Vayechi 5778

As Yaakov blesses each of his sons, he makes Yehuda's descendants the rulers of all of Israel. "The scepter shall not depart from Judah" (49:10). The Ramban understands this as saying the kingship will never switch from the Tribe of Yehuda to another tribe (as opposed to never falling, which it did numerous times due to exile). Because of this, the Hasmoneans were punished for what they did after the Chanukah story. Yes, if it wasn't for them, the Torah would have been lost forever. However, they fell to their enemies later on because they established the Hasmonean dynasty instead of restoring the kingship to Yehuda. The Gemara in Baba Basra (3a) notes that Herod was only able to come to power because of their punishment.
The Ramban mentions a second possible reason as to why they were punished. Since they were priests, their sole obligation was to serve Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash, as is stated in Bamidbar 18:7. He then brings a Yerushalmi in Horayos (3:2) that speaks of the prohibition to anoint priests as kings.

Vayechi 5775

In this week's parsha, Yaakov blesses each of his sons before he dies. Rashi goes through each blessing and explains how they are carried out in the future. Is this how blessings work? Are they some kind of prophecy that will come true? My rebbe, Rabbi Shmulewitz, explains that blessings don't really work; one must put his/her own effort into the blessing for it to work. A blessing is merely a goal for one to reach.

Vayechi 5774

Why do we say "bless you" when someone sneezes? It is because of Yaakov that we do so. The Chizkuni explains that Yaakov asked of Hashem to give him signs when he was nearing death. One sign was the ability to sneeze without dying. Back then when a person would sneeze, his/her soul would leave the body. People were amazed when they saw Yaakov. Because of this, the Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer says to say "lechaim" when one sneezes. This is why we say gezundheit!

Vayechi 5773

We learn from Yaakov's death that one's legacy can live on after death. The Gemara (Taanis 5b) says that Yaakov did not die. How is this so? Doesn't the posuk says that they eulogized him, buried him and embalmed him? Rather, this means to say that Yaakov did in fact die, but he stays alive through his descendants. Just as his descendants are alive, so too Yaakov is alive. One could this to mean that if we continue in the ways of Yaakov (his middos and virtues) we keep Yaakov "alive" in all of us.