Shalom JTF readers,
This week we are reading the portion called Vayigash... It is in this reading that Yosef finally identifies himself to his brothers who did not recognize him.
The brothers were completely shocked, to say the least, that Yosef was alive. They realized that Yosefs dreams had been fulfilled, and they feared for their own lives because they expected him to have revenge against them. Yet Yosef had matured and realized that the entire story of the brothers throwing him into a pit and selling him into slavery was really just part of Hashems divine plan for him and they growing Jewish people.
This, I believe, is one of the primary lessons of this story. The entire progression of the brothers growing jealousy for Yosef, their plot to kill him, their throwing him into a pit and selling him, the episode with Potiphars wife, etc. It all way entirely necessary to bring the Jewish people into being, if any of the details were different we would not be where we are today.
From Chabad's Parsha in a Nutshell
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/3224/jewish/Vayigash-in-a-Nutshell.htm
Judah approaches Joseph to plead for the release of Benjamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler in Benjamin’s stead. Upon witnessing his brothers’ loyalty to one another, Joseph reveals his identity to them. “I am Joseph,” he declares. “Is my father still alive?”
The brothers are overcome by shame and remorse, but Joseph comforts them. “It was not you who sent me here,” he says to them, “but G‑d. It has all been ordained from Above to save us, and the entire region, from famine.”
The brothers rush back to Canaan with the news. Jacob comes to Egypt with his sons and their families—seventy souls in all—and is reunited with his beloved son after 22 years. On his way to Egypt he receives the divine promise: “Fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.”
Joseph gathers the wealth of Egypt by selling food and seed during the famine. Pharaoh gives Jacob’s family the fertile county of Goshen to settle, and the children of Israel prosper in their Egyptian exile.
Let us start with the latest video posted by Rabbi Richman:
Topic: Video Study for Parsha Vayigash - The Identity is Revealed (Read 2752 times)