2021/5782
In this week’s Parashah, Parashat VaYechi, Yaakov Avinu blesses his children. In addition, he also blesses his grandchildren, Ephraim and Menasheh. He blesses them with the famous Brachah which we know as “HaMal’ach.” Towards the end of the Brachah, the Pasuk (BeReishit 48:16) states, “VeYidgu LaRov BiKerev Ha’Aretz,” “may they be teeming multitudes upon the earth.” Rashi explains that it refers to multiplying like fish. What does the Brachah mean? What is so important about multiplying like fish? Why fish of all creatures? What is so symbolic about the fish?
Rashi (s.v. “VeYidgu Larov Bikerev Ha’aretz”) quotes the Gemara (Brachot 20a) that mentions instances where descendents of Yosef avoided Ayin HaRa. One of them is the story in which Rabi Yochanan, someone known for his good looks, would sit in front of the gates to the Mikvah. When the women would walk out he would say, “they will look at me and will have children as beautiful as me.” The Chachamim asked him, “aren’t you worried about Ayin HaRa?” He answered, “the Ayin HaRa is none of my concern as I am a descendent of Yosef, who is unaffected by the Ayin HaRa.” The Gemara then cites the Pasuk later on in the Parashah, BeReishit 49:22, which describes Yosef as a “Ben Porat Yosef Ben Porat Alei Ayin,” “a fruitful vine above the eye.” Rabi Avahu went on to say, “don’t read it as “Alei Ayin,” but rather as “Olei Ayin,” or those who rise above the Ayin HaRa.
To answer our question, we must return to the very beginning, Parashat BeReishit. The original instance where the fish were blessed to multiply is found at the beginning of BeReishit where the Pasuk (BeReishit 1:22) says, “Peru URevu UMil’u Et HaMayim,” “they should be fertile and increase and fill the water of the seas.” Rashi, based on the Midrash (BeReishit Rabbah 11:2), says the Bracha was bestowed specifically upon the fish. The Midrash says, they were blessed because they were hunted. The Or HaChaim explains that it was harder for fish to reproduce due to the cold water; it is for this reason they were blessed by Hashem.
We are compared to fish for a reason; they clearly represent something significant. The Midrash (BeReishit Rabbah 97:3) says that just as a fish catches every drop of rainwater like they’ve never tasted it before, so too, we should receive every new thought of Torah with thirst as if we’ve never heard Torah before.
Rav Aharon Kotler adds something amazing. He observes, Torah is “your life and the length of your days” (Devarim 30:20). Torah, which we refer to as life, actually has a source to prove this. When it comes to someone who kills BeShogeg, by mistake, they must flee to an Ir Miklat. The Pasuk (Devarim 4:42) says that “he shall flee to one of the cities and live,” implying that we must provide the proper necessities to live at an Ir Miklat. The Gemara (Makkot 10a) explaisn that a student cannot survive without the one who teaches him Torah. The Rambam too, in Hilchot Rotzei’ach 7:1, says that to those who are looking for the wisdom of Torah, living without studying is equivalent to not living at all.
Rav Yitzchak Hutner explains this idea to solve an inconsistency. He says material items can be classified as necessities, such as food and drink. On the other hand, we can easily live without luxuries. Usually, the more necessary the item, the less pleasure one derives from it, but the more one suffers from being without it. However, the fancier the item, the more pleasure one gains from having it, while suffering less when deprived of it.
How should we categorize Torah? Is it a necessity or is it a luxury? On the one hand, a Talmid Chacham suffers to a great extent when they separate from their learning, hence why we find it so difficult to refrain from Torah learning throughout Tish’ah Be’Av. Torah can be compared to food and drink, life’s basic necessities. On the other hand, when a Talmid Chacham engages in Torah, his joy has no bounds. This would put Torah into the category of luxury. Into what category then, does Torah fall?
Rav Hutner explains that this distinction is true only with regard to luxuries and necessities. Torah, however, is neither. It is more than a necessity. Torah is life itself. Conversely, there is no greater joy other than being brought back from the brink of death. So too, one who views Torah learning as his life source will experience the greatest pleasure while engaged in his studies and feel the worst deprivation while unable to learn.
The Chidushei HaRim associates this teaching with an earlier Midrash that says that Yosef’s descendents, like fish, will be immune to the harmful effects of the Ayin HaRa. He explains that one who views the Torah and Mitzvot as his source of life, making spiritual pursuits his main focus, while ignoring physical or materialistic pursuits, may be compared to fish. Just as the fish are covered in water, which protects them from the Ayin HaRa, so too, when one is engrossed in Torah study and Avodat Hashem, is protected from the Ayin HaRa. I think that we can take this idea to another level. We are all, in a sense, like “fish out of water.” As we stated above Yosef is like that vine that rises above all. He rises above the Ayin HaRa. How can we, like Yosef, rise above the Ayin HaRa, which is so powerful?
The answer lies before us. Like fish which are surrounded by water, we are surrounded by Torah. We must grasp that which is close to us; Torah is “Karov Eilecha… BeFicha UBiLvavcha” (Devarim 30:14); it is close to us; it is in our mouths and hearts. That is how we prevail in our struggle with the Ayin HaRa.
The Mishnah (Gittin 5:8) says that fish caught in traps are not acquired until we take possession of them. I think there is a deep idea involved. The Pasuk (BeReishit 1:28) states that man will “rule over the fish of the sea.” The Ramban, Midrash, and other Meforshim on the Pasuk explain that we must rule over the beasts within us and if not, we will be dominated by the beast within us.
In addition to us being fish out of water, we have a fish within us waiting to be subdued, as well. However if it is not subdued we will be dominated. We will be dominated by the Ayin HaRa if we don’t subdue our internal “fish”. How do we subdue the fish within? We must rise above. We have to be like Yosef. We have to be like that vine that grows up and up and up. We have to imbibe the water - the Torah - which is close to us, “our life and days.” We have to rise above like Ben Porat Yosef, but we need strong roots. What better way to “water our roots” than with water or Torah.
Maybe that is why Chazal say that when you teach someone Torah, it is as if you shaped them. Conquering the fish within us is an internal process which can help us realize Torah values and actions in our lives and uplift us. That is the Brachah. It's about using what is around us to stay alive. Not just to live, but to rise above: to live a life of happiness, because that is what Torah is. May we all be able to catch every drop of water in our roots so that we can rise up like Ben Porat Yosef and pass this down to our children just like Yaakov did.