IN A NUTSHELL
After all the family fights and arguments we have seen in the book of Bereshit, this chapter gives a peaceful end to the story. Yaakov is finally reunited with his beloved son Yosef, and meets his grandsons for the first time. This is the only time in the Torah we see a grandfather together with his grandchildren in this way. He blesses them, and then, just before he dies, he also blesses his twelve sons.
He is buried in the Cave of Makhpela with his parents Yitzḥak and Rivka, and his grandparents Avraham and Sara.
After their father’s death, the brothers worry that Yosef will take revenge for what they did to him all those years ago. So Yosef explains to his brothers again that he forgives them. Yosef also promises his brothers that God will eventually bring the family back to Israel, and then he dies.
With this, the story of Avraham’s family concludes, and we are ready to begin a new age – the birth of Israel as a nation – in the book of Shemot.
QUESTION TO PONDER
Why do you think there are so many family fights in the book of Bereshit?