VaYechi - Last Thoughts of Ya'akov and Yosef

Parshas VaYechi contains the last words of Ya'akov and Yosef. It starts when Ya'akov recognizes that his end is near and he really starts the process of dying. He summons his son Yosef to him and has him formally swear to bury him in the Holy Land and specifically not to bury him in Egypt where he and the family are currently residing.

Shortly after that when Ya'akov is on his deathbed, Yosef visits him bringing his two children Ephraim and Menasha. Ya'akov rallies his strength and recalls to Yosef how G-d appeared to him and blessed him at Luz. The Chumash twice mentions G-d blessing Ya'akov at Luz. The first is in the beginning of parshas VaYaytsay when he is fleeing from Esav. There G-d tells Ya'akov, that he is giving him and his descendants the Holy Land. After Ya'akov returns and has a peaceful meeting with Esav, he returns to Luz and G-d repeats the blessing. Ya'akov then adopts Yosef's two sons as his own and declares them to be tribes who will receive a tribal portion in the land of Israel. This is essentially giving Yosef a double portion. He then mentions the death and burial of his wife Rachel.

Ya'akov marvels at seeing Menasha and Ephraim as he did not expect to see Yosef again after he was reported missing, much less his children. He then utters a blessing that these children should have the same heavenly protection and blessing of the patriarchs, they should share his name, and be very fertile.

What follows is a Ya'akov's final discourse about his twelve sons. It is reckoned as a blessing but the simple text is his final and strongest impressions of his children. It's often poetic with rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, and imagery. For example the one sentence about Zevulon has two clauses the first ending with ישכן (Yeesh-cone) and the second ending with צידן (tsee-done). The name Gad can be understood as "Raid". The blessing comes out to be "Raiders will raid Raid, but he will raid them back well. The image of Yisacher is that of a hard working profitable donkey, who never the less enjoys his rest and leisure, and stays close to home and loves the land.

After concluding the blessings for his children, Ya'akov repeats the story of the purchase of the Double Cave in Hevron adding that this is where he buried his wife Leah, and where the other patriarchs are buried. He then reiterates his charge that he be buried there.

The concluding paragraph of the book of Bereshis is Yosef adjuring the children of Israel to bring his bones to the Holy Land when the exodus from Egypt which is certain to come actually arrives. The last sentence has a foreboding tone with the statement the Yosef was place in a coffin in Egypt.

The soul of the Jewish people emerges through this aggadata. The first is the paramount importance of religion in our lives. Second are our hopes for our children in the land of Israel. Third is the importance of the sacred shrines of the Temple and the burial place of the patriarchs in the Ma'aras HaMacpela. Subtle messages are that the woman a man loves remains on his mind and the importance of pursuing peace within our families.

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In parshas VaYechi we are told the final words of Ya'akov and Yosef. From them we learn about the paramount importance of religion to the Jewish soul as well as our hopes for our children particularly in the Holy Land. We also learn that a man's heart is never far from the woman he loves, the importance of our place of burial, and peace in the family.

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