Yaakov Avinu’s last words recover a maternal and conservative ethic of guidance, inheritance, and restraint. Parshas Vayechi is not a loud parsha. It does not announce itself with fire or spectacle.

In this week’s Parsha Yaakov passes away. The brothers are now fearful of a vendetta from Yosef. They suspect that Yosef was only kind to them because their father was alive out of deference to their ...