The Sidra of Vayechi begins in the Torah scroll in a unique way. All the others Sidrot begin on a new line, or on the same line, with the space of nine letters separating them from the previous Sidra. But this Sidra begins in the middle of the paragraph, without any break. It seems that the early SOF’RIM, scribes, regarded the report that Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years, and was very happy, as a continuation of the report that the Israelites were very prosperous in the land of Goshen, with which the Sidra of Vayigash ends. The Christian scholars, who divided the Bible into chapters in the Middle Ages, also refrained from creating a break here. Consequently, chapter 48 begins only after the next story. Chapter 49 begins appropriately with the words: “It was after these events”.
Later, our rabbis in the Midrash interpreted the absence of a break in a symbolic way, and applied it, as was their custom, to us. They called the absence of any separation SETUMAH, which means ‘blocked’, and explained it as a sign that Jacob’s vision had been blocked. He was eager to tell his children what would happen to them in the future and the time of the redemption. But he couldn’t, just as we cannot, see the end of our own exile. Jacob’s stay in Egypt with his family, and the subsequent servitude, was the third exile in the days of the Patriarchs. Therefore, it represents the Roman exile, which began after the destruction of the second Temple, which is also our third exile. Nachmanides, in his commentary, elaborates on this idea. He says that just as Jacob’s sons caused their exile, so we caused ours. Just as the exile in Egypt took much longer than the Israelites thought, so our exile has been much longer than anyone could have anticipated. The first two exiles in the period of the Patriarchs were short. The third one was prolonged. In the same way, our exile has continued over many centuries. Whilst Abraham and Isaac knew the end of the exile in advance, Jacob didn’t know and we also do not know. Just as Joseph had Pharaoh’s support, so King Agrippa, the last King of Judah, during the period of the second Temple, asked the Romans to help him. The implied message of this Midrash is that we should refrain from any attempt to calculate when the Messiah will come. Too many attempts have been made in the past and ended in catastrophe. Today, the Mitzvah is to wait and pray for the Messiah to come in his own time.
It is striking that Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years and Joseph was sold at the age of 17 years. The famous mediaeval commentator, Rabbi David Kimchi, also known as the Radak, comments: “Just as Jacob looked after Joseph for 17 years, during his childhood, so Joseph looked after his father for 17 years”. We learn the lesson that children must care for their parents in their old age with the same devotion as their parents looked after them when they were young.
In the first scene, Jacob, who was 147 years old, was lying in bed. He asked Joseph to do him a true kindness and take him back to the land of Canaan and bury him in the Cave of Machpela, where his parents, grandparents and Leah had been buried. At the end of this conversation, Jacob asked Joseph to take an oath that he would obey this instruction. Joseph took the oath and Jacob bowed his head as a mark of gratitude. Joseph and his brothers carried out their father’s instructions with zeal and precision and gave him the greatest honour in the funeral which they arranged. The Torah describes the funeral in great detail in order to emphasise the importance of the Mitzvah of obeying the instruction of dying parents and other people. There are only very few instances when children do not have to obey their parents’ instructions after their death.
In the next scene Jacob is already ill, so Joseph visits him together with his two sons, Menashe and Ephraim. In their conversation, Jacob tells Joseph some family history. In particular, he tells him about Rachel’s death and stresses how tragic that loss was to him.
The question which the commentators ask is: Why did Jacob mention Rachel to Joseph on his deathbed? Rashi writes that Jacob was saying to Joseph that although he was asking him to take the trouble to bury him far away in the Land of Canaan, he did not do so for Rachel but buried her near Bethlehem. Rashi says that Jacob explained to Joseph that he did this in accordance with divine instruction, so that Rachel would be buried on the borders of the Holy Land and pray for the Jewish people as they go to exile on that route.
Other commentators say that Jacob wanted to apologise for not burying Rachel in the cave, where he himself wished to be buried. Another view is that Jacob wanted to explain why he was not asking Joseph to bury him next to his beloved mother. It is also possible that he acknowledged to Joseph that he hadn’t behaved correctly towards Rachel and this is why he was elevating her grandchildren to the status of children. By doing that he wanted, in particular, to accord honour to Rachel.
In the next scene, Jacob formally adopted his grandchildren to be his children, thus creating two new tribes which became known by the names of Menashe and Ephraim, replacing Joseph.
The Torah tells us that Joseph brought his sons before Jacob and ceremonially placed Menashe at Jacob’s right hand and Ephraim at his left. Joseph expected Menashe to be treated as the firstborn and receive the greater blessing signified by bestowal with the right hand. Instead, Jacob crossed his arms and placed his right hand on the younger brother’s head.
When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold off his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Menashe’s head. Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.”
This is what happened later in Israelite history. Ephraim grew to be the largest of all the tribes of Israel and eventually took the lead over the 10 northern tribes. If you read the Prophets, they often interchange the names Ephraim and Israel when speaking of the northern kingdom. Menashe was blessed, but Ephraim received the greater blessing. Why was Ephraim preferred? We do not know. It is a mystery. We are not given any explanation. It emphasises that, in this life, God is ultimately in control. We do our best, but we have to accept that others might be given greater blessings than we.