Parsha Facts – Parashat Vayechi

ú         Yaakov lives in Egypt 17 years

ú         Yaakov lives to be 147 years old, while yosef lives to be 110.

ú         Ephraim and Menashe will be like Reuven and Shimon to yaakov (meaning they will have their own inheritance with the tribes).

ú         The blessing children get from their parents on Friday night comes form this parasha: “Hamal’ach hago’el oti mikol ra, yevarech et hane’arim…”

ú         Yaakov blesses all of his 12 sons before his death. Yehudah and yosef get the longest blessings.

ú         Shvatim who are compared to animals: Yehuda=lion, Yissachar=donkey, Dan=snake, Naphtali=deer/gazelle, (Yosef=ox,) Binyamin=wolf.

ú         Three out of the four pairs buries in Me’arat Hamachpela are mentioned in the parasha: avraham and sarah, yitzchak and rivka, yaakov and le’ah. The fourth pair is… adam and chava.

ú         Yaakov was buried in Me’arat hamachpela; the funeral was in Goren Ha’Atad.

ú         Yosef was not allowed to leave Egypt alone form fear that he will not return; instead Paroe sent with yosef and his brothers a great host to accompany them.

ú         The brothers thought that yosef will revenge what they did to him, but instead he reassures them that it was all from G-d.

ú         Yosef tells his brothers that G-d will remember them and bring them back to Cana’an – “Pakod Ifkod”. These become the code words which Moshe later uses when telling Bnei Yisrael that G-d will soon save them.

ú         Sefer Breishit has 12 parashot and 50 prakim (chapters)

ú         If you think you know how many psukim are in the whole Sefer, come to Netanel Afek for a chance to win a prize.