19.12.07

a taste of death

Here's a little pshat in Rashi that occurred to me this morning:
When Yosef is reunited with his (our) father Yaakov Avinu, he does all the action, and we don't see Yaakov Avinu respond until the next passuk, Rashi explains this: Yaakov Avinu was saying Shema at the time, so he couldn't stop in the middle to greet Yosef, his long lost son.

I asked myself this morning, why was Yaakov Avinu saying Shema Yisrael right then? The answer is actually in the very next passuk. Yaakov Avinu was fairly certain he was about to die, and so he was saying his final Keriath Shema before he passed away. Once he finished and realized he was still alive, he explained to Yosef why he hadn't stopped to greet him properly.

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