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December 25, 1998/ 6 Tevet 5759, Vol. 51, No. 14
All things serve God's plan
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Vayigash/Genesis 44:18 - 47:27
Joseph was truly different from his brothers, a seeker after the novel and dynamic Egyptian occupation of agriculture, a citizen of the world, rather than a lover of Zion.
When in Egypt, he easily accepted the Egyptian tongue, answered to an Egyptian name (Zofnat Paneach), and wore Egyptian garb. He had graduated from his family. But in this week's Torah portion, Joseph pulls away the mask, stands revealed before his brothers and sends for his aged father.
Last week's Torah portion ended right when it seemed that there was no hope left for the wrongly accused Benjamin, whose sack of food turned out to be the hiding place of the Grand Vizier's missing silver goblet. Our portion this week, therefore, begins in the midst of one of the most tension-filled encounters in the entire Torah. After having nearly killed their father by selling Joseph, the brothers dare not contemplate returning home without Rachel's second son.
Judah, who promised his father that he would be responsible for his father's youngest, has stepped forward, offering that the brothers become slaves to the Grand Vizier in Benjamin's place. But the Grand Vizier has rejected that offer.
Judah is confused. According to his calculations, the brothers' troubles were the result of the evil they had perpetrated against their brother, an act so cruel that long after they had buried the past, God himself had reawakened it. The way Judah surmised it, since the brothers had sinned as a collective unit, they must suffer as a collective unit. But Joseph's singling out Benjamin as the only brother who would be enslaved challenged Judah's perception. After all, Benjamin hadn't been part of the conspiracy against Joseph. He was too young; if any of the brothers were innocent, Benjamin was innocent. Why should he be the only one punished?
Hence this week's portion opens with the words, "Then Judah went up to him (Joseph) and said, 'Please, my lord, let your servant appeal to my lord" (Genesis 44:18). Until this point, Judah had believed that the nightmare they were experiencing was the result of God's punishment. Judah now realizes that this cannot be the case. He now begins to perceive the unfolding of a trail of evidence that casts new light upon the Grand Vizier's true identity.
Judah recalls that Simon, the brother with the most blood on his hands, was singled out to sit in prison as a hostage after their first sojourn to Egypt for food. He now remembers how, upon their second visit, the Grand Vizier arranged their seats according to their ages when he invited them for a celebratory repast.
At this point, Judah's defense-of-Benjamin speech shifts to the theme of an old father, waiting at home for his youngest son. The word "father" appears 13 times in Judah's speech, one time for each of Jacob's children, yet an extraordinary emphasis if directed to an Egyptian stranger with no knowledge of the family.
Every word of Judah's is calculated. Joseph recognizes Judah's profound wisdom, the ability of Judah to have pierced through his veil of deception. Judah has now emerged as the the most proper heir of Jacob.
The moment of Judah's understanding is also the moment of Joseph's understanding, as well as Joseph's repentance. He now sees the master plan, the Divine guidance in all that has transpired. The brothers must come to Egypt not to serve him, Joseph, but rather to fulfill the vision of Abraham. The family of Abraham must live to spread the message of ethical monotheism throughout the world, but they will return to the land of Israel, which will always be the familial and national homeland.
Joseph is ready now to recognize Judah's superiority, and to subjugate his gifts of technology, administration and politics to Judah's Torah and tradition. Joseph is now able to surrender his dream of kingship over the brothers and request that his remains be eventually brought to Israel. Joseph is now ready to reunite the family.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Efrat, Israel.
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