פרשת ויחי

In this weeks Parsha, Parshat Vayechei, Ya'akov is preparing to die. He calls to his sons and grandsons to give them blessings. Then he dies, and is embalmed, then buried by his sons next to his fathers and Leah, in Marat Hamachpelah. After the death of their father, the other brothers were afraid that Yosef might take vengeance on them, but he assures them otherwise. Then, at 110 years old, Yosef dies and is buried in Egypt.

We see Ya'akov give brachot to all of his sons, starting with eldest Reveun. Reveun was supposed to get the bechor, however it was taken away from him and given to Yosef. Was this still the remnant of Ya'akov’s favoritism? Or was it a wise decision based on who was more worthy? In that case why wasn't Revuen worthy?

We see in the bracha, that Ya'akov addresses that Revuen should have gotten the firstborn rights, but lost them. He is compared to restless water, that keeps flowing pushing everything in its path. Rashi elaborates on this, by saying that Rvbuen made hasty decisions and often let his anger control him. This was not a show a favoritism, rather a lesson to  a son.

So we see that Ya'akov was trying to teach Reuben, that letting your anger control you is not wise. We all get angry or upset we are human. But we don't have to let our anger control us, and force to make hasty choices. We all must be calm and not rush like the water.

Seela Langer