Cary Hillebrand takes a look at Parashat Vayigash

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Parashat Vayigash

פרשת ויגש

בראשית Genesis 44:18 to 47:27

Is the mature Joseph still the arrogant twit with a sense of entitlement of his youth? Has maturity mellowed him? Now that his brothers are his virtual captives and he could toy with them, test them, or even enslave or kill them, will he seek revenge?

Chapter 44, verses 18 through 34 – Joseph frames Benjamin; Judah steps up

Joseph tests his brothers by framing Benjamin. This time, Judah at least, among the brothers is up to the task and instead of spurning Benjamin who is his father’s favorite in place of the lost Joseph, is willing to sacrifice himself if Pharaoh will release his brothers including Benjamin. Judah has perhaps matured since the day that Joseph was thrown into the pit and Judah suggested that he be sold into bondage. Perhaps the pain of losing his two oldest sons made him more cognizant of the pain he and his brothers have caused to their father Jacob. Also, Judah is bound by a pledge he made to Jacob to assure the safety of Benjamin.

Chapter 45, verses 1 through 15 – Joseph reveals who he is

Joseph is apparently moved by Judah’s plea and he abandons any plans he had for revenge. Perhaps his brothers passed his test.

Joseph orders his Egyptian retinue out of the room. This is possibly due to two reasons: to save his brothers from additional emotional distress as he makes himself known to them, and perhaps for his own safety or standing in Egyptian society. Joseph is now an assimilated Egyptian. Speaking Hebrew (or whatever language his brothers spoke at the time – possibly a Canaanite dialect) and reuniting with his long-lost Israelite family may remind everyone where he came from and may raise issues of dual or questionable loyalty, putting him in a dicey situation.

Verse 4 – After revealing who he really is to his stunned brothers, Joseph tells them to approach him (גשו נא אלי). A midrash (not supported by the text) claims that Joseph wanted his brothers to approach so he can discretely show that he was circumcised as further confirmation that he is indeed a Hebrew. Joseph advises his brothers not to be upset or feel guilty, as not they but G-d had him sold into bondage, to assure their survival during the seven year famine; it was part of a preordained plan.

An interesting question is whether Joseph would have been so forgiving if he wasn’t on top and his brothers were not reduced to begging for food. An old saying goes “the best revenge is success”. Note that none of the brothers expressed contrition for what they did to Joseph, except for the fact that Judah was willing to sacrifice himself to save Benjamin (apparently, this was not out of sibling love as his concern was not to cause additional grief to his father).

Perhaps Joseph sees the fact that all his brothers are now dependent on his whim as fulfillment of his first dream (Parashat Vayeshev – Chapter 37, verse :7 ”קמה עלמתי וגם נצבה והנה תסבינה אלמתיכם ותשתחוין לאלמתי“ suddenly my shaft stood up and remained upright then your shafts gathered and bowed low to my shaft”).

Verses 16 through 28 – Joseph sends his brothers to fetch Jacob

Joseph has one final test of his brothers as he sends them on their way back to fetch their father. He favors Benjamin and loads him up with riches and then admonishes his brothers not to be quarrelsome. He knew that if they were jealous of Benjamin’s favored position and quarreled on the way back through dangerous territory they would most probably self-destruct.

Upon learning that Joseph is alive, Jacob is again referred to in the narrative as Israel. Perhaps the news restored his flagging faith. The Torah is silent about this. It is not clear if the brothers, in recounting their adventure in Egypt, told Jacob of how they sold him into bondage. Again, the Torah is silent.

Chapter 46, verses 1 through 7 – Jacob journeys to Egypt, on the way he receives a prophesy

G-d promises to make Israel a great nation and personally bring them back. The years of bitter slavery that await their descendants is glossed over. Would this knowledge have given Jacob pause before making the schlepp to Egypt?

Verses 8 through 27 – Genealogy of the Israelites that journeyed to Egypt

The genealogy of the generation of 70 that descended into Egypt. Note that (Verses 8 through 14) the Torah lists Leah’s offspring as totaling 33 even though only 32 are listed! The Rabbi’s obviously had trouble harmonizing what appears to be an accounting error. Interesting to note that only one son of Dan is listed, although the Torah reads (Verse 23) “Dan’s sons Hushim” (בני דן חשים). Perhaps at one point, a scribe inadvertently deleted the name of a second son to Dan.

Verses 28 through 34 – Joseph prepares his brothers to meet Pharaoh

We see that Jacob appoints Judah as leader, ahead of his older brothers Reuven, Simon, and Levy, sending him on ahead to scout the way (or did Judah usurp the role?). Joseph sets the family up to live a life of privilege in a country being ravaged by drought. Also, they remain a people apart, in Goshen, as herders, a profession despised by their new hosts, the Egyptians. This will not end well.

Chapter 47, verses 1 through 12 – Joseph presents Jacob to Pharaoh

This Pharaoh, holding Joseph in great esteem, was extremely gracious and generous to his family (Verse 8). Why did he ask such a strange and (to our contemporary ears at least) seemingly impertinent question: “How many are the days of the years of your life?” (כמה ימי שני חייך?) What does this mean? Commentators have surmised that Pharaoh was differentiating between the chronological years of a person’s life and the total of productive or meaningful days. He may have been struck by Jacob’s advanced age (130 years) at a time when lifespans were usually quite short.

Verses 13 through 27 – Joseph engineers a radical transformation of Egyptian society

By stages, Joseph engineers a radical transformation of Egyptian society from individual farmers to serfs or sharecroppers. The people had to purchase food from the royal storehouses; the very food that they were forced to give up during the years of abundance! Was this a fair or wise policy? Then, after all their money was spent, they handed over their livestock, then their lands, finally being reduced to serfdom under Pharaoh. Only Joseph’s family prospered in Egypt.

Why did Joseph act thus? Was the arrogance of his youth still upon him? Did he want, not only his brothers but all of Egypt (save the Pharaoh) to bow down to him? Was this a fulfillment of Joseph’s second dream (Parashah Veyeshev, Chapter 37, verse 9 – השמש והירח ואחד עשר כוכבים משתחווים לי “The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were to bow down to him”)? Was Egypt “the sun and the moon”? Were Joseph’s policies just or wise?

Note the final sentence:וישב ישראל בארץ מצרים בארץ גשן ויאחזו בה ויפרו וירבו מאוד . As the Israelites settled in Egypt in the land of Goshen, they extended their landholdings, were fruitful, and multiplied.

Did they see themselves, despite their privileged position, as assimilating in and accepted by Egyptian society? How did the Egyptians look upon them, favorably or with jealous resentment?

All is good with the world. Or is it? Is there a message for us, comfortably settled in the diaspora?

As we shall see in the Book of Exodus (Chapter 1, verse 8), “There arose in the land of Egypt a new Pharaoh who knew not Joseph” (ןיקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף) and things took an awfully bad turn indeed. And unlike the Pharaoh, the people possibly did remember Joseph. While his draconian policies may have saved countless lives and perhaps even the kingdom, in the process he turned the people into landless serfs. And even though the descendants of Jacob may have seen themselves as fully integrated into Egyptian society, and prospering nicely at that, the people still looked at them as interlopers and as a threat that must be dealt with harshly.

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