Vayigash: Chapter 8

"Why have You dealt ill"

Synopsis

Moses and Elijah both said to the Creator, "Why have you brought evil?" This indicates the power of the evil side over the people of the Covenant. We learn that the Prophet Elijah did not die, and continues to act as messenger to the people of the covenant to this present day. Neither Moses nor Elijah died, we are told, but were instead brought directly into heaven immediately after shedding their bodies. The rabbis refer to a particular strength acquired by the soul when it is confronted by the powerful desire existing between man and women, and how, more than any other human, the soul of Elijah was on the side of the male.

Relevance

The people of the covenant are endowed with the most intense desire to receive. They can bring more Light to this world than all other nations combined, but they can bring also more darkness if they are ruled by their Evil Inclination. The strength to both recognize and subdue our negative impulses is impressed into our soul. We further receive the purifying Light of Moses and Elijah, whose influences help us rise above the desires of our physical body. We touch the divine realm of immortality and infuse our lives with this sacred and eternal energy.