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Torah Portion -
Vayigash
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Written by Daniel Sandground
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At the conclusion of last week’s sedra we were left on a real cliff hanger with Binyamin being caught red-handed with Yoseph’s goblet after being set up in the final of Yoseph’s tests to see if his brothers had changed their ways. Having told the brothers that he would only take Binyamin from the brothers as a slave due to the supposed theft, the trap was set to see if they truly loved Binyamin and would stick up for him or if they would simply abandon him like they had done with Yoseph twenty two years prior. Binyamin was the youngest of the brothers and the only full brother of Yoseph having also been born from Rachel, he therefore provided the perfect candidate in this final test of the brothers. This week's sedra starts with the Torah informing us that, “Yehudah approached him (Yoseph)…” [44:18]. With Binyamin’s fate looking rather bleak Yehudah stepped forward, risking his life to intercede on the plans of the one who he perceived as merely the Egyptian viceroy, in actual fact, his brother Yoseph. With this action, the final showdown commenced and we see from the Torah that Yehudah spoke to the point yet still managed
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Torah Portion -
Vayigash
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Written by Rafi Jager
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So we all know the story in this weeks Parsha, that after revealing himself to his brothers, Yoseph embraces Binyamin passionately and they cry on each other's shoulders (Gen. 45:14). But lets ask a question: Why does the Torah find it necessary to inform us that they cried? There must be some significance, otherwise the Torah would not have mentioned their weeping. Rashi explains that Yoseph was crying on Binyamin's shoulder because he knew that the two Batei Mikdash, which were going to be in Binyamin's chelek of land would ultimately be destroyed. Rashi says that Binyamin cried on Yoseph's shoulder because he knew that the Mishkan, the famed tabernacle in Shiloh, which would be in Yoseph's territory would also be destroyed
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Torah Portion -
Vayigash
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Written by Yaakov Hibbert
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After Yosef has revealed himself to his brothers, he sends them to go and fetch the rest of the family. He sent with them a sign that his father would recognize, and thereby know that his son was really alive, not just in the physical sense but also spiritually. What is the sign – wagons!
The Medresh (not the famous one that connects the wagons to Eglah Arufah!) learns that the sign of the wagons was because the last thing that Yaakov was learning with Yosef was the “Eglos Tzav” – “the covered wagons”. These wagons were the wagons that the Shevatim donated (in Pashas Naso – also read on first day Chanukah!) to The Tribe of Levi to enable them to carry the pieces of the Mishkan that were assigned to them
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Torah Portion -
Vayigash
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Written by d fine
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Strangely, when Yosef relays the message that his brothers are to tell Yaakov when they return home, Yosef makes sure that Yaakov is told ‘you will settle in the land of Goshen’ (45:10). Why did Yaakov have to know this? The Tur and the Ramban both point out that Yaakov would only agree to come down to Egypt if he (and his family) did not live in the government city; the home of the Egyptian rulers. This could be for one of two reasons (or both). Firstly, Yaakov did not want his sons, grandsons, etc. to be around the materialistic, self-centred ruling class Egyptians be influenced by them. Alternatively, Yaakov did not want his children to be involved with the running of Egypt - he wanted to make sure that his children focussed on learning Torah and spiritual growth instead.
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Torah Portion -
Vayigash
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Written by d fine
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When Yosef reveals his identity with the famous line ‘I am Yosef. Is my father still alive? And the brothers could not answer him, for they were embarrassed,’ (45:3) the Midrash comments ‘woe to us for the day of judgment, woe to us for the day of reproach.’ The Midrash continues that if the brothers could not stand before their brother Yosef how much more will we be ashamed to stand before HaShem when He is judging and reproving us (in our Heavenly judgment). But where did the Midrash see that Yosef gave the brothers reproof - he simply revealed his true identity to them? The Torah Temimah answers that Yosef’s question of ‘is my father still alive’ was not merely a simple enquiry as to Yaakov’s wellbeing. Yosef was hinting to the brothers that they had been wrong for selling Yosef and had thus caused undue pain to their father - for Yosef’s dreams were correct and indeed had come true. This was the reproof that the Midrash is referring to.
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Torah Portion -
Vayigash
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Written by Daniel Sandground
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Parashas Vayigash
At the conclusion of last week’s sedra we were left on a real cliff hanger with Binyamin being caught red-handed with Yoseph’s goblet after being set up in the final of Yoseph’s tests to see if his brothers had changed their ways. Having told the brothers that he would only take Binyamin as a slave due to the theft, the trap was set to see if they truly loved Binyamin and would stick up for him or if they would simply abandon him like they had done with Yoseph 22 years prior. Binyamin was the youngest of
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Torah Portion -
Vayigash
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Written by Rafi Jager
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As we near the end of the book of Genesis, it is worthwhile to reflect back on our understanding of this first section of the Torah. In the beginning, Adam's purpose on earth was to enjoy the presence of Hashem. With the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam realized that he had totally changed the world. It was now Man's job to elevate the physical world back to a spiritual one and to spread this word unto Mankind. The first two people to take on this challenge were Cain and Abel. Being the ish sadeh (the man of the field), Cain understood that his role was to reunite the physical world (the earth)
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Torah Portion -
Vayigash
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Written by Rafi Jager
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Writes the Meshech Chochma, that although all three forefathers communicated with Hashem, only Jacob is recorded as having a vision of Him at night. The first time was when Yaakov was fleeing to the city of Charan to escape the wrath of his brother Esav and to find himself a wife. This week's Torah portion includes the other "night vision" which takes place as Yaakov travels to Egypt to be reunited with his long lost
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