A LIVING CHINUCH
Vayigash
After Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, he sends them back home to bring Yaakov down to Egypt.
When the brothers finally break the news that after 22 years, Yosef is still alive, the Torah records that Yaakov’s heart became faint, because he did not believe them. Only when Yaakov saw the wagons sent by Yosef to carry him, is his spirit revived and he exclaims; “Yosef my son is alive, I will go and see him before I pass away”.
Why would Yaakov have reason not to believe his sons report that Yosef was still alive, after all hadn’t he suspected them of selling him? And why only after seeing these wagons does Yaakov finally embrace the realisation that indeed Yosef is alive?
In their report, the brothers reported that not only was Yosef alive, but that he was the ruler over all of Egypt. Yosef had made it in Egyptian society. He had climbed the ranks, become exceedingly successful and now sat at the helm of the world super-power of his time.
But at what cost? Egypt was a place known for immorality, idolatry and promiscuity. Surely to become the leader of this society Yosef must have abandoned the ways of his ancestors. What must have happened to his Torah study and his observance in pursuit of success within that culture?
Yaakov believed his sons that indeed Yosef was physically alive, he had no reason to doubt them. But for Yaakov, to be alive means so much more. True life is connection to Hashem and to His Torah, the Tree of Life. If Yosef had assimilated to the ideals of Egypt in pursuit of success, then for Yaakov he may as well have been lost forever.
Until “he sees the wagons that Yosef had sent”. Rashi tells us the significance of these wagons. With these wagons, Yosef was alluding to the final Torah topic that he had learned with his father before being sold - the subject of עגלה ערופה (the Mitzvah performed when a corpse is found, and the murderer is not known) which is related to the word for wagons - עגלות.
Despite the passage of 22 years away from the influence of his father’s home, despite rising the ranks of corporate society, Yosef was still learning Torah and following in the ways of his father. It was this news that revived Yaakov’s spirit that his son Yosef was not lost, but was truly alive and living, connected to Torah and following in its ways.
The Kli Yakar notes that the wagons were actually provided by Pharaoh. Why does the Posuk say that Yaakov “saw the wagons that Yosef had sent”. Further, if Yosef was alluding to the Parsha of עגלה ערופה, one wagon would have sufficed.
The Kli Yakar notes that what revived Yosef’s spirit was not seeing the wagons, but rather the fact that Yosef had sent them. Even though the wagons were provided by Pharaoh, Yosef had escorted the brothers as they left Egypt and sent them off on their way home, as the Posuk says “and he sent his brothers and they went”.
Yosef had learned the law of Levaya - escorting someone when they take leave, from his own father. When Yaakov sent. Yosef to check on his brothers, he said “go and I will send you to them”. The word “go” would have been sufficient. By adding the words “and I will send you”, we learn that Yaakov escorted Yosef at the start of his trip. Yaakov had learned this law from Avraham who escorted the three angels as they took leave of him.
The requirement to escort a guest who leaves is learned from the Mitzvah of עגלה ערופה. The sages of the city nearest the corpse have to make a declaration that “our hands did not spill this blood”. Certainly, the sages did not commit murder. What they are saying is that we were not responsible for the death by sending this person away from our city without food and without escorting him.
This was the Halacha that Yaakov taught Yosef in their last encounter, when Yaakov performed the Mitzvah of Levaya. Presumably Yosef taught the Halacha to his brothers, when he fulfilled the Mitzvah when escorting them.
Yaakov was not revived on seeing that Yosef remembered the Sugya of עגלה ערופה as a theoretical Torah discussion that they had studied together. It was when he saw that Yosef lived what he had learned, practicing what he had studied indeed, that he had internalised the moral lessons of the Torah. Then he knew that Yosef was truly alive.
When the brothers finally break the news that after 22 years, Yosef is still alive, the Torah records that Yaakov’s heart became faint, because he did not believe them. Only when Yaakov saw the wagons sent by Yosef to carry him, is his spirit revived and he exclaims; “Yosef my son is alive, I will go and see him before I pass away”.
Why would Yaakov have reason not to believe his sons report that Yosef was still alive, after all hadn’t he suspected them of selling him? And why only after seeing these wagons does Yaakov finally embrace the realisation that indeed Yosef is alive?
In their report, the brothers reported that not only was Yosef alive, but that he was the ruler over all of Egypt. Yosef had made it in Egyptian society. He had climbed the ranks, become exceedingly successful and now sat at the helm of the world super-power of his time.
But at what cost? Egypt was a place known for immorality, idolatry and promiscuity. Surely to become the leader of this society Yosef must have abandoned the ways of his ancestors. What must have happened to his Torah study and his observance in pursuit of success within that culture?
Yaakov believed his sons that indeed Yosef was physically alive, he had no reason to doubt them. But for Yaakov, to be alive means so much more. True life is connection to Hashem and to His Torah, the Tree of Life. If Yosef had assimilated to the ideals of Egypt in pursuit of success, then for Yaakov he may as well have been lost forever.
Until “he sees the wagons that Yosef had sent”. Rashi tells us the significance of these wagons. With these wagons, Yosef was alluding to the final Torah topic that he had learned with his father before being sold - the subject of עגלה ערופה (the Mitzvah performed when a corpse is found, and the murderer is not known) which is related to the word for wagons - עגלות.
Despite the passage of 22 years away from the influence of his father’s home, despite rising the ranks of corporate society, Yosef was still learning Torah and following in the ways of his father. It was this news that revived Yaakov’s spirit that his son Yosef was not lost, but was truly alive and living, connected to Torah and following in its ways.
The Kli Yakar notes that the wagons were actually provided by Pharaoh. Why does the Posuk say that Yaakov “saw the wagons that Yosef had sent”. Further, if Yosef was alluding to the Parsha of עגלה ערופה, one wagon would have sufficed.
The Kli Yakar notes that what revived Yosef’s spirit was not seeing the wagons, but rather the fact that Yosef had sent them. Even though the wagons were provided by Pharaoh, Yosef had escorted the brothers as they left Egypt and sent them off on their way home, as the Posuk says “and he sent his brothers and they went”.
Yosef had learned the law of Levaya - escorting someone when they take leave, from his own father. When Yaakov sent. Yosef to check on his brothers, he said “go and I will send you to them”. The word “go” would have been sufficient. By adding the words “and I will send you”, we learn that Yaakov escorted Yosef at the start of his trip. Yaakov had learned this law from Avraham who escorted the three angels as they took leave of him.
The requirement to escort a guest who leaves is learned from the Mitzvah of עגלה ערופה. The sages of the city nearest the corpse have to make a declaration that “our hands did not spill this blood”. Certainly, the sages did not commit murder. What they are saying is that we were not responsible for the death by sending this person away from our city without food and without escorting him.
This was the Halacha that Yaakov taught Yosef in their last encounter, when Yaakov performed the Mitzvah of Levaya. Presumably Yosef taught the Halacha to his brothers, when he fulfilled the Mitzvah when escorting them.
Yaakov was not revived on seeing that Yosef remembered the Sugya of עגלה ערופה as a theoretical Torah discussion that they had studied together. It was when he saw that Yosef lived what he had learned, practicing what he had studied indeed, that he had internalised the moral lessons of the Torah. Then he knew that Yosef was truly alive.