What DO We Really Leave Our Heirs?

What Do We Really Leave for Our Heirs?

Before we die, most of us go to a lawyer and draw up our Last Will and Testament. We know that it’s important to leave directions as to how our property should be divided and dispersed after we’re gone,

However, the Last Will and Testament can be – should be – more than a document about money and things. It’s a way of imparting our values to the next generation. What could be more important to us than our value systems? Money can disappear before we have a chance to enjoy it, and things can wind up in next year’s rummage sale.

The opposite holds true for so ideas and beliefs we hold dear. Value systems live forever through others we impact.

At the end the book of Genesis, Vayechi, the Torah portion and the accompanying Haftarah, give two examples of Jewish Ethical Wills. These Wills do not list tangible assets or properties. However, they do contain the most important assets of the deceased -- the values and wisdom that we wish to pass on to our survivors. There can be no greater legacy.

Traditionally, Jewish parents write letters to their children and try to sum up all that they had learned in life. They can express what they want most and from their children. These “wills”aren’t a legal matter, but they do constitute the greatest greatest parent-child gift imaginable: the accumulated wisdom of their lives.

The Ethical Will of the Torah portion came when Jacob realized he was close to death. He gathered his sons and charges each of them and told them the directions they should take with their lives. In some cases, he reminded them of serious character defects. But in all of these charges, he gave them hope and direction for the future.

Jacob instructed each son to live up to the moral and religious dictates of his faith. They are words of guidance and admonition, "Everyone according to his blessing he blessed them." In other words, he addressed each son according to that person’s character and potential.

The Haftarah also contains words of instruction of a dying parent to his child. King David knew that he lay near death. He spoke to Solomon – his son, the heir to his throne, and he said: "Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes and His commandments and His ordinances and His testimonies according to that which is written in the Law of Moses."

What will we leave to our descendants? Will we be concerned only with passing on our material possessions? Or, will we also be concerned in transmitting a spiritual heritage as well?

There’s a story about a Rabbi who desperately tried to contact one of his congregants. The congregant was always unavailable, too busy or just plain unwilling to accept his call.

Finally the Rabbi left the following message: "Please call. A mutual relative of ours died and left us a large inheritance."

As you might guess, the congregant called back within minutes. He wanted to know who died, what were the details?

The Rabbi said: "We had a mutual relative, his name was Moses. He left us a great legacy, the Ten Commandments and the Torah. I know that you want to share in this great inheritance."

The Rabbi spoke the truth. There is no greater heritage – and it’s ours! Why wouldn’t we want to transmit this precious heritage to those we love? Our true legacies really are the values, teachings and the good examples of our own lives!

Further, even the act of writing an Ethical Will forces us to think seriously about our own value systems: what we think and how we live them out. We learn about ourselves in the process of guiding future generations.
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As we read the last statements of Jacob and David, let us keep in mind that we should pass on to future generations a legacy which will serve as a shining example in their lives of our own influence upon them.

Shalom u’vrachah, in peace and blessing,

Rabbi Shaina Bacharach