like saplings, grown tall in their youth; our daughters are like cornerstones …”¹²] I also ask them to take care to keep their speech pure and not to speak improper words, Heaven forbid; Chazal spoke very strongly about how grave this is.¹³ And I ask them to keep what we have already established: at the Shabbos meal each person should learn at home from the holy sefer Noam Elimelech, by R' Elimelech of Lizhensk, and also halachos. So come, let us take it upon ourselves to continue these practices with even greater strength, widening the borders of holiness. Then, as a matter of course, we will be privileged to remember “the bones of Yosef,” the tzaddik who is “the foundation of the world.”

4Just as, when Israel left Egypt, the sea saw the coffin of Yosef and in that merit Israel was redeemed,¹⁴ so may we be privileged to see the redemption soon. Amen, may it be His will.