This week’s parsha, Vayechi, offers powerful insights into planning our legacy. Yaakov instructs his family regarding his burial, blesses Yosef’s sons, and then blesses his own children. Later, Yosef also gives instructions about his burial, fulfilled generations later by Moshe Rabbeinu during the Exodus from Egypt.
Both moments follow a similar pattern: recalling earlier generations and Hashem’s protection, and then offering hope and blessing for the future. Yaakov invokes Avraham and Yitzchak and reflects on how Hashem has shepherded him throughout his life. Looking ahead, he declares that Efraim and Menashe will carry their forefathers’ names and flourish in the Land.
After Yaakov’s passing, Yosef reassures his brothers, who fear retribution for past wrongs. Yosef reminds them that they were instruments of Hashem’s plan for good and affirms that Hashem will ultimately redeem Bnei Yisrael and bring them to the Promised Land.
What lessons emerge for us?
- First, we should reflect on Hashem’s involvement in our lives, in the lives of our ancestors, and consider the implications for the legacy we’ll leave behind.
- Second, we should think intentionally about how we wish to bless future generations and articulate our specific hopes and dreams for them.
- Third, we should consider how our resources will be shared, both with loved ones and with the organizations we trust to preserve and advance our values.
Through their blessings, our patriarchs connected the past to the future, imparting guidance, blessings, and material inheritance. Today, we do this through beneficiary designations, insurance policies, wills, and trusts.
Of course, as Jews, halacha also plays a critical role in inheritance. To ensure that wives, sons, and daughters inherit as we wish, it is often necessary to create a Halachic Will.
While estate planning may feel overwhelming, the Orthodox Union offers extensive resources at ou.planmylegacy.org, including:
- Guidance on halachic wills
- A Personal Estate Planning Kit
- Opportunity to create a will at no cost to you via GivingDocs.com/OU
Over the past year, over 80 of our donors have used GivingDocs to create wills, thoughtfully allocating assets to heirs and charitable causes. The process is simple: complete your will online, download it, and follow state-specific instructions to execute it properly.
Finally, the OU’s Planned Giving team is here to help you follow in the footsteps of the Avot, passing your blessings to the next generation.
Questions? Please contact Tim Cravens at the Orthodox Union at (212) 613-0737 or timothy.cravens@ou.org.