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Why does Rashi (רש"י) say the Jews' hearts and eyes were sealed when Yaakov died, yet the slavery only began after Levi's death 79 years later? The shiur distinguishes between anticipated suffering—which isolates people in self-preservation—and actual shared suffering, which creates bonds. Before the slavery began, anxiety blinded each person to others' pain; once it arrived, common experience forged national unity.
Rabbi Zweig addresses an apparent chronological contradiction in Rashi (רש"י)'s commentary on the onset of the Egyptian slavery. Rashi in Parshas Shemos states that the actual slavery (shibud) only began after Levi's death, which occurred 94-96 years after Yaakov's family descended to Egypt. This means the slavery lasted approximately 116 years. However, in Parshas Vayechi, Rashi explains that the parsha is "stumah" (closed) because the Jews' eyes and hearts were sealed "mitzaros hashibud" (from the troubles of the slavery) when Yaakov died—only 17 years after the descent to Egypt. This creates a stark 79-year discrepancy between when Rashi says their capacity for empathy was sealed and when the actual slavery began. The resolution lies in understanding Rashi's precise language about empathy. In last week's parsha (Shemos), Rashi describes how Moshe went out to his brothers and "nasan einav v'libo lihios meitzar aleihem"—he put his eyes and his heart to be pained with them. This formulation teaches that empathy requires two components: seeing with one's eyes and feeling with one's heart. Therefore, when Rashi says in Vayechi that the Jews' eyes and hearts were "nistamu" (sealed), he means they lost the capacity to empathize with each other's suffering.
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Parshas Vaeira (with references to Vayechi and Shemos)
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