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Why does Parshas Vayechi open with no paragraph break, making it appear "closed" (stumah)? Rashi (רש"י) teaches that when Yaakov died, the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people were "sealed" — they went into denial about the beginning of slavery. The shiur explores how even the shevatim, knowing the Bris Bein HaBesarim prophecy, convinced themselves the enslavement wouldn't happen, believing Yosef had achieved a complete tikkun of family unity.
This shiur addresses a profound question in Parshas Vayechi: why does the Torah (תורה) open this parsha with no visual break from the previous parsha, creating what Rashi (רש"י) calls a "parsha stumah" (closed section), even though technically this is not a halachic parsha stumah? Rashi famously states that when Yaakov died, the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people became "sealed" (nistamu), marking the beginning of their enslavement. But this interpretation raises multiple difficulties. The first major problem is chronological. Here in Vayechi, Rashi indicates the shibbud (slavery) began at Yaakov's death, when Levi was 60 years old. Yet in Parshas Va'era, Rashi explains that the Torah records Levi living 137 years specifically to teach us that the slavery didn't begin until after the last brother died — 77 years later. This appears to be a glaring contradiction.
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Bereishis 47:28 (Parshas Vayechi)
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