Parsha Pizzazz-VaYechi
Yaakov's Last Request
Yaakov and his whole, big family were doing fine in Egypt, in the neighborhood called Goshen. (They all lived there except Yosef and his family, who lived in the capital city since, after all, Yosef was the ruler of Egypt.) Yaakov lived in Goshen for a total of 17 years, and in fact, these were the happiest years of his life! Until that time, his life had been filled with worry, sorrow, and heartache. Now he lived peacefully, learning Torah and enjoying his children and grandchildren.
When Yaakov began to grow older and weaker, he called his son Yosef to visit him.
"Yosef, please make me a promise," Yaakov said. "Don't bury me in Egypt! Instead, carry me out of Egypt and bury me with my father and grandfather in Me'arat HaMachpaila (the Cave of Machpaila)."
Yosef made an absolute promise that he would do as his father asked of him.
Yes, That's RIGHT!
Some time later, Yosef received a message that his father was ill. Yosef traveled to Goshen to visit Yaakov, taking along his sons, Menashe and Ephraim, so that their grandfather could bless them before he died.
Yosef sat Menashe, the older son, at Yaakov's right side, and Ephraim on his left. This way, Yaakov's right hand would go on Menashe's head, and he would receive the special blessing given to the firstborn.
Yaakov put his hands on the boys' heads... but he crossed his arms! His left hand was on Menashe's head, and his right was on Ephraim's!
Yosef wondered why his father was mixing this up, but before he could say a word, Yaakov immediately began his words of blessing: "May HaShem bless these children. May they increase greatly like fish!"
Then Yosef said, "Father, excuse me, but you have it backwards! Menashe is the older one. Put your hands like this".
He tried to move his father's hands, but Yaakov said, "Yes, yes, I know who's older and who's younger. They will both become great nations, but Ephraim here will be the greater of the two."
Then he blessed both boys: "All the people of Israel will bless their children through you. They will say, 'May HaShem make you like Ephraim and Menashe!" And it's true: to this day, this is what we say to our children when we bless them on Erev Shabbat (Friday night).
Then Yaakov turned to Yosef and said, "My life is about to end. Don't worry -- HaShem will be with you while you are in exile here in Egypt, and HaShem will also bring you back to your own land. Since you are like a firstborn to me, and you're the one who's going to take care of my burial, I'm giving you an extra portion of land -- the city of Shechem. Also, your sons Ephraim and Menashe will be counted as two separate tribes of their own! After all, they are like my own sons."
Blessings, Blessings...
Then Yaakov gathered together all of his twelve sons, each of whom would now be the leader of his own tribe. He started to tell them a secret:
"Listen closely! I'm about to tell you when Moshiach (the Messiah) is going to come...
And then the thought slipped right out of his mind as his Ruach HaKodesh (divine inspiration) suddenly left him! Since he couldn't tell them the big secret, he prayed to get his ruach hakodesh back, and when it came back to him, he immediately began blessing each of his sons. He could envision each one's future, including the destiny of each tribe's descendents when they would settle in Eretz Yisrael. By blessing them, he shaped the entire future of the Jewish people in their land.
Yaakov gave each son his own special blessing. (Some of the blessings also included some sharp words!)
To Reuven, Yaakov said: "You are my firstborn son, and I'm very proud of you. You showed honesty when you brought your mother duda'im -- flowers that grow wild -- so that you would not be stealing from anyone when you picked them. And you showed compassion when you told your brothers not to kill Yosef.
But you have also sinned [that's a story for another time], so you have lost the three privileges of the firstborn:
- Yosef has received the extra portion of land that would have been yours.
- Levi has the honor of leading the tribe of Kohanim (the priestly class).
- And the kings will come from Yehudah's tribe instead of yours."
