"Vayechi" is Hebrew for "and he lived.
" It is the 12th weekly Torah portion read by Jews on the Sabbath sometime in December or January.
This part corresponds to the book of Genesis, 47:28-50:26 in the Christian Bible and deals with the death of Jacob.
One of the themes of this portion is that the character of a culture or civilization is at least partially revealed by how it treats its dead.
This makes a stark distinction between the holy disposition of a deceased body according to recognized Jewish law.
Another lesson to take from this portion has to do with life, not death.
More specifically, it deals with how to live a moral and ethical life in the face of the trials and tribulations of a difficult world.
It was important for Jacob as part of his religious faith to follow certain specific procedures.
Jacob insisted that his body be treated in specific ways and to this end, he made his son, Joseph, swear that he would not bury him in Egypt.
He feared that if he was buried there, his body would be subjected to Egypt's pagan rituals.
He gave Joseph clear instructions to transport his body to the land of Cannan and to bury him in a specific cave.
Joseph honored his father's request, including his observance of Levaya, the act of accompanying his father's body to the gravesite.
A Rabi named Yehuda Appel has written about groups he has taken to visit secular and religious funeral homes to compare how the deceased are treated.
He related how at some of the secular funeral homes employees listened to loud music as they worked and generally treated the deceased as a corpse instead of as a valuable individual.
In contrast, the Jewish funeral homes follow specific traditions that honor the dead.
The person is ritually cleansed, and prayers are recited.
Also, there is a person present that acts as a guardian or Shomer and remains with the body the entire time it is being prepared for burial.
The point of this Torah portion is to make believers understand the injunction that the deceased are to be treated as people.
This view rejects the secular tendency to treat the deceased merely as a cadaver to be disposed with in a timely manner.
The Torah portion Vayechi that relates the story of Jacob on his deathbed is prominent for another reason as he speaks to his sons.
Commentators and writers have studied this story and argued the discussion between father and sons reveals a valuable lesson about the root of sin.
We all have the capacity within us to succumb to emotions like anger, hatred and jealousy.
However, we should not use bad circumstances or shortcomings as an excuse to act badly because we feel we have been victimized.
Instead, we have an obligation to choose to behave ethically and morally for our benefit and for the benefit for others.
This Torah portion teaches us that we can learn from our flaws and trials and transform a negative into a positive.