VAY’CHI | Blessing the Shadows

 וַיְחִי יַֽעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt

In this, the last chapter of Bereishit, the book of Genesis, Jacob says goodbye to his sons and is “gathered to his people.” He speaks one by one to his sons, and gives each of them what is usually translated as a blessing.

How can we hear Jacob’s words to his three oldest sons, highlighting their violence and deception, as blessings?  Is it a blessing or a curse to have a father who reveals their shadow side to them? Is there love and a way to blessing in this?

David Whyte offers a way, through poetry, which he calls language against which we have no defenses.

THE BLESSING OF THE MORNING LIGHT

The blessing of the morning light to you,
may it find you even in your invisible
appearances, may you be seen to have risen
from some other place you know and have known
in the darkness and that that carries all you need.
May you see what is hidden in you
as a place of hospitality and shadowed shelter,
may that hidden darkness be your gift to give,
may you hold that shadow to the light
and the silence of that shelter to the word of the light,
may you join all of your previous disappearances
with this new appearance, this new morning,
this being seen again, new and newly alive.

(Emphasis added)

Jacob is blessing his sons to:

...see what is hidden in you
as a place of hospitality and shadowed shelter,
may that hidden darkness be your gift to give,
may you hold that shadow to the light

As we enter 2021, may we be blessed to hold the shadows of ourselves and our societies to the light. May we take to heart the ways we are contributing to the violence and deception that is rampant on our planet, and find our way to hold the shadow to the light.

Reciting The Five Remembrances (below) is a practice, suggested by Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, to chant in your homes and circles on every full moon. This practice reminds us that this human form, as Bereishit has shown us over and over, contains the suffering of old age, sickness, and death. Neither blame nor shame will help us escape. What we can bring light to are our actions. What we take with us and pass on, are our actions.

The gift of Jacob to his sons, to us, is to pay attention to our actions, to how they impact others and our own souls. The gift of Bereishit is to bring us into deep connection with universal human stories and ancestors that reveal our own struggles and paths to continuing the magnificent work of creation.

The Five Remembrances

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.

I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

—Thich Nhat Hanh