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Vayechi: Daily Insight #1

Our parshah begins with the verse “And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years….” In Chassidut it is commented that the last 17 years of Jacob’s life, the years that he spent in Egypt, were the best of his life. This is an astounding statement. How can it be that Jacob’s best years were spent outside of the Holyland, the Land of Israel; and not just anywhere, but in the depths of the abominations of Egypt, the most unholy of all lands? Not to mention the fact that this would become the land that would enslave his children.
The simple answer is that during these last 17 years of his life, Jacob merited to have his family unified with peace between all of his children and Joseph. But, let us see a deeper explanation. With this explanation we will also see an explanation for one of the most well-known questions from the Zohar.
There is a well known statement in the Zohar that there are 53 parashot (plural of parshah) in the Torah. However, counting the weekly portions, one finds that there are 54. A number of different explanations have been given for this apparent contradiction between the statement of the Zohar and our division of the Torah into weekly portions among them:

• Parshat Bereisheet is like an introduction to the Torah and therefore is not counted as a parshah.
• Most years, the parashot of Nitzavim and Vayeilech in the Book of Deuteronomy are read together, therefore they are considered as one.

But if one looks at our parshah, one sees that it is unique. When written in a Torah scroll, parshat Vayechi does not begin with a new paragraph (parshiyah). This is not just a technicality. A Torah scroll is not kosher if there is a parshah that does not begin with a new paragraph (except for this one, for which we have a tradition from Moshe Rabbeinu that it should continue in the same paragraph). So here we have a beautiful answer to the apparent problem with the Zohar’s 53 portions, because in the Torah scroll Vayigash and Vayechi are like one long parshah.
Rashi notes this unique phenomenon and writes:
Why is this parshah sealed [i.e., does not begin with a new paragraph]? Because it describes the death of Jacob and with his death began the slavery in Egypt, which caused the eyes of all of Israel to seal shut. Another answer: Jacob wished to reveal the events of the end of days, but it was sealed from him [and he could not].
A third explanation is that the Torah wants to stress that the first verse of our parshah, parshat Vayechi, is a direct continuation of the last verse of the previous parshah, parshat Vayigash and the two cannot be separated. Why are these two Torah portions inseparable?
The last verse of Vayigash is: וישב ישראל בארץ מצרים בארץ גשן ויאחזו בה ויפרו וירבו מאד “And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, and they acquired property in it, and they were prolific and multiplied greatly.” The gematria of the entire verse is 2794, which is the product of 11 and 254; since there are 11 words in the last verse of Vayigash, it means that the average value of each word is 254. This may not sound very exciting until we add that 254 is the numerical value of עוד יוסף חי , “Joseph is still alive.” The success and multiplication of Jacob’s offspring in Egypt is the result of Joseph still being alive. With his Divine spirit, Jacob felt all along that the success of all of his offspring was dependent on Joseph.
But, not only do the words עוד יוסף חי mean that Joseph is still alive; that is only their literal meaning. More deeply they indicate that Joseph’s עוד —his “more”—is still alive. Joseph’s (and every Jew’s) “more” symbolizes his ability to elevate sparks of holiness from mundane reality. It is the unique Jewish ability to take physical objects and turn them into spiritual conduits for revealing the Almighty’s infinite goodness and kindness in the world. This is referred to as the “more” of a person because it goes beyond just leading a good life privately resulting in personal rectification and elevation. This is what is at the heart of the Jewish concept of tikun olam, rectifying the world. Indeed, when Rachel named her son Joseph, she gave the reason: “May God give me more—another son.” Joseph’s represents our ability to add more, to bring more Godliness into the world.
As explained in Kabbalah, the multitudes of Jews born in Egypt were born thanks to Joseph’s ability to elevate sparks of holiness. The direct relationship between Joseph’s more is stated by the sages in another context: “The Jewish people did not go out [from the Land of Israel] into exile, except that converts should join them.”