This week’s parsha begins to wrap up Yosef’s (Joseph’s) isolation in Egypt. As we read in last week’s parsha, Miketz, in the second year of the famine (that Yosef so deftly interpreted from Pharaoh’s dream), Yosef’s brothers leave Israel to get grain from Egypt. When they come before Yosef, his brothers don’t recognize him, which is credible. He’s now 39 and the last time they saw him was when he was 17, and he’s dressed and groomed like an Egyptian. But Yosef recognizes them and decides to put them through a little test. Yosef demands that the brothers leave and come back, but this time with their youngest brother — Yosef’s full brother, the son of Yaakov (Jacob) and Yosef’s mother Rachel (Rachel), Benyamin (Benjamin). He wants to see if the brothers have changed since their awful treatment of Yosef so many years ago, and so before letting them go, Yosef hides a silver goblet in Benyamin’s bag. Yosef takes Benyamin to be his prisoner, but immediately Yehuda (Judah) jumps to Benyamin’s defense, which is where our parsha this week, Vayigash, picks up. Yehuda demands that he be taken instead, claiming thatYaakov won’t survive losing Benyamin, because he has already lost his other beloved son (Yosef). Yehuda’s plea is so moving and genuine, that Yosef breaks down and reveals his identity to his brothers.
It’s a moving moment, one that is unique because the Torah doesn’t often describe emotional expressions in such detail. Even when Yosef reveals who he is, the brothers are still shocked and even embarrassed, terrified that now Yosef will take revenge on them for their actions when he was 17. Yosef says something extremely powerful, proving that he doesn’t blame his brothers for their treatment of him. He says — “You did not send me here… G-d did” לֹֽא־אַתֶּ֞ם שְׁלַחְתֶּ֤ם אֹתִי֙ הֵ֔נָּה כִּ֖י הָֽאֱלֹקים
Yosef expresses an incredible sentiment that only someone in his situation can truly understand. We are truly just G-dly agents on this earth. Of course we have free will, or bechira (בחירה), but what will be will be … מה שיהיה, יהיה. It’s a complicated topic that I don’t think I will ever truly grasp!
Yosef’s brothers finally accept that he has forgiven them, and Pharaoh insists that they all move to Egypt. This news of Yosef’s brothers is specifically mentioned as being pleasing or good in the eyes of (וַיִּיטַב֙ בְּעֵינֵ֣י, vayitav b’enei) Pharaoh and his servants.
Why would Pharaoh and his servants be happy that Yosef’s brothers came from Israel? And on a broader level, what makes anyone happy? We are happy about a lot of things. We’re happy when good things happen to the people we love, or to people who deserve good things, and of course to us, right? I’m sure you’ve read those pop psychology articles about how sharing good news with others leads to second-hand positivity which has been recorded as leading to better communication, healthier relationships and working environments, and even better sleep! A study at the University of Rochester saw that when undergraduate students shared certain happy events with others and were greeted with enthusiasm, they were in a better mood and rated that event as being more special or more fulfilling than if met with indifference.
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