"Moshiach (the Messiah) will come, and everything will be alright."
"When we get out of 'golus' (exile), and go back to Israel, everything will be alright."
"May the Messiah come speedily."
"May he come and restore the hearts of children to their parents, and parents to their children."
On and on it goes, how everything is in such terrible shape, and the only remedy is for the Messiah to come. So many have put their personal satisfaction, even their lives, hopes and happiness on hold, praying for the coming redemption to come, already.
And yet, the story of our father Yaakov (Jacob), in this parsha (chapter of the Torah), Vayechi, actually teaches us something else again.
Yaakov is on his death bed giving final words to his sons (and two grandsons) who will head the tribes of Israel.
According to a Midrash, the Shechina (Divine Presence) rested upon him, and Yaakov saw the entire future of the Jewish people right up to the coming of the Messiah. He wanted to tell his heirs exactly when that day would come but when he tried to speak, the Shechina erased the knowledge from his head.
This was not the first time Yaakov had dealt with the exile we are currently in, the Roman exile, and since the Romans are said to have descended from Aisav (Esau), Yaakov's brother, it's really the exile under his brother's thumb.
When he was a young man, fleeing the wrath of Aisav, Yaakov had a famous dream, known as "Jacob's Ladder." He saw a ladder reaching into the heavens, and angels ascending and descending on it.
In his dream, he was told that the angels represented the exiles his descendants, the Jewish people, would have to endure. When an angel went up, the number of rungs signified how many years it would last, and then, when the angel came down, that particular exile was over.
In this manner, Yaakov observed the fate of various exiles until he noticed one angel which kept going up and up, and gave no signs of ever coming down. This, the Midrash says, was our current exile. Yaakov asked if the angel/exile would ever stop its ascension. He was told at that time, to have faith, and that the exile would end (with the coming of the Messiah) but he was not to know when -- at least, not at that point in his life.
Back to the present parsha. Yaakov has now been informed as to when the Messiah will come and the exile will end but is not permitted to reveal this.
Why? Midrashim say that if the Jewish people knew how long they would have to wait for Mashiach to come to end the current exile, they might lose hope. They might feel their lives were meaningless, incapable as they were of bringing the Messiah.
If the Messiah isn't coming in my generation, they might say, why should I bother?
Why should I bother even being Jewish, keeping the commandments, learning the Torah.
to be continued ... reason -- relevance -- vayechi
