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This week, we follow our Jewish sage of the early seventeenth century, known as the Megaleh Amukot ("Revealer of Depths" – R' Noson Nata Shapira) into the depths of this week's parsha, Vayechi. On every parsha, R' Shapira wrote voluminous commentary, based upon the Torah dimension known as remez, or "hints," which are oriented around the letters and numerical values of the words of the Torah. Invariably, the level of Torah interpretation known as remez is also associated with the deepest level of Torah interpretation, sod ("secrets" of the Torah). Rabbi Shapira was one of a few rabbis who was a master of both remez and sod, and he demonstrates this ability in all of his Torah commentary.

However, in this week's parsha, R' Shapira does something unusual (for him). He asks a question in the pshat, or simple meaning of the text. In last week's parsha (Vayigash), as our forefather Yaakov approached his son Yoseph, he said, "…Now I may die, since I have seen your face and that you are still alive" (Gen 46:30). Now, the last time Yaakov mentioned that someone may die, was as he and his entire clan were returning to Israel from twenty years of work on Laban's farm. As they made their way back to Israel, Laban chased after them and accused them of stealing his terafim, or "idols." This angered Yaakov, who replied,"By whomsoever the terafim are found, he will die." Yaakov did not know at the time that Rachel, his wife, had indeed taken the terafim, hoping to separate her father Laban from his idolatrous ways. However, Rashi explains that later on, Rachel did indeed die (during childbirth) from this statement of Yaakov. For, the words of a tzadik are never in vain, and since Yaakov stated that with whomever the terafim are found will die, so occurred –Rachel died soon after that. And if so, the Megaleh Amukot asks, why did not Yaakov himself die upon saying the words, "..now I may die." And this is a question in the simple level of the text, even though R' Shapira's answer goes beyond the simple level.

Rabbi Shapira answers that all of our forefathers knew at what age they were going to pass away. Unlike "mortal" men, the forefathers were blessed with enough spiritual insight to glean knowledge of what age they would pass on. For example, Avraham Avinu knew he was to pass away at age 180 from the word Hamachpela – the name of the cave that he bought for burial purposes after his wife Sarah passed away. Hamachpela bears the gematria, or numerical value of 180, and somehow from this Avraham understood that he should pass away at age 180. In reality, Avraham "donated" five years to King David (who was supposed to be a miscarriage, but Adam and the forefathers "donated" from their own years so that David would survive and become the King of Israel), and passed away at age 175. And Yitzhak knew from the word mima'ayach (in the verse "..and two nations mima'ayich – from your belly – will separate…" – Gen. 25:23) that he would live for 180 years, since the gematria of mima'ayich is 180. Similarly, Yaakov avinu, promised to God that, "…[from] all that You give me, I will certainly dedicate a tithe to You (Gen 28L22)." Subsequently, he gave fourteen years of his life for his wife, another fourteen for learning Torah, and a tithe of his wealth. From this, he knew that he would live until the age of 147 (ten times fourteen, plus seven). So, how could Yaakov err to think that at the age of 130 (when he said, "Now I may die…") he would pass away?

There are some who wish to say that Yaakov knew of the principle that one should begin to "worry" as they approach five years before the age that one of his parents passed away. For example, Yitzhak began to worry as he reached the age of 123, since he thought that his father Avraham would pass away at the age of 127. As it happened, Avraham lived much longer, but according to Yitzhak's calculations, his father could have passed on at age 127 (as did his wife Sarah, who came from the same soul-root as Avraham), so Yitzhak himself began to worry at age 123. Similarly, suggests the Megaleh Amukot that Yaakov was worried that he had reached his time by age 130 because his own mother, Rivka, passed away at 133 years old. However, R' Shapira proves that this principle only applies to one's father, and not to his mother, so there was no reason for Yaakov to be concerned at age 130 that he might pass away. And so we are back to the original question: How could Yaakov suggest about himself at age 130 that it was time for him to pass on?

Moreover, the Megaleh Amukot says that God hinted to Yaakov during his dream of the ladder, that he would arrive to the age of his grandfather, Avraham, and not to the age of his father Yitzhak. The hint came as Yaakov dreamt, and in his dream, God said, "…I am the God of your father Avraham and the God of Yitzhak…"(Gen. 28:13). Since God referred to Avraham, and not Yitzhak, as Yaakov's "father," Yaakov knew that he should live to 175 years, as did Avraham. However, like his fathers before him, Yaakov "donated" 28 years of his life to King David, so that he would live and not be a "miscarriage." And therefore, Yaakov should have lived to 175-28= 147.

However, Yaakov had one more calculation in mind, based upon kaballah. His son, Yoseph, lived with him for the first seventeen years of Yoseph's life. During that time, father and son were very close, and in fact so close that it was as if they were one, in a spiritual sense. The father taught his son everything that he knew, and raised him personally. In kaballah, this is known as the relationship between the sephira of tiferet represented by Yaakov, and the sephira of yesod, represented by Yoseph. Tiferet is the heart of our emotions, while yesod is the extension of our emotions so that they become expressed physically. When tiferet and yesod work together, there is the greatest expression of love and unity. So, while his son Yoseph was with him, Yaakov felt that they were one, and that the seventeen years of Yoseph were his own years as well. And therefore, he reasoned, even though he was meant to live for 147 years, seventeen of those years were from Yoseph. Yaakov's calculation was that he should subtract those years from his life, and thus he arrived at the figure of 130. That was why when he re-met with his son Yoseph in Egypt at the age of 130, Yaakov felt that his time to pass away had come, and he said, "…now I may die…"

However, God in his mercy did not accept Yaakov's calculations, and indeed He gave Yaakov another seventeen years to live while in Egypt. Even though Yaakov and Yoseph (tiferet and yesod) were exceedingly close, nevertheless they were not one and united to such an extent that the years of Yoseph's life were literally the years of Yaakov's life. And therefore, Yaakov's original calculation, that he should live until 147, remained intact, and as it happened, he passed away seventeen years later, at age 147.