Vaychi: delayed blessings

The parsha is called life, but much of it deals with deaths and burials. 

Jacob's death occasions his blessing the sons of Joseph and the twelve tribes. Jacob's single request is that he be buried in the ancestral tomb, in Hevron. Jacob reminds Joseph and (perhaps) the brothers  of the Promised Land. 

Joseph's death ends the parsha, and the book of Genesis, with a promise of redemption form Egypt, a request for re-burial in Canaan, and a report of the birth of great grandchildren - with a name (Machir) identified with the conquest of the land. 

This week, my son Jack (Yitzchok) got married. The wedding occurred on my mother's birthday.  The parsha reminds me of my mother's posthumous  request, the same as the request of Jacob and Joseph: "bury me in Israel." Fulfilled!

All of these dreams that become blessing are imbued with the realization that the big dreams need not occur in the lifetime of the dreamer.  The big dream carries on from generation to generation. The acts of continuity, marriage and  burial, are the visible  manifestations of the dream in action. 

And so, we continue to continue.