Vyechi: Legacy

In The Road to Unfreedom, Timothy Snyder posits opposing theories of history.  The conservative view (Vladimir Putin) is that history is an endless repeating cycloid, an eternal battle among tribes for dominance.  The liberal view ( Steven Pinker) is that the human condition is constantly improving as values become universal. 

Vyechi, this weeks parsha, is a self contained unit.  It begins by telling us that Yaakov spent his last 17 years in Egypt and that he lived a total of 147 years. The parsha ends elaborating on Jacob's funeral and contains a coda about the the death ( and reburial  plans) of Joseph.   The 17 years mentioned here echo back to parshath Veyeshev ( 37;2), the section that talks about Jacob living in the Promised Land after overcoming the challenge of Esau.  There we here that:אֵ֣לֶּה ׀ תֹּלְד֣וֹת יַעֲקֹ֗ב יוֹסֵ֞ף בֶּן־שְׁבַֽע־עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה שָׁנָה֙ Joseph was the legacy of Jacob, and at age 17, he was separated from his father.  

The book of Bereshith, which ends with this week's parsha, Vyechi, contains a strong current of sibling rivalry as a  recurring theme. .  The first murder is based upon the envy of  Cain  for his brothers Abel's success (in pleasing  Gd).  The sons of Abraham compete ( to this day) for the title of heir to the legacy and land. Isaac's sons had a relationship filled with envy and murderous rage. Now Jacob's offspring are evaluated and graded according to their blessings. Cycloid.

The family finds itself in Egypt, the dominant civilization of the time, by virtue of the accomplishments of Joseph.  Joseph is the Abel of his time.  He had been thrown into a pit with murderous intent and sold into servitude by his resentful brothers.

 Joseph is the Jew who rises to inordinate success in the Gentile world.  He is the Einstein, the Rothscild, the Haber of his age, the agent of human progress.  He is a  credit to his people and the  reason the family is in Egypt, the goldene medina of its time. Even Jacob, who risked his life to lay claim to the Promised Land in Canaan has descended to Egypt. 

This parsha is about Jacob's death and dying. The four wives of Jacob make for a messy situation.  To Joseph, Jacob declares that Rachel, his mother, was the true wife. Joseph , Rachel's first born, is given the double portion of the firstborn by virtue of assigning full tribal status to each of his two sons.  Jacob also assigns the firstborn status to the younger of Joseph's sons. What a trickster!

Jacob blesses the other 11 sons.  These blessings look more like final grades, evaluations, expressed in code or poetry.  Reuben's sins are reviewed, Shimon and Levi are critically dismissed , Judah is assigned a blood stained scepter  of majesty .  The statements become increasingly obscure.

When Jacob dies, Joseph is in attendance.  He kisses his father's still warm corpse.  I had that privilege with my own father.  When my father died on an airplane, flying toward the most American part of this goldene medina ( Seattle, Washington), per his stated desire, I did CPR- including the kiss of mouth to mouth resuscitation. His dying kiss will always be with me.

Like Joseph, I took his body to Israel for burial, next to his wife.   Plots for Karen ( my only wife) and I, are reserved nearby. Are we reliving the story? Maybe we can learn something from the precedents, and progress to a better world.