Vayigash
This portion contains the next instalment of the Joseph story. Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers. The men are instructed to bring their father and their households to reside in the region of Goshen in the land of Egypt.
Vayigash - Emma Sevitt and Lucinda Glasser
Emma Sevitt and Lucinda Glasser are the coordinators of Taste of Limmud. Emma is a History teacher, teaching in Amsterdam. Lucinda is a primary school teacher in London. Both have been Limmud-niks for a long time.
It is quite a challenge to begin this dvar Torah without breaking out into Andrew Lloyd Webber’s greatest hits – especially Benjamin's Banana Song. For this week's Parsha is Vayigash. It is the story of Joseph, the beloved son of Rachel and Jacob, an adolescent dreamer, resented by his brothers and sold by them as a slave and then prisoner in Egypt.
He rises to greatness and then meets his family after a 22-year absence when they come to Egypt for food. Joseph set the stage at the process of reconciliation through the charade of the stolen goblet (this is where Benjamin's banana song "Oh no, not he, how you can accuse him is a mystery..." comes in). But it was up to Judah to "step up" - Vayigash - and initiate the process. Judah steps forward and offers himself as a slave so that their youngest brother, Benjamin, could return to their doting father, Jacob. It is at this moment of desperation that Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers and in a moment of intense emotion, he completely forgives his family for selling and sending him into slavery.
It has been said that genuine forgiveness requires profound memory. For the issue in this parasha isn't whether to forgive – the real question is how to forgive without forgetting. For Joseph it is about seeing that his brothers, especially Judah, have changed. They are no longer people capable of selling others into slavery. In the act of agreeing to take Benjamin's place, Judah shows that he would stop at nothing to end the cycle of recrimination. Judah's admission of the brothers' mistreatment of Joseph, a real admission to the past, evoked Joseph’s response of letting go of decades of pent-up injury, humiliation, frustration and anger. They would now be not merely forgiven, but also proud of their growth of their family.
The Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, states that the real significance of this passage goes far beyond the story of Joseph and his brothers. He claims that it is the essential prelude to the book of Shemot, Exodus, and the birth of Israel as a nation. Bereishit, Genesis, is about families and families precede society and the state. If brothers cannot live together in peace, then they cannot form a cohesive community. Joseph's forgiveness is the bridge between Bereishit and Shemot. The first is about the children of Israel as a family, the second is about them as a nation.
The Haftarah of Vayigash is from Yechetzkel. He focuses his writings on the reunion of the Kingdoms of Judah and the Kingdom of Ephraim – Joseph’s son. He emphasizes that the result of their meeting is not merely one of political reunion but of spiritual regeneration. We are doing G-d's work by spending the week here together at Limmud Conference and facilitating the growth of Limmud communities worldwide. We should look at this diverse group before us with immense pride. However we have to ensure that in order to be able to work together, to discuss and deliberate together we ensure that we recognize each others' past in order to create a unified community with a shared set of values and indeed of spiritual celebration.
For those of you who attended Conference this past week, we hope it was one of great celebration for you all in this reunion of families – just like Joseph's. Limmud is our family. We are all brothers and sisters in this amazing "movement". Yes we are from different backgrounds, with different cultures, speaking different languages. Being family is indeed emotional – as most of us have found throughout our times together. However now we are united in one goal – Jewish education, Jewish celebration and Jewish inspiration.
Another Voice - Karen Radkowsky
On the surface, Joseph's initial behavior toward his brothers appears vengeful and vituperative. What kind of unfeeling person would hide behind the mask of power, keeping his true identity from his brothers?
Yet, as psychologist Harriet Lerner writes in her book, The Dance of Connection, "In families, distance and cut-off don't imply a lack of feeling, as we commonly assume. ("What kind of mother could abandon her child like that!" or "How heartless of him to neglect his mother that way!") Rather, distance and cut-off speak to an intensity of emotion that makes contact too difficult.
The tremendous physical and psychological intensity of Joseph’s emotions is evident in the text: "His sobs were so loud that the Egyptians could hear, and so the news reached Pharaoh's palace." But it is only when Joseph takes the important and difficult first step of letting down his guard that reconciliation can begin to occur.
May we all find the strength needed to step forward and channel our emotional energy in positive ways, to improve our relationships with family and others in the year ahead.