Parashat Vayesheb- Protecting Our Children
The Torah tells in Parashat Vayesheb (37:3) that Yaakob felt special love and affection for Yosef, more so than for his other children, because Yosef was his "Ben Zekunim." According to one interpretation, this means that Yosef was a child prodigy, a genius. Although Yaakob undoubtedly studied Torah with all his children, he invested particular effort in imparting his Torah knowledge to Yosef, who was blessed with unique talents. In fact, the Sages teach us that Yaakob transmitted to Yosef all the Torah he studied during the fourteen years he spent in the academy of Shem and Eber.
To understand the significance of the Torah Yaakob taught Yosef, let us examine more closely this fourteen-year period that Yaakob spent in the academy of Shem and Eber. Why did he study in that Yeshiva? As the Rabbis tell us, Yaakob studied with his father, Yishak, ever since he was a child. He was learning his entire life at home. For what purpose did he have to go study in the Yeshiva of Shem and Eber?
Some explained that Yaakob went to Shem and Eber to study a different kind of Torah. All his life, he studied in the pure, pristine environment of his parents’ home. But the time came for him to leave and enter the "real world," and, even worse, live and work with his immoral and corrupt uncle, Laban. Yaakob understood that he needed to prepare himself spiritually for this encounter. The Torah he learned under the ideal conditions of his father’s home would not prepare him for his encounters with Laban. He had to study a different kind of Torah – the Torah that would give him the fortification he needed to withstand the pressures and harmful influences to which he would be subjected in the next phase of his life.
This might be what the Sages meant when they commented that Yaakob imparted to Yosef the Torah he studied at the Yeshiva of Shem and Eber. God foresaw that Yosef would be sold to Egypt, where he would spend the rest of his life. Like his father, Yosef, too, would be subjected to harmful spiritual influences. Ancient Egypt was characterized by paganism and immorality, and Yosef needed spiritual armor to protect him from these pressures. His years of study with Yaakob during childhood effectively prepared him for this challenge. God saw to it that Yaakob would teach him the Torah he learned with Shem and Eber – the Torah for exile, the Torah that would protect him from harmful influences.
The "preparation" that Yaakob and Yosef needed before their encounters with the outside world should alert us to the dire need to prepare our children for what they will encounter in college and the workplace. Yaakob needed fourteen years of special Torah learning, and Yosef needed seventeen years. We are not quite on their level, but we nevertheless have much to learn from their example. The woefully low standards of morality and ethics in today’s college campuses and marketplaces are evident. We cannot possibly expect our children to withstand these pressures, and maintain their loyalty to our values, unless we fortify them during their young, formative years.
A young man wrote a letter to the Steipler Gaon (Rabbi Yaakov Kanievsky, 1899-1985) before he began medical school, asking for advice how to maintain his devotion to Torah and Misvot in a secular environment. The Steipler responded by listing five measures that this student should undertake: 1) at least two hours of Torah study daily; 2) praying with a Minyan without fail; 3) immersion in a Mikveh each day; 4) ensuring not to engage in any mundane activity – such as reading newspapers – on Shabbat; 5) studying fifteen minutes of Musar every day.
We cannot expect our children to follow all these measures, but we must certainly make a point of accustoming them to regular synagogue attendance and participation in Torah learning programs. This is the very least we can do to give them the protection they so direly need before entering the outside world. Yaakob and Yosef both grew up in very religious households, but still needed many years of special Torah learning to prepare them for their encounters with hostile influences. For our children, too, growing up in an observant family is not enough. They must be prepared through regular exposure to Torah and Tefila, and this will guide them along the proper path of observance even after their departure from the safe confines of their homes and Yeshivot.
