Vayechi 5782 Israel Gives Nature's Blessings

(3) Reuben, you are my first-born, My might and first fruit of my vigor,Exceeding in rank And exceeding in honor. (4) Haughty and reckless as water, you shall excel no longer; For when you mounted your father’s bed, You brought disgrace—my couch he mounted! (5) Simeon and Levi are a pair; Their weapons are tools of violence. (6) Let not my person be included in their council, Let not my being be counted in their assembly. For when angry they slay men, And when pleased they maim oxen.

(9) Judah is a lion’s cub; On prey, my son, have you grown up. He crouches, lies down like a lion,Like the king of beasts^-a—who dare rouse him? (10) The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet; So that tribute shall come to him And the homage of peoples be his. (11) He tethers his ass to a vine,His ass’s foal to a choice vine;He washes his garment in wine,
His robe in blood of grapes. (12) His eyes are darker than wine;His teeth are whiter than milk.^-c (13) Zebulun shall sleep on the shore of the sea, He shall be a haven for ships, And his flank shall rest on Sidon. (14) Issachar is a strong-boned ass, Crouching among the sheepfolds. (15) When he saw how good was security, And how pleasant was the country, He bent his shoulder to the burden, And became a toiling serf. (16) Dan shall govern his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. (17) Dan shall be a serpent by the road, A viper by the path, That bites the horse’s heels So that his rider is thrown backward. (18) I wait for Your deliverance, O LORD! (19) Gad shall be raided by raiders,
But he shall raid at their heels. (20) Asher’s bread shall be rich, And he shall give delight to kings (21) Naphtali is a antelope let loose, Which yields lovely fawns. (22) Joseph is a wild calf/ ( others: fruitful vine) by a spring—with branches upon a hill.^-d (23) They made life bitter for him, they quarreled, arrow-tongued men hated him

(27) Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he consumes the foe, And in the evening he divides the spoil.” (28) All these were the tribes of Israel, twelve in number, and this is what their father said to them as he bade them farewell, addressing to each a parting word appropriate to him. (29) Then he instructed them, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my kin. Bury me with my fathers in the cave which is in the field of Ephron (a name meaning "fawn-like") the Hittite, (30) the cave which is in the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site— (31) there Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah— (32) the field and the cave in it, bought from the Hittites.” (33) When Jacob finished his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and, breathing his last, he was gathered to his people.

The Gemara considers another aspect of the character of the Jewish people. It is taught in a baraita in the name of Rabbi Meir: For what reason was the Torah given to the Jewish people? It is because they are impudent, and Torah study will weaken and humble them. A Sage of the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught the following with regard to the verse: “From His right hand went a fiery law for them” (Deuteronomy 33:2); The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Based on their nature and character, these people, the Jews, are fit to be given a fiery law, a hard and scorching faith. Some say a different version of this baraita: The ways and nature of these people, the Jews, are like fire, as, were it not for the fact that the Torah was given to the Jewish people, whose study and observance restrains them, no nation or tongue could withstand them. And this is the same as what Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: There are three impudent ones: The Jewish people among the nations; the dog among animals; and the rooster among birds.

וזאת אשר דבר להם אביהם ויברך אתם AND THIS IS IT THAT THEIR FATHER SPOKE UNTO THEM WHEN (literally, and) HE BLESSED THEM — But were there not some of his sons whom he did not bless but whom, on the contrary, he reproached? But this is the explanation of these words: and this is it that their father spake unto them, viz., all that has been said above in this chapter, whether it be blessing or reproach. You might therefore think that he did not bless Reuben, Simeon and Levi at all — Scripture therefore states, “and he blessed them” (i.e. the 12 tribes alluded to at the beginning of the verse) which implies all of them. (Pesikta Rabbati 7).

אשר כברכתו according to his blessing, etc. Each person received a blessing in keeping with his individual personality and achievements. You must not forget that different souls possess different potentials. Some souls are able to rise to the level of being priests, others to the level of being kings, etc. Still others have the potential to achieve greatness in Torah knowledge, or temporal successes such as wealth, or personal heroism. Jacob endeavoured to match his blessings to what he perceived to be the nature of each of his sons' special attributes.