Like all kings of the “House of Dovid,” Moshiach, the Final Redeemer, will be a descendent of the tribe of Yehuda. This week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, contains the blessing of kingship Yaakov gave to Yehuda (Bereishis 49:10): “The scepter shall not depart from Yehuda nor a scholar from among his descendents forever, until Shiloh shall arrive, and his will be an assemblage of nations.” As Rashi notes on the words “until Shiloh shall arrive”: “This is a reference to Moshiach, to whom the sovereignty belongs.”

When Moshiach comes and ushers in the Final Redemption, Yehuda’s kingship will attain perfection. Throughout the annals of Jewish history there have been many kings descended from Yehuda (including Dovid Hamelech), but there were also others belonging to different tribes. However, in the Messianic era the kingship will belong solely to the tribe of Yehuda, as we read in the haftorah of Parshas Vayigash (Yechezkel 37:22-25): “And one king shall be king over them all… And Dovid My servant shall be king over them… And My servant Dovid shall be their prince forever.” The intention is Moshiach, who is a descendent of both Dovid and Yehuda.

Interestingly, the same prophecy speaks about the future unification of the kingdoms of Yehuda and Yosef (ibid. 37:15-20): “Take one stick and write on it, ‘For Yehuda, and for the children of Israel his companions,’ then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Yosef, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions,’ and join them one to the other to make one stick, and they shall become one in your hand. And when the children of your people will ask you, saying, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’, tell them, ‘So says the L-rd G-d: Behold I will take the stick of Yosef, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and will put them and it together with the stick of Yehuda to form one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.’”

This raises a logical question: If there will be only one king over the Jewish people who is descended from Yehuda, does this mean that the dynasty of Yosef will be discontinued? And if so, how does this fit in with Yechezkel’s prophecy of the unification of the two dynasties? In other words, if it is destined for Yehuda to prevail over Yosef and reign over him, how can that be considered unity?

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Pleasure and Intellect In order to resolve this apparent contradiction we need to explore the inner meanings of Yosef and Yehuda, according to the light of Chasidus. This will help us to understand why kings could come from tribes other than Yehuda before the

Final Redemption, but not afterward. It will also explain why there really is no contradiction at all.

Metaphorically, Yehuda and Yosef are symbolic of two different powers of the soul: the faculty of deed, and the faculty of understanding. In fact, they are alluded to in their very names: Yehuda is related to the word “hoda’ah” (praise or thanks), as it states in Bereishis 29:35: “And she bore a son and said, ‘Now I will praise the L-rd,’ therefore she called his name Yehuda.” This is also alluded to in the verse in this week’s Torah portion, “Yehuda, you are the one whom your brothers will praise.” “Hoda’ah” also has the connotation of “admission” or “submission,” as in the Hebrew phrase, “Ani modeh lid’varecha,” “I admit your words [are correct],” or “I nullify my opinion before yours.”

Yehuda thus represents the faculty of deed, which requires that a person nullify himself and descend from the higher realm of thought and intellect to the physical plane of existence. (The faculty of deed is considered “lower” than the faculty of understanding, as it is also shared by the animal kingdom.)

Yosef, by contrast, is related to the word “hosafah” (“increase”), and is thus associated with the faculty of understanding. Human nature is such that when a person grasps an intellectual concept, it generates a sense of pleasure. This, in turn, creates the desire to understand more, and stimulates the discovery of deeper and more profound meanings, what we call “understanding one thing from the other.”

The concepts of “hoda’ah” and “hosafah” also apply to a Jew’s spiritual life. In the performance of mitzvos, the emphasis is on self-nullification and submission before the Creator (“hoda’ah”). Ideally, the Torah’s commandments should be carried out with pure kabalas ol, acceptance of the yoke of heaven, as a faithful servant obeys his master. In the language of Chasidus (Likutei Torah, Chapter 40): “[It is the same as if] we been commanded to chop wood, for example. This is called ‘the King’s command’; we do not ask for a reason, but obey with acceptance of the yoke of heaven.” Furthermore, from the perspective of human nature, the fact that in order to do mitzvos a Jew must utilize physical objects without necessarily understanding why requires a degree of self-nullification before G-d, the Commander of the mitzvos.

The study of Torah, on the other hand, is not usually accompanied by a sense of self-nullification. On the contrary, it produces a feeling of pleasure. The comprehension of a Torah concept or the mastery of a difficult Talmudic sugya brings joy and satisfaction, and the desire to increase in knowledge. (It is for this reason that halachah prophibits learning before the performance of certain mitzvos, lest the person become too involved in his study and neglect to do the mitzvah at the proper time.) Our Sages also placed more of an emphasis on joy with regard to Torah study than the performance of mitzvos. For example, “A person should always study in a place where his heart is drawn” (Avodah Zarah 19a). The study of Torah is therefore associated with Yosef, who symbolizes the faculty of understanding leading to pleasure.

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“Deed is Greater”

The Talmudic Sages disagreed as to which is greater: the faculty of hoda’ah and self-nullification in the performance of practical mitzvos, or the faculty of intellectual comprehension in the study of Torah. In Tractate Kiddushin (40b) a story is told about Rabbi Tarfon and the elders, who were posed the following question: “Which is greater, Torah study or actual deed?” Rabbi Tarfon answered deed; Rabbi Akiva answered Torah study. But all of the Sages concurred that, “Study is greater, as it leads to the performance of actual deed.”

There are numerous other examples of Torah study, which is associated with Yosef, having an advantage over practical deed, associated with Yehuda. Symbolically, such was the case when Yehuda bowed down and prostrated himself before Yosef, the viceroy of Egypt. Moreover, in later generations the kingdom of Yosef was far greater in population than the kingdom of Yehuda, consisting of ten tribes as opposed to only two.

Nonetheless, the advantage of Torah study over practical deed is only at present; as Chasidus explains, deed will be revealed as superior in the Messianic era, at which time the kingship of Yehuda will achieve perfection.

In the words of the Alter Rebbe (Sefer Hamaamarim 5567), after a lengthy exposition on the relative advantages of study and deed: “However, all this applies only at present. In the future the opposite will hold true, with mitzvos being superior to Torah. At that time, practical mitzvos will be greater than Torah study.”

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Revelation of the Soul’s Essence

But why do we have to wait until Moshiach comes to recognize the advantage of deed? Why the future reversal in status?

In order to understand we need to examine the configuration of the soul and its hierarchy of soul-powers.

The reason “study is greater” is that at present, the faculty of understanding is on a higher level than the faculty of deed. Before a person performs an action his mind is already aware of what he is about to do, as the intellect is closer to the soul’s essence than its faculty of deed (which is only an external power and thus considered lower). When a person learns Torah, his inner powers become unified with G-d; when he performs a physical mitzvah and utilizes only his external faculty of deed, his thoughts and emotions remain unchanged. Consequently, the study of Torah is considered superior.

In the Messianic era, however, the faculty of deed, which enables a Jew to perform mitzvos with kabalas ol, will be revealed as originating in the soul’s very essence. In truth, the soul’s capacity for kabalas ol is even more closely linked to its essence than its intellectual faculties.

What causes a Jew to unquestioningly obey a commandment, without understanding what he is doing or deriving any sense of pleasure? What motivates him to subjugate his own will before G-d’s? The answer is the soul’s essence, which is fundamentally joined to G-d and completely nullified before Him on a super-rational level, from which the Jew’s capacity for kabalas ol and self-nullification is derived. In the Messianic era, action will be considered greater than intellect, for although the faculty of deed is lower in the sense of being extraneous, its source is actually higher, rooted in the soul’s essence.

Moshiach must therefore be a descendent of the tribe of Yehuda, as the inner connection between self-nullification (as symbolized by Yehuda) and the soul’s essence will be fully revealed in the Final Redemption. This is also reflected in Yechezkel’s use of the word “servant” in his description of the one king who will rule over all of Israel: “And My servant Dovid shall be their prince forever.” “Servant” alludes to the faculties of self-nullification and submission, which although on a lower level than the intellectual powers are derived from the soul’s essence. These underlying truths will be revealed by Moshiach, who will establish the sovereignty of Yehuda over the entire Jewish people.

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Humble and Self-Effacing

But let’s go back to our original question about the “dynasty of Yosef,” i.e., the faculty of understanding, as utilized in the study of Torah. If action will be revealed as superior to intellect, where does this leave Yosef? And what does the prophet mean by the unification of the dynasties of Yehuda and Yosef, if Yosef’s dynasty is destined to be discontinued?

The answer is that in the Messianic era, the faculty of deed and self-nullification will be primary. After the soul’s essence is revealed, however, we will also understand that this essence is the source of all of the soul’s powers, including the faculty of intellect. It is impossible for the revelation of the soul’s essence to negate any of its individual powers, as all of them are derived from the same source. Consequently, the “dynasty of Yosef,” i.e., the study and understanding of Torah, will also exist in the Messianic era, and its source in the soul’s essence will be acknowledged.

This is the meaning of the unification of the “stick of Yosef” and the “stick of Yehuda”: When Moshiach comes and the essence of the soul is revealed, it will be apparent that despite their opposite thrusts, both deed and self-nullification (“Yehuda”) and intellectual understanding (“Yosef”) are derived from the same source, the soul’s essence: “And they shall form one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.”

We will see this in the simple sense as well. Moshiach, as the epitome of humility and self-nullification (as alluded to in the term “My servant”), will not cause the tribe of Yosef to feel displaced or dishonored in any way. On the contrary, Moshiach will impart a sense of equality to all Jews regardless of tribe by virtue of the soul’s essence, and thus bring true unity to the entire Jewish people.

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