I-11 Vayigash Do you have a Father?

Torah: Genesis 44:18- 47:27 Haftorah : Ez 37:15-28

Aliyot:

1. Gn 44:18-30

2. Gn 41:15-38

3. Gn 41:39-52

4. Gn 41:52-42:18

5. Gn 42:19-43:15

6. Gn 43:16-29

7. Gn 43:30-44:17

Overview: Vayigash opens with Judah confronting Joseph in Egypt and the grief Jacob has borne on his behalf as a lost son. Joseph unable to restrain his own emotions, dismisses his servant from the room to reveal his identity to his brothers. He reassures Judah that the past is forgiven and through his enslavement, he is able to redeem his family now suffering from the hardship of famine. Reconciliation of brothers is made through divine providence.

In Focus: Then Judah went up to him and said, "Please my lord, let your servant appeal to my lord, and do not be impatient with your servant, you who are the equal of Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, "Have you a father or another brother?" Genesis 44:18-88-89 JPS

The famine spreads throughout the region. Joseph's brothers come to Egypt to buy provisions for their families, bringing with them Benjamin with Judah's pledge of safety. Judah has matured through the years, no longer willing to abandon a person in danger. Confronted with the strange Vizier, he is given an opportunity to prove himself. Repentance is more than regretting past deeds and wrongdoings, it goes the step beyond. True teshuvah (repentance) is when the person is confronted with a similar opportunity and choice for doing the wrong thing, but refuses. It's not that a diabetic announces, "Doc, I admit it. I ate German Chocolate cake last week and that sent my blood sugar soaring," but the person regrets the action to such an extent that he turns away from repeating it.

Judah finds himself against the wall with the demands of the strange Vizier. After years of practiced deceit, he still feels the betrayal of Joseph deeply. Unable to bear the burden of conscience any longer, he confronts the wrongdoing of the past with the plaintive response, "Do you have a father?" The response is spontaneous-Of course, who doesn't. What kind of question is that? I wasn't hatched out of an egg, you know. Betraying his grief, he recollects the previous encounter with Joseph, recounting verbatim their conversation. Judah now steps forward to pledge his own life for the sake of his half-brother. He has learned the bitterness of sibling rivalry and tasted the sharpness of loss. He cannot be like Reuben, willing to kill his own sons in retaliation for the loss of Benjamin if he should be taken captive. Judah has suffered the loss of his sons and knows a father's grief, not only from the sorrow of Jacob, but through the death of his own sons.

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