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Torah Talk for Parashat Vayechi

December 27, 2017 by Sharon Freundel (Community)

In this parasha, Yaakov blesses his sons on his deathbed and asks them to bury him in Cana’an.

This is the last parasha in the book of Bereshit. As we finish the first of the five books of Moshe, there is a note of hope, as indeed there is at the end of each of the books.

The book of Bereshit is filled with conflict. It starts right at the beginning with the snake versus the humans (chapter 3) and Kayin’s murder of his brother, Hevel (chapter 4). The strife increases during the stories of Noach and his son, Cham, after the flood (chapter 9); Avraham’s and Lot’s servants (chapter 13); Sarah and Hagar (chapter 16); Yishmael and Yitzchak (chapter 21); Yaakov and Eisav (chapters 25 and 27); Yaakov and Lavan (chapters 29 and 31); Rachel and Leah (chapters 29 and 30); Dina’s brothers and Shechem (chapter 34); Yosef and his brothers (chapters 37 and 43-45); and many other stories scattered throughout the book.

But the book of Bereshit ends with reconciliation. Read more >