TORAH PORTION

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Say YES on

Joseph's Story Reveals
A Divine Purpose

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RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ

'92 Allied Jewish Campaign

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December 15

-

WANTED:
COLLEGE STUDENTS

OUTSTANDING FULL-TIME

FOR SUMMER INTERNSHIPS

If you'd like to spend part of the summer working and learning about metro Detroit's
Jewish community...

Apply now for a summer JOIN internship. The eight-vveek JOIN (Jewish Occupational
Intern) program provides an opportunity for full-time college students to work in various
agencies serving the metropolitan Detroit Jewish community.

Earn $1,300 while you gain practical experience in the areas of human services,
research and planning, business administration, communication, recreation or public

affairs.

Internships may be available at the following agencies: Anti-Defamation League,
Agency for Jewish Education, Jewish Association for Residential Care, Jewish
Community Center, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Community Council, Jewish
Federation Apartments, Jewish Home for Aged, Jewish Vocational Service, Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Hebrew Free Loan Association, Holocaust
Memorial Center, Kadima and Sinai Hospital.

Written applications must be received by December 20. Personal interviews will be
scheduled during winter vacations. For more information -Ind an application form,
call Elaine Goldman at Jewish Vocational Service, 559-5000.

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1991

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Special to . The Jewish News

ur weekly Torah por-
tion commences with
the climax of the
drama of Joseph and his
brothers in Egypt. The
brothers appear before
Joseph, having come down
from Canaan during its terri-
ble famine in search of food.
Joseph had recognized them,
though they did not realize
who the master of Egypt real-
ly was.
The sedra opens with the
dramatic scene of Judah
pleading with Joseph to let
the brothers go free without
leaving Benjamin as hostage.
Judah pours out his heart,
stressing what will happen to
their aged father if Benjamin
is not returned home with the
brothers and offers to take the
place of Benjamin as a slave
if Joseph will let Benjamin go
free.
Judah's eloquence, full of
pathos and passion, seems
more than Joseph can handle.
Joseph could no longer con-
tain himself. He ordered
everyone else out of the room,
and sobbing with emotion,
revealed his true identity.
Joseph insists that it is the
guiding hand of God whose
Divine -purpose is being
fulfilled.
Four times Joseph insists
that it was not he but God
who brought these miracu-
lous events to pass. Joseph
could no longer contain his
pent-up feelings. In ordering
everyone out of the room,
Joseph did not want the
Egyptians to know that his
own brothers had sold him in-
to slavery.
The Midrash commentators
were quite taken by the
theme of testing that
underlies the confrontation of
the brothers with Joseph.
Joseph first faces his brothers
in bitterness and devises a
"cat and mouse" game in
order to seek his revenge, but
in the end, his feelings toward
his father and his brothers
bring him to reconciliation.
The suspense is heightened
in the drama until Joseph
sees the affection of the
brothers for each other and
for their father. When Judah
himself offers to substitute
himself for Benjamin in order
- to save Benjamin, Joseph
realizes that the time to
reveal himself had come.
Joseph then becomes humble,

Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus of
Temple Beth El.

like his father, and is over-
come by Judah's eloquent
speech. Joseph brought his
selfish streak to an end. His
first thought was for the
welfare of his father. The
reconciliation ensues.
Joseph said to his brothers
"I am your brother, Joseph."
When Joseph reminded his
brothers that they had once
sold him into slavery, he was
reassuring them and also
rebuking them, for the
brothers had acted with evil
intent; yet Joseph interpreted
all of this as the guiding hand
of Divine providence.
So far, the brothers had not
uttered a word. They were so
overcome with the dramatic
unfoldment of their en-
counter that they were

Shabbat Vayigash
Genesis
44:18-47:27
Ezekiel 37:15-28

speechless. But when Joseph
embraced his brother Ben-
jamin and Joseph proceeded
to kiss all his brothers, "only
then were his brothers able to
talk to him!'
The Pharaoh endorsed the
invitation of Joseph to his
family to settle in Egypt and
thereupon filled his caravans
so that the brothers could go
off to Canaan and bring their
father, Jacob, from the land of
Canaan to Egypt. When the
brothers told Jacob what had
happened, Jacob seemed not
concerned either with the
famine or with Joseph's rise
to power and glory. His only
response was, "My son Joseph
is still alive! I must go and see
him before I die." And with
this story, the patriarchal
period in the history of Israel
comes to an end.
Jacob's going to Egypt,
though apparently just a
family reunion, actually was
a visit of great significance.
Just as famine had driven
Abraham to Egypt, now
famine similarly sends his
grandson Jacob to Egypt. It
was not an easy trip for an ag-
ed Patriarch; he had many
fears and anxieties, but the
Torah tells how Jacob was
reassured by God not to be
afraid.
Joseph now had to prepare
his brothers for an audience
with Pharoah and brief them
how to respond when
Pharaoh questioned them.
Joseph brought his father,
Jacob, and presented him to
Pharaoh. The humble,