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Why does Parshas Vayechi begin with no separation in the Torah (תורה) text—not even the standard nine-letter space? Rashi (רש"י) explains that the "closed" format signals that Yaakov's death triggered the slavery, sealing the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people. But a second Rashi in Parshas Vaera says slavery began seventy-seven years later, when Levi died. The shiur resolves the tension by showing that Rashi is teaching that the Torah's unique format doesn't just announce when slavery started—it describes what happened emotionally and psychologically to the nation.
Rabbi Zweig opens by examining a textual anomaly: Parshas Vayechi begins without any separation from the preceding parshah—no nine-letter gap (parshah stumah), no break to a new line (parshah pesucha), just one word flowing directly into the next. Rashi (רש"י) calls this a "parshah stumah," but the shiur clarifies that this is poetic license; in halachic terms, there is no separation at all. The question is: why does the Torah (תורה) start a new parshah in such an unusual, sealed manner? Rashi's first answer: "Lamah parshas stumah? Shekivan sheniftar Yaakov, nistamu einayam v'lev shel Yisrael mitzaras hashibud—shehichilu l'shabdam." When Yaakov died, the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people were sealed due to the pain of slavery, because the Egyptians began to enslave them. The form of the text—closed, seamless—mirrors the spiritual and emotional condition of the nation.
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Bereishis 47:28 (Parshas Vayechi), Shemos 6:16 (Parshas Vaera), Rashi
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