A BISSEL TORAH: PARSHAT VAYIGASH: APPROACHING WITH CONFIDENCE
By: Suri Davis
In last week’s torah portion, Joseph was told that the sons of Jacob had an additional brother and Joseph demanded that, if they wanted more food, they had to bring Benjamin. Jacob refused, until it was clear that they would all starve, unless Jacob acquiesced. Benjamin joined the brothers and went down to Egypt to barter for food. As all the brothers were about to return, Joseph hid a silver goblet in Benjamin’s sack and accused him of stealing it, as an excuse to retain Benjamin. The brothers clearly could not return to Jacob without their brother Benjamin, and that is how last week’s torah portion ended.
In this week’s torah portion, Yehudah approaches the Egyptian Viceroy, Joseph, his brother, with a brazenness, knowing that he needed to have his brother, Benjamin, who was jailed by Joseph, returned to his family. That Yehudah was certain he had to risk his life to do so. For the sake of his father, who might die if he had lost both Joseph and Benjamin.
We approach G-d with a brazenness daily. This is what I need G-d, I need you to resurrect the dead, give me wisdom, return us to your good graces, return our judges to their benches, give us health and an income and food and a good year. Return our king to his throne and us to our holy service in Your holy temple. We know that we are brazen for we have sinned against G-d daily, nevertheless we approach Him with our want/need list.
Many times we feel that G-d isn’t giving us what we want, isn’t listening. But in one fell swoop, in this week’s torah portion, we have our answer to this real and philosophical question of faith, why it appears that we don’t get what we want, why bad things happen to good people. Using Joseph as an example, is being thrown into a pit as the coat from your father is peeled off of you, good. Is being sold to Ishmaelits, good. Is being sold as a house boy to Pharoah’s advisor, Potiphar, good. Is being falsely accused of intimacy with Potiphar’s wife, good. Is being thrown into jail on false charges, good. Is being forgotten by the Sommelier after doing him a favor, good. No one would ask for this upon themselves.
Yet, when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, he tells them not to feel guilty for that has befallen him, for it was not their doing that caused all of his life’s hardship, it was G-d, and G-d’s plan, so that in the end, he would be viceroy, save his family and plant the seed for Jacob and his sons to go down to Goshen, which would plant the seed for the second national test in faith, the Egyptian’s slavery of the Jews for 200 years, which solidified their formation as a nation, rather than individual tribes.
THIS IS CORE FAITH. After a lifetime of hardship caused by his brother’s jealousy, there is a recognition that all was/is for the good, at G-d’s hands. We have to have the faith and knowledge that all is in G-d’s hands. We are confident to say to G-d, our father, this is what I want and need, and have the faith that G-d answers us with what he knows is good for us. That this week, in which we suffered local untimely deaths, and terrorist attacks in Israel, which caused untimely deaths, that we continue to pray for redemption as the words of our prophet Isaiah, 66:13: As a man is comforted by his mother, G-d will comfort you, and in Jerusalem will you be comforted.” May G-d find it in His plan to comfort us soon with the final redemption.
Good Shabbos.
Suri