This Shabbat we study the Parshah Vayigash, meaning “And he approached” (Genesis 44:18). Judah approaches Joseph to plead for Benjamin’s release, offering himself as a slave in Benjamin’s stead. Upon witnessing this loyalty Joseph reveals his identity to them. The brothers are overcome by shame and remorse, but Joseph comforts them. “It was not you who sent me here,” he says to them, “but G-d. It has all been ordained from Above to save us, and the entire region, from famine.”

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The brothers rush back to Canaan with the news. Jacob comes to Egypt with his sons and their families and is reunited with his beloved son after 22 years. On his way to Egypt Jacob receives the divine promise: “Fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.”

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Joseph gathers the wealth of Egypt by selling food and seed during the famine. Pharaoh gives Jacob’s family the fertile county of Goshen to settle, and the children of Israel prosper in their Egyptian exile.

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This week's haftorah mentions the fusion of the kingdoms of Judah and Joseph during the Messianic Era, echoing the beginning of this week's Torah reading: "And Judah approached him [Joseph]."

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The prophet Ezekiel shares a prophecy he received, in which G-d instructs him to take two sticks and to write on one, "For Judah and for the children of Israel his companions" and on the other, "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions." After doing so he was told to put the two near each other, and G-d fused them into one stick.

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G-d explains to Ezekiel that these sticks are symbolic of the House of Israel, that was divided into two (often warring) kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom that was established by Jeroboam, a member of the Tribe of Ephraim, and the Southern Kingdom, that remained under the reign of the Davidic (Judean) Dynasty. The fusing of the two sticks represented the merging of the kingdoms that will transpire during the Messianic Era — with the Messiah, a descendant of David, at the helm of this unified empire.

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"So says the L-rd G-d: 'Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side, and I will bring them to their land. And I will make them into one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be to them all as a king...'"

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The haftorah ends with G-d's assurance that "they shall dwell on the land that I have given to My servant, to Jacob, wherein your forefathers lived; and they shall dwell upon it, they and their children and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever."

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Chabad.org

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Joseph overcame the natural human instinct to take revenge against his brothers or even bear a grudge. Instead, he provided them only good. This is what you are meant to learn from Joseph’s magnanimity to his brothers: That there is no human being to blame for whatever befalls you, and never any reason to hold a grudge. Yes, someone made a bad decision, and you may need to be wary in the future. You might even exact payment for it in court. But a grudge is a subtle form of polytheism. There is only one G-d and He is good. Whatever happened was determined in a heavenly court to be the best outcome for your soul. Drop the grudge, embrace life’s hidden gifts, and you will come to see how it is all good.

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From an article by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman

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The prophet Zechariah describes Moshiach as "a pauper, riding on a donkey." The simple meaning of the verse is that Moshiach — whom the Midrash describes as "greater than Abraham, higher than Moses, and loftier than the supernal angels" (Yalkut Shimoni after Isaiah 52:13)— is the epitome of self-effacement. Indeed, humility is the hallmark of the righteous: they recognize that their tremendous talents, achievements, and the power vested in them as leaders, are not theirs but their Creator's. They live not to realize and fulfill themselves, but to serve the divine purpose of creation. On a deeper level, Moshiach's donkey represents the essence of the messianic process: a process that began at the beginning of time and constitutes the soul of history. 

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Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Courtesy of MeaningfulLife.com

I was speaking to a friend whose child had been sick with a life-threatening illness. I asked her about her faith. Did she have questions? Was she angry at G-d? She told me that as she was going through her ordeal, she didn’t have time to think. She was too busy fighting for her child’s life, getting treatment, consulting doctors and making medical arrangements. But she distinctly remembers feeling overcome with emotion. Her pain was so acute that she felt as if she was punched in the stomach, doubled over. In those moments—and there were many—it was almost humanly impossible for her to continue. “But it wasn’t me,” she said. “I was only able to function because G-d was holding me upright, moving one foot in front of the other to do whatever was necessary.”

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Each one of us is in exile. We are in a cosmic exile, living in a world of fragmentation and disarray, pulling us away from our purpose, our values and our Creator. We are in a collective, national exile, bereft of our Temple where G-d’s presence was palpably felt in our holy land. We are in a personal exile, carrying a heavy, individual burden of challenge and adversity in our imperfect world.

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In this week’s portion, Jacob and his family descend to Egypt, eventually leading to our nation’s first exile.

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The portion begins with Yehuda approaching Joseph, the Egyptian ruler, to plead for the release of Benjamin. Several passages later, after witnessing his brothers’ loyalty to each other, Joseph is overcome with emotion and reveals his identity. In that pivotal moment, he declares: “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?”

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Throughout the turmoil of our own exile, how often do we question: Father, where are you? G-d, do you hear me? Do you see my worries? Do you hear my cries? Why aren’t you answering me? Is my Father still alive?!

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Soon after, Jacob descends to Egypt “seventy souls” in all. Only 69 individuals from Jacob’s family, however, are enumerated. The Midrash provides one explanation for the discrepancy: The Holy One, Blessed be He Himself entered into the count and thus it totaled seventy, to fulfill his promise made earlier to Jacob “ . . . I shall descend with you to Egypt . . . ”

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G-d had appeared to Jacob and promised, “I am G-d, the G-d of your father. Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up . . . ” (Gen. 46:3-4)

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The Talmud (Megillah 29a) elaborates: “See how beloved are Israel in the sight of G-d! In every place to which they were exiled, the Divine Presence went with them. They were exiled to Egypt, and the Divine Presence was with them; they were exiled to Babylon, and the Divine Presence was with them; and when they will be redeemed in the future, the Divine Presence will be with them.”

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We don’t understand the purpose for all of our difficult sojourns, persecutions, troubles or ailments. But throughout them all, G-d assures us that He is with us. We are not alone; G-d hears and He cares. That may not take away our pain, or our suffering, but it is comforting to know that G-d is by our side. In those heart-wrenching moments, when we feel like we cannot continue, G-d is holding our hands, holding us up and helping us to take one step after another.

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Chana Weisberg

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