Shabbat Message, January 1, 2021, Parashat Vayehi

Click HERE (video) for the sermon Sacred Capacity: Giving and Receiving Blessings. As we finish the Book of Genesis this week with Parshat Vayehi we are reminded that blessing others is a Jewish privilege. Are we prepared to receive the blessings of those who bestow them upon us? How do we gain kavannah (intentionality) to make authentic blessings and call upon God for the sake of others?

Click HERE (video) for Torah study with Rashi: The Only Time A Grandparent Blesses Grandchildren in the Torah – Jacob’s Blessing of Ephraim and Menashe. Three distinct elements of Jacob’s blessing reveal Jacob’s inner hopes and concerns about his grandchildren. Rashi’s commentary, as usual, borrows from the Rabbinic library of midrash to illuminate the Torah text.

Click HERE (article) for Rabbi Bolton’s commentary on Parshat Vayehi in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal column “Table for Five” regarding the verse: “When I die bury me in Israel…” Jacob connects the family to Israel and to our Jewish roots through his request to be buried in the Holy Land.