To life! Lechayyim! – Vayyechi
The sidra is called Vayyechi, “And he lived”. It describes the final stage of Jacob’s life when he lived in Egypt.
One could say that only now, as an old man with his struggles behind him, did Jacob really live. But there is more to it than that.
Some Hebrew words never come in the singular. One of them is Chayyim – “Life”, which ends with the plural im. Life is a plurality of moments, experiences, failures and successes.
No two people live precisely the same life. No two people live as carbon copies of one another. There are many lives, as many as there are human beings. My life is a plurality; every life is.
So when the Torah says “And Jacob lived”, it is not just referring to one moment but to many.
