Genesis Cycle Three Vayechi 47:28 to 50:6

Vayechi

Vayechi has a radiance that is poetically hidden. Yes, like all of Torah this is poetry. The format as well as the contextual and grammatical usage, all so concealed within the meaning, takes us by the hand (whether we realize it or not) to the message. This is a lot. We are given a ride spiritually and emotionally to a truth that goes beyond any logical boundary.

Vayechi though is poetry within poetry. It’s exquisite. What I mean is that the very message is about the presence of the message whether we realize it or not. The Sfas Emes himself quotes Rashi : Jacob sought to reveal the end but it was hidden from him. The revealing of that same end (according to the Sfas Emes) would have negated the very exile. I see this as saying that since we must conceal ourselves to stay who we are (within Mitzrayim) any revealing can only happen when we aren’t who we are anymore..when we are no longer defined as sparks of light within this same darkness. This brings us to the question I’ve been asking myself most of my life in all kinds of writings. Why must there be an exile anyway? Why a Mitzrayim? Why must there be a hidden place on earth in which there is an end when the limitlessness of God space is so entrancing? Why can’t we be who we aren’t yet? What are we supposed to do in terms of Mistrayim to be these beings? Do we ignore it, become just like it, snob it, hate it, love it, embrace it, push it away? By we…I mean the righteous and not-so-righteous, the spiritually alive and the spiritually dead. The slave-drivers or serial killers or rapists or tzadicks or in-between people, those of us who do small things to hurt each other when seemingly justified. Once again, how can we all move beyond?

What I have learned from the sages is that one way to move beyond is through life-force. By focusing on life (life of the soul) we can survive Mitzrayim, conceal our light within it, and do our work on earth. Jacob, on his death bed, seems to really want to show us this. Therefore it might be wise to make some attempt to transmit what seems to be his message.

Let’s look at the first line. Here, in my opinion, the word year (shanah) is mentioned four times for a reason. It’s as if the years themselves are flowing from one kabbalistic world to the next. Finally the highest and the lowest meet in the similarity of the same grammatical construct. Therefore, the word year can be seen as a channel, or a tunnel, through which the light of life can travel from the lower to upper worlds. It can also be seen as steps, as on a ladder, to God.

This leads us to seeing how a tunnel and a ladder are further applied in the parasha. As for tunnels, the rabbis of midrash say that Jacob wanted to be buried in Israel because he worried that he wouldn’t make it through the subterranean tunnels to get there. R. Jerimah b Abba in the name of R. Johanon said that whoever walks four cubits in the land of Israel is assured a place in the world to come. When asked about the righteous outside it was said that they will be revived by rolling. And when it was questioned if rolling would be painful for the righteous, it was said that cavities will be made for them underground. What I’m saying is that the word shanah itself, the way it is presented as I’ve explained, is itself the tunnel. There it is in the very first line of the parasha, provided upon Jacob’s death. It’s as if he’s telling us…as if his love and humility and gentleness is going beyond his speech to describe even himself.

Next, if we look at the blessings, they are clearly ways for Jacob to offer to his sons a ladder to God. A ladder is the way that Jacob knows to reach God (Gen. 28:12). Heres more. Each blessing to each son will fit with his specific vibration of light. Each blessing is a custom-made ladder. Since the four expressions of shanah can also be seen as steps (to a ladder) the ladder is therefore connected logically to the subterranean tunnels. The first offers a way for life force to flow in our present human state. The next offers a way for that flow beyond our human definition. What Jacob is doing therefore is holy. He is offering to his sons a way to God in life and beyond. And we are being shown this.

In the end, the Sfas Emes points out the midrash on the verse: For we are strangers before You (1 Chronicles 29:15). It is said that the word ger or stranger means drawing forth or bringing up. Therefore, we are not in human form (in this world or in Mitzrayim) to attach ourselves to it. We are in human form to bring up the lost holy sparks of Mitzrayim. And we have to do this in hidden form. You don’t help someone by revealing yourself as more spiritual. You help by being him. In other words, we go incognito into a dark world with a gold shield for protection and a name for memory and we offer a blessing…a ladder/tunnel…custom-made to fit each man to enable him to climb knowingly or not to the home of God.

So may we bless others and bless more and keep on blessing. May we honor Jacob our teacher. May, like him, we be the blessing that allows the lost sparks in this world to rise. May we, with humility, find and transmit the subterranean tunnels and ladders. And then, one day, may we have risen enough and helped others enough so that the limitlessness of God’s radiance is revealed to us in one exquisite poem-flash of love.