Torah Readers Reflections

The last verse of Genesis describes the death of Joseph.

"וַיָּ֣מָת יוֹסֵ֔ף בֶּן־מֵאָ֥ה וָעֶ֖שֶׂר שָׁנִ֑ים וַיַּחַנְט֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ וַיִּ֥ישֶׂם בָּאָר֖וֹן בְּמִצְרָֽיִם:"

Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

If we had stopped two verses before that (or changed the order and the focus) we would have had a lovely closing verse.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יוֹסֵף֙ אֶל־אֶחָ֔יו אָנֹכִ֖י מֵ֑ת וֵֽא-לֹהִ֞ים פָּקֹ֧ד יִפְקֹ֣ד אֶתְכֶ֗ם וְהֶעֱלָ֤ה אֶתְכֶם֙ מִן־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את אֶל־הָאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֛ע לְאַבְרָהָ֥ם לְיִצְחָ֖ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹֽב: 

At length, Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. God will surely take notice of you and bring you up from this land to the land promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

But Parashat Vihai does not hide death, it deals with it in a direct and relatively extended way. The passage is indeed about Jacob's blessing to his sons, but in the end, it's followed by a long description of death - of a will, death, embalming and burial. 

This is a difficult ending, why does the Torah put it so prominently? Rabbi Hirsch wrote about  the last verse of the book of Genesis, in which it is described that after Joseph's death he is placed in a coffin. His words can shed a new light on the episode and perhaps on the issue of death in general. 

"Ahron" (coffin in Hebrew is “Ahron”) is a nice name for the house of a dead person. The covenant, and the alms of the temple (2 Kings 12:10). The role of both is to receive an object and keep it for a later time - the alms for the temple, and the tablets for Israel... and this is also the role of the coffin: the clothing of flesh that the person leaves behind, is placed in the coffin - according to the time - and kept. 

Rabbi Hirsch explains that death in the Torah is not an end but a station. A station where the body is placed in a respectable place - a coffin, for the time that the soul is not in it. If you see death as such, you should not be deterred from dealing with it, but treat it with your full attention in order to understand it. The patriarchs prepared for their deaths because they wanted to seal this stage in the life of their soul in a good and proper way. 

When you look at the verses, you can really see how Jacob and Joseph view their death as a stage and not as an end - they both ask for more actions to be done on their bodies after their death. Actions of bringing them to Israel and burying them in a place that is suitable for them. The place of burial has no meaning if you understand death as final, only if you understand that the body is placed in a "coffin" - as a metaphor, one can understand their words. 

Beyond that, precisely the moments close to death can be complete and full of goodness. Moments that allow, as Jacob said to Joseph, moments of "kindness and truth" between family relatives. In fact, the story of Parashat Vicha illuminates the last days of Jacob as the peak days of his life. The final moments in the life of Jacob are perhaps the happiest moments of his life. His whole life was full of his, and his relatives', struggles and quarrels and yet here, in a special moment before his death, his life takes a turn - suddenly all his sons are together at his bedside. Suddenly reality is more complete. The life of Jacob may have been turbulent up until his last moments in this world, but he ends this stage in such a complete way that there is no more optimistic and happy ending to the book of Genesis. (Perhaps this is how you can explain why the chapter that deals with death is called "Vaihi" - “Some time afterward”).

***

Recently, during a Shiva that I attended,  I heard a beautiful story: a relative accompanying a terminally ill patient asked the hospice nurse "How can you work in such a depressing place? Why did you choose such a profession?” The nurse answered him, "This place is like the delivery room down the hall. There, souls from the next world are born into this world, here we give birth to souls from this world to the next."

This story, in my eyes, illustrates a special way, closer to the way of Parashat Vihai, to look at death, both for the dying person and for his relatives. Modern medicine prolongs people's lives. This extension can be seen as a blessing and as an opportunity, but it can also be seen as a difficulty and sometimes unnecessary. Our parasha can be a "direction call" for a healthy attitude towards death.

I will also take the opportunity to make a general halachic statement (which of course requires a broader approach). The conceptual view of life and death is also significant from a halachic-practical point of view. There are many who think that according to halachic law the patient's life must be prolonged at any cost. For this reason, when they are faced with the imminent death of a loved one, they refrain from inquiring as to halachic point of view, in order not to receive answers they do not want to hear. 

In fact, many halachic judges disagree that life must be prolonged as long as possible, the subject is much more complex. They believe that the situation should be adapted to the feelings of the person facing his death and according to his wishes. In recent years there have been several rabbinic and halachic bodies that accompany families, providing social ideological and halachic guidance in preparation for the death of their loved ones. This guidance is blessed in my view and can help families through the process in a much healthier manner.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Matan Schneeweiss