VAYIGASH_GENESIS XLIV,18 – XLVII,27

Yosef assumes the administrative powers of Egypt at the age of thirty and marries Osnat the daughter of Poti Fera (according to Rashi this is Potiphar himself, who undergoes gender changes because he desires Yosef). From this union, Menasheh and Ephrayim are born. During the years of abundance that Yosef predicted, the surpluses are stored and then inevitably put up for sale in the years of famine that follow.

The entire region suffers from shortages and Yaacov learns about the sale of products and urges his children to go to Egypt. Fearing that misfortune may occur, Yaacov does not allow Binyamin, the youngest of his sons and Yosef’s brother, on his mother’s side, to accompany his brothers on this journey. To acquire food, the brothers must necessarily go to Yosef, who immediately recognizes them. The brothers prostrate themselves in front of Yosef, assuming that he is an Egyptian dignitary while he remembers that what was predicted in one of his dreams is being fulfilled.

Yosef creates difficulties for his brothers by suggesting that their mission is to spy on the country, and in this way forces them to give him additional personal data. “We are twelve brothers, children of one father”, they said, “the little one is with his father, and one is no more”. To prove the veracity of their words Yosef demands that one of the brothers be held hostage, while they return to bring Binyamin.

The brothers embark on the journey back to their father’s house. Yehudah urges the father to allow Binyamin to accompany them on a second shopping trip to Egypt. The famine became accentuated and without additional food, it will not be possible to survive. Much to his regret, the elder Yaacov gives his consent for Binyamin to accompany them. Through a ploy, Yosef’s cup is hidden in Binyamin’s luggage, allowing for a new tragedy. When the theft of the cup is discovered, Yosef accuses the brothers of treason and ingratitude. But, Yosef adds, the only culprit is the one who had seized the cup, trying to implicate Binyamín. These cups were used at that time for enchantments and sorcery, so their theft was very significant and highly compromising.

Our weekly reading begins with Yehudah’s speech before Yosef recounting the events that led to this critical situation. Yaacov will not survive, the disappearance of Binyamin, because Nafsho keshurah benafsho“, his spirit (Yaacov’s) was tied to his spirit (that of Binyamin)”, since he was the last son of his beloved Rachel. When Yaacov refuses to give permission for Binyamin to accompany his brothers on the second trip to Egypt, the firstborn Reuven tells him “Et shenei banai tamit, im lo avi’enu elecha“, you can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you”.  Reuven’s words were not convincing because Would Yaacov takes revenge on his grandchildren for his son’s disappearance?

Yehudah, on the other hand, argued responsibly by telling the father that with his own hands he would take care of Binyamin and if something unexpected happened, “Vechatati lecha kol hayamim“, I will consider having sinned before you for the rest of my life”. Yehudah offers himself to Yosef as a slave in exchange for Binyamin’s freedom, because the outcome would be fatal for his father Yaacov.

Yosef can no longer contain his emotions. The suffering he has caused his siblings is reaching extreme limits and he fears for his father’s precarious health. His dreams have come true, and the brothers have suffered mentally and emotionally from the damage they caused him years ago.  Yosef decides to reveal his identity to his brothers and the shared cry is heard everywhere. The brothers are dismayed to hear the words, “I am Yosef, haod aví jai”, “I am Yosef, does my father still live?”

Yosef proposes that their act of betrayal would have been, in a way, guided by God so that he could help them during the years of famine. Yosef urges them to quickly return to the ancestral home and notify the father about his existence. Vehigadtem le’avi et kol kevodí bemitsrayim”, “and tell my father about all my honors in Egypt”, is the proud message Yosef sends to his father.

Aware of Yosef’s gentle, though not always modest, character, some commentators suggest that Yosef told his brothers, “Vehigadtem”, “and tell everyone”, that “le’avi”, “to my father” belong all the honors I receive in Egypt. All this, in recognition of the education and preparation he had received at home from his parents, that allowed him to reach such a high position in the Court of Pharaoh.

Why was Yosef silent during all those years? Was he not aware of the suffering that his absence caused his elderly father Yaacov? Upon reaching a position of power in Egypt he could have sent for his brothers and his father to come and enjoy the benefits of the lands of the Nile. Different answers have been offered, but none of them are entirely satisfactory.

Yaacov, despite the abundance of detail in his sons’ account, did not believe that Yosef was alive and that he had reached an exalted position. But the Torah says, Vayar et ha’agalot… Vatechi ruach Yaacov avihem“, and he saw the wagons… and Yaacov’s spirit came to life”. The word Agalah has a double meaning in Hebrew. It can be translated as a cart and as a calf. Rashi says that the last matter Yosef had discussed with his father was the case of a deceased corpse abandoned in the countryside and its resolution requires the offering of a calf.  

Yaacov had taught him that the distance between the deceased and the hamlets of the area should be measured. The elders of the nearest hamlet were to declare that they had not shed innocent blood and then offer a calf as a sacrifice. It could be argued that the most appropriate thing would have been a raid to capture the known criminals of the vicinity to try to identify the culprit of the crime. But tradition wanted to teach that the elderly, as representatives of an organized society, had to take responsibility when a crime was committed in their environment. Because the crime committed was considered a consequence of the atmosphere of debauchery and a demonstration that the teachings of the teachers and leaders had not had the expected effect. 

The Agalot, “carts” recalled the Eglah, the “calf” of the sacrifice, which in turn symbolized the last subject that Yaacov had studied with Yosef. He, therefore concluded that only his son Yosef could have made this allusion. This had an additional meaning. It was about the subject of an abandoned corpse, and he, Yosef, had also been abandoned to the uncertainty of slavery, which normally ended in violent death.

The meeting between father and son was very exciting, with tears and joy. Pharaoh receives them generously, “Bemetav ha’arets hoshev et avicha. .., “place your father in the best of lands”,  “Yeshvu be’erets goshen“, “let them settle in the land of Goshen”. Goshen is a privileged place for its earthly wealth. But Goshen is also a ghetto because Pharaoh limited the residence of Yaacov and his sons to a specific area.

In the next chapters, we will read that the Pharaoh, in a change of heart (according to some commentators, it is a new Pharaoh) decides that these new foreigners can subvert the order of the kingdom, so he takes measures to control their numerical growth. New laws are issued that can be easily imposed because the Hebrews reside in a defined territory, in a specific enclave. This fact will serve as a model for the Middle Ages and for the Nazis of our times who not only learned from the past but surpassed, in intensity and degree, the cruelty of previous eras.