Vayechi

When Jacob was about to die, he called his twelve sons to his side. They gathered around him, and the twelve individuals became one unified soul . . .

In an age of instant messaging, instant coffee and instant soup, how long would you wait for a return on a favor before you wrote it off? Patience may be considered a virtue but for many, we are too impatient to be that virtuous...

Don’t we all harbor inside of us memories that elicit our strongest emotions against individuals who deceived or misled us?

As I searched her face, I noticed a tear trickling down her cheek which, moments later, was joined by several more.

Why didn’t Jacob take the time to bury his beloved wife in the Cave of Machpelah?

“This was not during the rainy season, when I could claim that it was because of the mud that I did not bring her to Hebron. The roads were dry and good. Still, I buried her alongside the road to Ephrath . . .”

A virtuous person thinks in terms of duties and responsibilities. What is my role? What is my obligation? But a leader thinks in terms of needs. What are the needs of this person? This organization? This population?

It is natural to become enveloped by the minutiae of our challenges. Awareness of the greater picture of which we are all a part, however, is essential.

This weekly study packet is part of theJewishwoman.org “Be a Leader” initiative. Print it out and learn it with your study group.