Vayeishev

בס״ד

 Vayeishev

Vayeishev Yaakov? Good luck with that,

There’s no Vayeishev for him in Canaan,

He may stay in one place but does not get to live,

Life serene in the land he was born.

Yosef dreams dreams, and tells them to all,

He’d have been better off to conceal them,

He eventually learns, when it comes to such things,

There’s a right time and place to reveal them.

And of all people Reuven protects Yosef’s life,

From the jealous hands of his brothers,

Reuven, the eldest, who has been twice involved,

In the discord between both their mothers.

And who buys and sells Yosef is not at all clear,

Whether Midiani or Yishmaeli,

But Potiphar gets a very good deal,

On a slightly used Yisraeli.

Now Yehudah takes up with an entrepreneur,

When his brothers say he went too far,

Business is good, he does well for himself,

’Til he does the wrong thing by Tamar.

Tamar then has twins, just like Rivka before,

And threaded with red is the older,

And although, in fact, he was actually born last,

Unlike Yaakov, Peretz was the bolder.

Vayishlach

בס״ד 

Vayishlach

To kill his brother Yaakov,

Esav sends young Eliphaz,

But instead Yaakov convinces him,

To take all that he has.

On his return he sends across his wives,

Their servants and his kids,

Then returns beyond the Yabok,

And sends over all that’s his.

Now, there’s nothing in his pockets,

No possessions, and alone,

Just the way he left Canaan,

When he ran away from home.

As he left he must re-enter,

But with a tikun on his birth,

He wrestles Esav’s guardian angel,

And this time comes out first.

Vayeitze

בס״ד

 Vayeitze

I

Four flocks were required,

To open the well.

Four flocks were required,

And the last was Rachel’s.

Four Mothers were needed,

For Bnei Yisrael.

Four Mothers were needed,

And the last was Rachel.

II

Of Lach, and Luz, and Armone…

Trees used for dyeing wool,

From these Yaakov chose the rods,

He filled the runnels full.

He knew what he was doing,

Our capable Ish Tam,

When he set these rods before his sheep,

And those of Uncle Lavan.

Toldos

בס״ד 

Toldos

“My Son, may your curse be on me”, she said,

But to what curse was she referring?

The curse that Yitzchak never gave?

Or was something else occurring?

We know what will happen with Yaakov,

Yosef will disappear with no trace,

And for 22 years Yaakov will suffer the thought,

That he’ll never see Yosef’s face.

But in Egypt he’ll be reunited,

With Yosef his beloved boy,

And spend his few remaining years,

At last comforted, in joy.

But not so with Rivkah Imenu,

Whose fate won’t be the same.

She deflects the curse from her son,

But never sees him again.