This week we focus on the climax of the Joseph story in the Torah portion of Va-yigash
michael
A word of Torah:
This week’s Torah portion begins with Joseph revealing himself to his brothers. By now in the story, we might be wondering who Joseph is? Is he Joseph the Hebrew or is he the viceroy of Egypt? After his appointment by Pharoah to be viceroy, he is given an Egyptian name (tzafnat pane’ah) and an Egyptian wife. For the next seven years of plenty, he travels all over Egypt gathering the crops in preparation for the seven years of famine that are coming. He seems to be so busy in his job that he is not home long enough for his wife to conceive.
These seven years are filled with work, but seem to be without dreams and with no attempt to contact his father or brothers. At the end of the seven years, he returns to his wife, Asnat, who then bears him two sons. Significantly, he calls his first son, Manasseh meaning: God has made me forget completely my hardship and my parental home. He calls his second child Ephraim meaning: God has made me fertile in the land of my affliction (Gen. 42:51-2).
The past is forgotten. The land of his affliction refers to his early years in Egypt not to his experience with his brothers. All seems left behind. Yet, if the past were really forgotten, why would Joseph name his son “God has made me completely forget?
In the next chapter, the brothers appear before Joseph in Egypt. They don’t recognize him, but he recognizes them. Joseph is forced to come to grips with his past and his identity. He tests them to see whether he is remembered, whether they feel guilty and whether his father Jacob knows what happened and is thereby complicit in Joseph’s slavery. When his brothers return to Egypt a second time, he finally makes clear his identity: I am Joseph your brother.
He is Joseph but he is also more than Joseph. He is viceroy of Egypt immersed in Egyptian society. He almost assimilates but, in the end, embraces his past. Perhaps it is his ability to live in two civilizations that makes him a confident and successful leader. He is not Abraham who lies to protect himself by saying Sarah is his sister. He is not Isaac blind to the reality of his children’s character. He is not Jacob always maneuvering; never being straightforward.
He is Joseph the leader who sees through the distortion of dreams. He is also the first Jew of the Diaspora—a model for all of us. He lives most of his life in Egypt. He is magnanimous to those who have betrayed him. He makes sure both his children are blessed breaking the pattern of Genesis of choosing only one child. In the end, he has travelled far but he never really left home.
He is Joseph my brother.
