Vayechi is the final parashah in the book of Genesis (47:28-50:26) and it is unusual in a specific way that bears on the State of Israel’s new “Anti-Infiltration Law” aimed at containing 55,000 ...

Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi is the rabbi of Congregation Chevra Thilim, the oldest Orthodox synagogue in San Francisco. He comes from a Hasidic family of rabbis that goes back many generations. Growing up in ...

I believe in the power of brachas. My father’s favorite way to end a conversation is “many blessings” – and I’ve adopted it for myself, trying to say it a few times a week to different people and say ...

Parshat Vayechi has always been a special Parsha for me as it was my older brother’s Bar Mitzvah portion. I was in 4th grade for the weekend spectacular at the Washington Hotel (may its memory be for ...

Parashat Vayechi unfolds as a charged farewell scene. Jacob’s family gathers for the final act of a long and turbulent journey, a journey marked by exile and return, dreams and betrayal, rupture and ...

Why does Jacob, in his blessings to Simon and Levi, say that they will be achalkem (separated) and afitzem (scattered) among all of Israel? (Genesis 49:7). Rashi notes that as teachers of Torah, the ...

We should value democracy, safeguard it within Israeli society, and participate actively wherever we reside, cherishing the liberties and dignity it secures. Democracy has reconfigured the human ...

While reading Parshat Vayishlach this year, I was struck by the imbalance between speech and silence and what it suggests about power and action. On one hand, we see Jacob’s detailed plans and spoken ...

Yaakov Avinu’s last words recover a maternal and conservative ethic of guidance, inheritance, and restraint. Parshas Vayechi is not a loud parsha. It does not announce itself with fire or spectacle.

Although this week we read Parsha Vayera, I would like to share a thought connected to Vayechi. Because Vayechi is not a parsha about a week — it is a parsha about the time in which we are living. Now ...

Diaspora. After Jacob tells Joseph, “Place your hand under my thigh as a pledge of your steadfast loyalty: please do not bury me in Egypt.” Joseph responds, “I will do as you have spoken.” It is then ...

The Torah portion of Vayechi, to be read this week, highlights an important and often overlooked message. As we read about Jacob preparing for the end of his life and giving clear instructions ...