VaYechi - 5776

Gen. 47:28 – 50:26

This week the Genesis saga comes to an end. Genesis is our family story – filled with both deep sorrows and great triumphs. VaYechi opens as Jacob lies on his deathbed in Egypt and blesses his sons. As a special gift to Joseph, Jacob does not bless Joseph directly, but instead blesses Joseph’s sons, Menasseh and Ephraim. This act effectively makes them each the father of a future tribe, on par with the rest of Jacob’s sons. Even more, Jacob purposefully blesses the younger of Joseph's sons with the blessing of the elder and the elder with the blessing for the younger.

According to tradition, the eldest son gets a special blessing that includes a double portion of inheritance and titular leadership of the family. However, our historical family has a way of breaking the rules. Isaac is younger than Ishmael, yet Isaac receives Abraham’s special blessing. Jacob is younger than Esau, yet Jacob receives Isaacs special blessing not once but twice (once by deception, and once when Isaac knew that it was Jacob he blessed). Now Jacob offers the “father’s blessing” and skips an entire generation to bless his two grandsons.

​Why? Perhaps Torah is saying to us, “don’t just go with the flow.” God has bigger plans for us. From the moment Abraham answered the divine call to leave his land and his home behind, we have been called to challenge the status quo, to never accept the world as it is ordered, but rather to agitate for the world as it should be. So what if the tradition says bless the eldest first? Torah proclaims to the ancient world that there is a new sheriff in town, and with God’s help, we can build a better future. True then. True now.