Vaychi

Vaychi, or Vayhi (וַיְחִי — Hebrew for "and he lived," the first word of the parashah) is the twelfth weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the last in the Book of Genesis. It constitutes Genesis 47:28–50:26. The parashah is the shortest weekly Torah portion in the book of Genesis (although not in the Torah), and is made up of 4,448 Hebrew letters, 1,158 Hebrew words, and 85 verses, and can occupy about 148 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah).Jews read it the twelfth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in December or January.

The parashah tells of Jacob's request for burial in Canaan, Jacob's blessing of Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob's blessing of his sons, Jacob's death and burial, and Joseph's death.

Readings

In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or עליות, aliyot. In the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Parashah Vayechi has 12 "open portion" (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter פ (peh)). Parashah Vayechi has no "closed portion" (סתומה, setumah) divisions (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter ס (samekh)) within those open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions. The first open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) spans the first three readings (עליות, aliyot). Ten further open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions separate Jacob's blessings for his sons in the fifth and sixth readings (עליות, aliyot). The final, twelfth open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) spans the concluding sixth and seventh readings (עליות, aliyot).