Grave

Yehudah ben Yaakov Avinu

12 Tribes

Yahrzeit (Hillula)

15 Sivan — Yehuda ben Yaakov Avinu - 12 Tribes

Yehudah ben Yaakov Avinu

Yahrzeit - 15 Sivan Burial place - Yehud (near Ben Gurion) He was the head of the royal tribe. Yehudah was born on the 15th of Nissan and died at the age of 119. (Yalkut Shimoni, Shemot 162) "Yehudah! Your brothers shall praise you. All your brothers shall be called by your name." (Bereishit Rabbah 98:6) Yehudah was not ashamed to acknowledge the incident with Tamar. What was his reward? He inherited a portion in the World to Come. (Sotah 7b) Who caused Reuven to confess regarding the incident with Bilhah? Yehudah, who set the example. Yehudah persuaded his brothers to sell Yosef into slavery rather than kill him. Of this it is written: "He who blesses the greedy man blasphemes the L-rd." (Tehillim 10:3) The one who pursues gain — this refers to Yehudah, who said: "What do we gain if we kill our brother?" (Sanhedrin 6b) Because Yehudah brought a curse upon himself by saying: "If I do not bring Binyamin back to you, I will have sinned against you forever." (Bereishit 43:9) Throughout all the years that Israel spent in the wilderness, the bones of Yehudah remained in his coffin, until Moshe came and prayed for mercy on his behalf. But he was not accepted into the Heavenly Yeshiva until Moshe prayed: "Bring him back to his people." In the Heavenly Yeshiva, Yehudah did not know how to engage in halachic discussion with the Sages, until Moshe prayed: "His hands shall contend for him." Yet Yehudah's halachic rulings were not entirely correct, and so Moshe prayed: "You shall be a help against his adversaries." (Sotah 7b) Yehudah was buried in the portion of Binyamin. On three occasions Yehudah spoke before his brothers, and they made him king over them. (Bereishit Rabbah 84:17) Kingship Yehudah merited kingship over Israel. (Sotah 37a) Why did Yehudah merit kingship? Because he confessed in the episode with Tamar, or, according to another opinion, because he saved his brother Yosef from death, as it is written: "What do we gain if we kill our brother?" (Tosefta Berakhot 4:16) Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, see fit to give the kingship to the tribe of Yehudah rather than to his brothers? Because the letters of His Name are inscribed within the name of Yehudah. The letter "dalet" in the name of Yehudah, which is not in His Name, comes from King David, who bound himself to His Name more than anyone else. Therefore it is written: "They shall seek Ha-Shem their G-d and David their king." (Hoshea 3:5) (Zohar 1:89b) Reuven ruled over all of Israel in Egypt. When Reuven died, the leadership passed to Shimon; when Shimon died, it passed to Levi. When Levi died, they wished to give the leadership to Yehudah, but a Heavenly Voice declared: "His time has not yet come." But in the days of the Judges, Ha-Shem said: "Yehudah shall go up." (Judges 1:2) (Bamidbar Rabbah 13:8) "A lion's cub is Yehudah." (Bereishit 49:9) This teaches that he was given the strength of a lion and the boldness of its young. (Bereishit Rabbah 98:7) The Romans received a tradition that Yehudah had outwitted Esav. (Yerushalmi Gittin 5:7) When our patriarch Yitzchak died, Esav, Yaakov, and all the tribal leaders came to bury him. Yaakov and his sons sat and wept in the Cave of Machpelah, but out of respect for Yaakov, the tribal leaders left the cave so as not to see their father weeping. Then Esav slipped into the cave, thinking: "Now that my father has died, I will kill Yaakov." When Yehudah saw that Esav had followed Yaakov inside, he thought: "Now Esav will kill my father!" He entered the cave after Esav, just as Esav was about to kill Yaakov, and struck him from behind. Why did he not strike him from the front? Because Esav's face resembled the face of Yaakov. Therefore his father Yaakov blessed him: "Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies." (Bereishit 49:8), (Shocher Tov 18:32) May the merit of the righteous Yehudah ben Yaakov Avinu protect us all, Amen. (http://dailyzohar.com/.../195-Yehudah-Judah-ben-Yaakov-Avinu)