The Talmud in Bava Matzia 87a tells us that Yaakov Avinu was the first person to "get weak" prior to dying. In fact, he asked Hashem for this "gift" so that he would have the time to put his affairs in order. You see from the day that heaven and earth were created, no one was ever sick; if one was on the road or in the marketplace, he would sneeze, and his soul would leave by way of his nostrils. Until our forefather Jacob prayed to Hashem about this, saying: “Master of all worlds! Don’t take my soul from me before I have the opportunity to give instructions to my children and my household.” Hashem agreed with him, as the verse says: “After these events, Joseph was told, ‘Behold, your father is ill.’” All of the peoples of the world heard of this and were amazed, since nothing like this had happened since heaven and earth had been created. Accordingly, the Midrash concludes, we wish life to someone who sneezes, since it used to represent the opposite.
On the other hand, a sneeze can be a positive thing. “If a person sneezes while praying,” the Talmud says, “it is a good sign for him. Because sneezing makes a person feel better, and so it is an indication that his prayer has been accepted: “Just as he is given satisfaction below, so is he given satisfaction Above.”
This week's haftorah is from Kings I Chap. 2 which relates that Dovid Hamelech becomes ill and gives final instructions to Shlomo prior to his death. Similar to Yaakov who arranged his final affairs with his children, Dovid too finalized his personal affairs with his son. We can imagine that just as Yaakov Avinu gave the most important blessing to his children, David Hamelech would also do the same. Dovid Hamelech, who wrote the beautiful words of Tehillim that were inspired by Ruach Hakodesh, surely had a meaningful message and blessing to give to his children on his deathbed. Yet, his last words are simple and concise. “And the days of Dovid came near and he commanded his son Shlomo saying. 'I am going in the way of the land, and you should strengthen yourself and you should become a mench.’”
How profound it is that David Hamelech condensed everything into one formula; being a mench is the highest form of success. Even more so, Dovid directs Shlomo Hamelech saying that it requires strength to become a mench. Many times we see people that seem to be a mench naturally, but that is not the case. It is a life’s effort to behave constantly in a proper fashion, and to maintain the status of being a mench. We should all have strength to reach this goal and have the nachat to see our children being menchen as well.
