Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parasha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell ”

Judah approaches Joseph to plead for the release of Benjamin, offering himself as a slave to the Egyptian ruler instead of Benjamin. Upon witnessing his brothers’ loyalty and the love for 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.

” Dvar Torah ”

Probably, the most dramatic reunion in the history of mankind is recorded in this week’s parsha. Jacob reunites with his beloved son, Joseph! After twenty two years of living in misery and hell, thinking that his favorite son is dead, Jacob is suddenly informed that Joseph is still alive and well, so he rushes down to Egypt to meet him face to face. The scene of their close encounter is every writer’s dream to show off his or her’s writing talents by putting down this episode on paper. Any good writer has the ability to revive the scene for us by describing in detail their inner feelings, their facial expressions, their emotional reactions and their exchange of words at the time of their encounter. What did they say to each other? How loud did they cry? How long did they hug? So many things to write about….

Well, let us see what the writer of all writers, the Almighty himself, has to say about the most affectionate reunion of all times in his Holy Bible?!

Yet, strangely enough, the Torah doesn’t talk much about this dramatic scene. It just says that at the time of their close encounter, Jacob, apparently, remained emotionless and silent while Joseph wept. Rashi, the famous Torah commentator, explains that Jacob was reciting the “Shema” or was having a conversation with the Almighty at the time. He explains that since in all of the years of Jacob’s separation from Joseph, he was in a depressed mood, the Divine Spirit had departed from him and he was therefore unable to communicate with G-d. Now that he saw Joseph in front of his eyes, alive and well, the joy of the moment allowed the Holy Spirit to return to him once again and he used the opportunity to communicate with the Almighty.

Although Rashi is the most respected commentator among our sages, but his explanation is not satisfactory to me. Surely, he could have recited the Shema, and at the same time, he could have shown a sign of joy on his face, or even let a few drops of tears run down his cheeks. What is more mind bugling, is that Jacob doesn’t reveal any emotions in the rest of the Parsha either. He doesn’t even ask any questions regarding Joseph’s disappearance from Joseph himself or his brothers. So many unanswered questions needed to be asked! How did Joseph end up as ruler of all Egypt? Why didn’t Joseph come and visit his father when he was in power? And above all, how did Joseph disappear in the first place? Jacob’s emotionless raises a bigger question. Was Jacob, G-d forbid, a heartless person who didn’t care about his children??

So how can we explain Jacob’s silence? How can we explain his lack of emotions and lack of curiosity? Well, as I continued my research, I came across an explanation from Sforno, who is also another great Torah scholar, which really touched my heart. He says that Jacob was well aware of the tensions that existed between Joseph and his brothers. He also realizes that his sons misled him when they showed him Joseph’s bloody gown. And being a prophet, he probably knew what exactly had happened between Joseph and his brothers, since later on, on his deathbed he says to Joseph: ” I know, my son, I know.”
But he chose to be silence, since he saw that his sons are all reunited again, and that was all that mattered to Jacob; to see his children living in peace together, side by side! He didn’t show any emotions to Joseph, because any sign of emotions would have revealed the painful years that Jacob had to go through, which Joseph would have blamed his brothers for. He knew very well that any show of emotions or asking questions will only rip open a scab on a wound that has to healed slowly and carefully. He realized that sometimes you have to let the bygones be bygones, and you need to focus on the future rather than to concentrate on the past. He knew that his children are going to be the heads of the Jewish nation, and the secret to Jewish survival is “UNITY”. So he didn’t ask any questions, since any question would have ended up blaming one party or the other, and would have created a friction or separation between them again. He didn’t want to play the “blame game”, but rather, he wanted to play along with their “unity”!

Yes my friends, the Torah once again, emphasizes the importance of “unity”. For the sake of unity, sometimes you have to hide your emotions. For the sake of unity, sometimes you have to keep silent. And for the sake of unity, not every family secret needs to be publicly revealed nor every family dispute needs to be brought up, constantly. Sometimes you have to let go of the past in order create a better future!!

Everyone does mistakes in their lives. But if we are not willing to forgive and forget, then relationships can be very fragile. Family relationships are based on forgiveness. The Torah commands us not to hold a grudge, not because we need to be compassionate toward others, but rather, we are obligated to get along with our fellow Jews, even if they’ve done something wrong to us. Hashem wants us to forgive in order to be united. If Joseph could find it in his heart to forgive his brothers and if Jacob can let go of 22 years of misery and suffering for the sake of unity, then why can’t we??

Nothing gives more pleasure than to see your children living in peace and harmony together. But keep in mind that the parents act as role models for their children. So if you want your children to get along with each other, make sure you get along with your siblings first!

Shabath Shalom & Regards;

Martin