by Rabbi David Katz

In the end of this week’s Torah Portion, we are introduced in detail to a tremendous concept, implemented by Joseph, and dating back to the Academies of Shem and Ever: The Priestly way of life.

The verses in Genesis 47:26 and 47:27 read, “וישם אתה יוסף לחק עד היום הזה על אדמת מצרים לפרעה  אדמת הכהנים לבדם לא היתה לפרעה לחמש רק “  meaning, “So Joseph imposed it as a statute till this day regarding the Land of Egypt: It was Pharaoh’s for the fifth; only the priests’ land alone did not become Pharaoh’s.” וישב ישראל בארץ מצרים בארץ גשן ויאחזו בה ויפרו וירבו מאד” meaning, “Thus Israel settled in the Land of Egypt in the region of Goshen; they acquired property in it and they were fruitful and multiplied greatly.”

Two points to clarify before we delve into meaning, are the opening words to these verses: וישם could literally imply: Joseph implemented that of Shem (as the word is spelled the same in Hebrew), and the second verse: וישב could literally mean, “of the Academy of” (also spelled the same in Hebrew, and used this way in regards to Abraham and Isaac attending the Academy of Shem and Ever); thus the two together by means of “Hints in Torah (Remez)” suggest, that perhaps we are to learn that it is in this area of Life, where we find Shem, his Torah, and his Priesthood. After all, the Torah says, “You should be a Kingdom of Priests.” Fittingly, Joseph was the first to put this into action, i.e. levels of Priesthood in association with Land; as it was Joseph that Israel loved the most, due to his acceptance of the Torah of Shem and Ever (Ramban.)

To put it simply, and opposite from what we know about Priests, it appears in the Verses that Joseph had decreed that Priests actually should own Land, and there is a precedent of this in Tanach: Pinchas HaKohen acquired Land in the lot of Joseph (coincidentally) and buried his father Elazar there. The commentators on the verses of Pinchas and his Land, in the end of the Book of Joshua, state clearly that Pinchas had acquired Land. Pinchas, and his relationship to the redemption, as we will express at the end of this article, is a reincarnation of Elijah the Prophet.

With the Jewish People secured in their new investment in real estate in Goshen, the path to the future and destiny was now quite clear: would they be on a road to Blessing or down an alley of despair? Unfortunately we know the answer: the Children of Israel lost everything and were duped into slavery. Only the Tribe of Levy remained free of servitude, and let us not forget, Levy is the Priestly Tribe, inheriting this level of Holiness from Jacob and from Hashem Himself. Levy had many distinguished Honors, in that he kept circumcision and did not take part of the Golden Calf to name a few. If this is The Right of the Priest, then should we suggest that this is true of all Priests? Is this what the Torah requested of the Jewish People? Is this what Joseph had in mind in laying a foundation for the future? Or better yet – is this the Torah of Shem, traveling onward as a guiding Light to he who dwells in Darkness?

The Life of the Priest is much like what we would call today, “Middle Class Society.” The last of the Ten Commandments, which can be viewed as Hashem’s personal stamp of Truth on the Law, is, “You Shall Not Covet.” If this principle would be applied into the economic society in this day and age, how much better off would the World be? This may sound easier said than done, but this was in fact Shem’s Message! He taught the Way of Life, A Way with God; if The Torah says, “Choose Life,” then it is the underlying message of Shem in The Torah how this is achieved. The Tractate, “Ethics of the fathers,” clearly states, “Without Proper Conduct, there is no Torah.” The Jewish People had forgotten this message, and need constant reminding of this lesson, to the point that they lost everything in Egypt, much like the World today is bearing witness to; all for the same reason – Greed and a lack of Intellect in how to properly govern ourselves and our money, i.e. to live and be modest. Modesty, Holiness, and Truth are the identification marks of the Priesthood that Joseph had implemented in Egypt. This same Priesthood was perfected by Shem himself, passed on to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and onward to Joseph, where ultimately it would be fittingly accepted by the Priestly Tribe Levy. The results are hard to argue with, as Levy was not enslaved, and has a meritorious lineage, whereas the Children of Israel were sold off into slavery having lost everything, namely because they had forsaken the Priesthood; they forgot Shem’s message, whereas Levy embraced Priesthood with arms wide open. Joseph, as the Verses we opened with implied, had hope that the Jewish People would have held onto their Land, however in the end, we learn a monumental Torah Truth: Only Levy, the Priest, arose to the challenge upon him, and held onto his Land. We can clearly see why the Torah stresses, “You shall be a Kingdom of Priests,” for survival, freedom, and redemption are all based on this existence. Levy knew this, Joseph knew this, even the Forefathers knew this, and Shem, not surprisingly enough, is the Teacher of the Priestly way of Life.

There are two fundamental areas of Torah: Torah and Commandments. Had Shem focused on the Commandments, who would he have taught? Perhaps then there would not be an Abraham to come and learn from him – upon which he would be alone, in his own little world! Thus what Shem did, was focus on the, “Torah -Proper Conduct” as his message, something to internalize, a way to be, act, and observe. When the World produced its Abraham, there was then a proper vessel, to internalize the way of Proper Conduct, and then to look inside and see from within the commandments. Abraham promptly saw, with an internal heritage from Shem, there would be 613 commandments parallel to the body, or one could view 7 Laws of which the world is Properly and Truthfully governed and maintained by, as depicted by the axiom, “The World is a big man and man is a small World. We must therefore say, that we can only begin to learn and perform the Law, when we receive the Priestly Teaching, the Emanation of Torah, that began with Shem, and was passed on all the way down through Joseph into the Tribe of Levy, where they would internalize this message and express it even to this day!  From the Torah, comes Law, giving way to a prosperous world where Redemption reigns supreme and Hashem is glorified; to negate Shem, the Torah, Priesthood, is to dwell in the World of darkness and exile, by means of, “putting the cart before the horse.” To be the Kingdom of Priests, is to live by the guidelines of Torah, focusing on the Way of Life; This was the Torah of Shem and an eternal message that underlines all of Torah existence, which has the power to negate levels of greed, desire, and covet.  The result, is that Wisdom will permeate our lives, depicted by the owning of land, even for a Priest, and the Commandments would then be a permanent way of Life, serving Hashem with joy and gratitude.

It is the selflessness of Shem, that was passed down through the generations to Joseph onwards to Levy, where there would be a remnant of how to live and exile and slavery would be minimized, as depicted by the Tribe of Levy. Had the Children of Israel accepted the Teaching of Priesthood, as they were commanded to do, Egypt would have been a stopgap destination between Jacob and Moses’ Giving of The Torah and the Law.

One thing remains clear in the Parsha: Joseph was not just a student of Shem; rather he was the first man to put Shem’s Torah into action and on a National level. Such actions are the sole basis of the Jewish and Torah survival through many exiles and the episode of the Golden Calf itself! The Jewish People may have been learning and dwelling within the Law for many years, yet the Torah mandates that the World must be restored to order. We should look no further than to what Joseph did: instituting the Torah of Shem on the World Scale. When the Kingdom of Priests takes its role, perhaps it is then that Shem’s Mission would have resonated loud and clear. The World awaits its rectification, but one thing remains vocal: Shem’s message is present and accounted for, garmented within the Torah of Moses…all it needs is a Joseph character, to complete the task. Perhaps it is the Messiahs of Joseph and David to Teach the world the Ways of Life, and finish crafting the vessel of Shem, one that will bear the Laws onto the World, as it is said in the Talmud, there are 4 craftsmen, “Messiah son of David, son Joseph, Elijah (incarnation of Pinchas the Priest – who owned land[inherited from Joseph]), and the Righteous Priest – none other, than the final strike of the hammer, bringing the story full circle, “Shem son of Noah.” The Torah says, “The final action was first in thought,” and the Parsha is credited with saying, “Joseph still Lives!” But thanks to Joseph and his scholarship, we can proudly say, “Shem still lives and will live, Teaching us his Eternal Message – and we can reciprocate, being a Kingdom of Priests tasting the delights of Redemption, the way it was supposed to be. The cherry on top would be of course, to return in salvation, to our Land, possessing it the way Joshua was commanded to, aided by the Priests, and building the Holy Temple, so that all may join in the Torah and Law of Hashem. The Law that was given to Moses, is none other than  the Torah that begins with Shem.