joseph

Parashat Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27)

Genesis 41:1-44:17

Nearly every year Parashat Mikeitz is read in conjunction with the celebration of Hanukkah. Can we find any parallel or insight in this week’s Torah portion that relates to Hanukkah? A few of our rabbis (particularly Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg) have brought insight into this correlation. Our parashah tells us:

Parashat Vayeishev begins the story of Joseph. When we first encounter him, he is a seventeen year old young man. We learn that his father, Jacob, had a special love for him above all of his eleven brothers. He was loved so much that his father had given him a special and highly recognizable garment that distinguished him from among his brothers. This disproportionate love stirred up jealousy from his brothers and fostered their resentment toward him. That resentment eventually turned to a genuine hatred of Joseph and caused his brothers to plot to do away with him.

Who Are These?

Parashat Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26)

The Power of Hope

Genesis 44:18-47:27

Is this week’s Torah portion we learn about the reunion of Joseph and his family. How appropriate for the name of the portion to be called Vayigash, which means, “and he came near.” After a long period of being apart from his family, Joseph was able to come near his family. Not only did Joseph reveal himself to his brothers after the long wait for his plan to succeed, but he was also reunited with his father who had given up hope of Joseph’s survival years beforehand. 

The Grand Illusion

Parashat Vayeishev (Genesis 37:1-40:23)

From My Heart to Your Heart

Parashat Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27)

After several months of playing cat and mouse with his brothers, the moment of truth arrived for Joseph and his brothers. Joseph’s plan of ensnaring Benjamin worked to put his brothers in a vulnerable position where he was able to put them to the test. Joseph had laid the bait, set the trap, and it had sprung upon his brothers. Would they abandon their father’s favored son as they had done to him, or had these twenty-two years given them time to think over their actions and have a change of heart?

Parashat Vayeishev (Genesis 37:1-40:23)