A Song of Hope
Dec 26, 2025 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Vayiggash
In a curious foreshadowing of the book of Exodus, in this week鈥檚 Torah reading (Gen. 46:8) we read, 鈥淰e鈥檈leh shemot鈥擳hese are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt . . .鈥� This is verbatim the same report as the opening verse of the book of Exodus. But there, the names are limited only to Jacob鈥檚 actual sons, and the full enumeration of their own offspring is absent.
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A Tale of Two Dreamers
Jan 3, 2025 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Vayiggash
Yet while the incongruity of Jacob鈥檚 response to Pharaoh鈥檚 question is in some sense humorous, Jacob鈥檚 words are heart-rending. They grow out of the existential and ideological divide that separates Jacob from his son. One can speak of three differences between their perspectives.
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The Reason(s) Jacob Went Down to Egypt
Dec 22, 2023 By Ira Tokayer | Commentary | Vayiggash
Parashat Vayiggash is a good place to illustrate the modern scholarship, which sees the Torah鈥檚 Joseph story as a combination of three source documents with separate accounts of how and why Jacob descended to Egypt.
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The Gradual Journey to Forgiveness
Dec 30, 2022 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayiggash
Parashat Vayiggash opens with the dramatic encounter between Joseph and his older brother, Judah. Judah, who years earlier had cooperated with his brothers to betray Joseph, seems to be on the verge of losing his father鈥檚 other favored son, Benjamin, as well. He makes an impassioned plea to Joseph, offering himself as a hostage in Benjamin鈥檚 stead. As it turns out, Judah鈥檚 altruism is more than Joseph can withstand. While he was able to hold back and hide his identity numerous times, letting his brothers squirm in discomfort before the strange Egyptian man, this time is different. Joseph reveals his identity. The moment is one of closeness, of reconciliation, and of Joseph鈥檚 recognition that it was not his brothers鈥� deeds but rather God鈥檚 plan that had guided the events of his latter years.
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Faith by Numbers
Dec 10, 2021 By Joel Seltzer | Commentary | Vayiggash
Most often, when I describe my own faith in God, I liken it to a number line from middle school math class. On the left are the negative numbers, in the center is the lonely zero, and to its right are all the positive numbers, stretching toward infinity.
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A Song of Hope
Dec 25, 2020 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Vayiggash
In a curious foreshadowing of the book of Exodus, in this week鈥檚 Torah reading (Gen. 46:8) we read, 鈥�Ve鈥檈leh shemot鈥擳hese are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt . . .鈥� This is verbatim the same report as the opening verse of the book of Exodus. But there, the names are limited only to Jacob鈥檚 actual sons, and the full enumeration of their own offspring is absent.
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Why Everyone Should Cry in Public
Jan 3, 2020 By Sarah Wolf | Commentary | Vayiggash
Vayiggash brings us to the culmination of the drama between Joseph and his brothers that began in Parashat Miketz. Ten of Joseph鈥檚 brothers鈥攁ll but Benjamin鈥攈ad travelled to Egypt to buy food during a famine. Joseph, newly in command in Egypt, had disguised himself and, perhaps in retaliation for the way they had treated him earlier, forced his brothers to go through various ordeals and humiliating situations. One of Joseph鈥檚 demands was that his brothers bring their youngest brother Benjamin when they returned to Egypt, with which they now comply, despite their father Jacob鈥檚 resistance to putting his youngest and beloved son in danger.
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Dying Whole and Living Whole
Dec 14, 2018 By Shayna Golkow | Commentary | Vayiggash
In a moment of joy, how many times have you said, 鈥淚鈥檓 so happy that I could die now,鈥� or 鈥淚f I died right now, I鈥檇 be satisfied!鈥� In a way, this reaction is counterintuitive; if we are so happy, why would we wish to die? But this reaction also comes naturally, because of our awareness that dying during a time of harmony and wholeness in our lives is the ideal.
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