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1. “And to Zevulun he said” (Devarim 33:18). Why does the pasuk say this? Because elsewhere it says, “And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh” (Bereishis 47:2), but their names are not specified. Zevulun was one of them.
2. “Rejoice, Zevulun, in your going out.” This teaches that Zevulun served as the merchant for his brothers. He would buy from his brothers and sell to the non-Jews, and he would buy from the non-Jews and sell to his brothers.
3. “And Yissachar, in your tents.” This teaches that the tribe of Yissachar was especially distinguished in Torah, as it says, “And from the children of Yissachar, men who understood the times” (I Divrei HaYamim 12:33). We likewise find that his father praised him for this, as it says, “He saw that rest was good” (Bereishis 49:15).
4. Another explanation: “And Yissachar, in your tents.” This teaches that the Beis HaBechirah was fitting to have been built in Yissachar’s portion.
5. “Nations shall call [one another] to the mountain” (Devarim 33:19). From where do we know that the nations and kingdoms would gather and come to Eretz Yisrael to do business? They would say, “Since we already went through the trouble of coming here, let us go and see what the merchandise of the Jews is like.”
They would immediately go up to Yerushalayim and see Yisrael serving one God and eating the same food, whereas among the nations, one people’s god is not the god of another, nor is one people’s food the same as another’s.
They would say, “There is no nation more worthwhile to attach ourselves to than this one.”
And from where do we know that they would not leave there until they converted and brought sacrifices and olos? The pasuk therefore says, “There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness.”
6. “For they shall draw from the abundance of the seas.” There are two things that take in abundance and give in abundance: the sea and the government. The sea gives abundantly and takes abundantly; the government gives abundantly and takes abundantly.
7. Another explanation: “For they shall draw from the abundance of the seas.” This refers to the sea of Haifa, which is hidden away for the tzaddikim in the future.
From where do we know that whenever a ship is lost in the Great Sea, whether it carries bundles of silver and gold, precious stones and pearls, glassware, or any other valuable objects, the Great Sea casts it up into the sea of Haifa, where it is hidden away for the tzaddikim in the future? The pasuk therefore says, “For they shall draw from the abundance of the seas.”
Rabbi Yosi said:
Once I was traveling from Keziv to Tzor, and I met an elderly man. I asked him, “What do you make your living from?”
He said to me, “From the chilazon.”
I asked him, “Is it readily available?”
He said to me, “By Heaven! There is a place in the sea, situated among the mountains, and poisonous creatures (snakes, scorpions, spiders, etc.) surround it. There is no one who goes there whom these creatures do not bite, causing him to die and decompose right there.”
I said, “It is clear that this is something hidden away for the tzaddikim in the future.”
8. “And the hidden treasures of the sand.” Sefunei refers to the chilazon; temunei refers to tarit [a type of fish]; and chol refers to glass.
For the tribe of Zevulun complained before Hashem and said:
“Ribono Shel Olam, You gave my brothers lands, while You gave me seas. You gave my brothers fields and vineyards, while You gave me the chilazon!”
Hashem said to him, “In the end, I will make them dependent upon you because of this chilazon.”
Zevulun said before Him, “Ribono Shel Olam, how will I know [that they are obtaining it from me legitimately]?”
He said to him, “You will have a sign: anyone who steals from you will have no success whatsoever in his business.”