יששכר בן יעקב

Issachar, Jacob's son, is the tribe of the Torah learners, whose figure became a model of one whose entire portion in the world is study. Jacob blessed him 'Issachar is a strong-boned donkey' (Genesis 49:14), and the Sages expounded: he bears the yoke of Torah like a donkey bearing its load, with patience and perseverance, without casting it off.

Tradition tells of a special covenant between Issachar and Zevulun: Zevulun engages in commerce and the sea, and supports Issachar, and Issachar sits and studies Torah, and they share in the reward. 'Rejoice, Zevulun, in your going out, and Issachar in your tents' (Deuteronomy 33:18). Two tribes who understood that a partnership between labor and spirit sustains both.

From the sons of Issachar came 'those who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel should do' (I Chronicles 12:32): sages whose expertise in Torah and in the calendar gave them the ability to instruct the people in its way through the times. The quiet study of the tribe made it a compass of the nation.

What do we learn from him? That there is greatness in the quiet yoke of Torah, 'a strong-boned donkey,' in patient perseverance that bears the load without casting it off. Issachar teaches that a covenant between a supporter and a learner sustains both, and that precisely from quiet, persistent study come 'those with understanding of the times' who instruct the whole people in its way.