The last Parasha in the first book of Moses “Bereshit (Genesis)” is “Vaichi” “Yaacov lived”. The Parasha starts with our forefather Yaacov getting ready to depart this world and return his soul to His creator. It’s interesting to note that the name of the Parasha denotes life and not death. The last seventeen years of Yaacov’s life were dedicated to the ongoing moral education of his descendants and preparing his sons and organizing them into the 12 tribes of Israel and bequeathing them each one with its unique spiritual characteristics. Yaacov didn’t try to make his children into something they were not, he empowered each one with the mission for which they were created. We can learn a very important lesson in parenting from our forefather Yaacov. Each child is a unique child of G-d and each one comes to accomplish something different with his makeup and specific characteristics.We never finish educating our children, till our last breath we should always strive to bring out the best in them. When our children are guided , nurtured and taught that they are important and they have something they have to accomplish we will be able to raise them up to have self worth,be self sufficient and responsible in their lives. Also they will grow up to be respectful towards others and find that our differences are not here to separate us, but to complement us.
So we see that Yaacov lives through his children and the legacy he started was continued by them and it still lives on through us.
