Vayechi

בס״ד 

Vayechi

Vayechi means: “and he lived”,

But that’s not what Yaakov told Pharaoh,

He said he was old,

But his life had been cold,

Compared to the lives of his Avos.

When Yosef used the phrase “od Avi chai”

As a question - or statement of truth,

He could not perceive,

How his Father had grieved,

All the way back to his youth.

Yaakov wouldn’t tell Pharaoh that he had “lived”,

To say otherwise would be a lie,

’Til he’d savored the juice,

Of the fruit he’d produced,

Now he could respond, Ani Chai.

Vayigash

בס״ד 

Vayigash

It’s fitting that Bnei Yisroel,

Come to live in a land called Goshen, 

Because Vayigash, and Goshna, too,

Come from the verb, approachin’.

Yehuda approaches Yosef,

And sets the ball in motion,

He risks his life for Binyamin,

Thus proving his devotion.

Hence, Yosef approaches Yaakov,

Embracing him with emotion,

When all are reconciled now,

Together, in a land called Goshen.

Chanukah

בס״ד

 Chanukah

One tiny bit of shemen,

Was found in one small pach,

But the long war leading up to that,

Is nowhere in Tanach.

For 30 years the Maccabees,

Led a war against Antiochus,

But Chazal decided not to preserve,

That war as the main focus.

Yet defeating the Seleucid Greeks,

Was just as big a nes,

As lighting the Menorah,

And cleaning up the mess.

The Maccabees made the error,

Of mixing Kahuna with the Melech,

And perhaps that contributed to,

Their going off the derech.

But other sefarim in Tanach,

Speak frankly of our leaders,

Bad errors, mistakes, and attitudes,

But they’re included for the readers.

It may be good to read both Maccabees,

And consider them with pride,

And though indeed they made mistakes,

There’s nothing there to hide.

They became as Hellenistic,

As the Greeks that they defeated,

But perhaps that is the error,

That we should not see repeated.

Mikeitz

בס״ד 

Mikeitz

A dream that has not been interpreted,

Is like a letter that has not been read,

This is not something that I made up,

It is what Rav Chisda said.

What would have happened in Egypt,

If Pharaoh’s dream had remained hidden?

Would famine have come down to Egypt,

Along with our People, unbidden?

Mikeitz 2

Seven years of plenty,

Seven years of loss,

A goodly life in Goshen,

And then that life was lost.

A new Viceroy comes to Egypt,

From famine they are saved,

A new Pharaoh arises in Egypt,

And makes the Jews his slaves.

Yosef gathers up the harvests,

And stores them in the cities,

The Jews scour the land for straw,

And build Pharaoh’s treasure cities.

Yosef sells the grain for money,

And barters it for land,

The Mitzrim lose their independence,

They depend on Pharaoh’s hand.

The Jews buy their food with money,

And receive an open land,

But become the slaves of Pharaoh,

Their Eden turns to sand.

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.