This shabbat we close the book on creation. Ok, it is really the book of Breisheit (Genesis), but it includes the creation of not just the world, but also the family tradition of the children of Yisrael. Before we say goodbye to this book, let’s review its final parsha (weekly Torah portion).
The parsha is called Vayichi which means, “And he lived.” This is referring to Yaakov (Jacob) who, the Torah tells us at the beginning of this parsha, lived in Egypt for 17 years. Yaakov is dying and he asks Yoseph to swear to bury him in their ancestral burial plot. After Yoseph swears, Yoseph brings his sons to his father who proceeds to claim them for his own (for inheritance purposes) and then blesses them.
Then Yaakov calls for the rest of his sons to come so he can tell them what they will be called at the end of days. We read what Yaakov says for each of his sons, and then he tells everyone where he is to be buried, and dies. Yoseph falls on his fathers face and cries and kisses him and then orders him to be embalmed, and we read that the Egyptians cried for him for 70 days.
Yoseph then asks for and receives permission from Pharaoh to bury his father as he swore to do. Naturally, all of Yaakov’s household went. They were accompanied by the servants of Pharaoh’s household, along with the elders of both Pharaoh’s house and all of Egypt, along with chariots and horsemen. They stop at the edge of the Jordan river and mourn for seven days, and then the sons go and bury their father just as he wanted.
After everyone returned to Egypt, Yoseph’s brothers get scared that with their father dead, Yoseph would take revenge for what they did to him years ago. When Yoseph gets wind of this, he cries and speaks to their hearts saying that he wasn’t god and that even though they tried to do evil to him, god made sure it was all for the good and he assured them that he would continue to take care of them and their families.
The parsha ends with us being told that Yoseph sees his grandchildren and even great-grandchildren before his death at the age of 110. Just before he dies, he tells his brothers that god will take them out of Egypt and back to the promised land, and he made them swear to take his bones when they leave Egypt. Yoseph dies and is embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt.
A seemingly simple parsha, no? Well, actually, I am leaving out an awe-full lot of details. I have touched on some of the intensiveness in previous years, and will touch on another deep idea today. I will leave the rest for the future. Or perhaps you will share them with me!
What I want to look at this time ’round are the words that Yaakov told his sons just before he died. After all his sons are gathered, he begins by saying that he will tell them what, “He will call with them in the end of days.”
This itself is a strange language. He is not making a prophecy; that seems clear when he talks about Reuvan. So, what does it mean, the end of days? And what does he mean when he says, “He will call with them?”
I am going to go out on a limb here, and I hope you-all will go out there with me. The end of days, here, I think is talking about a perfected person. Now, we all have our problems and hopefully we can transform our internal problem areas into something positive, or at least neutral. When we do that, we will have completed ourselves and our purpose for living.
Hence, the end of days, means the end of the life of the perfected person. Yaakov is telling us what we need to do to complete our perfection. If you are with me for that, let me address the, “He will call,” bit.
What Yaakov is doing is using each of his sons as a symbol of different things that a person needs to work on. He is, “Calling,” them, or, “Naming,” them as something else: as an attribute in a person.
Let me show you what I mean.
His first son is Reuvan. Yaakov calls him his power, his force, and his most majestic. These are the attributes of the first born. And then Yaakov warns us not to let the most forceful, most powerful, most majestic part of us act recklessly or rashly, as Reuvan did.
Why does he warn us of this? Well, if you have ever been around a big guy who has a quick temper, you don’t need to ask. 🙂
I used to play sports and one thing I noticed is that if your opponent was better than you, and you could get under his skin and make him act rashly, and without thought, you would usually beat him.
Yaakov is not telling us that there are not times to be reckless; rather he is saying don’t be reckless with all your force.
The next two sons Yaakov talks about are Shimon and Levi. He refers to them as vessels of violent crime (for things like killing on the men of Schem), and he says his soul will not join in their council and his honor will not be part of their assembly, and that they will be divided in Yaakov and dispersed in Yisrael.
Here, we can find a support for the idea that Yaakov is referring to attributes in a person; he is using himself in both his higher (Yisrael) and lower (Yaakov) levels as that person.
He is saying here, that whether you are saintly or very ordinary, you will have rage and a desire to be violent. This is part of being human. The key, he is saying, is not to let it get the best of you. Do not allow your honor or your will to get caught up in violent anger against another. That is what he is saying.
Then he tells us how to do that: by keeping those moments of anger separate.
How does one do that?
By not holding onto them. Feel the anger, and then release it. Don’t hold onto it, because when you do, each thing that makes you angry will join together with the other things that you are already angry about, and it will grow until it sucks in your will and your honor and you do something really horrific.
So, let go of the anger. Keep it separate.
Yaakov is not talking about just space here, but also time. Let each expression of anger have its moment, and not more!
Yehuda (Judah) means thankfulness. What Yaakov says about thankfulness is that all the other attributes/brothers will concede to it. He continues to say that Yehuda will have his hand on the neck of his enemies and that he will withdraw from his prey and that he is like a crouched lion – who can raise him? His offspring will rule.
What Yaakov is telling us here is that being thankful is the most royal of the attributes. When you can be in a state of thankfulness, nothing can hurt you and you will not have to worry about your enemies or your livelihood.
Zvooloon comes next. His name has to do with where/how one lives. It says he go until Tzeedohn. The root of the word Tzeedohn has to do with hunting for food or the food needed for a trip.
So, what we can learn here is to take only what we need in order to live, and not more. An extreme example would be that it is ok to hunt for food, but not for sport.
Next is Yissachar who is a bony donkey crouching between two lines. It is interesting that Yaakov uses the word garem for bony and not etzem because etzem also can mean essence. The word for donkey can also mean materialism. If you break the name Yissachar into two words, you have, “There is reward/payment.”
So, what we can learn here is not to go overboard, or beyond the lines/boundaries with material reward for it is not who you are; it is not your essence. When I worked in silicon valley I saw this a lot: people being defined by their work and their electronic toys. That was all that was important to them. It is ok to work and get paid and to have nice things, but keep it between the lines/boundaries. Keep it to a reasonable level. If you don’t, Yaakov warns us, you will become a slave to materialism.
Dan is next. He is the judge and also a snake on the path that bites the heals of the horse and the rider falls back. Yaakov adds to this some strange words: for your salvation I hope, haShem (god). A commentary I read on this last phrase says that Yaakov is praying for Dan’s safety because the rider, upon falling, will then try to kill the serpent (Dan).
What the Torah is telling us here is that there are times to judge others, but be careful when you do. The reason to be careful is that you will knock them off their high horse; you will wake them up from their going along fat, dump, and happy, and they won’t like it and they will try to get back at you and hurt you. So, be very careful with your harsh, biting judgements that will cause people to fall. Note, this is not to say not to judge, it is just saying be careful when you do.
For Gad, I would say we are being told that sometimes we will have to backtrack in life.
Asher is next and his name means joy. Yaakov is telling us that joy is rich produce and royal delicacies. If we want delicacies fit for a king, all we have to do is be joyful in what we do.
Naphtali is swift as a gazelle, giving words of praise. Sounds like a good thing to do, to swiftly praise someone.
Yoseph: He is graceful and beautiful and though he was attacked, he still had the strength to do his job and become the shepherd of the stone of Yisrael. He is the blessed one.
Here we find that the most graceful and beautiful part of us is often the part that is attacked.
We must somehow find the strength so that part of us can do what it needs, to protect and feed our foundation (the stone) and accept the blessings our beauty and grace open the doors for.
Too often we don’t feel deserving of our blessings because people attack us for our good fortune or grace or the beautiful parts of ourselves that people can see.
Yaakov is telling us to be like Yoseph, to not let those attacks get us down, to know that they are really blessings from haShem to help us nurture and protect our foundation (Yaakov), and all the parts of us (the other brothers) that make us who we are. We need to be steady with our bows and trust that while it might not seem like a good thing now, haShem will reveal to us how what seems like attacks on us are really serving a positive purpose.
And finally we get to Benyamin. He is a preying wolf who will eat in the morning until evening when he will divide plunder.
The Torah is telling us that we do have this wild side of ourselves. Don’t deny it! It is what gets us to have what we need (not just to eat, but all things) first (in the morning – the beginning of the daylight), and in the beginning of the darkness, this wild side is what allows us to separate what we have acquired into what we need and what is not so important.
All these are parts of us… amazing! And how nice it is for haShem to tell us how they need to work for us to be whole and complete. May we all get there soon. May we all reach our fullest potential in the very near future.
If you want to read what I wrote about this parsha last year, click here.
About the Author
Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.