True Greatness

It is remarkable that the happiest and most peaceful years of Yakov Avinu’s life were spent in Egypt.

Yakov was unwilling to be buried in that incredible place of impurities. Yet, he was not influenced one iota by all of the decadence of Egypt.

Rav Kook described the high level of holiness that Yakov Avinu had attained. As long as he was alive, the servitude of the Jewish people did not begin. He was able to affect the level of all of the Jewish people.

His death had a huge effect on everyone, including the Egyptians. There was less prosperity after his death.

The “Duties of the Heart” lists the various approaches towards the study of Torah. The lowest level applies to one who merely reads the words of Scriptures, without having any interest in understanding the meaning of the text.

The highest level applied to the Men of the Great Assembly, and the leading rabbis, known as “Tannaim,” until Rav Yehuda Hanassi, the redactor of the Mishna.

The point that needs to be made clear is that we cannot even begin to fathom the high level of some of the Torah giants of previous generations. They achieved tremendously high levels of purity, that bordered that of angels. Their entire essence was holiness.

Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yakov, were also on this kind of level. For most people, it is virtually impossible to live in a place of hedonism and self indulgence, and not be affected. Yakov Avinu was unique in that not only was he unscathed by what went on in Egypt, but he managed to uplift all those that were around him.