Parashat Vayigash, Genesis 44:18-47:27

Vayigash is a most human tale of unfinished business and of scores that call out to be settled.

A friend and I recently caught a glimpse of some hockey highlights on a sports network. She pointed out that these highlights consisted of nothing but fights from different games. What is it about fighting that captures the imagination? Hockey might be the most obvious example, at least in regard to actual fisticuffs, but our attention is also riveted by long-running rivalries such as that between the Maple Leafs and Habs (Canadiens), for example. Other sports also have long-standing feuds, for instance the interminable Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. Need I say more? The steroid driven soap operas of the wrestling world may well be the modern day equivalent of the Montagues and Capulets.

Then there are the real-world feuds such as the Hatfield and McCoys, whose reasons for feuding ranged from differing sympathies during the American Civil War to ownership of a pig, as well as a 19th century Romeo and Juliet story. Or how about a more recent feud: the forty year battle between two of the greatest cardiologists in the world, Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. Denton Cooley, which appears to be nearing an end. (See Lawrence K. Altman, MD, The Doctor's World column, "The Feud" New York Times, November 27, 2007.)

Underlying feuds are issues of power, jealousy, wrongdoing and revenge. All these factors come to the fore in this week's parasha, Vayigash. Joseph, the second most powerful man in Egypt, is toying with his brothers who do not recognize him. Having asked them to bring his full brother Benjamin to Egypt with them, Joseph hides a goblet in Benjamin's bag and accuses him of theft. This is more than the brothers can bear and in the first two words of the parasha (Genesis 44:18) Judah approaches (vayigash) to face this powerful ruler to fight for his youngest brother.

The very name of this portion, the deceptively simple word vayigash, "he approached," says much about rivalries and feuds. Midrash Breishit Rabbah tells us that this verb encompasses three meanings: (1) Judah could be preparing for battle, as is the case in II Samuel 10:13; (2) he could be preparing for conciliation, as in Joshua 14:6; or (3) he is preparing for prayer. Which is it? According to Rabbi Eliezer, the correct answer is all of the above. Yet another midrash in this same work compares the meeting of Judah and Joseph to the struggle between a lion and a bull, a battle the ministering angels are eagerly anticipating. It appears to be a fight to the finish. In our day, ministering angels must be hockey fans.

There are certainly enough instances in history and in literature where sibling rivalry turns into a power struggle. We can find example of this process at the end of the Hasmonean dynasty, when the rivalry between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II eventually paved the way for Rome to establish its power in Judea. Another example from the realm of history would be the War of the Roses, which was immortalized by Shakespeare - Richard III anyone?

So which is it in this week's parasha: sibling rivalry or power struggle? How about a bit of both? On one level, the rivalry of Joseph and Judah is an allegory for the later kingdoms: Judah in the South and Israel in the north. This northern kingdom was also known as the house of Joseph (Zechariah 10:6). So one interpretation of Vayigash can be that this week's face-off between Joseph and Judah is a dynastic one. Spoiler alert: Judah will be the winner. Historically, the southern kingdom survives for much longer. It also explains the blessing that Jacob gives to Judah in next week's parasha:

You, O Judah, your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the nape of your foes;
Your father's sons shall bow low to you. …
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet;
So that tribute shall come to him

And the homage of peoples be his. (Genesis 49:8, 10)

On another level, Vayigash is a most human tale of unfinished business and of scores that call out to be settled. Perhaps this is why Joseph is toying with his brothers, although commentaries say that he is testing them to gauge their remorse.

Itturei Torah, a collection of Hassidic and ethical teachings, gives a deeper meaning to Judah's action. Looking at the word vayigash, this commentary asks whom Judah approached, responding that he approached "Himself -- for only when Judah became himself at his best was he able to speak as he did" (translation from the Plaut commentary).

Judah's actions are viewed as symbolizing complete repentance for his past deeds. Judah was put in a situation where the life of one of Rachel's sons was again in his hands. Unlike the first instance (Genesis 37:26), when he sold Joseph, here he saves Benjamin. Repentance is truly complete when he faces the same situation as before but reacts differently. This moves Joseph to tears, and he reveals his true identity to his brothers. It appears that the feud between the brothers is finally over.

Alas, this is not so. In the very next chapter, as Joseph sends his brothers to bring the rest of the clan to Egypt, he warns them, "Do not be quarrelsome on the way." (Genesis 45:24). Among Rashi's explanations of this verse is that the brothers might blame each other for selling Joseph into slavery. In other words, a new feud could develop in the family. In next week's parasha, after the death of Jacob, the brothers fear that Joseph's behavior towards them will change: "What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrong that we did him!" (Genesis 50:15). Although Joseph reassures them that all that happened was actually part of God's plan, it is still interesting to note this dread, seventeen years after their reunion. It is perhaps too simplistic to hope that Joseph's reunion with his brothers would signal a complete healing of their relationship, one that would be in line with their father Jacob's dramatic reconciliation with his brother:

Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; let what you have remain yours." But Jacob said, "No, I pray you; if you would do me this favor, accept from me this gift; for to see your face is like seeing the face of God, and you have received me favorably. Please accept my present which has been brought to you, for God has favored me and I have plenty." And when he urged him, he accepted.

(Genesis 33:9-11)

Nonetheless, Joseph's reunion with his brothers is just as dramatic. As with Jacob and Esau, despite the fact that the threat of a fight hangs over the entire affair, it never materializes. Where the two reconciliations differ is in the aftermath. Both Joseph and his brothers carry scars of distrust within their souls. Yet they manage to reunite, imperfect though that reconciliation may be. The path from estrangement to reconciliation does not mean that the past is forgotten; rather it is accepted, perhaps slowly, grudgingly, in all its fragility.

Response is not always given; and even when it is, it is not the same for every man. Repentance is a gradual process: final response is awarded not to specific isolated acts but to the whole; the various components, the desire to act, the performing of the deed based on anticipation, the yearning, disappointment, and hope, are rewarded, if at all, by partial answers. In other words, a response to turning is given to a man as “something on account” the rest to be paid out later. A person generally hears the longed-for answer not when he puts his question, not when he is struggling, but when he pauses on a summit and looks back on his life.

Adin Steinsaltz, The Thirteen Petalled Rose

Joseph and his brothers have taken the initial step on their journey to reconciliation. Though they follow the same itinerary, each one of them travels that path on his own. Here's hoping that when they pause on the summit, they each see a breathtaking view. Here's hoping as well that each one of us, even before we reach that summit, can gaze out and appreciate the beauty in even our most challenging relationships.

Shabbat shalom,
MS