The parashah<\/i> This week's is called Vaiej\u00ed<\/i>, \u201cAnd he lived.\u201d The Torah recounts the last days of Jacob\u2019s life in Egypt, the blessing he gives to the sons of Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim), the blessing he gives to his children (the tribes), and how he is taken to be buried in Mearat HaMajpel\u00e1<\/i>, where Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and his wife Leah are buried. Finally, the Torah recounts that Joseph foretells the Exodus from Egypt.<\/p>\n
As mentioned many times in this editorial, the Alter Rebbe used to say that one should live with the times, that is, draw lessons from the weekly Torah portion for present life.<\/p>\n
It is interesting to note that only two parashot<\/i> The verses in the Torah have names related to life, yet they speak of death. The first is Jaiei Sara<\/i> (The Life of Sara), which tells of Sara's death and Itzjak's marriage. The second one is this. parashah<\/i>, Vaiej\u00ed<\/i>, where the death of Jacob and what happened to his descendants is discussed.<\/p>\n
This means, among other things, that the Torah is teaching us how to deal with death. By using the idea of life as its title, and then discussing death within the text, the Torah is telling us that the death of a loved one signifies life, both in terms of the deceased's spirituality, because they go on to live a life free from material limitations, and in terms of those who remain, who must continue the teachings of that loved one, keeping them "alive," so to speak, thus keeping the loved one alive.<\/p>\n
Because, in reality, what do we, as limited human beings, know about death? And furthermore, without knowing what it means, how can we know how to deal with it? The Torah, whose source is God and expresses infinite divine wisdom, explains to us what death is, how to receive it, and what to do with it. That is why the books of halakha<\/i> (Jewish law) explain the customs and laws related to the death of a loved one, a proper Jewish burial, mourning in all its stages, and behavior after one year of death.<\/p>\n
We cannot leave to reason alone a matter that is essentially irrational. Nor can we select, according to subjective and personal parameters, what should be done from among all the issues mentioned in our holy books, and what should not. As part of this people, we must know what our Torah says about every aspect of life, so that we can judge and choose. And if one does not know, one must inquire and find out, because otherwise, one will not be able to choose; others will end up choosing for one.<\/p>\n
La Plata as a community is mature enough to realize this, and its members deserve to know what our ancient wisdom offers at every step of life.<\/p>\n
The section is called Vaiej\u00ed<\/i>, \u201cAnd he lived,\u201d true life is about being united to the source of life, to God, as the Torah itself says (Devarim 4:4) \u201cAnd you are united to God your Lord, you are all alive today.\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"La parash\u00e1 de esta semana se llama Vaiej\u00ed, \u201cy vivi\u00f3\u201d. La Tor\u00e1 relata los \u00faltimos d\u00edas de la vida de Iaacov en Egipto, la bendici\u00f3n que da a los hijos de Iosef (Menashe y Efra\u00edm), la bendici\u00f3n que le da a sus hijos (las tribus) y c\u00f3mo es llevado para ser enterrado en Mearat HaMajpel\u00e1,… Read More \u00bbLife<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,23],"tags":[1008,1001,989,965,975,1025,997,996,954,1014,962,942],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editoriales","category-vaieji","tag-avraham","tag-costumbres","tag-duelo","tag-fallecimiento","tag-halaja","tag-iaacov","tag-iosef","tag-itzjak","tag-judio","tag-la-plata","tag-ley","tag-tora"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Muerte.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/avatar1400.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"castbox":{"key":"castbox","url":"","label":"CastBox","class":"castbox","icon":"castbox.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/feed\/podcast\/rabino-tuvia-serber","embedCode":"Vida<\/a><\/blockquote>