Shabbos Parashas Vayigash - 5779

Shabbos Parashas Vayigash - 5779

Rabbi Hal Miller

I shall descend with you to Egypt, and I shall also surely bring you up, and Yosef shall place his hand

on your eyes." [Bereishis 46:4]​

Something very strange seems to be happening here. Yaakov sets out on the trip from the land that

had been promised to him and his fathers, heads for Egypt and his newly-rediscovered son Yosef.

In what would prove to be the last revelation of God to Yaakov and to the Patriarchs as a whole, God

speaks to Yaakov in a vision. But it is full of confusing text. So many questions: why the switch back to the name Yaakov? Why the repetition? Why did Yaakov and the Torah in general not mention this

repetition? Why did God identify Himself only as the God of Yitzchak? Why did He tell Yaakov not to

fear going to Egypt? What does the promise of Divine accompaniment mean? And why was it

important for God to inform Yaakov that Yosef would place his hands on Yaakov's eyes? Too many

questions for one week's drash, so we will limit ourselves to one of the five verses involved.

God is clearly telling Yaakov something designed to reassure him, but the Torah does not make clear

what it is that Yaakov was bothered by. Rashi says that this verse tells Yaakov that he will be buried in

the promised land once he dies, and that Yaakov's fear therefore had to do with potentially getting

stuck in Egypt. Rambam and Onkelos appear to agree with this.

Rashbam says that the word einecha does not mean as we would think, "your eyes", rather, "your

needs". God is telling Yaakov that he need not worry about food and shelter for himself and his family,

as Yosef would take care of them. Our verse also tells Yaakov that God would be with him, not just in

the land, but in Egypt or anywhere else the family of Israel may go. Radak modifies and expands on

Rashbam a little, saying that this is God's guarantee for the future, that Yaakov's family would not be

harmed on the way to and from this or any future Egypt, and that He would ensure that all their needs

would be met, in the short term by Yosef, and in the longer term by other means. Sforno says that our

verse tells Yaakov that he need not worry about mundane affairs, but can instead put his family to

Torah study.

Malbim understands that Yaakov feared losing Yosef a second time, and says that in our verse God is

reassuring him that Yosef would outlive his father.

Abarbanel sees a different purpose. Yaakov was afraid of the end of his people through assimilation.

If Yosef was so well respected in Egypt, the people of the land may treat the Jews well, integrate them

into society, and make them feel comfortable in this foreign land. Yaakov knew that this would spell

the destruction of the Jewish people and end of their mission. He saw that in every generation there

would be a "Yosef" who would lead a wonderful partnership between Jews and non-Jews, leading to

this kind of assimilation. Yaakov's fear was that these "Yosefs" would unwittingly lead to the

destruction of Judaism. Our verse is God's guarantee that this will not happen. Even where Jews are

completely welcomed in a foreign land, treated with respect and kindness, God would ensure that they

knew that this was only temporary, that in the end they must go back to their own land and own

ways, rather than get caught in the false thinking that assimilation into the rest of humanity is a

good thing. God is our permanent Guardian.