Life in the Face of Death (Vayechi)

Rav Johnny's original thoughts on the weekly parsha

Parshat Vayechi describes the death of Ya’akov and the beginning of the Egyptian exile. As Rashi explains (in his commentary to Bereishit 47:28): ‘Why is this section completely closed (stuma)? Because, as soon as our father Yaakov passed away, the eyes and the heart of Israel were “closed,” because of the misery of the slavery as the Egyptians began to subjugate them.’

Paralleling this, the fast of Assara B’Tevet also commemorates the beginning of an exile - the Babylonian exile. And as we know, when a people are exiled from its homeland for a prolonged period of time, then this is generally their end and their death as a people.

However, in a paradoxical way, our parsha which contains the story of the death of both Yaakov and Yosef and the beginning of the Egyptian exile, is called ‘Parshat Vayechi’ – literally ‘and he lived’.

Moreover, in response to the fact that the Torah does not explicitly reference the death of Yaakov but, instead, speaks of Yaakov being ‘gathered to his people’ (Bereishit 49:33), our Sages proclaimed that, ‘Yaakov Avinu is not dead!’ (Ta’anit 5b, quoted by Rashi on Bereishit 49:33). As the Maharal (Gur Aryeh on Bereishit 49:33) explains, from here we can learn a profound idea about Judaism and life: ‘It is understood that there is a deep bond between father and son. Given this, it is possible to say that if a son is alive then his father is [always] alive…because without the father there is no son. And so, as long as the son is alive, the father is alive.’

This concept is profound and its implications are remarkable, because what this teaches us is that whatever we do to strengthen and add life to us and to the Jewish people then gives strength and life to the generations that came before us. Our lives are bound to the lives of our ancestors, and so, as long as we are alive, they too are alive.

As we know, the Chief Rabbinate selected Assara B’Tevet as Yom HaKaddish HaKlali – as the day for those who lost loved ones in the Shoah and don’t know their day of death to recite Kaddish. However, there is a further tie between this recitation of Kaddish and Parshat VaYechi.

Reverend Leslie Hardman (1913-2008), a British Army Chaplain, was the first Jewish religious leader to arrive at Bergen-Belsen after it was liberated. There he offered strength and guidance to the survivors, while he oversaw the burial of over 20,000 men, women and children who had been murdered and he recited Kaddish for the dead.

However, it was at the end of a Friday night service that Reverend Hardman conducted in Bergen-Belsen, having led those gathered alongside him with the singing of the Hatikvah, when he called out a statement that has stayed with the Jewish people ever since: “Am Yisrael Chai! The children of Israel still lives!” (nb. to listen to a recording of the singing of the Hatikvah and these words, click here).

Perhaps we may wonder what prompted Reverend Hardman to say these words with so much death around him. Personally, I think that the answer is found in the words of the Maharal: as long as the son is alive, the father is alive too.

And so, with the overlapping of Parshat Vayechi with Assara B’Tevet we learn a deep lesson that our task as Jews is to live vibrant Jewish lives, and that when we do, we invigorate ourselves, our descendants, and our ancestors too.

Shabbat Shalom!