Parashat Vayehi 5785

With this portion, Jacob comes to end of his life’s journey, and makes preparations for his family. He blesses and adopts Joseph’s sons, Ephriam and Menasseh. He calls his sons together and offers words of blessing – and some less than blessing. He makes Joseph promise that after his death, Joseph will bury him in the family cave at Makhpelah in Canaan. It seems straightforward.

The rabbis read more into Jacob’s calling his sons together, based on Genesis 49:2:

הִקָּבְצ֥וּ וְשִׁמְע֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְשִׁמְע֖וּ אֶל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל אֲבִיכֶֽם׃

Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob;
Hearken to Israel, your father…

You might notice, that the word “V’Shimu” is repeated twice. And you might also realize that this word – whose root letters are Shin-Mem-Ayin – is closely connected to the word “Shema – Listen… or Hear.” A rabbinic midrash is offered suggesting Jacob’s concern that his sons continue to hold fast to their connection to Adonai, to God. In other words, after he is gone, will they continue to be Jewish? In Genesis Rabbah 98:3, we read:

When Jacob our patriarch was passing from the world, he called his twelve sons. He said to them: ‘Listen to the God [El] of Israel your father who is in Heaven. Do you, perhaps, have in your heart dispute over the Holy One blessed be He?’ They said: ‘“Shema Yisrael – Hear, Israel” (Deuteronomy 6:4) our father, just as you do not have in your heart dispute over the Holy One, blessed be He, so there is no dispute in our heart. Rather, “Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad – the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).’ Jacob then [said, with relief]: ‘Baruch Shem Kavod Malkhuto L’olam Va’ed – Blessed be God’s Name Whose glorious kingdom is for ever and ever.’

From this rabbinic interpretation of the scene, we learn that being Jewish goes hand in hand with a connection to God. The rabbis’ concern resolves itself with Jacob’s sons confirming their relationship with the One God as they recite the Shema in answer to Jacob’s concern.

The Shema, which has been called “the watchword of Israel’s faith,” echoes through the millennium, connecting each generation of Jews to those who came before them.

And this concern also echoes through the millennium: hoping that the next generation will carry on this connection to God… and to the Jewish people. After all, we are called “B’nei Yisrael – the Children of Israel.”

Each “Shema Yisrael” could be yet another affirmation to Jacob of each person’s commitment to connect to God and to the Jewish people.

Each Shema we recite in the evening and in the morning, is another affirmation.

Each nighttime Shema said by parents kissing their children to sleep, is another affirmation.

Each Shema recited at Consecration by our children, as they begin their formal Jewish learning, is another affirmation.

Each time Deuteronomy 6:4 is studied among hevrutot or around the Torah study table is another affirmation.

Each time a new ger – convert to Judaism – says the Shema and immerses in the Mikvah is another affirmation.

Each time the Shema is recited at the bedside of a person coming to the end of their life’s journey, it is another affirmation.

Has it been enough? Is it enough? Will it be enough?

In our time, much research and angst has been, and continues to be, spent coming to terms with the declining numbers of “Jews in the pews.” What does this mean for the future of the Jewish people? Perhaps we are called upon to take our cue from Jacob. However, unlike Jacob, we should not wait to gather our children together at the end of our lives, but bring our children around us throughout our lives. As Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove teaches in For Such a Time as This – On Being Jewish Today (p. 137), we are called upon…

“To reach out our hand to our children, with the hope that they extend theirs in return. To practice our faith, spend more time showing and less time telling. Step by step, hand in hand, mitzvah to mitzvah, generation to generation.”

May we help our children feel the power of the Shema… and the presence of the Divine in their lives. Thus, passing the link of Jewish continuity into the future.
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Enid Lader (AJR ’10) is the Rabbi Emerita at Beth Israel – The West Temple in Cleveland, Ohio. She serves on the AJR Board of Directors, and is the visiting rabbi for the Jewish residents of Kendal at Oberlin, a senior community. She and her husband, Harry, enjoy the blessings of grown children, grandchildren, and retirement.