Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

In this week’s Torah reading, (Gen 47:28) Jacob is about to die. He asks his son Joseph to make him a promise — to bury him with his father and grandfather in the Land of Canaan. “Do me this favor…. as a pledge of chesed va-emet …. take me up from Egypt and bury me in their burial place”.

The literal meaning of chesed va-emet, is “kindness” (chesed) and “truth” (emet). But what could Jacob mean when he asks Joseph to make a promise in “kindness and truth”? The sages maintain that “chesed” is kindness that is performed voluntarily, whereas “truth” implies the fulfillment of an obligation. When read this way, we see that Jacob is asking Joseph to do two things for him. The first is to bury him. This is an obligation that a son has toward his father. The second is to take his body to the Land of Canaan for burial. This would be a voluntary kindness, as Joseph might be inclined to bury him in Egypt, where he and his brothers can easily visit his grave.

It is from this verse that we derive the present-day idea that the burial of the deceased is an act of chesed shel emet. Participating in the burial of someone, whether by paying for the burial, making the arrangements or attending the funeral is an act of altruism. You are doing something for the deceased that they will never be able to repay. It is a favor done with no expectation, no possibility, of the favor being returned. It is an act of sincere, and pure, loving-kindness.

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