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Back to JTS Torah Online's Main pageThe Painful Truth
Dec 25, 2009 By Eliezer B. Diamond | Commentary | Vayiggash
Sometimes the midrash takes up a difficult verse and offers an interpretation that is even more opaque. This week’s Torah portion contains an example of this. We are told that initially Jacob refused to believe the brothers when they told him that Joseph was still among the living. However, “when they recounted all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived” (Gen. 45:27).
Read MoreA Vision of Jewish Unity
Jan 3, 2009 By David M. Ackerman | Commentary | Vayiggash
This Shabbat, whatever our politics, we stand together with concern and worry as our brothers and sisters in Israel engage in yet another battle in what often seems like an unending war. The ongoing terror of rockets, fired arbitrarily into southern Israel, along with Israel’s military response, unite us in shared anguish. We also share in the hope for a just end to this battle, to this war, and to all wars.
Read MoreJealousy As a Test of Virtue
Dec 14, 2007 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Vayiggash
Gifts can make you crazy. Picking them is hard, and so is accepting them with grace.
Read MoreA Question of Translation
Dec 30, 2006 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Vayiggash
Parashat Vayiggash (or, as it is sometimes known in Hebrew school circles, “parashat omigosh”) serves as the denouement of the “Tale of Joseph and His Brothers.”
Read MoreWords that Come from the Heart
Dec 30, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayiggash
Parashat Va–yiggash leads us to the dramatic conclusion of the Joseph narrative, as the protagonist reveals his identity to his estranged brothers. Out of a profound and real fear of losing another brother, Judah makes a stirring appeal to Joseph. As Joseph imbibes the emotional outpouring from Judah, he cannot restrain himself from a similar outpouring. The Rabbis teach that “words that come from the heart, go to the heart.”
Read MoreCultivating an Ethic of Responsibility
Dec 18, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayiggash
Jewish history unfolds as a dialectic between exile and homeland.
Read MoreJourneying in God’s Presence
Jan 3, 2004 By Rachel Ain | Commentary | Vayiggash
We are all on journeys. Yet, journeys by their very nature entail uncertainty and fear. In this week’s parashah, Va-Yiggash, our ancestor Jacob makes a journey. Jacob leaves the Land of Israel, and descends to Egypt. Once he discovers that Joseph is alive and well in Egypt, he prepares to move his entire family to what he hopes will be a better place. He is leaving a land of famine, to dwell in Egypt, the land of plenty.
Read MoreWhere Is God to Be Found in Exile?
Jan 3, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayiggash
Jacob receives the news from his sons that Joseph lives with silent incredulity. Numbed by his mourning, he dares not expose himself to more pain and disappointment. The report was counter-intuitive: not only had Joseph survived, he had risen to become the second-most powerful man in Egypt. But the abundance of provisions and possessions that his sons had brought back from Egypt confirmed their words. As Jacob’s resistance gives way, he resolves to accept Pharaoh’s invitation to settle in Egypt. He must be reunited with Joseph before death separates them irremediably.
Read MoreThe Life and Death of Relationships
Dec 14, 2002 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Vayiggash
Family reunions come in several varieties. They might be occasions of joy — or sadness. Relationships are revived — or neglected. Change is the only constant.
Read MoreBrothers Reunited
Dec 14, 2002 By Charles Savenor | Commentary | Vayiggash
The moment of truth has arrived. With Benjamin framed for stealing and sentenced to enslavement, Joseph waits to see how Jacob’s other sons will respond. Joseph believes that his well-orchestrated ruse will finally expose his brothers’ true colors.
Read MoreThe Search for Torah
Dec 22, 2001 By Lauren Eichler Berkun | Commentary | Vayiggash
Imagine that you have just been reunited with your long-lost beloved child. For years, your days were full of grief as you mourned his tragic loss. Now you have not only learned of his miraculous existence, but you have also discovered his incredible success. His political and economic accomplishments will ensure the future safety and security of you and your entire family during a period of hardship and despair. After an emotional reunion, your wildly successful son brings you to meet his boss, the ruler of the nation. When the king asks you how you are doing, what do you say?
Read MoreFree Will?
Dec 22, 2001 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Vayiggash
It is commonly accepted that Judaism teaches free choice. Human beings can choose their behaviors and are responsible for those choices. The source for this teaching is traced directly to the Torah:
Read MoreBetween Teshuva and Repentance
Jan 6, 2001 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayiggash
The origin of words is often a good indicator of their deeper meaning. This is surely the case with the well-known Hebrew word “teshuvah,” often rendered in English as penitence or repentance. Yet the etymology of each term in this pairing is decidedly different and reminds us of what is always lost in translation. Both English words derive from a Latin root meaning “to regret,” whereas the Hebrew term comes from the root “to return.” The contrast is pronounced: etymologically, the English concept stresses a state of mind, the Hebrew, an action to be taken.
Read MoreJoseph’s Three Encounters
Dec 17, 1999 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayiggash
Parashat Va-Yiggash opens with the dramatic encounter between Joseph and his older brother, Judah. Judah, who years earlier had cooperated with his brothers to betray Joseph, seems to be on the verge of losing his father’s other favored son, Benjamin, as well. Judah makes an impassioned plea to Joseph, offering himself as a hostage in Benjamin’s stead. As it turns out, Judah’s altruism is more than Joseph can withstand. While he was able to hold back and hide his identity numerous times, letting his brothers squirm in discomfort before the strange Egyptian man, this time is different. Joseph reveals his identity. The moment is one of closeness, of reconciliation, and of Joseph’s recognition that it was not his brothers’ deeds but rather God’s plan that had guided the events of his latter years.
Read MoreJudah and Jewish Education
Dec 28, 1998 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayiggash
It is the subplots which make the Joseph saga a work of great literature. Had the Torah focused solely on relocating Jacob from Canaan to Egypt it would have left us with a piece of wooden theology and boring prose. But the author is too much the artist to have Joseph reveal his identity when his brothers first arrive. Yet what is accomplished by the delay? Joseph’s dreams, which cost him their love, have surely been fulfilled.
Read MoreMaking Room for God
Dec 21, 1997 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayiggash
Jacob and Joseph, father and son, had been separated for 22 years. At first the exclamation of his sons that Joseph was not only alive but ruled over all of Egypt was met with stony silence. Jacob did not dare let their words shatter the emotional equilibrium he had forged out of his suffering. It was only upon seeing the vehicles of Egyptian design sent by Joseph that Jacob softened his resistance. His spirit sprang back to life and he insisted on leaving for Egypt immediately to behold once again his long lost son.
Read MoreIsrael Divided
Dec 10, 1994 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayiggash
As you know, the Haftarah is the prophetic selection with which we take leave from the weekly parasha. The word is a noun which means, “to bring (the Torah reading) to a close.” We do not depart from the Torah abruptly, but gradually with a final reading from the Prophets, chanted from a printed book rather than a handwritten scroll. We withdraw from the realm of the sacred slowly. The prophetic passage chosen always relates to the content of the parasha for that week.
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