for Parshat VaYechi
Before his death, Jacob commands his sons to take his body from Egypt to the family’s burial plot, in Canaan. When Jacob dies, Pharaoh’s servants and the elders of Egypt escort his sons, carrying Jacob’s body, into Canaan. The Canaanites, looking on, say: here is a great mourning for Egypt.
A family’s loss becomes a nation’s loss becomes a moment on the global stage.
The last lesson Jacob imparts is this: that a family is the heart of the world.
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Shabbat Shalom,
Abe
Inspired by the philosophy of Rav Ezra Bick
Genesis 49:29-33; 50:7-11