Parshas VaYechi – Thoughts on the first Rashi

“Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years. The days of Yaakov, the years of his life, were one hundred and forty seven years.”

Bereshis 47:28

Yaakov lived. Why is this portion of the Torah completely closed? This is because once our father Yaakov died the eyes and hearts of Israel were ‘closed’ because of the bondage because they [the Egyptians] began to enslave them [the Jews]. An alternate explanation:  Because he [Yaakov] wished to reveal the End [of Days, i.e. the time of the Messiah] and it was ‘closed’ [concealed] from him, according to Bereshis Rabbah.

Rashi’s comment on Bereshis 47:28

Rashi seeks to explain why there is no empty space in the Torah scroll between the end of the previous Torah portion, VaYigash, and the start of this week’s portion, VaYechi, as there usually is. He offers two possible answers to this anomaly.

I have to wonder if the two answers are in some way linked. Yaakov, through Divinely granted insight, had a vision of the ultimate ends of the Earth, humanity, Judaism, and all the struggles that lay ahead. As a caring father and a responsible leader of his clan, he wished to share this vision – to encourage his offspring in the difficult days ahead, to reassure them, and to bequeath the wisdom he gained through all his personal travails to the next generation. Yet God decided this was not something to be shared.

The time might not have been right for the children of Israel to receive this critical information because, as they were soon to experience the bitterness of slavery, a vision of the final days would not be received very well. The vision might have made the suffering seem more bitter. Try telling your child that the shot the doctor is giving them will make them healthier and safer – in my experience, such ‘reassurance’ is often not appreciated and may even be angrily disregarded.

As a father, though, I can also relate to and learn from Yaakov’s frustration in this matter. There he was, with a tremendous insight on ‘the purpose of it all,’ and he was eager to share it with his children. Yet he was prevented from doing so and went on with life knowing that his children would not benefit from his hard-earned insights.