As anyone who has been to a recent Buffalo Bill’s game knows, sometimes surviving is enough. In three consecutive weeks, the Bills have been in close battles with their opponents, the first two ending in defeat, until this week, when they miraculously held on for a 14-13 victory over the Detroit Lions. After all, we who have withstood Scott Norwood’s wide right field goal in Super Bowl XXV, know what it means to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.
In the Book of Genesis it is often hard to tell who is winning and who is losing. The narrative is filled with many twists and turns along the way from Abraham nearly sacrificing Isaac to Joseph being sold into slavery, our people’s ultimate success seems far from a done deal. Even Bill’s fans might have it a little better than our Biblical ancestors; at least we have joy of making four Super Bowls. The entire journey can be summed up with the name of this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, which is usually translated as “he (meaning Jacob) lived,” but is better translated, “he survived” (yes, the Gloria Gaynor soundtrack should be playing in your head). Thriving would be great, but sometimes surviving is all that we can ask for.