Looking Ahead: Vayigash, Yehudah, Asarah b’Tevet |
Parashat Vayigash (Bereishit 46:29–30) brings us to one of the most emotionally charged moments in the Torah. Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, the secret is exposed, and the family begins—at last—to come back together. There is joy, but also shame, guilt, and the ache of decades of pain. The brothers return to bring Yaakov down to Egypt, and then comes the moment Yosef must have dreamed of for twenty-two long years: seeing his father again.
The Torah describes the scene with restraint and power: “Yosef harnessed his chariot and went up to meet Yisrael his father in Goshen. He appeared to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck.” (Bereishit 46:29)
Most commentators understand that Yosef is the one who weeps, though the Ramban suggests it was Yaakov. Either way, this is a meeting saturated with emotion. And yet, something astonishing happens. We expect Yaakov to ask immediately: What happened to you? Where were you? How did you end up in Egypt? Why didn’t you send word all these years?
But Yaakov says only: “I can die this time, after seeing your face, for you are still alive.”
(Bereishit 46:30)
And Yosef, too, does not rush to tell his story. Instead, he moves straight to practical concerns: where the family will live, how they will present themselves before Pharaoh, how to preserve their unity and identity in Goshen. The painful........