Steadfast Loyalty: Rabbi Roos on Vayechi

Near the end of Jacob’s life, he asks his son Joseph to act towards him with “hesed v’emet  – steadfast loyalty” after he dies.

When I was a child, my parents always had Life magazine around the house and my brother and I enjoyed looking at the pictures.  We especially liked the year in review edition that came in the last weeks of December.  The best pictures of the year would be re-displayed along with a feature on the celebrities and public figures who had died during the past year. Each individual had a photo and a short narrative that I liked to read because, in addition to the famous people whose names I already knew, there were many whose names I did not recognize but whose stories were interesting and often inspiring. We can learn at a young age the value of memorials and taking time for reflection on what has passed. 

Vayechi is an especially fitting portion to study in conjunction with this end-of-the-year practice of remembrance. In the final chapters of Genesis, Jacob dies surrounded by his family. His sons and grandsons have the opportunity to say farewell and Jacob in turn blesses them. It doesn’t always happen that way in real life and we don’t always have the opportunity to say goodbye as we would have wished. But the opening for blessing exists even when words are not exchanged.

Although it speaks of his death, the Torah portion opens with the words, “Jacob lived.” Rabbi Joseph Hertz comments, “Of how few people can we repeat a phrase like, ‘Jacob lived?’ When a person dies, a death notice appears in the press. In reality, it is a life notice; because but for it the world would never have known that the person had ever been alive. Only one who has been a force for human goodness can be said to have lived.” (in Plaut Torah Commentary, 4^th ed., p. 306)

Many families in our community have lost loved ones in these past few weeks and many more over the course of 2012. This is a time for acting with hesed v’emet – steadfast loyalty – to family members and friends who died this past year. Like Jacob, we remember them best not because they died but for how they lived. May their memories be a living blessing in 2013 and beyond.