Parshas Vayigash
By Rabbi David Zauderer
Did I ever tell you about the time that my rabbi and mentor, Rabbi Zelig Epstein ZTâ€L, famed Rosh Yeshiva (Dean) of Yeshiva Shaar HaTorah in Queens, New York, was invited (together with his wife, Rebbetzin Epstein) by (then) President of the United States (POTUS) Bill Clinton to a private visit at the White House?
I was thinking about that meeting a few days ago as I read the story in this week’s Torah portion, Parshas Vayigash, of our forefather Jacob’s journey down to Egypt to reunite with his beloved son Joseph (see Genesis 46:1-47:11).
There the Torah relates that Jacob met with Pharaoh and that they engaged in a rather short conversation:
“…Then Joseph brought Jacob, his father, and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, ‘How many are the days of the years of your life?’ Jacob answered Pharaoh, ‘The days of the years of my sojourns have been a hundred and thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the life spans of my forefathers in the days of their sojourns.’†(Genesis 47:7-9)
I began to wonder if Jacob made the special blessing reserved for heads of state upon seeing Pharaoh.
“The special blessing?†you ask! “What special blessing?â€
If you have never heard about this relatively rare blessing until now, don’t worry! You are not alone!
You see, most Jews are familiar with, say, the kiddush blessing recited over wine at the beginning of the Friday night and Saturday morning Shabbos meals.
But how many have heard of the HaGomel blessing that is recited by one who has survived a dangerous situation. Or how about the HaTov U’Meitiv blessing that is traditionally recited when new, high-quality wine is brought to the table during a meal. And there are many more blessings that our Sages ordained for us to say on various occasions.
The Sages also took notice of the breathtaking magnificence of our natural world which inspires us to praise G-d with wonder and appreciation. Therefore, in addition to blessings on food and fragrances, the Sages ordained blessings over various natural phenomenon as well.
Believe it or not, there are special blessings to be recited upon seeing, hearing, or witnessing any of the following “natural phenomenaâ€:
mountains; deserts; thunder and lightning; astronomical phenomena, earthquakes and fierce winds; natural bodies of water; exceptionally beautiful people, animals and trees; exceptionally strange-looking people or animals; friends and relatives; Jewish multitudes; kings and heads of state; outstanding Torah scholars; places of miracles; destruction and restoration.
[To learn more about these blessings and how and when to recite them, click on: https://www.aish.com/jl/
According to Halachah (Jewish law), upon seeing a gentile king who rules lawfully, but who cannot be overruled, and who has the power of life and death, one recites the following blessing (preferably in Hebrew):
“Blessed are You, L-ord, our G-d, King of the universe, Who has given of His glory to human beings.â€
Regarding modern-day elected officials and heads of state - such as United States President Donald J. Trump - opinions vary as to whether or not the blessing over kings should be recited upon seeing them: One the one hand, the president can pardon his constituents and give them life, but on the other hand, he can’t execute them. He can declare war, yet he can also be vetoed or even impeached!
[It is interesting to note that when Kaiser Wilhelm came to visit Jerusalem on a Shabbos, the 29th of October in 1898, they told the great Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld of his imminent arrival. He was to arrive at 3:00 PM. Yet the Rabbi did not wish to greet him. They inquired as to why not. He responded that he had a tradition from the Vilna Gaon that the German people were quite possibly from the nation of our arch-enemy Amalek and that it is forbidden to recite the blessing upon them.]
This brings me back to my rabbi’s visit with Bill Clinton at the White House.
Here’s how it happened: (Then) Vice-President Al Gore somehow heard about Rabbi Epstein and his famed sagacity and wisdom - and about how ‘well-connected’ he was in the Orthodox Jewish community in New York – so his office contacted Rabbi Epstein and asked if the vice-president could meet with him and a few other dignitaries at the rabbi’s house in Brooklyn.
[Upon entering Rabbi Epstein’s house, Vice-President Gore pointed to a portrait of a distinguished looking rabbi on the wall and said to the Rebbetzin, “Mrs. Epstein, this must be a portrait of your famous grandfather Rabbi Shimon Shkop of Grodno, Poland!†Gore sure did his homework, didn’t he? Yet in this case he was wrong, as it was actually a different distinguished looking rabbi that he was pointing to – but they all look alike to the uninitiated!]
After the meeting, I asked Rabbi Epstein if he had made the blessing for heads of state upon seeing Al Gore. He replied that since the office of the Vice-President of the United States wields no real power and is merely ‘ceremonial’ in nature, no blessed is to be recited.
Al Gore must have been very impressed with Rabbi Epstein and he told Bill Clinton, who promptly invited the Epsteins to a private meeting with him at the White House. Upon seeing POTUS, Rabbi Epstein recited the special blessing reserved for heads of state, and Bill Clinton was visibly moved.
When I asked my rabbi later why he made the blessing over Bill Clinton of all people – this was right around the time that POTUS was involved in all kinds of inappropriate and “inglorious†behavior in the Oval Office and certainly not worthy of a blessing recognizing his partaking of G-d’s glory – he explained that the blessing was not about Clinton himself, but rather about his “officeâ€, and POTUS is arguably one of the most powerful offices in the history of mankind! Therefore, he felt that the blessing should be recited.
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=597