מעט ורעים

Yakov Avinu is generally criticized for telling Pharoah that his life was מעט ורעים, “few and bad.” Some opinions say that if you count the number of words in that section, it equals the number of years that Yakov did not live that would have equaled Avraham’s 175 years, or Yitzchak’s 180 years. In other words, years were taken from Yakov’s life because of his bitterness, and he lived to 147.

It was true that Yakov had many challenges in his life, but he always came out on top, and had no reason to express any bitterness at all.

There is a totally different opinion from Rav Mann that Yakov really did nothing wrong at all. It very well could have been that Pharoah was marveling at how great Yosef was to his father. He was assuming that Yosef’s early years must have been were years of privilege. Yakov must have had it all to give the upbringing that would give his son the tools to be able to turn Egypt into the world’s superpower.

When Yakov recognized this attitude that “Jews have it all,” he needed to downplay his status. He, therefore, told Pharoah that he shouldn’t think things were so easy. His years were few and bad. There is no need for him to be jealous.

Already in Egypt, the seeds of anti-semitism were planted and we needed to learn how to combat them.

This is but another example of two very different interpretations to the same Pasuk.