cellio | parsha bit: Vay'chi

Yaakov, on his deathbed, gives his assessments of his sons, and most of it is not positive. Why does he do this? Is he rebuking his sons? Is he mad at them?

Abravanel says no. Yaakov knows that he has to designate one of his children as leader among the brothers, so he assesses each of them to explain why he chose Yehudah (who is not the first-born). In Yehudah he sees leadership qualities such as determination, dependability, and bravery. According to Abravanel, Yaakov is just explaining his decision.

[This would be consistent with Yehudah's actions in last week's parsha.]