[Avodah] Ya'akov refused to be comforted?

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Dec 16, 2024 at 11:55:45PM +0000, Joseph Kaplan via Avodah wrote:
> Akiva Miller has a lovely interpretation of Yaֳ‚'akov refusing to be
> comforted upon being told of Yosef's alleged death:
...
>                                     The word in the Torah is
> "l'his'nachem", with the letter tav, in the Hitpael form. He did not merely
> refuse to accept the comfort that others were offering to him...

But that is hitpa'el. If everyone offers but he won't take it, he is
preenting himself from getting nechmah.

Also, one would think it bears *some* connection to the previous phrase,
"VaYaqumu kol banav uvenosav lenachamo, vayima'ein..." It really sounds
like Yaaqov made himself unable to accept their nechamchah.

Also, hitpa'el isn't always reflexive. For some shorashim, it's passive.
See
https://jewishlink.news/the-meaning-of-the-hitpael-and-our-relations-with-christians
for more explanation.

...
> Using Akivaֳ‚'s grammatical understanding, Iֳ‚'d like to suggest
> another possible understanding of the verse.... [I]t was related
> to Yaֳ‚'akov's realization that he had failed Yosef and, indeed, his
> other children by treating Yosef in a special manner and causing enmity
> between them...

That would make the loss over which Yaaqov refused to accept nechamah
to be have been reflexive -- something he messed up for himself. Which
doesn't make the nechamah itself any more reflexive. Nor any less.

But whether it's explicit in the pasuq or not, Chizquni (ad loc) says
that Yaaqov's words "va'eireid al beni aveil She'olah" is an expression
of feeling guilty for sending Yoseif to check on his brothers.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Between stimulus & response, there is a space.
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   In that space is our power to choose our
Author: Widen Your Tent      response. In our response lies our growth
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF    and our freedom. - Victor Frankl, (MSfM)