Vayechi 2021 (late)
1The concluding Parsha to book of Bereishis is short but quite revealing. The revelations contained therein are about Jacob and Joseph and his brothers. You may have been wondering if Jacob ever was aware that Joseph’s brothers conspired to kill him and settled on selling him into slavery. There are enough subtle clues that resolve this mystery. In Jacob’s last will and testament to Shimon and Levi, Jacob states “in their willfulness they uprooted an ox”. Moshe calls Joseph the “Bechor Shor”, the first born ox. Shimon and Levi were the forces behind Joseph’s being “uprooted” and within the two Shimon was primary. This may strike you as strange considering it was Judah who sends Joseph into the hand of the Ishmaelite. So maybe Jacob knew some things but not everything or maybe he excused Judah for some reason. The Ramban says the “ox” in Jacob’s comments refers to Shchem not Joseph. Another clue comes at the end of the parsha wherein the brothers ask Joseph to forgive them claiming that “Jacob wants you to carry the sin of your brothers”. Notice Joseph does not respond “Jacob knew not of the sin” or “how did he know”, rather he responds, “don’t worry it was all good.”
2The other revelation is about Jacob’s relationship with Joseph. On the one hand Jacob needs and asks Joseph to take care of his personal burial needs, yet is reluctant to instruct him on his future relationship with his brothers. He gives him a private blessing that seems like all anyone could ask for, including making Joseph’s sons as equals to their uncles and actually imbuing them with the foundational blessings for all Jews for all time. He then blesses Joseph again in the group along with the other brothers in the natural birth order after Asher. He questions the worthiness of Joseph’s offspring, yet blesses them with most famous “Hamalach” etc. At the beginning of the parsha Jacob requests that Joseph take on the responsibility of bringing Jacob to Canaan, yet at the end he instructs all the children to take part. It is clear that in Jacob’s eyes Joseph is distinct and apart yet just another brother in the list. Jacob is like any normal father but more. He loves each and every child totally and with no reservation, yet is acutely aware of each individual strengths and weaknesses. His list of criticisms and praises is followed by the pasuk Ch 49 v 28 “These are all the tribes of Israel 12 and this is what they’re father spoke to them and blessed them each according to his blessing did he bless them.” Rashi comments each tribe could ascribe to any of the qualities! Despite individual failings, each is a son of Jacob and therefore deserves and is worthy of blessing.
3Someone asked me whether Joseph forgave his brothers and it’s a very good question. I think it’s pretty hard to forgive those who attempted to hurt you and especially a permanent and lasting hurt. Joseph’s treatment of the brothers in Mikeitz leads one to conclude that forgiveness was not forthcoming. The brothers certainly weren’t feeling the love at the end of this week’s parsha. Rabbi Twerski and others insist on it, saying that failure to forgive the perpetrator of a wrong damage the victim more than the perpetrator. It follows therefore that as a result of not forgiving his brothers in many ways Joseph was himself damaged. If the theme in the parsha is forgiveness, I would argue that forgiveness is for G-d, we just try to cope and move forward. Joseph, it seems was unable to move his people forward and as a result they remained in a land that ultimately would enslave them for many years. The stage is set and so is the inevitability of the events in the book of Shmos.
4Parsha Corner is dedicated to the memory of Joel Shulman A’H