Torah Sparksá ניצוצות תורה
פרשת ויגש
Parashat Vayigash
December 11, 2010, 4 Tevet 5771 ľ ד’ טבת תשע"א
Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Baldwin, New York
Torah Reading Summary
Judah delivers an impassioned appeal to Joseph on behalf of Benjamin,á offering to submit to
slaveryá personallyá iná hisá youngestá brother’sá stead.á Heá doesá so,á heá says,á toá spareá both Benjamin, for whom he has pledged personal responsibility, and his father. Joseph is moved to tears by his brother’s selfless and eloquent appeal. Dismissing all but his brothers from his presence, Joseph finally reveals his identity, immediately inquiring about his father’s wellĽ being. He attributes his sale into slavery at his brothers’ hands to Providence. Embracing his brothers, he instructs them to return to Canaan and then to come back, with Jacob, to settle in Egypt.
News of Joseph’s reunion with his brothers spreads to Pharaoh and his court. The brothers, supplied with wagons and provisions,á return home and tell Jacob that his beloved son is still alive and has risen to high office in Egypt. On the return trip to Egypt God appears to Jacob in a vision,á assuringá himá thatá goingá backá downá toá Egyptá isá theá properá course,á whileá not mentioningá theá enslavementá thatá is hisá nation‘sá destiny.á Theá seventyá Israelitesá takingá up residenceá iná Egyptá are listed,á and Josephá is tearfully reunitedá withá Jacob.á Heá reportsá his family’s arrival to Pharaoh, to whom he introduces them. Jacob has a private audience with Pharaoh and details for him the personal adversity he has long endured.
Joseph’s brothers, against his expressá instructions,á inform Pharaoh that they are shepherds. Joseph settles his families in Goshen, setting the stage for future events. Despite his generous treatmentá of his family,á Josephá isá ruthlessá iná his economic administrationá of Egypt.á After depleting the financial resources of Pharaoh’s subjects through the sale of the grain and food under his control, next he takes their livestock in exchange for supplies, and finally he usurps their only remaining material resource, their land. The only land Joseph allows to remain in private ownership belongs to the priests.
Once he has secured a royal monopoly on both Egypt‘sá landá and itsá livestock for Pharaoh, Joseph imposes further economic duties on the populace: they owe Pharaoh one fifth of each harvest. Deprived of private landá and livestock,á and impoverished through the sale of grain
á
overáá whicháá Josepháá hadáá exercisedáá sucháá visionaryááá butáá shrewdáá control,áá theáá Egyptians neverthelessá are thankfulá for surviving the famine:á "You have saved our lives!á We are grateful to our lord, and we shall be serfs to Pharaoh."
The parshahá concludesá by contrastingá theá impoverishedá Egyptianá populaceá underá a despotic regimeá withá Israel‘sá growingá prosperity:á "Theyá acquiredáá holdingsáá iná [Goshen],á andá were fertile and increasedá greatly."á This descriptioná anticipatesá the opening of the Booká of Exodus, and the ethnic tensionsá that led to the Israelites‘á enslavement.
Theme #1: "It’s not about you"
"Iá am yourá brotherá Joseph,á he whom youá soldá into Egypt.á Now, doá notá be distressedá or reproach yourselves because you sold me hither;á it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you .... God has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival.. .. It was not you who sent me here, but God." Genesis 45:4-5,á 7-8
Derash: Study
Aá "Joseph‘sá speechá is a luminousá illustrationá of theá Bible’sá doubleá systemá of causation, human and divine. Commentatorsá have tended to tilt the balance to one side,á making Joseph a mouthpieceá of piety here. His recognitioná of a providential plan may well be admirable from the viewpoint of monotheisticá faith, but there is no reason to assume that Joseph has lost the sense ofhis own brilliant initiative in all that he has accomplished,á and so when he says ‘God’ he also means Joseph." Robert Alter, The Five Books ofMoses
B.á "Howá could closenessá be establishedá between brothers,á when one of them claims to be God‘s own instrument and appointed savior of the rest? Even when he tries to be brotherly, he cannot help but parade his superiority. A close reading ofthe motion of the speech makes this clear.á Joseph begins by assertingá equality:á ‘I am your brother.’á But you are morally beneath me, for youá have acted unjustly and unbrotherly:á ‘whom you soldá into Egypt.’á Yet,á never mind, do not feel guilty;á for you are not really morally beneathá me,á as we are both, in this matter, equally instruments of God:á ‘God sent me before you."’ Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom:á Reading Genesis
C. "Josephá finds himself in relation to hisá brothers:á his story isá balanced on the axis of ‘I -Ľ you’ and ‘You –me’ It is an honest but discriminating account ofwhat they did and did not do to him, of the limits of their responsibilityá for his disappearance:á ‘You sold me hither‘á but ‘it wasá notá youá whoá sentá meá here.’áá Theá nexusá betweená theirá realitiesá isá God,á whoá has choreographedá their relationships,á their absences and losses,á in order to ‘saveá life.’ He is the One whoá ‘sent‘á Joseph to Egypt. The word is used three times, to express God’s purposeful perception. From God’s perspective [Joseph] has been just where he was meant to be." Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, Genesis:á The Beginning ofDesire
Questions for Discussion
Is Joseph a self-effacing mouthpiece of piety or does he suffer from a superiority complex, as
suggested by both Professors Kass and Alter? Has Joseph grown and learned and changed? Or isá he theá sameá self-important,á ambitiousá operatorá as in his youth,á unableá to relateá to his brothers in a healthy manner?
In whatá waysá does Joseph’s view of his sufferingá as part of a greater planá of Providence provide a model for understanding Jewish history? ls it a useful personal model for processing the adversity we encounter as people or as families?
Avivah Gottlieb Zomberg seems to say that Joseph’s statement to his brothers is balanced and fair, and sensitive to God‘s role in the unfolding of Joseph’s experience. What does it mean for God to be the "nexus"á of a familyá dynamic,á when the relationshipsá within that family are
áflawed,á manipulative,á and ultimatelyá unresolved?á Does theá assertioná that Josephá was ‘Just where he was meant to be" justify his actions or validate his self–perception? Can flawed or even morally conĚupt people be instruments of God?
How would Joseph’s reunion with his brothers have been differentá if it had occurred earlier -Ľ say,á during the years of prosperity precedingá the famine, when Joseph’sá life–saving role was still only a matter of his own predictions? At what point in his life did Joseph come to terms with his theology? With his view of Providence and of God‘s plans for him in particular?
Theme #2: "Going Out of Business Sale"
"Withá all theá moneyá and animalá stocks consignedá to my lord,á nothingá is left at my lord’s
disposal save our persons and our farmland. Let us not perish before your eyes, both we and our land. Take us and our land in exchange for the bread, and we and our land will be serfs to Pharaoh...á We are grateful to my lord,á and we shall be serfs to Pharaoh."á Genesis 47:18-19,
25
Derash: Study
A. "More than one modem writer has found in this report of the enslavementá of the Egyptian peasant shocking proof of Joseph‘s inhumanity. But, as has been stressed repeatedly by more objective students,á such censoriousá commentsá show little understanding of either history or literature. The Egyptianá conceptá of state, wherebyá the king was viewed as a god, made the pharaohá aná absoluteá rulerá fromá theá start,á andá henceá theá ownerá of all heá surveyed .…The agrarianá changesá that are here describedá may reflect actual socio-economicá developments… That theyá shouldá be creditedá in this narrativeá to Josephá is part and parcelá of his idealized historical image." E. A. Speiser, Anchor Bible Commentary
B. "The insulting point of the story is that Joseph sells back the grain that he first confiscated. Thereá is no justification for what Josephá did.á Under theá ‘Josephá Plan,’á the civiliansá were doomed from the start. The ‘Josephá Plan‘á is nothing new.á Calls for governmentá action to save usáá fromáá impendingáá economicáá catastrophesááá andáá theáá supposedáá inbornáá self–destructive mechanismsá iná the private ownershipá society/capitalismá aboundá everywhere.á If Josephá had respectedá privateá property, theyá not only would have survived,á they wouldá have prospered. Josephá effectivelyá sentá Egyptá back toá theá Stoneá Age.á A onceá advancedá civilization was reduced to slavery in the space of a few years." Scott Wallace Brians, The Joseph Plan and the Road to Serfdom
C.á "Josephá avertedá overwhelmingá famineá andá death, butá at a price.á In someá respects,á the sociological consequencesáááá landless economic serfdomá – are reminiscentá of the changes that tooká placeá iná Britainá at the timeá of theá Enclosureá Actsá of theá eighteenthá andá nineteenth centuries, and in modemá Mexico among the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples. The net results of Joseph‘s actions were not only the avoidance ofterrible famine but the centralizationá of power
in a country where it had previously been dispersed, as well as the loss of liberty for most of
its inhabitants. Paradoxically,á he also set the stage for the creation of a powerful regime which eventually enslaved his own descendants."á David Ehrenfeld,á The Joseph Strategy
Questions for Discussion
Speiserá simultaneouslyá says thatá Joseph’sá economic measuresá reflectá hisá "idealized"á image and that they are based on an idolatrousá politicalá system with a god-king at its center! Is it possibleá to justify Joseph’sá totalitarianismá asá simplyá consonantáá withá hisá historicalá and culturalá reality?á Is thisá the act of "moreá objectiveá students"á of Bibleá and historyá orá is it merely an act of moral relativism?
what way- if any-á is Joseph’s economic leadership relevant to thisá contemporaryá discussion? Does the biblicalá text offerá solutions?á lsá itá a cautionaryá tale? Howá does someone’s political loyaltiesá andá biasesá impactá hisá orá herá readingá of our parshah? Howá mightá itá shapeá Brians’ analysis of the text?
Ehrenfeld’sá assertion that Joseph’sá actionsá set the stage for Israel’sá enslavementá iná Egyp t is a harsh indictment.á If he isá correct,á isá that enslavement a punishment for Joseph’sá despotismá or for his brother’s sale of him into Egyptian bondage? What role might Joseph’s harsh economic policies (and-á iná Ehrenfeld’sá scheme — the resultant nationalá suffering)á be intendedá to play in the national developmentá and education of the Jewish people?
Twoá explanationsá of theá nameá Josephá areá providedá iná Genesisá 30:23-24…á "Godá has taken awayá (asaf) my disgrace"…á and "May the Lord add (yosef) another son." How might these etymologiesá affectá our readingá of the narrative describing Joseph’sá nationalá and economic leadership?
Halachah L’Maaseh
God’sá promiseá to Jacobá that He personallyá will "bring you back" to the Land of Israelá is
fulfilled both personally (Jacob’sá burial)á and nationally (possession of the Promisedá Land). Arranging for burialá in Israel still is consideredá an act of piety and affection for the Land. Rabbi Isaac Klein even permitsá exhumationá for this purpose. Placing earth from the land of Israel into a grave in the diaspora at the time of burialá is a gesture of the same affection for the
Holy Land and a recognition of its unique sanctity and its centrality to Jewish spiritual life.
Historic Note
The record of Joseph’s exploitative administration of Egypt’s resourcesá and populaceá is read on Decemberá 11, 2010. On December 11,á 1792, King Louis XVI was put on trial for treason,
following a famously despotic reign over hungry and impoverished subjects.
SPARKS FOR DISCUSSION
Do Judah’s words meet Rambam’sá criteria for complete teshuvah? Is this standard
too strict?á Is a person who avoids temptation (in Rambam’s example,á avoiding the woman with whom he sinned) rather than resisting it truly repentant?
It seems that hardly a week goes by withoutá some public figure -aá politician,á a sports star, or an entertainer being caught behaving badly, from sexual impropriety to misuse of funds to employingá offenseá language. This is usually followed by a tearful public apology and a promise to go into rehab. ls this true teshuvah? Is it a necessary part ofrepentance? How do we know when teshuvah has occurred?