D'var for Vayechi

This week's D'var was written by Michael Berelowitz

This week’s parshah is Vayechi. Remember that Joseph got reunited with his entire family last week. Jacob is now down to his final years, living in Egypt. He asked Joseph to take an oath that he, Joseph, would bury him, Jacob, in the holy land. Jacob then blesses Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob also blesses each of his 12 sons before his passing, assigning each of them a role as a tribe. Each son would start their own tribe, and these later became known as the 12 tribes of Israel. Judah’s tribe would produce leaders and kings, Levi’s would produce priests, and so on for each son. Jacob soon passed, and there was a large funeral procession to Hebron, which is in Israel, where Jacob was buried. Joseph also ordered that he would be buried in the Holy Land, but this didn’t happen until the Israelites escape from Egypt a while later. Before Joseph died at the age of 110, he said to the people of Israel, “G-d will surely remember you, and bring you up out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (You know the Passover story? Foreshadowing!)