PARSHAS VAYECHI
Can you figure out what each picture has to do with the parsha?
Rabbi Dani Staum
KEY to Parshas Vayechi PIX
Milk on a tooth and wine – these are both from the berachos Yaakov gave to Yehuda – his teeth would be white because he would have so much milk and his eyes would be red from great amounts of wine – 49:12
Wolf/deer/donkey/horse with a snakebite – these are animals that shevatim were compared to. Binyamin is a wolf (49:27), Naftali is a deer (49:21), Yissachar is a donkey (49:14), and Don is a snake that bites the heel of the snake causing the rider to fall off (49:17).
Hamalach hagoel – these beloved and familiar words that we say/sing before going to sleep was the beracha Yaakov gave to Menashe and Ephraim – 48:16
I never thought I’d see you again – Yaakov tells Yosef that he never thought he would see his face and now Hashem has granted him to see not only him but also his children (I have heard these powerful words uttered by many Holocaust survivors at the bar mitzvahs/weddings of their grandchildren) – 48:11
Ship – Zevulon was blessed with business acumen and traveling for business via ship – 49:13
Who are these kids – When Yaakov was about to bless Menashe and Ephraim he felt ruach hakodesh leave him and he asked Yosef who are these children? Rashi explains that he meant – who are these children that they aren’t worthy of a beracha? – 48:8
36 crowns – When Yaakov’s coffin was being transported from Mitzrayim to Canaan, 36 crowns of surrounding kings were placed atop the coffin as a sign of admiration and honor. See Rashi 50:10; (the gemara Sotah 13a states that there were 36 crowns in all).
Rushing Water – Reuven is compared to rushing water because he acted too quickly and without enough thought – 49:4
Chazaq – we have completed Sefer Bereishis and have learned so many invaluable and beautiful lessons from these incredible parshios, and at the end of parshas Vayechi we rise and say “Chazak!”. (Extra shout out to the Chazaq organization – this is their logo – for all their tireless work spreading Torah to the masses.) 50:26
