the end sealed in the beginning

All of creation really only takes place between two opposing forces. We learn from Chazal that HaShem thought to make the world with Hesed but needed to combine that Hesed with Din, Gevurah. The whole world is this balancing act of giving and holding back. That's why HaShem created the klippoth, the other side, they do the taking, HaShem does the giving.. in between the two, unholiness and holiness is where People were created.

We get to choose, we're the most alive out of anything in creation because we are balanced between the two. Our actions make us either alive and Holy, or dead and Unholy. That's why HaShem gave us the Torah and said, "choose life."

Out of the Ten Sayings through which HaShem created the world, Chazal teach that only the first one is a ma'amar satum, or a Sealed Saying. To me this means it's fundamentally unique. As we said, everything in creation is brought about by a balancing act, the contrariness of two opposing forces. When it came to the very first act of creation, there are no two opposing forces, there's only HaShem, (well, there's always only HaShem, but that's a discussion for another time) that first saying is Sealed because it's beyond comprehension, the initial creation of things without a duality as a backdrop, without the vacuum created by those two opposing forces.

In this Parashah VaYeChi, we learn from Chazal that Yaakov Avinu wanted to reveal the final Redemption but at that moment it was hidden from him. This is so important but to understand this we need to think a little bit about the nature of creation and the roles that will play themselves over the course of it.

Chazal teach us also that the redemption from Egypt is a microcosm of the macrocosm that will be the eventual redemption. In the final redemption the "other" side, death itself, will be obliterated from existence. Similarly, in the Exodus, The Jewish Nation emerged from the splitting of the sea alive, whereas the Egyptian Nation washed up on the shore dead.

This is a direct metaphor for the birth process, as we've written before. The placenta is what initially provides the developing baby with life, up until the moment of birth at which the baby is born alive and the placenta is born dead. The placenta is essentially the scaffolding that allows the baby to be properly "built." Once the building, the baby, is complete, the scaffolding is removed, ceases to have a function.

In the very same way, the "other" side is a temporary creation, the scaffolding upon which humanity could be created and elevated to their eventual heights, to truly be alive in the service of The King, to "choose life." At the point in which the choice is made and Humanity truly "lives," the "other" side, death, is no longer necesary, the scaffolding falls away and the creation is complete.

Just as the first step in this creation is absolutely Hidden by the fact that it is incomprehensible how the world came into being without the dual background vacuum of opposing forces, so too, the completion of that creation, our "life" beyond death, beyond the "other side" where we no longer have a counter-force to the force of Holiness is beyond our ability to conceive and so it is hidden in the very same Seal, as the first Sealed Saying.

This is why Yaakov Avinu couldn't reveal the end time, it is by its very nature always hidden.

Instead all Yaakov Avinu could do is describe the final challenges of his children prior to the end time, and this is what he did in his blessings, laying out for each one his challenges and how to overcome them.

a baby cries Torah

The Zohar (VaYeshev) says that the Yetzer Hara only has control over the body. This is why its first instance in one's life is from the moment one is born from the womb.

The Shulchan Aruch (and the Mishnah Berurah) when discussing the blessing of Asher Yatzar, (recited after washing the hands after using the bathroom)  makes a point that the mouth is closed in the womb and only opens when the baby is born. [Sidestepping for a moment the little scientist in me who would point out this is not a scientifically sound claim.] If the mouth would not open when the baby was born, we would die, they go on to explain.[This is close to some scientific truths about the reversal of blood flow in parts of the body and the closing and opening of certain valves at the time of birth, but I said we're ignoring that for now.]

In taking these two ideas together there's an interesting parallel that may or may not bear fruit:

In Yaakov's encounter with Yitzhak, we learn, "The voice is Yaakov's, while the hands are Esav's." In a number of places, Chazal equate Yaakov with the Godly soul, and Esav with the Yetzer Hara.

From this we see, perhaps, that the only thing that prevents the Yetzer Hara from killing a body outright upon its birth is that its mouth opens. (and the baby cries) The cry, the voice, is the power of Yaakov, and even though, until physical maturity we don't have a proper Godly soul, we do have the imprint of one. That shrill wordless voice of the baby when it is born is a portent of the Torah that will flow from that mouth. For that reason alone, theYetzer Hara is weakened and prevented from taking the child outright.

Were this not enough we see a number of examples in Chazal of those people who were so Holy and so involved in Torah that the Angel of Death (synonymous with the Yetzer Hara) had no power over them. The expression used is that "their mouths never ceased to utter Torah." We find it by David HaMelech, by Rav Yehudah HaNassi and others.

We know Torah is life, that's stated a number of times in the Torah, but perhaps from here we see that the mouth is the sole weapon against the Yetzer Hara.

fragrant clothes

The Zohar explains that Esav's "festive garments" (bigdei hamudot) were taken from Nimrod when he killed him. This coincidentally was the day Yaakov bought the birthright from him, presumably the day Avraham died.

It's interesting to note that Nimrod, Avraham's foil, was kept around until the death of Avraham, when he no longer served a purpose. Presumably it was only because of Avraham's prayers that Nimrod hung around. It's fitting in a way, that Esav, Avraham's grandson, killed Nimrod, Avraham's Arch-nemesis who threw him into the fire.

Anyways, back to the point at hand: Those very clothes that Esav took from Nimrod were the garments that God made for Adam when He exiled him from the Garden of Eden. Nimrod wore them and they transformed him into a mighty hunter. Still, he was no match for Esav who killed him and took the clothes from him.

Later, it's only when Rivkah gave Yaakov the clothes (how did Rivkah have them? Rashi tells us that Esav didn't trust his own wives with them, so he left them with his mother) and he donned them that they gave off a beautiful aroma. Yitzhak smells this and knows that his son, Yaakov, is worthy of the blessings.

Why did the clothes give off a beautiful scent? Because they had finally returned to their rightful owner. What?Yaakov Avinu is said to have the countenance (literally: beauty) of Adam. What does this mean, how could it possibly be? Adam was an other-worldly celestial being! After the sin, Adam was reduced to mere mortal terms and it was this form that Yaakov resembled.

It is for this reason that Yaakov shared the same spiritual nature with Adam that he was able ultimately to rectify the nature of Adam. His descendants all followed in his Godly ways and received the Torah, at which time the stink of the sin was removed from all his future generations.

That's not the end of the story, we know, since the sin of the golden calf followed shortly afterwards. Still, the stink of the sin of the golden calf is nothing compared to that of the sin in the Garden. When the children of Yaakov clothe themselves in the words of the Torah they too give off a pleasing scent before God and draw down abundant blessing in the world. Think about that the next time you don a Talit or a kipah [or cover your hair--married women] or wear nice clothes for Shabbat.

Be involved in mitzwoth. Fill the world with the aroma of the Garden of Eden.