Parshat Vayechi

Is the prayer mightier than the sword?

‘And I have given you one shechem over your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite, with charbi and with vekashti.’ (Bereishit 48,22)

This verse, addressed to Joseph as part of an affirmation that G-d will take the Jews out of Egypt and back to Israel, is one of the closing verses in Jacob’s life.

The three italicised words in this verse are very difficult to translate. What is the verse describing? Does ‘shechem’ refer to the town, known today as Nablus, or a piece of land? Additionally, the words ‘charbi’ and ‘vekashti’ normally mean ‘my sword’ and ‘my bow’, although the later appears to have the same root as the word ‘bakasha’, a request.

The Aramaic Targum Onkelos, the oldest and most authoritative translation of the Torah, understands both of these words as referring to prayer. This also the conclusion reached in the Talmud (Bava Batra 123a).

Rashi explains that Shechem was in the territory given to Joseph’s sons, and as such should be taken literally to mean the town of Shechem. He offers two explanations for charbi and vekashti. The first explanation is Midrashic, that Jacob had to repulse attackers when he lived in Shechem. The second is based on the Talmud (above), understanding the words to mean his wisdom and his prayer.

The 19^th century commentator and banker, Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein, in his work ‘Torah Temima’, quotes from a Psalm (149) in the daily morning prayers in which David Hamelech (King David) uses the word ‘cherev’, sword, as a metaphor for prayer. Rabbi Epstein also takes ‘vekashti’ to mean ‘my request’ rather than ‘my bow’. Even though this might not seem the most obvious meaning of the word, he prefers not to take Rashi’s Midrashic comment, explaining instead that ‘request’ must be the correct reading, as Jacob is never described as a warrior in the Torah.