Parshas Vayechi -Parsha Stumper / Something to Think Abou

פרשת ויחי

Parsha Stumpers / Something to Think About

1. Why did Yaakov get up in bed when Yosef entered the room? Forget the fact that Yosef
   
   
    was King, still Yaakov was not feeling well and he should have stayed in bed sick so 
   
   
   
   
   Yosef would realize and spread the word to have everyone daven for him?

2. Why did Yaakov make Yosef swear that he would bury him in Eretz Yisroel?

3. If Yosef had more sons, where in Eretz Yisroel would they live – with shevet Menashe or
   
   
   
   
   
   
   shevet Ephraim?

4. When Yaakov asked Yosef regarded his children, “Who are these (unfit of receiving a 
   
   
   beracha), Rashi writes that Yosef first showed Yaakov his shtar eirusin and shtar
   
   
   
   
   kesubah. And then, afterwards, davened for Yaakov to get ruach hakodesh back.
   
   
   
   
   1. Why did Yosef have his wife's kesuba and shtar eirusin?
      
      
   2. Why did he assume that Yaakov would think that he married illegally? He should 
      
      
      have just started off by davening that Yaakov get his ruach hakodesh back?

5. Why did the Shechina leave Yaakov when he wanted to tell the shevatim what would
   
   
    happen באחרית הימים?

6. Where do you see in this week's parsha that, sometimes, having in mind to have done 
   
   
   something is considered as if you did it?

7. Yaakov refers to Shimon and levi as having “stolen tools” because murder was a 'gift' 
   
   
   
   
   given to Eisav. If so, how did they get it? And if it was a different type of murder 
   
   
   
   
   because all l'shem shamayim, then what did they do wrong to get the mussar from 
   
   
   
   
   Yaakov?

8. The Gemara in Sotah relates that an interesting episode with Eisav occurred when the
   
   
   shevatim tried to bury Yaakov in ma'aras hamachpeilah. Chushim ben Dan was the one 
   
   
   
   
   who ultimately beheaded Eisav to allow Yaakov to be buried. Why didn't any of the 
   
   
   
   
   shevatim or other spectators have the sense to remove the obstacle (Eisav) which was 
   
   
   
   
   stopping them from burying the tzaddik Yaakov?

9. At the end of the Parsha, Yosef told his brothers “HaTachas Elokim Ani?” (Am I in
   
   
    place of Hashem?) -
   
   
   
   
   1. Who else in the Torah used this expression? When?
      
      
   2. Is there a connection in how to understand the passuk in both places?

10. What argument did Yosef say to finally convince the brothers that he would not kill 
    
    
    
    
    them? What argument did he try to originally use and why didn't it work?
    
    
    
    
11. What is the connection between this week's parsha and its haftorah?