Rabbi Howard Morrison

The last Parshah in Sefer Bereishit, the book of Genesis, presents lessons and values for the past, present, and future. In it, a generation comes to an end. Jacob will pass away, and Joseph will pass away. Genesis will end the history of the patriarchs. The family of Israel, seventy in number, will soon become the nation of Israel when we begin to read the second book of the Torah, Shmot-Exodus, beginning this afternoon.

Death and the end of a generation, however, are not the main motifs. Rather, words of blessing for the present and the future take up most of the portion. Before he passes, Jacob has his two grandsons, Ephraim and Menashe,  brought before him. Even before he blesses his children, Jacob blesses his grandchildren. Why? 

One reason - the challenge of Jewish continuity is not so much about will your children stay and be Jewish. But rather will your grandchildren, two generations later, stay and be Jewish?

Over the centuries, while parents bless their daughters in the names of the four founding matriarchs, parents bless their sons in the names of Ephraim and Menashe because they were the only ones to be raised completely outside of the land of Israel and retained attachment to their heritage. This is a wonderful example for every generation's sons and grandsons. I still get a tear blessing my twenty-six-year-old son at the Shabbat table, reciting the words, "May God make you as Ephraim and Menashe."

Soon after Jacob blesses his grandsons, we find Jacob lying on his deathbed surrounded by his children. The Midrash expands the Biblical verses in the following way. When the father sees his children dressed in contemporary Egyptian garb, his children say to him: "Shma Yisrael Adonai Eloheynu Adonai Echad," loosely translated, "Listen, dad, the Lord is our God, the Lord who is one." Remember that the original term of Yisrael is not a peoplehood, but a surname for Jacob. With barely a whisper left on his lips, Jacob responds so every quietly, "Baruch Shem Kvod Malchuto l'Olam Va'ed - Blessed be the name of God's glorious sovereignty for ever." This same literary tradition is observed evening and morning seven days a week in the Maariv and Shacharit services.

After the reassurance offered by the children to their father, Jacob offers a unique blessing and warning that is specific to each of his children, words for the present and for their future lineage. From this idea, there developed in antiquity and in the Middle Ages a literature known as Jewish ethical wills. Parents codified their beliefs, hopes, and aspirations for their children and grandchildren in personalized form, sometimes given before one's death and sometimes after one's death. Parents have a right if not an obligation to share their most precious thoughts and values, and children have a right if not an obligation to receive their parents' most precious thoughts and values.

To parents and grandparents - Do you bless your children at the Shabbat and Yom Tov table? Have you already done or considered compiling in written form a Jewish ethical will for each of your children and grandchildren? If one day they expect to receive your material items, should they not expect to receive and know clearly your spiritual and moral items? What is more important?

As we conclude the first book of the Torah today, Parshat Vayechi presents lessons and values for the past, present, and future.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison