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Drash
for Shabbat Vayechi This week's Torah portion is the conclusion of the book of Genesis. It centers on the last days of our forefather Jacob. The Haftarah reading for our parasha is from the book of Kings and concerns the final days of King David. The prevailing themes in these readings are ones of leadership, blessings, curses, revenge and burial customs, not to mention parental favoritism. One of the similarities that I found in these portions were the difficult deathbed promises that Jacob and David extract from their favored sons as their deaths draw near. In the case of Jacob, he has Joseph promise to take his body to Canaan for burial, instead of burying him in Egypt where he has been living for many years. No small task in those days. King David makes his son Solomon promise that he and his descendents will follow God's commandments so that they will always rule over Israel. In order to further consolidate Solomon's power, David has him promise to reward those who had in the past helped David, and get revenge on those who had thwarted him. When I thought about how to relate these paternal exhortations to my life and my family's, I thought of my father's last days. My father didn't have the opportunity to give us any last words of wisdom or extract deathbed promises from us. What he did do, which had a lasting impact on us, was to daily tell each of his children and my mother how much he loved us. One of his favorite sayings was, "Have I told you today that I love you?" I believe that each of my siblings and I have tried to honor our father's memory by following in his example of fairness, joy of life and love of family. I continue in my father's tradition by frequently telling my two sons how much I love each of them. In the tradition of my father and the wisest of our ancestors, may we all set lasting examples for our children. Shabbat Shalom.
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