Vayechi

The major themes of Vayechi surround death and legacy. They are 1. Burial and 2. Blessings.
The two themes are intertwined.

First Yaakov feels that he will soon die. He summons Joseph to arrange for his burial in Israel. By his burial place he wants to maintain the claim to the land that he was blessed with. Although he didn't live there for a large part of his life, he wants to maintain the claim through the courage of his children.

Yaakov confesses that he was unable to bury Rachel in the land, rather he buried her in Ephrat, the land of Ashes. He tells this story while he is dealing with the sons of Joseph, one of whom is named Ephraim. Does he pick Ephraim over Menasche because of the name?

There is also a PAR theme in these names, evocative of the Golden calf ( which the midrash attributes in part to magic form the house of Joseph), the Red heifer whose ASHES are purifying (from the contamination of the dead) and the calves set up as barriers between the the territory of Israel and Judah by Yerovom (a descendant of Ephraim).

Then there is the blessings of the twelve sons of Jacob. This has to be seen in the context of what a blessing meant to Jacob. Jacob risked his life for his blessing. It appears that there was, perhaps, nothing more important in his life than his father's blessing. That blessing , from Iassac to Jacob is vague but seemingly intelligible. Jacobs blessings to his sons are not easy to understand, even with translations and commentaries. Perhaps this is a corollary of the Babel principle: as statements become more significant they become more obscure.

Jacob introduce the blessings as statements of what would happen at the end of days. It is hard to know why he would try to reveal this. Such pronouncements have never led to good outcomes. Ah well, he was early in history.