Genesis 47:28-50:26 – 1 Kings 2:1-12 – John 6:30-51

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Vayyechi
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
In Summary
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Parashat Vayechi

1. Why did Jacob not want to be buried in Egypt (Genesis 47:29-31)? What spiritual lessons can we learn from his actions?

Rabbi Jason Sobel

It was extremely important to Jacob that he not be buried in Egypt. Jacob had several important reasons. According to Rashi, the first reason that Jacob did not want to be buried in Egypt was that he prophetically saw that during the third plague "its soil [Egypt] will ultimately become lice (which will crawl beneath my body)." This explanation provides us with a profound insight into the traditional Jewish view of the body. Although it is the soul which represents the divine aspect of the person who is made in the image of God, the body, as the vessel of the soul, is still worthy of great honor.

In fact our body can be likened to the Temple which once contained the Shekhina (God's manifest Presence). Though the Shekhina was absent from the Temple, the structure itself was still holy. So it is with the body; even when it lacks the soul, it still remains holy. Today we see this principal embodied by the volunteers of ZAKA who collect the bodies and body parts of terror victims out of respect for the divine spirit that had filled them. All of us should be consciousness of this fact and show the remains of others great respect. One way to do this practically is to set up a chevra kaddisha, a burial society, which prepares and attends to a person's remains from death until burial. 

Another of Jacob's reason is given by Rashi: "I do not want the Egyptians to make a pagan deity out of me." Rashi's source for this statement is in Genesis Rabba:

Another reason why Jacob did not wish to be buried in Egypt was so that they should not make him an object of idolatrous worship; for just as idolaters will be punished, so will their deities too be punished, as it says, "And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments" (Exodus 12:12).

Like Jacob we must always be conscious of how our actions might affect other people. If there is any potential that a particular act might cause another to stumble, then we should refrain from doing it.

A third reason is found in Midrash Rabba:

Why did the Patriarchs long for burial in the land of Israel? Because the dead of the land of Israel will be the first to be resurrected in the days of the Messiah and to enjoy the years of the Messiah.

Thus, a third spiritual lesson we learn from Jacob is that we should long for the resurrection of the dead that ushers in the Messianic Age. According to the sages, in his zeal to experience the messianic redemption, Jacob wanted to be buried in the land of Israel so that he would not miss even one blissful second of the World to Come.

But the primary reason Jacob did want to be buried in Egypt was because he wanted his children to never forget that Egypt was not their home. No matter how much success or suffering they experienced in Egypt, they needed to remember that they were guests and temporary sojourners in a foreign land. His request was intended to serve as a warning against assimilation and an encouragement during their years of harsh enslavement.

Behind Jacob's request was the firm conviction that God would one day fulfill his promise to Abraham by giving Israel the land of Canaan. Therefore, Jacob's burial in the Promised Land served as a symbol to his children of his faith in the promises of God. 

Like Jacob we must realize that the world we live in is not our home. As we read in the book of Hebrews:

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.  Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:13-16

2. It can be said that everything written in the Torah concerns Messiah. As such, how does this week's Torah portion, Vayyechi, reveal Messiah?

Joshua Brumbach

This week's Torah portion reveals Messiah in two primary ways - through our final glimpse of the life of Joseph, who the rabbis identify as a ‘type' of Messiah (i.e. Mashiach ben Yosef - b. Sukka 52b), and by tracing the lineage of Messiah through the tribe of Judah.

Joseph personifies Messiah as one who was despised by his brothers, rejected, and left for dead. Yet despite his trials, was elevated to a position of authority and became the savior of a generation. When reconciled to his brothers, Joseph revealed himself to them, and in this week's parasha states, "You meant to do me harm, but God meant it for good - so that it would come about, as it is today, with many people's lives being saved" (Genesis 50:20). Although Messiah was despised by some around him, and treated with contempt and left for dead, his elevation through his resurrection has brought many people into ultimate redemption.  And one day, Yeshua will reveal himself in all his glory to his people, and proclaim himself Messiah.

This week's parasha also reveals Messiah by tracing the Messianic lineage through the tribe of Judah: "The scepter shall not pass from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom obedience belongs; and it is he whom the peoples will obey" (Genesis 49:10). The text can also be translated as "until Shiloh comes." The term Shiloh has always been understood within Jewish tradition as referring to Messiah. The Aramaic Targum Onqelos, followed by the famous commentator Rashi, render the text as "until the Messiah comes, to whom the kingdom belongs." Likewise, another Aramaic Targum, Pseudo-Jonathan, paraphrases the verse as "until the time that King Messiah shall come."

The Talmud also confirms that the term Shiloh refers to Messiah: "Rabbi Yochanan taught that the entire world was created for the sake of the Messiah. What is his name? The school of Shiloh taught that his name is Shiloh, as it is written, ‘Until Shiloh comes and it is he whom all the peoples will obey" (b. Sanhedrin 98b).

The Yalqut, a medieval anthology, on this verse states: "He [the Messiah] is called by the name of Shiloh because all the nations are destined to bring gifts to Israel and to King Messiah, as it is written, ‘In that day shall the present be brought to the Lord of Hosts'" (Yalqut 160).

The book of Hebrews reiterates, "Everyone knows that our Lord arose out of Judah" (Hebrews 7:14). We have the assurance that our hope in Messiah is based on solid understanding, embedded within a Jewish context. Our Messiah, who is descended through Judah, will reveal himself once again, as Joseph did to his brothers, and declare himself Messiah. It is through him, that we all have assurance of ultimate redemption!