A man was nearing the end of his days. His family gathered around his bed. With the last of his energies the man kept asking if all the family members were present. The loved ones quickly assured him that every single person was accounted for. 

“If everybody is here, then why are the lights on in the kitchen?” the man demanded. 

(If you know you know!)

Rabbi Avi Baumol serves the Jewish community in Krakow. Those of us who traveled to Poland in 2020, had the privilege of hearing him share stories of his interaction with the people who come to the Krakow JCC. He has shared how often people who are about to pass away make a death bed confession. Although they have lived their lives as Gd fearing Poles, as they feel their moments are numbered it is not unusual for them to reveal to their family members that they are Jewish. During the Nazi era, when being identified as a Jew meant a death sentence, some Jews assumed  a Polish identity, donned a cross, to save themselves and their children. They exhorted their children to never reveal the truth and often it was only at the end of life that the truth came out. Rabbi Baumol recently posted about Agnieszka whom he met on her way to Israel after her grandmother shared the shocking news of her Jewish origins. It is an all too common phenomenon, and the hope is that this shocking revelation will serve as a path forward on a journey to discovery of Jewish roots. 

This week’s Torah Portion is Vayechi (my Bat mitzva portion eons ago) and there is another family interaction around a death bed. Jacob’s children gather around him as he prepares to take leave from this world. 

And he has a secret to share too!

Jacob wants to reveal to his children how the end of days will play out. Just as he is ready to make the great reveal, his ability to prophesy leaves him and he is unable to continue. This development shakes Jacob to the core. 

For the past 17 years since he has been reunited with Joseph, Jacob has finally lived a life of serenity. All the challenges he has faced now make sense to him. In hindsight all the struggles fall into place, it’s a form of redemption which he wants to share with his children. But when he experiences the veritable writer’s block he is worried. Perhaps his children are not worthy. Perhaps all is not as it seemed. 

Jacob’s children respond with the clarion call of the Jewish people

Shma Yisroel, Hear Israel, Hashem our Gd ,Hashem is One. 

We are on board, we do accept the the kingship of Gd. 

We are your proper descendants, but it’s not the time to reveal what is going to happen in the future. 

As we are preparing to go into Exile, the Egyptian exile, we will not be able to see redemption, but we will feel it, we believe that it will ultimately happen. 

That is why we cover our eyes when we say Shma, because we can’t see the redemption, but we believe in it even though things look dark. 

The Shma has become the clarion call of the Jewish people. If we say Shma nightly with our children, we can inculcate this reality and ingrain it in the psyche of our children and ourselves. 

It is documented  after World War 2 many children had been sent to churches and monasteries for safe keeping. Just like Agnetzia, they were taught to be good Christians. When the war was concluded, various rabbis traveled to the religious institutions to reclaim the children. They were told there were no Jews amongst the children. The Rabbis requested an opportunity to meet the children and when they were gathered, they called out the words Shma Yisroel. 

All of a sudden the little charges ran to the Rabbis and clamored, “do you know my Mommy?”

The precious words taught from babyhood, left an impression and ensured that the Jewish soul could continue to connect. 

The deathbed conversation of Jacob and his family laid the foundation for Jewish identity. 

We have arrived at the last portion of the book of Genesis. We begin with the creation of the world in macrocosm and end with with the creation of a family where each person is blessed by the parent to create an entire world. 

May the lessons and messages we teach our children throughout their lives help them see their great potential and their strengths to be a beacon of light even when things look dark. 

Shabbat Shalom and so much love!