What is a Beracha, a blessing? What does it mean? Just before Jacob dies, he blesses his grandsons Ephraim and Menashe. We still use the words he used when we bless our children every Friday night before we sit down to the meal. This in addition of course to the text of the blessing the priests gave the people of…
Sefer Bereishit
After Jacob Dies
What if? As soon as Jacob dies the brothers panic. They thought “What if Joseph really hates us and will now take revenge upon us?” In a way, it was natural that the guilty consciences of the brothers would fester and lead them to worry. Perhaps Joseph was only concerned with avoiding conflict and revenge while his father was alive.…
Meritocracy
We read how Jacob on his death bed, switches his hands round to bless Ephraim the younger son of Joseph over Ephraim the elder. We are bound to ask why Jacob had not learnt from Joseph’s fate how dangerous it can be to favor one son over others. You might say that Yaakov by then had realized that favoring Yosef…
Jacob’s Predictions
The Book of Bereishit ends with Yaakov and Yosef’s deaths. Just before he dies Yaakov blesses his sons but in so doing makes important comments on past events and significant predictions about the future. Most of the sons are given two or three lines like Reuven, the first born, who is dismissed as unstable. An obvious justification for the first…
Burials
When Jacob dies, in this week’s Sedra, he is embalmed by the Egyptians who were experts in mummification. We are naturally surprised. According to the Jewish tradition one does not mummify a body or put it on display after death. Rather we bury it as soon as possible. This looks like a massive concession to Egyptian culture or perhaps a…
Diplomacy
Diplomacy has become a dirty word. The seventeenth century English diplomat Henry Wotton said that a diplomat is sent abroad to lie for his country. And there is a fine line between sycophancy, being dishonest and on the other hand finding the right way of making one’s point with greatest effect. The Torah has several examples of how important diplomacy…