Yosef represents the concealed holiness, while Yehuda the revealed holiness. Therefore the “crown of governance” was anointed to Yehuda. Yet, in the times to come greater will be Yosef’s portion. Yosef’s dealings with the materialistic could seem as someone “curling with his hair” , yet he expresses a higher place: a place where the mundane is sanctified and filled with meaning.
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Starting from Parashat VaYeshev we encounter Yosef and Yehuda as the two principal tribes. The blessings of Yaakov, present in our parasha, point out that they - Yosef and Yehuda - are to receive the “crown of governance”: Yaakov blesses Yehuda with the following “The sceptre shall not depart from Yehuda” (Bereishit 49:10), while Yosef receives a blessing in a similar wording to that of Yitzhak’s and Yaakov’s. Between them - Yosef and Yehuda - and their descendants is formed a confrontation over the primogeniture (birthright): Yosef the dreamer becomes the minister to the Pharaoh and by the end of Bereishit serves as the undisputed leader of the tribes, while Yehuda is the spokesperson of the brothers to Yosef. In the end, David, who comes from Yehuda, receives the kingship for the generations, while Yosef establishes the Kingdom of Israel - whose ending we know as tragic.
In the eyes of the Sfat Emet, the confrontation does not relate to a position but rather to a pathway. The two paths are separate and different, yet the redemption - according to the Prophets - is bound to the unification of “the baton of Yehuda and the baton of Yosef” (Ezekiel 37:16-17). As we shall see, these are two different paths to a life of holiness in this world:
“For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field…” - This is the separation of the Nitzotzot/sparks who were mingled [in this world along with the mundane]. […] For man needs to separate this mixture, and this separation is due on the working days, while on the Shabbos all melachot are forbidden. And Yosef is in the sense of Shabbos, as stated in the Midrashim, placing him above the mixture. […] And He - Yosef - is in the sense of Shabbos, whereby the abundance does not come through the Tzimtzum/contraction, as stated “today, you shall not find it [the Manna] in the field” (Shemot 16:25).
And this was the work of Yehuda and the tribes, to draw water from deep reservoirs, as stated “Drink water from your own cistern” (Proverbs 5:15). […] For the lights in this world are buried, as is said “Hashem by wisdom founded the earth” (Proverbs 3:19). And it is due on the working days to separate food [the Lights] from waste [the mundane]. And the sense of Yosef is to continue a new light originating from shamayim/the “skies”, as stated “and flowing water from your own well” (Proverbs 5:15).
Using a Kabbalistic discourse, we can say that Yehuda’s work corresponds to the task of berurim (separation), while Yosef’s is that of healat ha-olamot (elevation of the worlds). In our language, we shall explain that in Yehuda’s world there are clear borders between the holy and the mundane. Yet, we know that in the mundane or “natural” world (as personified by the field) holiness is present. We can separate and distinguish the good from the bad by merging the mundane to the holy. Indeed, this is man’s task during the weekdays: he needs to find the meaningful place, that of value and liveliness within the everyday routines.
Yosef, however, represents the task of Shabbos. Specifically, on Shabbos do we eat and sleep more: the mundane itself becomes holy, thanks to the special atmosphere of Shabbos. I succeed in alighting reality itself so that it is not at all grey: it has a smell of holiness, of purity and festivity. Therefore, Yosef is a paradoxical character, as the Sfat Emet states: On the one hand, Yaakov crowns him as the “prince of the brothers”, while on the other hand, he is a man deeply imbedded in this materialistic world.
As Rav Shagar ZT”L emphasized on multiple occasions, the task of Yosef is that of the Dati-Leumi. The connection between Yosef and Zionism appears multiple times in the Sfat Emet, and is further developed by Rav Kook. We shall conclude with these sharp words of the Sfat Emet:
In the Midrash of “Woe to us from the day of judgment…” - For the distress of the tribes seems to be that by the revelation of Yosef’s illumination came great shame: they had mistaken Yosef’s holiness because of the concealment. And this is the shame of the times to come, when it will be revealed that this world’s dealings are themselves entirely internally holy.
Yosef represents the concealed holiness, while Yehuda the revealed holiness. Therefore the “crown of governance” was anointed to Yehuda. Yet, in the times to come greater will be Yosef’s portion. Yosef’s dealings with the materialistic could seem as someone “curling with his hair” , yet he expresses a higher place: a place where the mundane is sanctified and filled with meaning. Yosef does not live by a duality between holiness and mundaneness, a life of partition and borders, rather he finds the holiness in the mundane (the Sfat Emet brings up this point in his discussion of the Tabernacle of Shilo where the eating of the Kodashim could be performed anywhere while the temple was still in view).
May we be worthy to go in this path.
