Rabbi Rachel Hersh
This week’s Torah portion is Vayigash: Genesis 44:18 – 47:27
This week is the third of four sections of the Joseph cycle, the grand finale of the Book of Genesis. Most of these four sections focus on Joseph’s journey from talented, but immature visionary to become parnas ha-dor, nourisher and sustainer of a whole generation, and to earn his rabbinic nickname, “the righteous.” Parashat Vayigash, this third section, draws our focus toward Joseph’s half-brother Yehudah (Judah). As the parasha famously and powerfully portrays, Yehudah distinguishes himself as a person of true compassion and self-sacrifice for the welfare of others, especially that of their father Jacob.
We get glimpses of Yehudah’s strength of character in earlier chapters. He is the one who convinces his spiteful brothers not to kill Joseph as they initially intended, and instead to at least save Joseph’s life by selling him to the travelers (Midianites? Ishmaelites?) then passing through. Soon after, Yehudah makes a striking public display of integrity when he realizes he is to blame for his daughter-in-law Tamar’s illegitimate pregnancy. First, he evaded family responsibility by delaying her marriage to his son(s) and then entered into an intimate affair with her himself. When he could have used the power of his gender and stature to deny her protection and save his reputation, he does the right thing and blames himself before the whole community, ensuring her safety and that of the twins in her womb. (Not to mention, laying the foundation for his and Tamar’s descendants to ultimately include King David.)
Even before all of this, Leah’s decision to name her fourth son Yehudah, “ki odeh l’A” — “I am grateful to God,” signals a special potential for goodness in him. Our sages note that Leah comes to offer gratitude to God when she sees that, even as an unloved wife, she is blessed with abundant fertility, easily producing multiple children, while her sister, Jacob’s true beloved, cannot. “Praise is when a person extols the good that God has done for the world. But if a person initially thought that something was to their detriment, and afterward saw that good actually came from it, then the term “thanks” (hoda’ah) applies — like in the case of someone who “admits” (modeh) to part of a claim: he acknowledges that what he had thought was to his detriment is in fact good.” (BT, Berachot 7b)
In Parashat Vayigash, when Yehudah steps forward to plead for Joseph to have compassion on their father Jacob, and keep Yehudah as collateral, rather than Binyamin, he pierces Joseph’s mask and heart. It is Yehudah’s open-hearted and sincere plea that provokes Joseph’s dramatic moment of truth: “Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone withdraw from me!”
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still well?” (Genesis 45: 1-3) Ultimately, and with Yehudah’s intervention, Joseph sees the enormous good that has come out of his difficult journey and understands his trials and triumphs as part of a larger story. Even with all he has endured, Yosef is grateful to be the instrument of sustenance and family reconciliation.
Though most of us live our lives with less drama than Joseph and his brothers, we all have seasons of doubt and struggle, times when we think things are not going well. As we follow along our life’s path, we often find that what looked difficult or painful at one point, may turn out include unexpected blessings and even stoke our gratitude.
Rabbi Rachel Hersh is director of Jewish enrichment and engagement at JSSA.
