Vayigash
Isaac’s Parsha Corner
Following Judah’s plea Joseph removes the local Egyptians from the room, immediately, he begins to cry. “And he put forth his voice in a cry. And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph, is my father yet alive?” This is a strange question considering he had just asked it the day before during the feast.. “And he inquired as to their welfare and said is your father that you spoke of is he yet alive? And they said peace upon your servant our father is yet alive.”(43:37) Furthermore he immediately repeats the announcement to his brothers but adds an interesting description of himself. “I am Joseph who you sold down to Mitzrayim!” The first “I am Joseph” has no elaboration. It is an announcement to himself as well as to his brothers. I am Joseph, the son of Jacob, not Zaphnat Paaneiach, the Egyptian soothsayer. I am Joseph, not the second in command to Pharaoh, rather the son of Jacob. The question I asked you yesterday; “is YOUR father alive” is now rather “is MY father alive.” (and no answer is forthcoming, in fact Joseph insists the brothers leave and bring back their father, proof that he knew the answer to his own question)
A further observation is Joseph’s tendency to cry. Joseph was a crier. He cries when first encountering his brothers. He cries again upon seeing Benjamin, again before revealing his self to his brothers and again afterwards. He cries when he reunites with his father. He cries when his father died and, finally, when his brothers asked for his forgiveness. [One of the classic symptoms associated with PTSD is excessive crying.] I don’t think anyone in the Chumash cries as much as Joseph. We read about another famous or infamous crying after the spies bring back a scary report regarding Canaan. “And the people cried that night” Bamidbar 14:1. Joseph’s excessive crying and that of the Israelites in the wilderness were similar both in presentation and in context. Both introduce the crying with the similar unique phrasing: “Vayitnu ET kolam vayivku –And they (the Israelites) put forth their voice and cried. Vayitane ET Kolo Bebechi – And he (Joseph) put forth his voice with crying”. “Putting forth a voice” means something special (I’m not exactly sure what exactly). Joseph in Egypt and the Israelites also are crying about the same sad state of their existence. Joseph is in a foreign land far from his beloved home and from the father he loved. The Israelites upon hearing the impossibility of their ever getting into the land cried because they too would be without a land, actually THE land. Joseph has been stranded in Egypt with no chance of returning to his homeland. Reminders of this negative state brought Joseph to tears. We in the Diaspora are in a state of tears. “You have cried tears for nothing I will bring you to tears forever.”(Midrash) The tears predicted in the Midrash were for the twice destruction of the Holy Temple. The exile that followed the second destruction is much akin to Joseph’s exile in Mitzrayim. Like Joseph we Israelites have too often been in a state of tears.
Shabbat Shalom.