This Week Torah Portion - Vayechi - meaning “He Lived”


Torah - Genesis 42:28 - 50:26

Prophets - 1 Kings 2:1-12

Gospels - John 13:1-19


Torah Summary…

The last reading from the book of Genesis is named Vayechi, which means "and he lived." The title comes from the first verse of the reading, which says, "Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years" (Genesis 47:28). In this Torah portion, Jacob prepares for his death by securing a double portion of inheritance for Joseph and then blessing each of his sons with prophetic blessings. The book of Genesis ends with the death of Jacob, followed shortly by the death of Joseph and a promise of redemption from Egypt.


Torah Treasures…


Jacob laid his hands on Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and bestowed a blessing upon them.

He declared that the children of Israel would henceforth bless their own children, saying, "May Yehovah make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!"


On Friday nights, while families are gathered around the Shabbat table, the father lays his hands on his children and blesses them.


To his sons he says, "May Yehovah make you like Ephraim and Manasseh." To his daughters, he says, "May Yehovah make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah."


He blesses each of the children with the words of the priestly benediction and, as he feels led, other words of encouragement and blessing.


In families with just the mothers, the mother will lay her hand upon her children and bless them, such as in my home.
We do this because just before Jacob declared that Israel would bless their sons to be like Ephraim and Manasseh, he himself finished bestowing a blessing upon Ephraim and Manasseh.


If we look more closely at the blessing he gave them, we discover that through this blessing he transferred the Abrahamic covenant and promises to Joseph's sons.


Just as Jacob had received the blessing from his father, Isaac, who received it from Abraham, he passed it on now to Ephraim and Manasseh.

“The Elohim before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the Elohim who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and may my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” (Genesis 48:15-16)


When Jacob asks that his name and the names of his fathers may live on in the boys, he is asking that they will walk in the same blessings and covenant relationship that Yehovah bestowed upon the patriarchs.


Essentially, this blessing is equivalent to saying, "May Yehovah make you (Ephraim and Manasseh) like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."


It's not that Ephraim and Manasseh were so wonderful that we want our boys to be just like them. Instead, we want our boys to be blessed with the same blessing they received from Jacob. We want them to be reckoned part of the covenant and blessings Yehovah bestowed on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.


When we bless our sons to be like Ephraim and Manasseh, we are asking for their inclusion in the Abrahamic legacy of covenant and blessing, a perfect symmetry with the matriarchal blessing over our daughters.


Shabbat Shalom…