Vaye’hi (ויחי – And he lived)
Genesis 47:28–50:26 and I Kings 2:1–12
Both texts reflect the transmission of a spiritual and moral legacy. Aware of his imminent death, Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh, then gathers his sons to give them blessings and warnings. After his passing, his sons bury him in Machpelah. The parasha concludes with Joseph’s death, during which he reaffirms God’s promise to the Children of Israel to return to the land of Israel (Canaan). In the haftarah, David, sensing his end is near, blesses Solomon and imparts instructions for his reign.
Genesis 49:9 (1)
גּוּר אַרְיֵה יְהוּדָה, מִטֶּרֶף בְּנִי עָלִיתָ; כָּרַע רָבַץ כְּאַרְיֵה וּכְלָבִיא, מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ.
Judah is a young lion. You have risen above the prey, my son. You crouched, you lay down like a lion or like a leopard. Who would dare awaken you?
Kibbutz Lavi (2), founded in 1949 by Shoah survivors (3), is a religious kibbutz located in Lower Galilee. It operates a world-renowned factory, Lavi Furniture Industries, which produces custom-made liturgical furniture (4) for more than 6,000 synagogues in 70 countries. Over the years, Lavi has developed a luxury hotel and various agricultural branches, including field crops, orchards, a dairy farm, a cattle herd, and poultry farming. The synagogue, built in 1956, is distinguished by its high-quality furniture, crafted by the kibbutz’s carpentry factory.
(1) Commentary: Judah, a young king, embodies exemplary self-control, rising above predatory instincts. His tranquil sovereignty, ready to assert itself when needed, poses the question: who would dare challenge him?
(2) Lavi (לָבִיא = leopard) is the name of an inn located along the road from Tzippori to Tiberias, dating from the 2nd to the 6th century. Remains of the inn have been discovered near the kibbutz.
(3) Notably from the Kindertransport operation, a humanitarian mission carried out by Britain between 1938 and 1940, which saved children, mainly Jewish, from Nazi persecution by evacuating them to the United Kingdom. Around 10,000 children were hosted by British foster families, saving their lives, though many lost their parents during the Shoah.
(4) In 2015, Lavi Furniture Industries completed a reconstruction of the Polish synagogue destroyed by the Nazis in 1939. This work was commissioned for the Forest Hill Jewish Centre in Toronto.