Vayechi – Death, Blessings, and Life Choices
If one were to boil this week’s parsha down to its most
basic elements, Parshas Vayechi would be said to be about death and blessings,
blessings that all focus on “this will be you when I am gone.” Death and
blessings sound like a strange combination of themes as we tend to think of
death as the ultimate negative, and even more so when we remember that the name
of the parsha translates to “And he lived.”
He lived. Yaakov lived. For 17 years Yaakov lived in a land
not his own, and, in many ways, he flourished. It was not, one would assume,
his ideal life. He was not where he wanted to be as he understood the kedusha of
Eretz Yisrael, but it was where Hashem told him that He wanted him to be. It is
a sharp contrast to the commentaries surrounding the beginning sentiment of “Vayeishev,”
“and he dwelled,” where Yaakov is criticized in the Midrash for settling into
complacency.
Because Yaakov lived his life in the best way he could for
being in a less then ideal state (an ability he had proven already during his
sojourn with Lavan), his last years had a tremendous impact. The Torah describes
the funeral procession set for him by Paroah and the fact that there was a period
of national mourning throughout Egypt. Some of this was a reflection of the
nation’s feelings for Yosef, but a reaction so grand only occurs from respect,
nay – reverence, for the deceased himself.
Yaakov’s choosing to LIVE those 17 years, rather than just
accept his altered state, gave him the kochos, the spiritual strength, to end
his life in a way that carried his life forward. He focused his ability to see
the world on a spiritual plane to provide guidance and shine light on the
deeper journey ahead for each of his sons and, thus, strengthening them. Yes,
even the blessings that were tochacha were the means of shoring them up against
the challenges that were to come. Yaakov on his deathbed focused not on his own
end but on the future that was to come.
Today is Aseres B’Teves. It is the shortest fast day on the
calendar, but it is also noted as the most significant of the minor fasts of
mourning the destruction of Jerusalem. Today represents the beginning of the end
of what had been an idyllic time when the first Beis Hamikdash was the heart of
our nation. We fast to mourn our loss and to spur on teshuva so that we can return,
so that Hashem will redeem us. But as this year it overlaps with Vayechi,
perhaps we must recognize a different lesson in our mourning.
Like Yaakov Avinu, we are not living in our ideal world, we
are separated from the greater spirituality, but that is not a reason to live
any less. That is not a reason to become complacent, but rather it is a reason
to bring that ideal world as close to where we dwell as possible. And this does
not apply only to one’s physical location. Yaakov did not live an easy life.
From sibling rivalry to in-law troubles, from Rachel’s dying to Yoseph’s
disappearance, from trouble with Shechem to famine in Canaan… But he did not
let that stop him from living. Often times life takes a hard turn, but it is
our job to persevere.
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