Vayichi

Some time later Joseph was told, "Your father is ill.  Genesis 48:1

 

Throughout the Torah people are born and die but this is the first time any mention is made of illness in the Torah.  The Midrash explains, “from the time of Adam until now no one became ill before they passed away.  When their time came to die, they simply died without warning."


Jacob prayed to God that he would have some indication that his death as approaching so that he would have a chance to say the things that he needed to day to his children before he passed from view.  God accepted his prayer and from Jacob’s time on, illness was the gift of a warning that life was about to come to an end and we could “put our things in order”.” (Me’am Loez)


We not usually consider illness a gift yet we have a long tradition of leaving a well-considered list of ideals that we want to give to the next generations.  They are not wills of the sort that divides real estate or valuables but a will that encapsulates the values of a person’s life.  Such a will might contain elements of living a Jewish life, holding sacred values like tefilah, tzedaka or taking care of specific people, the real priorities of a well-lived life.

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