In this week’s Parsha, Vayechi, Jacob blesses his twelve sons, The Tribes of Israel, and the Prophecies of the future are laid down. The commentators suggest that Jacob’s last words are prophetic of the Final Redemption, as the Torah clearly states, “Assemble yourselves and I will tell you what will befall you in the End of Days. Gather yourselves and listen, O’ sons of Jacob, and listen (וישמעו אל ישראל) to Israel your father.” It is worth noting here that Jacob uses the words, “Shema” (same usage as the Prayer the Shema) and Israel (Jacob’s name was Israel, and with connotation doubles to the Nation OF Israel.) In this setting with Jacob, he is overcome with the joy of having fathered the Tribes of Israel, and we are witness to (and the Talmud Pesachim 56a explains) Jacob’s exchange with his children, and in the passing of the tradition over to the Jewish People. This tradition is in accordance with Redemption and is as subtle as its foundations: Abraham receiving the Priesthood from Shem.

The Talmud (Pesachim 56a) introduces us intimately within the dialogue of Jacob and his Sons as such: “And Jacob called to his sons and said, “Gather! And I will explain to you all!” Jacob desired to reveal to his sons about The End of Days, and it was then that the Shechinah departed from him. He said, “Maybe (שמא), God Forbid, there is something not good with “my bed” like Abraham. For out of Abraham came Yishmael and from Isaac came Esau (i.e. perhaps I did not father twelve Tribes, as this was his fear all along, since the selling of Joseph.) His sons then said to him, “Shema (שמע) Yisrael (ישראל) Hashem is our God, Hashem is One.” They continued, “Just like (כשם) there is only One in your heart, so to with us, we have only One in our Heart.” It was this time that Jacob opened and said, “Blessed is the Name (שם), Honorable is His Kingdom, Let it reign forever and ever.

To understand the scope of this exchange, a little bit of background review of Jacob’s scholarship is at hand. Once Abraham and Isaac had fully gained Torah perspective from Shem, and the passage of the Priesthood was delivered to be as a Kingdom of Priests, Jacob was the mainstay at the Academies of Shem and Ever. Jacob served Shem for fifty years, and fully gave the tradition over to Joseph which would be a succession that would prove to last an eternity. And so it was, the Torah of Shem had found a Nation to live by, one that would protect and influence Mankind, intended or not, with the Teachings of Shem hidden and laced within.

Once Jacob reached his pinnacle in scholarship with Shem, and he had earned the name and right of Israel and merit to Father the Tribes of Israel, the Torah of Shem was now secure, and Hashem produced a Joseph, that would ensure the eternity of this Torah. As much as Hashem tested Jacob, with Joseph and the life and success of the Tribes, once the Book of Genesis comes to a close, we see Jacob’s success and the fulfillment of Shem is cemented in History. Jacob is reassured and The Tribes declare the Unity of Hashem, and inside this exchange, we lay witness to a hidden passage: Jacob adjuring his sons to not forget where the Torah and Knowledge of Hashem came from: Shem, as it says, “Repeating a saying in the name (שם) of he who said it, brings Redemption to the World! (Pirkei Avos) How fitting it is to find this relevant here, and with the hidden hints containing the letters/word relating to Shem and his connection with Redemption as prophesied by Jacob. With this knowledge, we can now go over the dialogue again with Jacob and his sons, and see this hidden exchange and great Honor bestowed to Shem.  There is a principle in Torah, concerning the famed Bible commentator Rashi, that he is called the Little Brother to the Torah, for his being published in every standard edition of Torah that comes to print. We can see the same gratitude to Shem, as his Teaching and tradition of Torah and the Unity of God is the little brother to the Shema, the declaration that Jacob and his Sons brought down for all of time, thus Hashem has given eternal merit to the Teaching of Shem, much like we have learned about Rashi and his merit. This should not come as a surprise, for after one has contemplated, that God’s Unity, Jacob’s Torah, the Sons recital, and the eternal command to say Shema has come directly from Shem himself.

When Jacob says, “PERHAPS” [God forbid, my bed is not complete!], the word perhaps in Hebrew, is שמא which can double as שם /name. Thus Jacob’s hidden intention, is, Shem! I hope I did not fail in my mission to pass the Knowledge of God!

The son’s responded, “Shema Yisrael (literally here, they said, “Listen Jacob!”)…Just Like / כשם your heart is One, our hearts are one. כשם means “just like”, yet can have a double connotation of, “Like Shem had One in his heart to your heart, our hearts are one as well, true to its source!”

Jacob then opened up and said, Blessed is the Name, Honorable… (ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד); Jacob Blesses God first, as Shem had dictated to Abraham, “You must always Bless God first! Such is the way of a Priest like Shem!” Yet when we look carefully, Jacob did Bless God first, but he used vessels of Shem to do so, and effectively Blessed Shem as the result of Blessing God first! As it can be seen that after Jacob’s Blessing, he had in mind, “Blessed is Shem! Honor is his Kingdom forever (i.e. his Torah lives forever in Honor!).

It is also most fitting, that Jacob had used this opportunity to Bless his sons with Knowledge of the future, and the Talmud itself states that Shem and his Teaching has its place in the future as well, as he is identified as one of the four craftsmen: Moshiach Ben David, Moshiach Ben Joseph, Elijah, and the Righteous Priest, Shem. It should be noted that Shem had merited to eat from The Tree of Life, and thus took his abode in the Garden of Eden, as a Priest to God Above, once the Torah was cemented on Earth, as reported by the Midrash and his encounter with King Solomon.

In the end, we see that Jacob did merit the Tribes, Hashem is was and always will be Honored, particularly with the recital of the Shema, and we saw directly that Shem not only taught Jacob, but that it reached his Sons, and it was inscribed as an eternal Memory and Merit in Shem’s name. It is thus noted, that whenever a person declares Unity of God, or invokes the memories of Jacob and the Tribes, Shem is there as a Blessing, and credited author of God’s Teachings in the World.

If there is a precedent to quote the author of a Teaching in Torah, and Redemption comes in this merit, we should not find confusion with Shem’s place in history; rather Shem should be a Seal to the Truth of God that His Torah is true, and we should not only thank Shem, but be aware of the Blessing he has, and understand his Eternal Position as a Redemptive Figure. This was the message of Jacob to his Sons, a message that would make Shem proud, as the mission could now be achieved.

We should Thank God for God, and thank God that Shem taught the Torah as he did; an eternal Teaching that makes me personally very proud and honored to say it over in his name, as the Torah said, “To repeat Torah in someone’s name, causes Redemption to the World.”

Shem taught Hashem is one; why not start Redemption now?