Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/772020
Retire to a warmer climate without leaving Novi! At Fox Run, senior living is warm and worry-free. We're here to handle the winter hassles, while you relax and enjoy your retirement. * !$ #&##" # #! * #(%!&#!&# ##!&&(" * #&(#&" %#! !"#$" * #!!!("&# !##(' "" Discover a winter-free retirement! Call 1-800-917-8169 !($! !$! &# !)! "! 11796783 Novi !"% 2138460 40 January 12 • 2017 jn T he climax of our biblical por- tion of Vayechi comes in the death-bed scene in which Jacob bestows blessings upon each of his sons, the future 12 tribes of our nation. Which son will receive the Abrahamic mission/covenant and why? God promised Abraham that "through him all the families of the Earth would be blessed." To achieve this, Abraham needed to ensure that the bearer of the birthright would have "compassionate righteousness and moral justice" (Genesis 18:19). When Jacob is blessed with 12 sons, it seems that another qualification is added: the ability to unite the family. Jacob thought that Joseph, first- born son of his beloved Rachel, was the perfect candidate. However, Jacob's favoritism began a process of familial dissolution. When Joseph brought back tales of his brothers' transgressions to their father, he bred resent- ment in his siblings, fatefully fracturing the family of Israel. Joseph is now sold into slavery. Jacob is suspicious of the role the brothers may have played in his beloved son's "disappearance," but he is wary of causing even more familial dissension by voicing his thoughts. When the brothers come to Egypt, the siblings are reunited. Joseph is hidden behind the mask of the Grand Vizier; his brothers unaware of his presence. But we, the readers, see the potential for family reconciliation. Joseph faces Judah, the other can- didate for the birthright. Each has come a long way in developing the traits necessary for leadership. Having a child with his daughter-in-law taught Judah the importance of taking responsibility for one's siblings and for familial future, and it has established his credentials as a paragon of com- passionate righteousness and moral justice. Joseph, too, has proven his moral rectitude. Initially, Judah thought God was sending all the trials and tribulations to the brothers because they sinned in having sold their brother Joseph into slavery. But when Joseph rejects Judah's proposal that all the broth- ers become his slaves because of the stolen goblet, he wonders why they had been singled out by the Grand Vizier. Who in Egypt might be out to get them? Unless, the Grand Vizier is actually Joseph. When Judah thinks he has uncovered the true identity of the vizier, he knows he must find a way to bring Joseph back into the bosom of the family. He must effect a rap- prochement between Father Jacob and all of his sons, in such a way that everyone will understand the futility of dredging up past history. So Judah faces Joseph, ostensibly pleading for Benjamin's freedom, but using the chance to describe their old father who still mourns for Joseph. He convinces Joseph that Jacob had not been linked to the plot, and also sub- tlety tries to impute guilt upon Joseph for not contacting his grieving father. How can Joseph now inflict further pain on the patriarch by keeping him from Benjamin? By offering himself as a slave in place of Benjamin, Judah is also prov- ing that he, who had initially proposed the sale, had finally learned the les- son of brotherly love. Judah succeeds. Joseph reveals himself and rejoins the family. Jacob-Israel and his children are reunited — by Judah, who has now proven that he is the most worthy recipient of the coveted birthright. • Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor Ohr Torah Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat, Israel. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin The Lesson Of Brotherly Love spirit Torah portion Parshat Vayechi: Genesis 47:28-50:26; I Kings 2:1-2:12. SHABBAT LIGHTS Shabbat: Friday, Jan. 13, 5:05 p.m. Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Jan. 14, 6:11 p.m. Shabbat: Friday, Jan. 20, 5:13 p.m. Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Jan. 21, 6:18 p.m.* * Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.