By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant
The final two verses of last week’s Parsha (MIKIETZ) present a highly dramatic and inexplicable event. Joseph’s silver goblet was deliberately planted in Benjamin’s sack, as the brothers were leaving the city. Joseph’s last words in the Parsha were: “The person found with the goblet will be my slave” (1).
The title of this week’s Parsha (VAYIGASH) is translated as ‘he approached’ (2). All eleven men were back at Joseph’s office; and, Judah, who now recognized his brother (3), ‘approached’ him, requesting a hearing. He had masterminded a passionate and heartrending soliloquy, designed to penetrate Joseph’s heart.
The leader of the ‘Leah faction’ expressed full awareness and acceptance of the special status of the ‘Rachel component’ of the family. Furthermore, Judah expressed complete understanding of the devastating loss of Joseph to his father, Jacob. He repeated Jacob’s words, pertaining to Benjamin: “Now, if you take this one away from me too, you will bring my head in misery to the grave” (4).
Joseph listened intently to the words of Judah. “This speech was a point of undoing: morally, and psychologically, of the brothers’ earlier violation of their fraternal and filial bonds” (5). Joseph could not tolerate the ‘masquerade’ anymore. He asked all of the Egyptians to leave the room; and, he wept out loud.
Finally, he said to his brothers: “I am your brother, Joseph, who you sold into Egypt” (6). He appeared to be totally mindless of the sense of hatred, which he created in his older brothers, with his supercilious ‘dreams’ and actions.
Instead, he believed that it was “God’s will to be a ruler over all of Egypt” (7). He said to the men: “just as I harbor no hatred against my innocent brother, Benjamin, neither do I have anything but love for you” (8).
He tells his brothers: “Return to Canaan, and tell my father of all my honor in Egypt; and, you shall hasten and bring my father to me” (9). The Pharaoh was pleased to hear the news of Joseph’s brothers. He urged him to bring his father, and all of his brothers’ families to Egypt. The best wagons were procured, to help them move; and the choicest of lands, when they arrived.
The brothers reached their father’s home. They told him that Joseph was still alive; and, they spoke of his royal status. At first, Jacob did not believe them. Then he saw all of the wagons, which the Pharaoh had sent, to bring the family and all of the family possessions to Egypt. His spirit revived; and, then Jacob said: “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die” (10).
Judah left before Jacob and the rest of the family to the area of Goshen, in Egypt, where the brothers would be shepherds. According to the ‘Midrash’, the purpose of Judah preceding the others was to prepare the land for his father, by clearing all forms of idolatry; and to establish a house of study, from which teaching would emanate (11).
Judah is the first person in the Torah to achieve ‘perfect repentance’ (teshuva gemura), defined by our sages as one, who finds himself in a situation to repeat an earlier sin; but, does not do so because he is a changed person (12).
FOOTNOTES:
(1) GENESIS (43:17)
(2) www.jewishtheologicalsiminary.org
(4) GENESIS (44:29)
(6) GENESIS (45:4)
(7) GENESIS (45:8)
(8) (from Meg 16b)
(9) GENESIS (45:13)
(10) GENESIS (45:28)
(11) (TanuchamVayigash 11)
(12) Maimonides, Hilkhot Teshuva 2:1