Maybe I misunderstood what it said based on R. Grossman's audio lecture, if so, please correct me. I checked Rashi and Tosafot and didn't find any comments. My impression is that in older times people didn't get sick at the end of their lives but Jacob prayed for it to happen, and so it was with him. I wonder why he did it and my first impression is that it should be a warning to them so they could do teshuvah. What do you think?
Pat, Greenbelt MD USA
You seem to have missed Rashi here, who explains that it is to give the father a chance to 'command his family' (i.e. to rebuke them and to leave his last will and testament).
Rashi in Sanhedrin (107b) however, gives the reason so as to give one's children a chance to gather by their father's bedside before he dies.
Either of the two reasons might incorporate the opportunity of blessing his children before he dies (just like Ya'akov did, even as he rebuked them).
Your reason makes good sense. But unless it has a sound basis, we cannot make up our own theories regarding Ya'akov's reasoning.
Be'Virchas Kol Tuv
Eliezer Chrysler