And [Yaakov] sent Yehudah before him to Yosef, to guide before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen” [Genesis 46:28]

Why did Yaakov send Yehudah on ahead? The brothers had been down to Egypt and back, twice. No one needed to ask for directions! So what, then, did Yehudah need to accomplish in order to prepare the way for Yaakov?

The Midrash provides the answer, quoted by Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) in his famous commentary: Yehudah went to prepare a House of Study for the brothers and their families. [The word “Torah” actually means “guide” or “instruction,” from the same root used in “to guide before him to Goshen.”]

The Medrash teaches that our forefathers knew the laws of the Torah even before it was given at Sinai. Concerning Avraham in particular, G-d says that he “listened to My voice, and guarded My safeguards, My Commandments, My decrees, and My Torahs.” [Gen. 26:5] But this also included Adam, Noach, and others, such as Noach’s son Shem and Shem’s grandson Ever, who created a yeshiva at which Yaakov studied.

Yaakov sent Yehudah down to Goshen to set up a House of Study, to ensure that the brothers never lost not only that knowledge, but the lifelong pursuit of Jewish learning. Through his efforts, learning continued throughout the exile. This was why Yehudah had to go first.

The Iturei Torah writes: “the first thing which must accompany the founding of a Jewish community is that there be a place for Torah study, for it is impossible for it to stand even a moment without it. There cannot be a Jewish settlement without a House of Study, from which teaching emerges.”

“Maaseh Avos Siman L’Banim.” “The stories of the forebears are signposts for the children.”

Nothing has changed. The Iturei Torah does not mean that the people will mysteriously die or suddenly lose all vestige of Judaism. He does, however, say that a community not founded upon Jewish studies cannot stand; it sews the seeds of its eventual collapse. Without Jewish learning as a communal focus, without the House of Study at the center, the result is not really a Jewish community at all — rather, it could better be defined as a community of Jews who are losing their attachment to the Jewish people.

Indeed, this is one of the enduring lessons of the Chanukah story: the Greeks tried to stamp out Torah study, because they knew that without Torah the Jewish people would assimilate into Greek culture and be lost.

What the Midrash told us thousands of years ago, we see around us. It is crucial that we all, in our homes and communities, ensure that the study of Torah is never allowed to lapse!