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SHEMA; IT’S ALL HIS WILL

Gleaned from the thoughts of Rabbi Aaron Lopiansky

Our Sages tell us that when Yaakov met his beloved son Yosef, the one on whom rested the destiny of his people, the one whom he thought had perished years earlier, he recited the Shema. Yosef, on the other hand, did not recite the Shema. If their first encounter generates inspiration for Shema, why does Yosef not recite the Shema?

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WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT LIFT

In this week’s Parsha the brothers discover that Yosef is the viceroy in Egypt. When they tell their father, Yaakov, of the news he refuses to believe them. Only after seeing the wagons Yosef sent “did Yaakov’s spirit become alive.” What did Yaakov see in those wagons? Our Sages teach us that those wagons were sent by Yosef to remind Yaakov that the last verses of Torah they studied together before he left the house 22 years earlier were the laws of egla arufa. Therefore, when Yaakov saw those wagons he realized that it must have been Yosef who sent them and that he still remembers the Torah he learnt.

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THE SAFETY LINE

This week’s Parsha, Vayigash, opens at the climax of the drama playing out between Yosef and Yehudah. In last week’s Parsha Benyomin was implicated in stealing Yosef’s goblet for which Yosef committed Benyomin to be his slave. The Parsha ended in the middle of a dialogue between Yehudah and Yosef in which Yehudah offered to serve as a slave instead of Benyomin and to allow Benyomin to go home to his father. Yosef, however, would not budge. He insisted that Benyomin serve as his slave and Yehudah return home. Our Parsha begins with the continuation of that dialogue as Yehudah tries to shake Yosef’s decision. The Torah’s opening verse states “And Yehudah approached him…” We must ask, Yehudah was already standing before Yosef and was already engaged in speaking with him, what is the intent of this additional “approach”?

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THE SEED VAULT OF OUR PEOPLE

Excerpted from a talk from Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky zt’l

In the last 13 verses of our Parsha, Vayigosh, the Torah relates specific details regarding the manner in which Yosef managed the distribution of the food during the famine. It warrants investigation why should the Torah tell us of these details. There seems to be no relevance to the story of our people. Furthermore, if the Torah felt it was important why did she not mention these details in last week’s Parsha at the beginning of the famine, which would be its place chronologically.

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HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

In this week’s Parsha, Vayigash, we find for the first time since the end of Vayishlach, that HaShem speaks to Yaakov and that Yaakov speaks to HaShem. It is striking that once Yaakov returns to the Land of his fathers, to the home of his father and establishes the monument which he promised, HaShem goes into hiding and does not reappear until Yaakov leaves the Land on his way to Egypt.

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SURVIVAL IN THE WILD

As we read this week’s Parsha, Vayigash, the incredible righteousness of Yosef is revealed. To appreciate the depth of his character let us spend a paragraph reviewing what transpired so that we can appreciate Yosef’s reaction.

Yaakov showed favoritism to Yosef by choosing him from the other sons in grooming him to be the leader. As a result, his brothers harbored a deep hatred and jealousy for him. This jealousy moved them to convict Yosef to be sold into eternal slavery. Once a person was enslaved in Egypt there was never a hope of being freed.

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THE CLOUD

In this week’s Parsha, Vayigash, Yaakov and his family make their fateful move to Egypt to be with Yosef because of the famine that ravaged the land of Israel. It was fateful on account that this would be the beginning of a 210 year exile which would include over 80 years of bitter enslavement and would conclude with the Exodus. Before the making this move Yaakov sent his son, Yehudah, to establish an academy of Torah study so that when the family would arrive the Yeshiva would already be set up.