Some loosely associated thoughts about Parshat Vayechi (פרשת ויחי, Genesis 47:28–50:26), the Torah portion for the week that has just ended.
“Jacob called for his sons and said, ‘Gather and I will tell you what will happen to you at the end of days [באחרית הימים]’” (Gen. 49:1). But in fact, as Rashi points out, while Jacob’s prophecy concerns events in the distant future, it doesn’t actually reach the “end of days.” Why not? Rashi explains: “He attempted to reveal the End [הקץ], but the Shekhinah [divine presence] withdrew from him. So he began to say other things.”
As Rashi would say, another explanation: I couldn't help but think of Walter Benjamin’s Theses on the Philosophy of History, where he writes: “The Messiah breaks history; the Messiah does not come at the end of an evolution.” I suppose that's why the Talmud says that the Messiah, like a found object or a scorpion, comes unawares (Sanhedrin 97a).
