Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayechi Shimeon and levi, the brothers – Weapons of violence their trade. In their council never let me set foot, Their assembly my presence shun. For in their fury they slaughtered men, In their self-will they maim bulls. (Bereishit 48:5-6)   Weapons of violence – This profession of murder is stolen goods in your hands. It was given to Esav in his blessing. It is his profession and you stole it from him. (Rashi ibid. ibid) I...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayechi Naphtali is a swift gazelle; who utters beautiful words. (Bereishit 49:21)   Naphtali is a swift gazelle – The plain meaning is that he was blessed with swiftness, that the sons of Naphtali will run as swiftly as gazelles and to be the first to announce good tidings and make them known, like a gazelle who delivers a letter fastened between her horns. And according to the midrash (Bereishit...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayechi Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and he said, "Who are these?" Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God gave me here." So he said, "Now bring them near to me, so that I may bless them." (Bereishit 48:8-9)   What Did Israel See? Then Israel saw – The Hebrews' dress was different from the Egyptians'. Joseph was close to the monarchy, as were his sons, they dressed in the garb of...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayechi A CUB A GROWN LION IS JUDAH. FROM THE PREY, MY SON, YOU WITHDREW. HE CROUCHED, RESTED LIKE A LION, AND LIKE A LION, WHO WILL ROUSE HIM? (Bereishit 49:9)   A cub a grown lion is Judah. You combine within yourself the valor of youth (a cub) and the sobriety of old age (a grown lion). You do not seek war and booty for their own sake. You are not a...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayechi SO JOSEPH WENT UP TO BURY HIS FATHER, AND ALL PHARAOH'S SERVANTS, THE ELDERS OF HIS HOUSE, AND ALL THE ELDERS OF THE LAND OF EGYPT WENT UP WITH HIM. (Bereishit 50:7)   and all Pharaoh's servants went up with him – besides Joseph, all of Egypt's populace were called Pharaoh's servants. (Ibn Ezra Bereishit 50:7)   Rabbi Brekhiah said: Loving kindness is found in the Torah, in its beginning, its middle and its...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayechi THEN JOSEPH ORDERED THE PHYSICIANS IN HIS SERVICE TO EMBALM HIS FATHER, AND THE PHYSICIANS EMBALMED ISRAEL. (Bereishit 50:2)   "Literal" Truth and the Truth of "Drash" Rav Nahman and Rabbi Yitzhak sat to eat. R. Nahman said to R. Yitzhak: "Sir, relate some words of Torah." …He told him, "This is what Rabbi Yohanan said: ‘Our father Jacob did not die.'" He said to him: "Could it be that they eulogized him, embalmed...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayechi AND WHEN THE TIME APPROACHED FOR JACOB TO DIE, HE SUMMONED HIS SON JOSEPH AND SAID TO HIM, "PLEASE, IF I HAVE FOUND FAVOR IN YOUR EYES, PLACE YOUR HAND UNDER MY THIGH AND TREAT ME WITH KINDNESS AND LOYALTY: PLEASE DO NOT BURY ME IN EGYPT. WHEN I LIE DOWN WITH MY FATHERS, TAKE ME UP FROM EGYPT AND BURY ME IN THEIR BURIAL-PLACE." HE REPLIED, "I WILL DO AS YOU HAVE SPOKEN."...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vayechi SO JOSEPH WENT UP TO BURY HIS FATHER; AND WITH HIM WENT UP ALL THE OFFICIALS OF PHARAOH, THE SENIOR MEMBERS OF HIS COURT AND ALL OF EGYPT'S DIGNITARIES (Bereishit 50: 7)   And with him went up – in his honor, so that he would not go by himself – This comes to teach us that although Pharaoh's officials did not intend to honor the dead, it is accounted to their merit as...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Vayechi YISSACHAR IS A STRONG-BONED ASS, CROUCHING AMONG THE SHEEPFOLDS. WHEN HE SAW HOW GOOD WAS SECURITY AND HOW PLEASANT WAS THE COUNTRY, HE BENT HIS SHOULDER TO THE BURDEN, AND BECAME A TOILING SERF.  (Bereishit 49:14,15)   In Yissachar that disposition is described which works gladly but only in such a way, and with such an idea, as has worth in the true Jewish nation. While in Yehuda the ruling tribe and in Zevulun the commercial tribe is presented, in Yissachar the real backbone of...

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