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Torah Portion -
Vayechi
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Written by d fine
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48:20 contains the famous blessing Yaakov gave to Yosef’s sons - a blessing that many people have the custom to give to their children on Friday night; ‘yesimcha Elokim k’efrayim u’chimenashe.’ Why do we give these blessings to our children - why do we not bless our children that they should be like the Avos or like any of the other tribes? One idea is that Efraim and Menashe were unique in that they had shalom between them. Every one of the Avos had to live through some form of sibling rivalry and ‘family issues’ - Avraham with his idolatrous father Terach and then with Lot his nephew. Similarly, Yitzchak had to deal with Yishma’el, and Yaakov had to worry about Eisav and then Lavan. Moreover, Yaakov’s sons sold Yosef into slavery. Therefore, Efraim and Menashe were the first generation to have serenity and peace at home. This is what we bless our children with - that they should live with constant shalom and without any family feuds or bickering. Another idea here is that Efrayim and Menashe grew from being ‘mere sons of Yosef’ to being tribes in their own right. Thus, we bless our children that they should grow into being more than is expected of them - that they should (spiritually) grow out of proportion!
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Torah Portion -
Vayechi
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Written by d fine
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Our sedra is called ‘Vayechi’(‘and he lived), whilst it is the sedra in which Yaakov dies. A coincidence? Ironic? Not quite. The gemarra (Ta’anis 5b) tells us that ‘Yaakov Avinu did not die.’ This means that the legacy that Yaakov imbued within us lives on - the imprint of his status as Avinu (our father) remains part of us to this very day. Indeed, this is true of all of the Avos; they all implanted within us certain traits - as the Ru’ach Chaim on Avos (5:3) points out. Thus, it’s no coincidence that Jews from all walks of life still perform a bris milah and give charity generously; for these are the genes that we received from Avraham Avinu. And Jews of all walks of life pray to God (go look at the Kotel); genes we received from Yitzchak Avinu. Similarly, Jews from all backgrounds have a certain connection to Torah; even if the Jew has not experienced nor learnt Torah, he is always happy to hear what the Torah has to say about life. This is part of what we inherited from Yaakov Avinu. Coming back to our initial observation, this is why the sedra of Yaakov’s death is called ‘and he lived’ - for he lives on. In fact, the same is true of parshas Chayei Sarah (lit. ‘the life of Sarah’) - the parsha in which Sarah dies.
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Torah Portion -
Vayechi
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Written by Daniel Sandground
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Parashas Vayechi
This week we read the concluding parasha of the book of Bereishis, Vayechi which translates as ‘lived’. At face value this seems to be an ironic title for a sedra which focuses on the deaths of both Yaakov and Yoseph, we also find this occurrence in Parasha ‘Chayei (the life of) Sarah’ where the focal point of that sedra was the death of Sarah, one of our matriarchs. So what is the reason for this?... It is written by Ein Ayah that… ‘the main connection of the tzaddik’s life is to things that are loftier than that which
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Torah Portion -
Vayechi
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Written by Rafi Jager
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In this week's Parsha, our forefather Yaakov blesses each of his children before he dies. Yehudah receives a relatively large blessing, and included in it is an acknowledgment that he has "elevated himself" (Genesis 49:9). Rashi explains that one of the things that this refers to is Yehudah's admission of guilt after the incident with Tamar several weeks ago (Parshiot). Yehudah had wrongfully accused her of a fault and decreed the harsh punishment of death upon her. When he found out that it was in truth
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Read more...
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Torah Portion -
Vayechi
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Written by Daniel Sandground
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Parashas Vayechi
This week we read the concluding parasha of the book of Bereishis, Vayechi which translates as ‘lived’. At face value this seems to be an ironic title for a sedra which focuses on the deaths of both Yaakov and Yoseph, we also find this occurrence in Parasha ‘Chayei (the life of) Sarah’ where the focal point of that sedra was the death of Sarah, one of our matriarchs. So what is the reason for this?... It is written by Ein Ayah that… ‘the main connection of the tzaddik’s life is to things that are loftier than that which is connected to the body and that which occurs to it, and these lofty things
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