After 17 years in Egypt, Yaakov senses his days drawing to a close and summons Yosef. He has Yosef swear to bury him in the Machpela Cave, the burial place of Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivka.

Yaakov falls ill and Yosef brings to him his two sons, Ephraim and Menashe. Yaakov elevates Ephraim and Menashe to the status of his own sons, thus giving Yosef a double portion that removes the status of firstborn from Reuven. As Yaakov is blind from old age, Yosef leads his sons close to their grandfather. Yaakov kisses and hugs them. He had not thought to see his son Yosef again, let alone Yosef's children. Yaakov begins to bless them, giving precedence to Ephraim, the younger, but Yosef interrupts him and indicates that Menashe is the elder. Yaakov explains that he intends to bless Ephraim with his strong hand because Yehoshua will descend from him, and Yehoshua will be both the conqueror of Eretz Yisrael and the teacher of Torah to the Jewish People.

Yaakov summons the rest of his sons in order to bless them as well. Yaakov's blessing reflects the unique character and ability of each tribe, directing each one in its unique mission in serving G-d. Yaakov passes from this world at age 147. A tremendous procession accompanies his funeral cortege up from Egypt to his resting place in the Cave of Machpela in Chevron.

After Yaakov's passing, the brothers are concerned that Yosef will now take revenge on them. Yosef reassures them, even promising to support them and their families. Yosef lives out the rest of his years in Egypt, seeing Efraim's great-grandchildren. Before his death, Yosef foretells to his brothers that G-d will redeem them from Egypt. He makes them swear to bring his bones out of Egypt with them at that time. Yosef passes away at the age of 110 and is embalmed. Thus ends Sefer Bereishet, the first of the five Books of the Torah. Chazak

PARSHA INSIGHTS

Keystone Kop

Chazak! Chazak! V'nitchazek!

The Torah portion of Vayechi brings the Book of Bereishis to its end. Bereshis is also called the “The Book of the Patriarchs.” It was Avraham, the Hebrew, the Ivri – literally the ‘one who crossed over’ - who brought the concept of Monotheism to mankind. In his day, his belief was regarded as absurd. It was consigned to the scrap heap of history. His generation likened him to a mule, which is sterile, an animal with no future.

And yet, Avraham laid the cornerstone of Western civilization.

It says in Hallel, “The stone that the builders thought to be misshapen, became the cornerstone.” Meaning that the Jewish People (who secular luminaries like Arnold Toynbee referred to as ‘the fossils of history”) became the ‘cornerstone’ of Creation. ‘Cornerstone’ is the usual translation of the Hebrew rosh pina. But rosh means ‘head,’ something at the top, not at the bottom like a cornerstone.

And why would the builders reject a cornerstone per se? A better translation of rosh pina is keystone. If you look at the way a stone arch is made, you’ll notice that all the stones are regular except for the stone at the pinnacle. That stone is called the keystone.

The keystone is the last stone to be placed during the construction of an arch, effectively locking the other stones into place and allowing the arch to support weight. This is achieved through the principle of compression, with each stone in the arch pushing against its neighbors, creating a stable, self-supporting structure.

The reason that the builders rejected the keystone was because it isn’t regular. It is wedge-shaped. The nations of the world say, “These Jews don’t fit it.”

And they reject us, but it is the Jewish People who are the pinnacle, the rosh pina of Creation. The stone that keeps the whole edifice from falling in on itself.