Vayechi

 בס״ד

Vayechi

Our Avos must distinguish,

Between the young son and the old,

Which one should be number one,

And which one should be culled.

Avraham Avinu needed Sarah,

To point out light from dark,

She saw Yitzchok was the future,

Within him the holy spark.

Yitzchok, led by Rivkah’s vision,

Sees that here’s the blessed son,

“Is this Esav, or is it Yaakov?

I’m not sure, but he’s the one”.

But Yaakov has no Rochel,

To perceive with eyes unshaded,

Yet he turns aside his son’s advice,

And sets Efraim first, unaided.

Vayigash

 בס״ד

Vayigash

Yosef had been the favorite son,

Placed above the others,

Why does history repeat itself,

Once reunited with his brothers?

Could this be the final test,

That Yosef placed before them,

Will they be jealous and abuse,

His favored one, Binyamin?

The parsha doesn’t mention if,

The siblings now feel slighted,

It seems the lesson has been learned,

That capsized ship now righted.

Yet maybe seeds are planted here,

For war, that comes in Shoftim,

With Binyamin trounced at Givah,

By all the other shvatim.

Mikeitz

 בס״ד

Mikeitz

seven years of abundance

abundance

truly, i have never lived

without abundance

abundance

something to feel guilty about

because of all those who live without it

abundance

hard to appreciate unless you

can experience its lack

abundance

a gift and a challenge

the more choices we have

the more mistakes we can make

the greater we may become

abundance and famine

in the end, are within the eye

of the beholder

bracha or klalah

Vayeishev

 בס״ד

Vayeishev

What were the brothers doing in Sh’chem?

Why would Yaakov still have flocks up there?

Why was Yosef sent to check up on them?

What mission did the youngster bear?

Were they there to pasture their father’s flocks?

Not according to Rashi’s reasoning,

Above the word “את” he notes two dots,

Which changes the pasuk’s meaning.

They went, Rashi says, to indulge and carouse,

To “pasture” themselves, so to speak,

Far away from their father’s house,

(And perhaps, too, from Yosef, that geek).

Did Yaakov suspect they were up to no good?

Did he send Yosef there as a spy?

Or did he think, if he hung with his bros,

He’d be seen as a regular guy?

In any case, Yaakov rues his choice,

Considering what then transpires,

Like Esav, he’ll cry with a trembling voice,

When he’s shown Yosef’s bloodied attire.

Vayishlach

 בס״ד

Vayishlach

are we not all lamed

as a result of our struggles with

our own angels

the times in our lives when

we must separate from all we know

and remain alone, naked, on our side of

the Yabok

there to wrestle with our lesser angels

a battle postponed and avoided

not so eager to engage in

the throw and pin of the match

only then is it possible to

move forward - prepared

for the next round

when our wounds will turn to assets

and we’ll be touched, with God’s help, by

“the better angels

     of our nature” *

*Abraham Lincoln, Inaugural Address, 4 March 1861, כ״ב אדר תרכ״א