And Yisrael (Yakov) said to Yosef: "I am about to die; may HaShem be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. As for me, I give you one shechem more than your brothers." (48:21,22)


Before Yakov blesses his sons - Yosef included - he makes this cryptic statement. Before Eretz Yisrael is "allotted" to the 12 Tribes, one extra-territorial city - Shechem - is singled out. Something is going on here, but what?


Chazal offer two meanings to the word shechem. Either it is literally the city of Shechem (some call Nablus) given to Yosef as a special inheritance, and where he is buried to this day; or it means "portion," i.e., Yosef is given an extra share, a double portion in the land, via his two sons Efraim and Menashe.


Yakov's last message in parshat Vayechi to his children - literally, to b'nei Yisrael - is supremely concerned with the End of Days, Geulah, Redemption. And Shechem plays a huge, crucial role in that prophetic vision.


Shechem is the first city Avraham goes to in the Holy Land upon making Aliyah. It is

Shechem plays a huge, crucial role in that prophetic vision.

where G-d promises, for the first time, "To your children I shall give this Land." It is there that Avraham will bring his first korban.


Shechem is also the site of the cataclysmic battle between Levi (and Shimon) and the forces of evil in Israel, those who would rape our daughters and treat us as second-class citizens. And it is Shechem where Yosef goes to seek his brothers, in an attempt to mend fences and bring about unity and brotherhood between all Jews.


All the primary ideals of the Jewish People are contained within the story of Shechem: Our rightful claim to Israel; our continuing battle against enemies who would destroy us, G-d forbid, if we did not valiantly oppose them; the quality of self-sacrifice, epitomized by Yosef; and the unity of Am Yisrael, which we so desperately need.


Yakov sees all this - and wants us to see it, too - and so he prefaces his brachot by invoking Shechem and all it implies.


For our own family, Shechem has another, tragic, association. It is the place where our beloved Ari HaLevi, H.y.d., - an oleh to Israel who loved the land and loved his fellow Jew - fought like a lion and fell in battle against Hamas terrorists. But we believe that someday Jewish destiny will be redeemed b'Shechem, the first letters of which stand for the battle-cry that will ultimately unite our nation - Baruch Shem Kvod Malchuto ("Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom").