Perashat Vayehi 5777

Perashat Vayehi 5777

There are traditions and laws handed down from generation to generation regarding how a Sefer Torah is written. It is customary that between every Perasha there is always a space of one line, and between Humashim (books) there are several lines of space.

In Perashat Vayehi, there is no space at all. It continues on the same line as the previous Perasha. This is quite unique as it is the only Perasha in the entire Torah written that way; in a sealed fashion. Our Sages explain, that after the death of Ya’akob, the hearts of the Children of Israel were sealed in expectation of the suffering and despair of the impending bondage. 

Living in the alien environment of Egypt, the Spiritual Bondage had already begun, although the physical enslavement would not take place until all the sons of Ya’akob and brothers of Yosef had died. The Children of Israel had no idea what was looming in their near future.  

Although Ya’akob wanted to divulge the future and the ‘End of Days’ to his children, he was not able to do so. Our Sages also explain that his own prophetic vision was sealed and he was prevented from doing so; his vision was concealed. 

How often do we find our own thoughts and hearts sealed and closed! At times our thoughts are sealed completely, and we don’t allow ourselves to understand a situation that is right in front of our eyes. We refuse to see the reality that we are in, and we slip into an impending enslavement of our erroneous thoughts.  We may make decisions that affect us, as well as others, with a sealed and closed mind that can be detrimental to everyone. How often the Vox populi - the "voice of the people" is completely ignored - despite being the voice of truth and reason. It is only because we are voluntarily blinded and voluntarily refuse to hear, as though to fulfill the adage, “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil;” but unfortunately, when we do that in the face of truth and reason, we end up “speaking evil.”  Our eyes are sealed, our ears are sealed, our brains are sealed, our intelligence is sealed and then our future becomes sealed. We end up, “cutting our nose to spite our face.” We don’t see the blessings that G-d has sent our way; we don’t see the positive side of things; we see the cup half-empty instead of half-full. This situation compounds itself, when we are people with an overestimated self-esteem, sitting in our proverbial Ivory Tower, far removed from reality.  

How important it is to be aware, and be open minded, to accept reality and take the necessary precautions to prevent an impending doom as experienced by the Children of Israel. We ought to keep our eyes open, to see reality the way it is, our ears attentive to hear the correct words, and our mouths closed to prevent us from saying things that are not. 

How often it is, that we have our hearts sealed and closed to the need of our fellow Jew. How often it is, that we hear or see someone in need and we seal and close our heart to their plight. We ought to open our hearts and souls to hear the needs of our fellow and to respond to the needs of our people. 

This week, as we conclude the book of Beresheet/Genesis and we begin the Book of Shemot/Exodus, we are going to read about the hardened heart of Pharaoh. So many times, G-d asked Pharaoh to, “Let My People Go” - and yet Pharaoh again and again, refused to relent. Despite the numerous plagues and devastation of Egypt and its population, Pharaoh was blinded and continued to harden his heart until it was too late. His heart and mind were also sealed. 

May Hashem redeem our People now, just as he redeemed our forefathers from Egypt. It is up to us not to seal our hearts, minds and souls.