…Vayechi, King David (David Hamelech) is nearing the end of his life, and he must make preparations for a plan of succession. So he gives final instructions to his son Solomon (Shlomo), who is destined to succeed him as king. David urges Solomon to be strong, to follow God’s ways, and to obey His commandments. He reminds his son of…
At almost every stage of fraught encounter between Joseph and his family in Egypt, Joseph weeps. There are seven scenes of tears: 1. When the brothers came before him in Egypt for the first time, they said to one another: “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us…
…Oxford University Press, 1986. The only person to have achieved a non-anthropocentric, God’s-eye-view of creation, was Job in chs. 38-41 of the book that bears his name. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR VAYECHI Why can’t there be both truth and peace simultaneously? Are these values always at odds? Do you agree peace is more important than truth? Can we conclude that peace…
Every Friday night we re-enact one of the most moving scenes in the book of Bereishit. Jacob, reunited with Joseph, is ill. Joseph comes to visit him, bring bringing with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob, with deep emotion, says: “I never expected to see you again, and now God has shown me your children as well.” Gen….
…94. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR VAYECHI How easy do you find it to trust that God is looking after you when things seem to be going terribly wrong? Does this idea of Divine Providence give you the strength to forgive those who you feel may have acted against you? Which of the lessons in leadership from Bereishit’s Covenant & Conversation pieces…
The Parsha in a Nutshell After all the family fights and arguments we have seen in the Book of Bereishit, this chapter gives a peaceful end to the story. Yaakov is finally reunited with his beloved son Yosef, and meets his grandsons for the first time. This is the only time in the Torah we see a grandfather together with…
…their grandchildren and are blessed by them. Grandparents – Covenant & Conversation, Vayechi Core Questions Why are sibling relationships often fraught? What can the Torah teach us about how to navigate sibling rivalries? What can we learn from parent-child relationships to help us understand our relationship with God? How is grandparenting an ideal model for all relationships? Rabbi Sacks Video…
For each of us there are milestones on our spiritual journey that change the direction of our life and set us on a new path. For me one such moment came when I was a rabbinical student at Jews’ College and thus had the privilege of studying with one of the great rabbinic scholars of our time, Rabbi Dr. Nachum…
Different cultures tell different stories. The great novelists of the nineteenth century wrote fiction that is essentially ethical. Jane Austen and George Eliot explored the connection between character and happiness. There is a palpable continuity between their work and the book of Ruth. Dickens, more in the tradition of the prophets, wrote about society and its institutions, and the way…
Joseph forgives. That, as I have argued before, was a turning point in history. For this was the first recorded act of forgiveness in literature. It is important here to make a key distinction between forgiveness, which is characteristic of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and the appeasement of anger, which is a human universal. People are constantly harming others, who then…