Vayechi

Overview Our Parshah tells the story of Jacob’s final moments in this world. He speaks to Joseph, blesses Joseph’s children, and then gathers his sons for them to hear his last words to them. In a similar vein, the haftarah describes the final words of another one of our greatest heroes: King David. In this last command to his young son Solomon, the king begins with telling him to be strong and fear G‑d. Following the Torah and its mitzvot would bring him wisdom and success, and guarantee that G‑d would keep His promise to David that his descendants would forever be the kings among Israel. After these general instructions, David leaves his son with some work to do. There were a number of things that David wanted to see happen, but which could be carried out only after his death. In the following paragraphs we will explain some of the background behind these various commands.