Towards the end of the Parsha, Yaakov travels to Bet El and
fulfills the commitment he made 22 years ago as he made his way to Lavan’s
house - by building an Altar and thanking G-d for keeping him safe through all
of his difficulties. In response, G-d blesses Yaakov and changes his name to
Yisrael. Then the Torah states,
“G-d ascended from
Yaakov, in the place where he had spoken with him.”
On this verse Rashi comments,
“I do not know what
this verse comes to teach us.”
Rashi does not comment on every single Pasuk. He could have
not commented on the verse at all, and no one would have been the wiser. Rashi
informs his students that there is something peculiar about this verse,
something that the verse is trying to tell us - but Rashi does not know what it
is. It takes tremendous modesty and intellectual honesty to say that there is
something to learn, but I do not know the answer.
This is not the only time that Rashi informs his readers
that he does not know something. Rabbi Akiva Eiger in his Gilyon Hashas notes
on Tractate Brachot (page 25b) lists over three dozen examples throughout the
Talmud where Rashi admits that he does not know something.
Rashi is following Talmudic advice. In one of the first
pages of the Talmud, Brachot 4a, it states:
“Teach your tongue to
say ‘I don’t know’.”
It has been hard for me at times throughout my life to admit
that there are things that I don’t know. I think it may go back to the kids’ TV
show “You Can’t Do That On Television”, a comedy skit show that starred child
actors that aired during the 1980’s and early 90’s. One of the show’s
trademarks was when actors got “Slimed”. Whenever an actor said “I don’t know”
green slime, a gooey substance, would pour on him/her from above. In
retrospect, my reluctance to say I don’t know was partly due to the fact that
as a “smart kid” I thought I was supposed to know everything; and partly due to
some subconscious fear that if I said “I don’t know” I too would get slimed -
either actually or metaphorically.
Saying “I don’t know” can be courageous and admirable, but
then we have to do something about that gap in our knowledge. Once we admit
that we do not know it becomes incumbent upon us to go and learn. As the Talmud
states in many places:
“Zil - Krei Bay Rav”-
go and learn the topic from someone who does know.
There is a story told of Reb Eisel Shapiro of Slonim, a
renowned nineteenth century Lithuanian Rabbi. Reb Eisel went on a visit to
Volozhin and set a halakhic problem to the students of the great Yeshiva. He
declared that whoever solved it would be worthy to become his son-in-law. The
most brilliant students came to his door with proposed solutions, but were
dismissed one by one. Eventually, it seemed, the students gave up and Reb Eisel
packed up and got ready to leave. Just as he was leaving the city, a student
came running and called on the carriage to stop. “Ah,” said Reb Eisel, “you
found the correct answer?” “No,” replied the student, “I have no idea, but
please, Rebbe, before you leave, I beg you, tell me the solution.” At which
point Reb Eisel smiled and replied, “You are the one.”
May Hashem give us the courage of Yaakov and Rashi to say “I
don’t know” as well as the intellectual curiosity and passion to exert
ourselves to always go and seek the answers.
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