Video Study for Parsha Vayigash : Joseph is Revealed

[muman613]

Shalom JTF Reader,

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Chanukah season as I have had a very quiet and relaxed vacation. This week and next week I have off from work and hope to be able to recuperate from the hectic work schedule.

Today we start studying the Torah portion of the week and this week we are reading Vayigash. In this portion is the climactic conclusion of the story of Josephs masquerade before his brothers and he reveals his true identity. It is in this story that we see that Josephs dreams as a young man were in truth prophecies of Josephs rise to power over his brothers.

The family moves down to Egypt to be with Joseph thus setting the stage for the next part of Hashems plan for the Jewish people.

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.

I expect Rabbi Richman of the Temple Institute to post an up-date on youtube shortly but here is a video he made a few years ago:

[muman613]

Alright, it worked out... I had to be away for a few hours and now it seems Rabbi Richman posts his latest talk on our portion.

[muman613]

Rabbi Levi Chazen's shuir on Vayigash...

[muman613]

Now for some Breslever Torah from Rabbi Maimon.

[muman613]

Shalom ~Hanna~,

It is great that you are discovering the wonderful world of our Torah and how it reflects and projects our inner souls into the real world. As it is said by many of our sages, the events of the Torah contain many levels of understanding and each level reveals differently to each of us our inner strengths.

Josephs struggle with his brothers is a story which plays out in various ways in our lives.




I must clearly say I DO NOT AGREE with the girl who narrated that video. Joseph was a Tzadik, and what he did was because it had to be done. He was not a 'jerk' as she intimates. He did what he did because he wanted to make sure that 'measure for measure' they repented for the evil which they did. While Joseph did 'ootz' them he did not truly deserve the death which the brothers judged unfairly for him. I find it wrong to raise ourselves to the same level as these tzadikim even if we acknowledge that they were not perfect. Judaism has no perfect characters and that is our strength as we do not expect our righteous ones to be only good (as the Talmud teaches).

[muman613]

The ever-hospitable and wise Rabbi Machlis from Jerusalem gives a 2 part talk on the portion:

[muman613]

Rabbi Nagen from Otniel in Jerusalem...

[muman613]

From a Chabad background Rabbi Spalter talks about the dynamics of Joseph and his brothers.

[muman613]

Here is the latest installment of Temple Talk Radio show by Rabbi Richman and Yitzak Reuven...