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Vayechi – וַיְחִי (Genesis 47:28–50:26)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayechi – וַיְחִי (Genesis 47:28–50:26)

“So, he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”

To this day we bless our children, and we tell them –

“May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”

When we say to our children, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,” we miss what Jacob is trying to say to his sons. When we say to our children, God will make you ‘as Ephraim and Manasseh’, we wish them that ‘Ephraim and Manasseh’ will be their role models.

This is not what Jacob told his grandchildren. He said to them, God will make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. which is their name. He blessed them to be what they were meant to be, to realize their individuality.

Parsha Vayechi – וַיְחִי Torah Summary:

Jacob blesses his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasseh. (48:1-20) Jacob’s twelve sons gather around his deathbed, and each receives an evaluation and a prediction of his future. (49:1-33) Joseph mourns his father’s death and has Jacob embalmed. Jacob is buried in Hebron in the cave of the field of the Machpelah in the land of Canaan. (50:1-14) Joseph assures his concerned brothers that he has forgiven them and promises to care for them and their families. (50:15-21) Just before he dies, Joseph tells his brothers that God will return them to the Land that God promised to the patriarchs. The Children of Israel promise Joseph that they will take his bones with them when they leave Egypt. (50:22-26) Vayechi – וַיְחִי “So, he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” To this day we bless our children, and we tell them – “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” When we say to our children, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,” we miss what Jacob is trying to say to his sons. When we say to our children, God will make you ‘as Ephraim and Manasseh’, we wish them that ‘Ephraim and Manasseh’ will be their role models. This is not what Jacob told his grandchildren. He said to them, God will make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. which is their name. He blessed them to be what they were meant to be, to realize their individuality. Vayechi – וַיְחִי Jacob blesses his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasseh. (48:1-20) Jacob’s twelve sons gather around his deathbed, and each receives an evaluation and a prediction of his future. (49:1-33) Joseph mourns his father’s death and has Jacob embalmed. Jacob is buried in Hebron in the cave of the field of the Machpelah in the land of Canaan. (50:1-14) Joseph assures his concerned brothers that he has forgiven them and promises to care for them and their families. (50:15-21) Just before he dies, Joseph tells his brothers that God will return them to the Land that God promised to the patriarchs. The Children of Israel promise Joseph that they will take his bones with them when they leave Egypt. (50:22-26)

Vayigash – וַיִּגַּשׁ (Genesis 44:18−47:27)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayigash – וַיִּגַּשׁ (Genesis 44:18−47:27)

At the height of the drama of the Joseph stories, Joseph says to his brothers “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”

In the masterpiece movie “ET,” the basic goodness of the friendly alien is expressed in his commitment to “phone home.”

Joseph is the favorite son of his father Jacob. We have no reason to suppose that they do not love each other.

But still, when Joseph reaches a senior and influential position in Egypt, he forgets to do something essential – he doesn’t phone home. He doesn’t bother to find out if his father is still alive.

Parsha Vayigash – וַיִּגַּשׁ Torah Summary:

Judah pleads with Joseph to free Benjamin and offers himself as a replacement. (44:18-34) Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and forgives them for selling him into slavery. (45:1-15) Although the famine still rages, Pharaoh invites Joseph’s family to “live off the fat of the land.” (45:16-24) Jacob learns that Joseph is still alive and, with God’s blessing, goes to Egypt. (45:25-46:33) Pharaoh permits Joseph’s family to settle in Goshen. Pharaoh then meets with Jacob. (47:1-12) With the famine increasing, Joseph designs a plan for the Egyptians to trade their livestock and land for food. The Israelites thrive in Egypt. (47:13-27) Vayigash – וַיִּגַּשׁ At the height of the drama of the Joseph stories, Joseph says to his brothers “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” In the masterpiece movie “ET,” the basic goodness of the friendly alien is expressed in his commitment to “phone home.” Joseph is the favorite son of his father Jacob. We have no reason to suppose that they do not love each other. But still, when Joseph reaches a senior and influential position in Egypt, he forgets to do something essential – he doesn’t phone home. He doesn’t bother to find out if his father is still alive.

Mikeitz – מִקֵּץ (Genesis 41:1−44:17)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Mikeitz – מִקֵּץ (Genesis 41:1−44:17)

Pharaoh’s dreams are a message from God, telling him that Egypt will have great abundance followed by great famine, and the abundance will not have any effect on the famine.

Joseph manages to create a system that will prove the dreams wrong and break the message from God. Joseph proves that in the partnership between God and us, God wants us to prevail!

Parsha Mikeitz – מִקֵּץ Torah Summary:

Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s two dreams and predicts seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. (41:1-32) Pharaoh places Joseph in charge of food collection and distribution. (41:37-49) Joseph marries Asenath, and they have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. (41:50-52) When Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to buy food during the famine, Joseph accuses them of spying. He holds Simeon hostage while the rest of the brothers return to Canaan to retrieve Benjamin for him. (42:3-42:38) The brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin and for more food. Joseph continues the test, this time falsely accusing Benjamin of stealing and declaring that Benjamin must remain his slave. (43:1-44:17) Mikeitz – מִקֵּץ Pharaoh’s dreams are a message from God, telling him that Egypt will have great abundance followed by great famine, and the abundance will not have any effect on the famine. Joseph manages to create a system that will prove the dreams wrong and break the message from God. Joseph proves that in the partnership between God and us, God wants us to prevail!

Vayeishev – וַיֵּשֶׁב (Genesis 37:1−40:23)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayeishev – וַיֵּשֶׁב (Genesis 37:1−40:23)

Rabbi Shapira served as a Rabbi in the Warsaw Ghetto during the worst days of the Nazis. Despite deprivation and untold suffering, he bravely offered comfort, teaching, inspiration, and Torah. Rabbi Shapira did not survive the war. He died in Trawinki concentration camp in 1943.

His writings survived only because he hid them. After the war they were found with the following note attached “now that we are in danger every day, God help us, I hereby request of you, my previous loved ones, that if God shall help…[and these manuscripts] …arrive in your hands, do what you can to publish them…and spread their distribution among the Jewish people. Please publish all my writings. I hope and trust that everyone who studies from these texts will find the blessings of our holy ancestors supporting them in this world and in the next” his first Torah (teaching) is about our Torah portion. He says that righteous people should not ever settle – they are always needed, and the work of the righteous is never done.

Parsha Vayeishev – וַיֵּשֶׁב Torah Summary:

Jacob is shown to favor his son Joseph, whom the other brothers resent. Joseph has dreams of grandeur. (Genesis 37:1-11) After Joseph’s brothers had gone to tend the flocks in Shechem, Jacob sends Joseph to report on them. The brothers decide against murdering Joseph but instead sell him into slavery. After he is shown Joseph’s coat of many colors, which had been dipped in the blood of a kid, Jacob is led to believe that Joseph has been killed by a beast. (Genesis 37:12-35) Tamar successively marries two of Judah’s sons, each of whom dies. Judah does not permit her levirate marriage to his youngest son. She deceives Judah into impregnating her. (Genesis 38:1-30) God is with Joseph in Egypt until the wife of his master, Potiphar, accuses him of rape, whereupon Joseph is imprisoned. (Genesis 39:1-40:23) Vayeishev – וַיֵּשֶׁב Genesis 37:3 “Now Israel (our father Jacob) loved Joseph best of all his sons—he was his “child of old age”;* and he had made him an ornamented tunic.*” The Rabbis, in their wisdom, say it is because of a few pounds of cotton that Israel (the people) will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years in Egypt. If Jacob were a better parent and did not discriminate between his children, causing them to hate each other, we would not have to suffer Egyptian slavery.

Vayishlach – וַיִּשְׁלַח (Genesis 32:4−36:43)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayishlach – וַיִּשְׁלַח (Genesis 32:4−36:43)

Vayishlach recounts the homecoming of our ancestor Jacob. After having spent twenty years working far away for his uncle Laban, Jacob is about to return home to Canaan. It is there that he will reunite with his family, including his brother, Esau, who twenty years earlier intended to kill him because Jacob deceived their blind father and stole Esau’s blessing. Jacob is running now from his uncle, who is also his father-in-law, and who accuses Jacob of stealing his money and his idols. If you thought your family had issues, enjoy reading Torah about our ancestral family.

Parsha Vayishlach – וַיִּשְׁלַח Torah Summary:

Jacob prepares to meet Esau. He wrestles with a “man,” who changes Jacob’s name to Israel. (32:4-33) Jacob and Esau meet and part peacefully, each going his separate way. (33:1-17) Dinah is raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who was chief of the country. Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi take revenge by murdering all the males of Shechem, and Jacob’s other sons join them in plundering the city. (34:1-31) Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin and is buried in Ephrah, which is present-day Bethlehem. (35:16-21) Isaac dies and is buried in Hebron. Jacob’s and Esau’s progeny are listed. (35:22-36:43) Vayishlach – וַיִּשְׁלַח Vayishlach recounts the homecoming of our ancestor Jacob. After having spent twenty years working far away for his uncle Laban, Jacob is about to return home to Canaan. It is there that he will reunite with his family, including his brother, Esau, who twenty years earlier intended to kill him because Jacob deceived their blind father and stole Esau’s blessing. Jacob is running now from his uncle, who is also his father-in-law, and who accuses Jacob of stealing his money and his idols. If you thought your family had issues, enjoy reading Torah about our ancestral family.